| Inappropriate Urination! |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|03:40 am] |
My seven year old cat, Max, has been having issues with urinating outside the litter box over the past few months. He's been vet checked, and she can't find anything wrong with him aside from idiopathic thickening of the bladder wall. So he's been on Amitriptyline for the past six weeks. There's currently seven cats in my household, although two are only visiting, and one is a bully. So Max and his sister primarily live in my master bedroom.
Max typically targets my bed when he doesn't use the litter box. To discourage him, I strip my bed every morning before I leave for work. It seems to have helped. Usually about once a week or so, though, I frustratingly enough, wake up to find he's urinated in the bed while I've been sleeping. Tonight, he peed ON ME while I was sleeping. There's only one thing more disgusting to waking up in cold, wet cat piddle, and that's waking up in HOT, wet cat piddle.
What else can I do to curb this behaviour? I hate the idea of banishing him to the bathroom while I'm trying to sleep, so I want to explore other options before I consider that. |
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| Something going around.... |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|06:55 pm] |
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This weekend my almost 3 year old cat, Kitten, became very lethargic, didn't even have enough energy to jump up onto the couch. She would yell if we tried to pick her up, was barely eating, and seemed hot. I got her to the vet Monday, and her temperature was a little over 105. The vet tech went to the back and told the vet about her, and I heard the vet say, "You're kidding." She came in and said she'd already seen 5 cats with basically the same symptoms that day. She called it a 'fever of unknown origin' and said it could be viral. They kept her overnight to monitor her temperature, gave her antibiotics, and injected fluids under her skin. Today her temp was back to normal, but she hadn't eaten. That didn't surprise me, she's not very good out of her element. She ate as soon as I got her home. I have some antibiotics to give her this week. She seems a little weak, still a little whiny, but basically back to normal. Just wanted to get this out there, in case anyone else sees similar symptoms in their cats! She's curled up right next to me now, thank goodness... I'm so glad to have her back home! |
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| Scared to Eat Alone |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|05:05 pm] |
Hi y'all. Just wanted a second opinion about some kitty behaviour. I have two cats who love each other and we are a big happy family. Olivia (my younger cat) lost her mother when she was newborn and was raised in a shelter. She has a lot of behaviours related to being removed from her mother too early (kneading, suckling, clingy, grumpy towards new people). We moved to a new apartment this spring and since we moved she's been especially clingy and sometimes when I'm at work my neighbours hear her crying. She has also started crying until I come watch her and pet her and talk to her while she eats. She gets a lot of attention normally, so I am thinking that this is just her being scared in the new environment or something and she wants someone to have her back while she's eating.
What do you think? Is there something that might calm her down so that she doesn't always need me there when she eats? They have a vet appointment at the end of the month so I can ask the vet, but I like hearing what the group's experiences are and hearing what has worked with your cats.
Thanks. :)
Edited to add a little picture.( Under the cut. :) )
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| Food/Eating issues |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|09:21 am] |
So yesterday morning we woke up to find one of our two cats had gotten sick (quite a lot of hair so could be hair-ball related)
We don't worry about sickness unless its prolonged or odd looking.
But that morning neither cat would eat breakfast, same story at dinner time (one nibbled a little bit of food) They slept pretty much all of the day and didn't do much.
Okay so they've missed a couple of meals we usually say okay if they miss another days meals thats when we worry.
So this morning our fatty ate most of his food (much slower than usual but still ate) and our other slimmer cat didn't eat a thing, it seemed like he wanted to because he kept going over to the others food bowl to have a look (while the other ate)
I tried warming the food for him, no luck. I tried to give him dry food, nope he ate one kibble. I even tried a bit of the treat sticks they love, still nothing.
I have yet to try a different flavour of wet food, as i dislike wasting food. I also haven't tried any canned tuna or anything for the same reason.
They both go out in the garden and explore for a few hours every morning/night and it is VERY cold here right now.
My only two ideas of what may have happened is that they might have caught a cold (but they seem lively enough) or they may have eaten something dodgy from outside.
I'm pretty sure both are pooping and peeing fine (which they prefer doing outside)
But yeah any help or suggestions would be very welcome, i'd love to know how long a cat can not eat before i take him to the vet... (not suggesting that i don't want him to eat! i do! but i don't want a vet bill for an answer like "He's being fussy" etcetc |
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| mysterious hairloss |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|10:21 pm] |
I believe I've posted about this before, but my mom's cat Sunny is mysteriously losing all her hair. It started on the backs of her back legs and has progressed to where her back legs are totally naked, her belly, and now her front legs are getting bald too. She has taken Sunny to the vet twice.
