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CAT UPDATE: The steamy shower seems to have help loosen up the mucous a little, but he's still refusing to eat, even stinky warmed-up food. I was able to pick up some lycosine today (with a vet's recommendation), but he won't have it. I'm very happy to have come home to find urine lumps in his litterbox though - so he's drinking, hooray. I'm giving him some chill out time (the shower was not a happy experience), and then forcing some food into him so he'll be able to get through the night. I also noticed what appears to be a swollen anal gland, so it's good we're going to the vet tomorrow morning. Kitty! Don't die 
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Feb 24, 2010 01:20
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| # ? May 17, 2024 18:07 |
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Another thing you can try is elevating his food (like on a stack of books) so that when he goes to eat he's not leaning down and having all the congestion clog up his nose.
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Feb 24, 2010 14:04
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Good advice! Sorry for dominating the thread these last few posts. Went to a new vet that was close by, and was not impressed - even though my regular vet is over an hour away, I'm definitely gonna go back to her. This vet took a look and said the cat was fine and I was over-reacting, he was kind of dismissive of me. He showed us a gentle way to force feed the cat, gave us some special concentrated food and sent us along. That said, he also found ear mites and gave us some stuff for that, so it wasn't a wasted journey. I'm just happy the cat's ok and we know how to handle this until he gets better 
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Feb 24, 2010 18:12
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Last night my cat broke out (literally, she broke through the mesh on the window screen) of my apartment to pursue a neighborhood cat that was mocking her from the parking lot. After several frantic hours, she returned home, seemingly unscathed. However, she is an indoor only cat and I do not know what she could have been exposed to while she was lost outside. I was wondering if there is anything I should do; she is up to date on all her vaccines (updated 7/09) and doesn't appear to have any visible scratches and she is behaving normally. Should I take her to the vet for a check-up or give her a preventative flea/ worm treatment? Should I even be worried about this? She was only gone for about ~8 hours. For reference, we are located in southern Arizona. The cat is ~2 years and has no medical issues and is spayed.
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Feb 24, 2010 19:52
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There's no hurt in taking him if it'll give you peace of mind. If she has all his shots and he arrived back fine, though, she's probably okay. She could potentially have eaten something poisonous or whatever but if she's an indoor cat, she was probably more scared of her surroundings than curious enough to get into real trouble.
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Feb 24, 2010 21:10
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Fromage D Enfer posted:Last night my cat broke out (literally, she broke through the mesh on the window screen) of my apartment to pursue a neighborhood cat that was mocking her from the parking lot. After several frantic hours, she returned home, seemingly unscathed. However, she is an indoor only cat and I do not know what she could have been exposed to while she was lost outside. I was wondering if there is anything I should do; she is up to date on all her vaccines (updated 7/09) and doesn't appear to have any visible scratches and she is behaving normally. Should I take her to the vet for a check-up or give her a preventative flea/ worm treatment? Should I even be worried about this? She was only gone for about ~8 hours. For reference, we are located in southern Arizona. The cat is ~2 years and has no medical issues and is spayed. I wouldn't worry. Go over her with a flea comb and feel for ticks. Do it for the next 3 days. If you see any fleas or flea dirt put her on some flea meds. If she has no broken skin she should be OK. (I'm not a vet) I'm glad she's home OK!
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Feb 24, 2010 22:07
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Ok, I have sort of a wierd question: Sometimes my cat will sniff something smelly, like sweaty clothes or the trash can, and then he turns around and gives me a really funny blank look with his mouth hanging open. He doesen't do it too often, but I can't help but crack up every time- it just looks so loving silly. Does anyone else's cat do this?
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Feb 26, 2010 04:10
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It's the crazy face.
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Feb 26, 2010 04:11
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RheaConfused posted:It's the crazy face.  Also this.
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Feb 26, 2010 04:19
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Crooked Booty posted:No I'm pretty sure it's the stinky face. holy poo poo i googled 'stinky face' and theres actually a flickr group for this http://www.flickr.com/groups/95325237@N00/ cats are loving wierd (so are their owners) Bouillon Rube fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Feb 26, 2010 |
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Feb 26, 2010 04:46
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Hey guys, I have a quick question. Is it safe to clean a cat's ears with olive oil? I keep reading that using olive oil helps remove dirt, but I just wanted to get another opinion...
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Feb 26, 2010 07:00
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pandafan posted:Hey guys, I would use rubbing alcohol. But if you're seeing a lot of dark build-up you should probably have a vet take a look in case it's mites or an ear infection, which cleaning won't fix. They can also show you how to clean ears properly.
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Feb 26, 2010 14:35
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pandafan posted:Hey guys, I used it on a stray cat who had bad ear mites once. It worked okay. He was really really into drinking it as well. We named him Oliver  I don't know if it's dangerous or not because we had to put him down like a day later because he had really high levels of FIV  Call a vet and ask.
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Feb 26, 2010 15:37
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Hey guys . . . One of my cats has been really wired/crazy lately. You know how sometimes cats will start grabbing at your hand if you've been petting them too much/getting them too excited? Well this guy will do that pretty much instantly nowadays for some reason, assuming that he's not half-asleep. He's also been playing rougher with us (if he manages to catch our hands) and his brother. He's 11 months old or so and has been neutered since he was like 4 months old. Do cats just go through "phases" where they get more playful/rough or could something else be going on?
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Feb 26, 2010 17:24
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pandafan posted:Hey guys, Yeah, I'm not sure one way or the other. If he's got dark build up, I'd take him to a vet and get an ear mite check - we just took our new kitty in for an unrelated issue, and asked about his ears thinking he just had waxy problems. Turns out he had a heinous ear mite infestation, and so he got an injection of Invectin, an ear drop to put in his ears twice a day, and an ear cleaner to be used once every other day with q-tips. The reason is because mites are particularly tenacious. If your cat's got mites, olive oil is just going to get rid of the surface level visible mites and mite poops, but not really take care of anything you can't see deeper in the ear. (Of course, now I'm all sorts of worried about the cat spreading mites to us, which is rare but can happen - before we knew he had them, we were sleeping with him cuddling our heads, eek! I'd even slept basically ear-to-ear with him. Combined with him sleeping on our pillows during the day, colour me paranoid.) Also, my kitty is now eating of his own free will, hooray! He's very stinky though - since being sick, he's neglected his cleaning duties. I was planning on just letting him get himself back together once he got well, but would it help him along to give him a bath? StrangersInTheNight fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Feb 26, 2010 |
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Feb 26, 2010 19:19
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Weird problem. I have a female cat, adopted, about 3 years old. She has a room in my apartment that is "hers", she likes to play in it, and I keep her toys there as well as one of the two litterboxes I have. She is an only cat, can't get the hubby to say yes to another one (yet). Anyway, the problem is that she will pee on anything soft and fuzzy, but only in that particular room. She has peed on blankets, and her own cat bed when placed in that room, but only in that room. I washed the blankets, shampooed and enzymatic cleanered the carpets, and moved around the litterboxes a bit after I took her to the vet, who saw nothing wrong in her workups. I can't figure out how to stop it, it's really frustrating. I can't figure out why it's only soft fuzzy things, and only in that room. Any ideas? (I feed her Solid Gold Indigo moon in case anyone is curious)
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Feb 27, 2010 04:00
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Did your vet run a urinalysis? I just ask because peeing on soft things is a really common indicator of a UTI, they usually pick those spots because they are in pain.
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Feb 27, 2010 05:22
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A week ago I asked about getting a kitten so our cat would have some company. On Thursday we'll be picking up this gorgeous girl.  The shelter had named her Ollie Almond Joy.  I'm thinking Buffy.
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Feb 27, 2010 18:09
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^^ Ginger kitties, yay! The marking on her side is almost shaped like an eye, call her Sauron, hah! Is turkey a common "problem food" for cats? Mine gets a variety of Buffalo Blue Spa wet foods at night (I buy a few of each flavor and she gets 1/2 can of whatever each night) and she always seems to not eat or puke up the turkey flavor. Her dry food is Blue Wilderness chicken and she has no other problems with food. I'm not going to feed that type anymore, but I want to know how aware I should be of turkey or other ingredients in her treats, etc. Also, a groomer buddy told me that catnip helps after throwing up or when the cat has a hairball. Not sure how true this is, but Lillehammer is a friggin' nut for the stuff so it'd be an easy treatment. Here, have a cute picture from when she came home:  (This is how she usually sleeps. I will never tire of posting catpix.)
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Feb 28, 2010 18:29
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I've heard of catgrass helping cats throwup, but not catnip. Perhaps you misheard? And I think it would be weird if your cat had problems with turkey, but not chicken, but on the other hand cats are weird so....