- The skin where the hair is falling out looks totally normal and healthy.
- Sunny isn't scratching or licking excessively.
- Sunny's bloodwork came back almost completely normal.
- All behavior is totally normal. Eating, sleeping, pooping, playing, etc.
The only thing slightly off on Sun Sun's bloodwork is the very earliest stages of a kidney issue. She's 14 years old though, so some of that is to be expected. Mom is looking into switching her diet (adding more wet food for more moisture, etc), and they have a cat fountain.
The only other thing wrong with Sunny is she has severe separation anxiety w/ my mom. She howls and cries when my mom leaves the room and wants to be with her 24/7. My mom got a Feliway diffuser which helped some, but Sunny continues to lose all her hair.
Any ideas? |
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| Newly discovered tooth issue |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|08:10 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Home | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  Concerned | ] |
Hello, my 10-yr old cat Midori broke her lower-right canine tooth in half. Because the tooth is broken above the gum-line, her root is not exposed, she is not in any pain, so I was given two resolutions, from my vet, for her issue (FORL - Feline Oral Resorptive Lesions); First is extraction of the tooth. Second is a root canal.
My 1st question: Your experience with your cat getting a root canal? Pros? Cons?
Also, in the meantime, before she receives treatment, I'd like to provide her a more "comfortable" dry food that is less likely to worsen her condition of the tooth. She is a free-feeder and for me to take away her dry food would likely cause issue. I've been giving her wet food, in small amounts, in the evening to accompany any dry food she is consuming.
My 2nd question: Any recommendations for a dry-like food that is easier for an older cat to chew?
Many thanks to this forum for any suggestions you can provide! |
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| Need help!!! Auto Immune kitty |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|11:43 am] |
Asreal's biopsy came back today and the Vet officially says his condition is autoimmune and all we can do is treat secondary infections. HELP!!!!!
( Details behind cut )
Help with:
Any advice on the sore in his mouth? I can't help but feel like resolving that completely would resolve a lot of issues.
Any advice with supplements?
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| Butt Rub? |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|10:58 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  confused | ] |
Howdy all!
After quite a bit of online searching and not being able to find anything helpful, I've come here with a question. (Perhaps I've just been looking in the wrong places.) Follows the line of this question, but looking more for a resolution. :)
We have a wonderfully crazy ball of fur named Sara whose only point of complaint used to be being extra-vocal. Now (for the past few weeks) she seems to be having an issue of a different matter. After almost every poo in the litter box, she'll find a nice bit of carpet and rub her butt on it. I used to think this was only a dog issue, and the first time she did it was almost amusing. But now I'm interested in finding out ways to possibly deter her from doing this (telling her "No!", trying to get to her to stop her, etc. has been ineffective, especially because she likes to do it in secret in the bedroom now). Is this something diet could be contributing to? We haven't changed her diet in the past few months, though.
Thanks for any suggestions! :D
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| Something is (neurologically?) wrong with my baby Hobbes |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|01:17 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  drained | ] |
Last night, my 1y7m old male cat fell off the kitchen counter. I noticed almost immediately after that his walking was off-kilter and he was stepping with a high gait. He was also bumping into things, like he was having trouble seeing. He wasn't crying or making "hurt" noises; he was actually purring all the while.
After about 15 minutes, when I saw that he wasn't improving, I knew I had to bring him in to see a vet. I packed him up with a towel and some paper balls (he loves to play with paper) in his carrier and brought him to the LSU Small Animal Emergency Clinic. Once there, he got angry and began growling. He was still having the same problems as he was at the house. He stayed overnight for observation, as there's not much they can really do until Monday.
I went to see Hobbes this morning. His condition was about the same: not seeing clearly, wobbling and high-stepping. The vet said he ate a little bit and has been mostly resting. When I went up to his cage, he began purring loudly and meowing repeatedly. He rubbed up against the front where my fingers were sticking through. I brought some paper with me and the vet tossed a balled up piece in to him. He was interested for a second, but then came back to me instead. I wasn't able to hold or pet him because they want to rule out the possibility of rabies first. I don't think he has rabies, but I understand the severity of having to make sure 100%.
He stayed happy until one of the students came in to check on us. I don't know if he could see her or if he just sensed and smelled her, but he became agitated and angry again. Even with me. This behavior is so uncharacteristic of him that it worries me terribly.
They seem to think it may be some type of neurological condition; that the fall was caused by some sort of problem, rather than the problem being caused by it. There's not much that can be done until tomorrow, so he will be staying there again tonight.
I got maybe 4 hours of sleep last night, and it wasn't restful at all. I kept dreaming about Hobbes and the clinic and vets and Hobbes... over and over. :( My head is throbbing from crying so much and my eyes are red and swollen. I called in to work today because I really just can't function right now.
Hobbes' Patient Update paper that was given to today's vet on call included the following:
Major Problems Identified:
1. Ataxia
2. Absent menace OU
3. Hypermetria both forelimbs
4. Extreme aggression
Diagnostics Performed:
1. Physical examination
2. Complete blood count
3. Chemistry panel
4. Overnight monitoring
Treatment Administered:
Patient hospitalized, Sunday, November 8. (hand written and signed by the vet)
This patient:
was hospitalized and will be transferred to: Internal Medicine |
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| Cat urethra |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|07:49 pm] |
The past two days I've noticed in the area of what looks like the urethral opening on my female cat some redness. Also looks swollen. Otherwise she is acting normal and eating fine. Plan on taking her to the vet first thing Monday, was just curious if anyone has any idea what it is, possible external signs of an urinary tract infection?
cross posted in catlover and cathealth |
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| Renal care foods? |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|09:51 am] |
Hello all,
I am posting about my cat Smokey (i used to post about him quite a bit but got those issues under control) about a year ago he was diagnose with i think very early stages of renal failure. the vet prescribed him Hills science diet prescription food, KD. he's been eating the wet and the dry food of that but he doesn't like the wet very much at all. (he does like the dry, but if he eats too much dry food he throws it all up) I took him to the vet about a week ago where his kidneys were tested again, and the vet said his numbers greatly improved! So luckily his kidneys aren't getting worse!! i don't remember the creatinine number but it was actually in the normal range. the vet was very happy with the numbers and told me to continue him on the food.
problem is Smokey at this point won't go near KD :( i was given Iams renal health food to try and the first day smokey ate it and seemed to enjoy it. at this point he won't touch that either. he sniffs the bowl and walks away.
i am at a loss on what to feed this cat. He is also very skinny (6.5 pounds for a fully grown 13 year old cat) and the vet told me he has to eat and really shouldn't lose any more weight. he's more concerned about that then the kidneys at this point.
I think my vet only carries those 2 renal health prescription foods. Does anyone know of any other foods I could try? or at least talk to my vet about? I really want to keep him on this kind of food because his kidney problems got so much better than they were, that I don't want to drastically change anything.
he's the pickiest cat i have ever seen or owned. it is important to mention that he does have an appetite, because he meows at his bowl and when i'm eating he pretty much tries to grab the food out of my hands. he has treats that he likes and goes absolutely wild for them. when i'm desperate i put a little tuna on the KD and he does eat it that way but i can't continue doing that forever.
please help! thank you! |
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| Cat Companionship |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|05:37 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  curious | ] |
Mm, I feel at a bit of a dilemma.
So I have this cat. She grew up being the only cat, amongst people and dogs. Through most of her life, I lived with my parents. When she was a kitten, she was around one dog, and when he passed we ended up with two more dogs (much sooner than I was prepared for, but anyhow!)
Since I moved out, she's been spending time alone a LOT. I work four ten-hour shifts a week, and with travel time, I'm essentially away for about 12 hours, sometimes more. On my days off, sometimes I'll spend half the day home with her, sometimes I'll be off visiting people or running errands. Essentially, I'm beginning to feel absolutely miserable over leaving her alone so much.
I fostered two cats a couple months ago, just to see how she'd get on with others. She did... okay. Not incredibly happy to see them around, very frowny-faced all the time. It didn't help that they were brothers, and one of them was EXTREMELY attention-needy. Like constantly in your face. He was always in HER face, and clearly didn't get the idea of boundaries. It didn't matter how much she spat and hissed and batted, he just wanted to snuggle with her ._. I had to have them removed early just because I could tell things were reaching a stressful peak for everyone.
Now I have a co-worker moving to Texas at the end of the month. She has a cat named Larry, who is the same age as mine. He was a stray, but has been fully vetted and neutered. According to my co-worker, his temperament sounds very similar to my cat's - he's shy, cuddly when you get to know him, but generally keeps to himself.
I'm very tempted to take him in, because it just worries me that I'm leaving my cat alone so much, and I'm concerned that it's a problem. When she can hear me coming home, she starts crying (I can hear her from outside my apartment). And she definitely comes running for me when I get inside.
So, what do you think? Am I projecting? Would it be a mistake to take in another cat, or is it worth the risk to give her some company?