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Feb 28, 2010 21:49
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Dancingthroughlife posted:A week ago I asked about getting a kitten so our cat would have some company. Aww she looks like my Annabel. She's stretched out in the photo but she's got that swirl in her fur too. 'Grats on finding an orange girl, they're sort of rare. You could name her Marzipan based on the Almond thing. demozthenes I think it's catgrass that helps with the digestion, but maybe catnip has a stomach-settling property was well.... paging Lioness and d8! I wanted to post in here to link my thread about my brand new (7 weeks old now) kitten - it has a lot of good advice about the issues that I have encountered in a week and a half of ownership. (e.g. needle claws, poo-encrusted fur, peeing on things that are not to be peed on) that I did not see addressed in this thread. PI is sort of amazing. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3269066
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Feb 28, 2010 22:21
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demozthenes posted:Is turkey a common "problem food" for cats? Mine gets a variety of Buffalo Blue Spa wet foods at night (I buy a few of each flavor and she gets 1/2 can of whatever each night) and she always seems to not eat or puke up the turkey flavor. Her dry food is Blue Wilderness chicken and she has no other problems with food. I'm not going to feed that type anymore, but I want to know how aware I should be of turkey or other ingredients in her treats, etc. I'd just avoid turkey if I were you. One of my cats had issues with Salmon-flavored foods when she got older so we just stopped feeding that kind and focused more on poultry flavors. It might just be that your cat doesn't like the taste/aftertaste rather than being allergic to poultry (since she doesn't have problems with chicken).
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Mar 1, 2010 22:09
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I have had cats all my life but have never been the sole person in charge of one. Now my kitty (2 years old and deemed totally healthy only a couple months ago) is sick for seemingly no reason. He can't keep any food down, dry or wet, and has been throwing up violently all night. He drank a little water and seemed to be perking up an hour ago but he just threw up again and I am really concerned. Everything in the vomit is just bile. Is this considered worthy of an "emergency" visit? I live down the street from a 24 hour clinic that does emergency exams but their office hours start tomorrow morning at 8 and in theory it might be better to get a full exam rather than running him in for a panic visit. Does anyone have any advice on the subject of what do do for a very sick kitty? Should I wait overnight or run him down there now? I can't stand to see him all weak and shivery from the force of throwing up.
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Mar 2, 2010 01:54
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I'm not sure how far away 8am is for you but I would go to the clinic. They can at least give him some fluids and give you some meds to help him stop puking. If I was throwing up all night for no reason I would want to go to the ER for sure. If you're concerned about cost, it's going to be pricey, but if you say you'd just want to get him through the night to make it to regular hours in the AM they'll probably hook you up-- assuming he doesn't have some sort of poisoning. In short, yes. Go to the E-Vet.
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Mar 2, 2010 02:21
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Smam posted:I have had cats all my life but have never been the sole person in charge of one. Now my kitty (2 years old and deemed totally healthy only a couple months ago) is sick for seemingly no reason. He can't keep any food down, dry or wet, and has been throwing up violently all night. He drank a little water and seemed to be perking up an hour ago but he just threw up again and I am really concerned. Everything in the vomit is just bile. I would definitely go to the e-vet. He's probably feeling really really bad for one thing, and for another he could have eaten something poisonous.
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Mar 2, 2010 03:29
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Thanks for the advice. We went to the e-vet and it wasn't as terribly expensive as one might think. They looked him over and said there seemed to be no serious reason for his throwing up (his belly wasn't bloated, he is going to the bathroom normally, he wasn't poisoned, no massive organ failure) so the vet assumes it's the most annoying of all pet problems- he ate something kind of gross and it's making him puke. They gave him fluids and some kitty Pepcid and sent him home to be monitored. Of course he puked as soon as I got him out of his carrier. If he is still doing this tomorrow I need to schedule a more serious vet visit but for now I'm supposed to just watch him and hope he stops. This SUCKS. He doesn't seem to be in pain anymore but it's still disgusting and he seems so sleepy from the trauma/strain of being sick. Think happy thoughts for him, and thanks for the extra little push I needed to get him looked at.
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Mar 2, 2010 06:41
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I really hope your kitty feels better soon.
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Mar 2, 2010 08:16
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- Age 5 - Sex Female - How long have you had your cat? All her life. - Is your cat spayed or neutered? No. - What food do you use? Friskies Seafood Sensations! - When was your last vet visit? Never. - Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? Complete shut in. - How many pets in your household? 3, two other dogs that have minimal interactions. - How many litter boxes do you have? 1 for the cat, not shared. While I was petting my cat's chest the other day, I noticed there was some sort of weird, fleshly lump on her chest. There is also a similar feeling line/tube from that line down to her abdomen. She doesn't seem to mind it being touched, no more than any other part of her body. It's about the size of a walnut. Not solid, just soft. The only other thing worth mentioning is her fur has become a little patchy as of late. Missing fur only on her elbows and thighs. What could this possibly be? It's got my girlfriend in such a tizzy!