I wish she could just TELL me :| |
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| Ears |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|04:23 pm] |
How many of you clean your cat/s' ears? If so, how often and what do you use?
I used to clean Jazzi's for her all the time, about every three days. She had arthritis, early onset, and loooooved to have her ears cleaned. She would sit in front of me, back to me, with one ear flat to the side when it was time. I first started with using a wad of toilet paper, then went to cotton swabs. She would purrrrrrr, and when I got just the right spot, her back leg would flail and twitch. Her ears would get icky-dirty about every three days.
Tiki hated it, and kept her ears pretty clean all by herself, thank YOU very MUCH, so I rarely needed to do hers.
Smidgie and Nox came with earmites, and bad cases. Nox had been at the shelter for over a year, and it's a good probability she had them the entire time. It's taken three dosages to stop the frantic scratching, and she's still very sensitive. Both she and Smidgie seem to get pretty dirty ears, and don't seem to do much cleaning, but Smidgie is just a baby and Nox probably isn't used to dealing with her ears much, since they bothered her so much. The shelter wanted me to clean them out everyday when they still had mites, using swabs and mineral or baby oil. I had always used dry swabs on Jazzi, and I know the oil was to kill the mites, but I do wonder if the oil also makes cleaning more gentle on sensitive ears?
So therefore, I was wondering if anyone else cleaned their cat's ears for them on a really regular basis? |
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| Getting my cat eating again |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|03:37 am] |
My seven year old cat, Kaze, had an ear pollup removed on Wednesday. Her last full meal was Tuesday evening, and I'm having a hard time getting her to eat. The only other time she was ever under anesthesia was when she was around 7 weeks old and was spayed prior to being adopted from the animal shelter. I remember that being a struggle to get her to eat, and had to be force fed in order to get her to eat again. She also had a horrible URI when she was a baby, so I always figured that was the reason she didn't want to eat on her own.
I have tried more than 12 different foods, a wide variety ranging from her favorites to the prescription diet a/d, which I reluctantly fed. She ate a little of a tuna based food earlier tonight (BFF tuna/chicken), but other than that, has had no interest in food, and this is a girl who always has a healthy appetite. She also ate a few empty pill pockets and a few pieces of dry kibble (Evo), which I tried as a last resort. I also tried eggs, cheese, KMR, fish oil, oven roasted deli-sliced turkey, baby food, and the stinkiest of cans, but still nothing. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up Wysong's PDG, which is a meal replacement and enhancer, so I'll get some nutrition in her one way or another, but I hate to see her go this long without eating. I've already given her an appetite stimulant, but I haven't noticed a difference. She has been on a raw diet for a few months now, but still prefers canned any day. She can't handle beef, lamb, venison or shellfish, so I'm somewhat limited in what I can try. I'm going to get some chicken hearts tomorrow to see if she'll eat those. I have yet to try those with her.
If anyone has any suggestions, I would be more than happy to give them a try. Thank you in advance for any suggestions. And before anyone asks, yes, the veterinarian knows what is going on, I just spoke with him in person tonight when I took my pug in for her annual exam. $2000 in vet bills is enough for one week, wouldn't you think?
Post from mobile portal m.livejournal.com |
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| Wanted: sleep |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|05:30 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  exhausted | ] |
Hi everyone,
Does anyone have any tips on how to peacefully co-exist during nighttime hours with our two seven-month-old kittens?
Some background info:
We live in a 375 sq ft studio. There are two doors we can use to separate ourselves from the beasts: the front door (not an option as our cats are indoor-only) and the bathroom door.
Some nights, they are placed in the bathroom so we can get a few hours of sleep. Here, they have access to food, water, litter box, and places to play around and/or snooze. They are fine (read: not howling) upon initial placement in the bathroom, but at various points throughout the night, one or the other will decide to start howling for attention and/or love. They do not stop until we open the door.. I have not timed it yet, but have let it go on for what feels like 15 minutes or so. And given our extremely close quarters, the howling keeps us awake. When we give in and open the door and I try to shelter my husband from their attention so at least he can sleep, and after a while, I realize that I too need to sleep and return them to the bathroom.
We have play time at some point in the evening before bedtime. I try to tire them out by playing chase with the laser pointer or a wand toy.
They have both been to the vet recently and are in good health.
On nights when we don't lock them up, they do sleep for a while but each wake at various times and decide to chomp on our ears, noses, etc, sometimes to the point where we bleed. Its not fun at all and we would like it to stop.