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Mar 3, 2010 01:00
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Android Thumper posted:- Age edit: it could be a mammary tumor due to the fact that your cat isn't spayed, I hope that helps Crooked Booty fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Mar 3, 2010 |
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Mar 3, 2010 02:01
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Android Thumper posted:- Age If you say you can't afford it, yes you can. There are low cost spay/neuter clinics everywhere and you're required by law to get your pets rabies vaccines at the very least. e:woop Kerfuffle fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Mar 4, 2010 |
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Mar 3, 2010 02:22
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Android Thumper, please take your cat to the vet. You are an adult, please be responsible.
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Mar 4, 2010 06:18
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I'm going to be moving soon and I wanted to know what the best process is for transitioning my cat over to the new house. Right now I live in a small apartment. Should I lock her in the bathroom on moving day and then keep her isolated in my room with her litter box? How long should I do this before I give her access to the full house? How long before I can trust her to wander outside?
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Mar 8, 2010 20:27
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I'm getting my first cats by myself, and was young enough to not pay any attention when my parents got their other cats to know how to handle getting them to find the litter. Do I just bring them in from the shelter, and let them wander around, and eventually they find the litter box and food? Or should I bring them over, sit them in it, and that's it? I have no idea how to acclimate a couple cats to a new, larger-than-a-shelter-cage place. I expect them to be older, 1-3 years old, so no potty training required.
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Mar 8, 2010 20:38
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Panthrax posted:I'm getting my first cats by myself, and was young enough to not pay any attention when my parents got their other cats to know how to handle getting them to find the litter. Do I just bring them in from the shelter, and let them wander around, and eventually they find the litter box and food? Or should I bring them over, sit them in it, and that's it? I have no idea how to acclimate a couple cats to a new, larger-than-a-shelter-cage place. I expect them to be older, 1-3 years old, so no potty training required. With my healthy adult shelter cat I just sat her in the litter so she could see where it was and that was that.
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Mar 8, 2010 20:42
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Easy enough. Thanks.
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Mar 8, 2010 20:45
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BIOJECT posted:I'm going to be moving soon and I wanted to know what the best process is for transitioning my cat over to the new house. Right now I live in a small apartment. Should I lock her in the bathroom on moving day and then keep her isolated in my room with her litter box? How long should I do this before I give her access to the full house? How long before I can trust her to wander outside? I'd just give her a room to herself with all her litter and toys and other stuff. It'll make moving in a lot easier for everyone. It might be easier to let her out in stages by letting her roam around the house for short periods and then putting her back in her room. That'll give her a way to scope out the house and figure out where everything is before she's totally free and could get lost. If she has more than one litter box then you might want to set the second one where you plan on having it so she can know where it is. As for how long all these stages are, you can probably just go by feel. When she's obviously getting comfortable with the place on her supervised excursions into the house then she's probably ready. I guess the main thing is to have the place mostly settled in before you let her out. If you're still moving furniture around a lot and stuff it'll be confusing and scary for her.
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Mar 8, 2010 22:29
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nm
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Mar 12, 2010 16:19
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-Age About 6 months -Sex Male -How long have you had your cat? About three days -Is your cat spayed or neutered? Yes and yes -Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? Indoors -How many pets in your household? One other cat, about 2 years old I think. -How many litter boxes do you have? One Got him from a vet because he was gonna be put down. Currently he's hiding under my computer desk and I don't know how to coax him out. I took out the bottom drawer so I can see him just fine, and he usually hisses if I put my hand in there, but once he realized I'm just trying to pet him, he lets me and seems to enjoy it. Hasn't swatted at me yet. He's been out from underneath a few times, but if he sees me he runs back underneath the desk, or under the couch. He's got a little bowl of food and water, and a toy with some catnip, but I haven't seen him messing with any of it. I did find poop in a corner though, so I think he's eating at night. The other cat is currently upstairs and seems curious about the new animal, but is mostly leaving him alone. Should I just let him be? I assume he'll come out on his own, I just don't understand why he won't budge. He doesn't seem too terribly scared of me if he lets me pet him just fine.
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Mar 13, 2010 16:07
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It's best to let him take his time, don't try to pull him out from his safe spot. I know it's hard, but let him come to you, don't shove your hands at him even though you just want to give him loves and pets. When I first brought Nyanko-chan home, she spent 3 days under the bed. As long as your new cat is eating a little and drinking some, it's fine.
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Mar 13, 2010 16:13
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Ok, this is hosed. Are there different kinds of allergies for different kinds of cats? I've lived with cats for most of my 30 years. They've slept with me, I've played with them, never had a problem. Picked two up from the rescue yesterday, and only one has come out from under the couch, and the last two days, within a half hour of petting and playing with him, I'm breaking out in itchy welts. This has never happened before. I'm going to have to at least probably take him back, but should I take both back? Maybe see if they can trade me for another? I don't know what to do, I've never had allergy issues with cats before.
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Mar 14, 2010 04:03
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