We have tried erecting temporary (to be used at bedtime until wake time) walls out of things like double-level baby gates, plastic lattice work from home depot, blankets, cardboard, etc. in hopes of keeping them away from us so we can sleep, but they always find a way to break in and get us. Our Ninja climbed the five foot tall lattice.. yikes.
So.. any advice for us? We are going crazy from lack of sleep.
Do they eventually outgrow this? I do not remember the cat's at my mom's house doing this when they were kittens. They do not do this now either..
Oh, and just in case anyone here would suggest this as it has been suggested to me in person, getting rid of my cats is not an option. Gah.
Thank you! |
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| Question about Feline Leukemia... |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|05:07 pm] |
Hey, everybody! I just wanted to ask a few questions for those of you that would know.
First of all, I have 4 cats. They are all strictly indoors, and only go outside when I supervise, but that is maybe once a month. They haven't been outside in at least 2 or 3 months now, though. They are all in good health, and I haven't noticed any symptoms of illness.
However, there was a stray cat that hung around outside for approximately a year. He would just go to neighbor's houses and slept in our (detached) garage here and there. He was in a fight with another cat, and managed to get injured. Our neighbor took him to a local vet, and he tested positive for Feline Leukemia. He was put to sleep, and the neighbor just informed me of that.
Here's where I'm concerned, though. That cat would sit outside our front storm door (it's all glass) pretty often, and my cats would sit inside and stare at him and "fight" through the glass. (They'd hit the door and scare him off, basically.) They have never been in physical contact with him, though.
My question is, what are the chances of my cats contracting Feline Leukemia through the door? Is it possible at all? I didn't pet him very often, and when I did I'd wash my hands prior to coming into contact with my cats. I read that it is usually spread by either physically fighting with another cat and being bitten, or by feces and on rare occasion mutual bathing. My cats haven't been bitten by him, and they don't bathe when they're near him.
My last question is, How long does it take for symptoms to show after a cat gets Leukemia? Is it fairly quick, or does it lie dormant in their system for a while?
Thank you guys in advance. I appreciate the help. I'm a bit worried, so I thought i'd ask here. I would also like to say that if it's necessary, I can try to find a way to a vet to get them tested, but money is tight right now (although if need be, I can apply for care credit) and I don't have my own car. |
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| My female cat has lost her voice |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|02:22 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  worried | ] |
My female, Baggy, has lost her voice over the course of a couple of days. She is usually pretty loud and now she opens her mouth and nothing comes out but a squeak. She did vomit this morning but hasn't since. She also threw up clear/foamy yellowish bile. She hadn't eaten since the night before. She ate at lunch and some breakfast. She's still alert, bright eyed, and has been going outside for her bathroom duties. She is also still able to growl, hiss and purr. Vet time???
She lives with 3 males cats and a dog. She hates all of them equally. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|02:58 pm] |
I have switched my cat to Wellness Core, but recently was talking to a vet tech at a cat only clinic who said while she wasn't familiar with Wellness exactly, she has heard that some expensive and "nutritious" cat foods are actually harmful to cats because they add in minerals and nutrients which are not good for the cat. She said that it can lead to kidney problems, and other problems down the line.
I have tried switching my cat to canned only, but she really resists canned food. I have tried several kinds and they always go to waste. But I have found that my cat will drink water from the bath tub, so a few times a day, I plug the drain and put water in there for her. She drinks it right up, a few times a day. Is that enough water for her you think? She also drinks out of cups, so I try and leave cups of water out for her to encourage her to drink. She generally gets into the bath tub and drinks for a few minutes, several times a day too.
So is this a good combo for my kitty? I know that Wellness has a lot of hype for being a great cat food and my cat loves it. Any other suggestions? I have a Petsmart and Petco in town. I can't go much more expensive than Wellness, being unemployed makes even buying that a bit of a strain, but my cat is my baby so I do what I can... |
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| Non spilling water bowls |
[Nov. 3rd, 2009|12:15 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  hopeful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Bobby McGee-Janis Joplin | ] |
We have a girl who is in the beginning stages of kidney failure, so we obviously want to put that off as long as possible. She's 19, so she sleeps most of the day (in our bed) but we've been considering getting one of those water bowls that won't spill if you knock it over (like this http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2755358&lmdn=Dog ) Question is, does anyone use these bowls for their cats? I know some cats (her included) like to drink right up against the side of the bowl, so I'm curious as to if she would use something like that or turn her nose up at it. Any thoughts, comments, experiences? Thanks a bunch!
PS. We have 2 fountains, and multiple other bowls. I appreciate any advice, but really I'm just looking for an answer to the question I asked. I am not going to put a bowl that can spill on the bed clothes. |
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