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At what point in not eating will a cat face health problems? (liver failure or something?) I moved houses with my cat (first time ever) and she's understandably stressed but she's only eating a tiny amount. She's always been free fed until I moved, and I put in her recommended breakfast (1/3 cup), but she only touched it for a couple bites. She didn't finish that so I didn't give her any dinner (another 1/3 cup). Rinse and repeat the past few days, she's only taking a few bites a day. Last night and this morning she threw up (bits of food in it so I know she ate while I wasn't looking, though still not even half of what she needs in a day). So I gave her some chicken to have something in her stomach. At what point of not eating is it vet time? I assume eating at least a little bit is loads better than eating nothing? And if I took her to the vet what would they do, tube-feed? I know one recommendation is to put water in her food and microwave it, but we didn't realize our house didn't have a microwave built in so it'll be another week or two until we get one to try that. I have no idea how I'd do it on the stove. e: She is drinking fine so that's a good sign. She has also pooped and peed!
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Aug 13, 2010 00:30
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Abbeh posted:I think I see the problem... Haha, yeah, I didn't phrase that too well. We don't leave our dogs outside by themselves, but we work mostly outside at home and if she doesn't have specific work to do, she'll wander off and find something to kill. It's pretty impossible to keep a close enough eye on her at all times and still get our work done. I'm thinking about putting a big kennel out for her or something so that it's not like she's locked up in the house all day, but she's not just totally loose either. I just hate to lock her up as with everything else she's really good and this is a really recent thing, only started in the last month. I guess I was more wondering if there was some need she has that I'm not meeting. She's kind of a crazy little dog.
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Aug 13, 2010 00:42
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drat Bananas posted:At what point in not eating will a cat face health problems? (liver failure or something?) If she refuses some stinky Fancy Feast, I would be worried that it's more than just the stress of moving, but in any case I would take her to the vet. They might syringe feed her. They may also want to run labwork to see how her liver is doing, and to see if something else is going on to make her not want to eat. They can also prescribe pills to stimulate her appetite which work really, really well in a lot of cases if it's just something like stress -- a much cheaper solution than dealing with hepatic lipidosis.
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Aug 13, 2010 01:07
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I'm moving into a new rental and it has a gloriously large washer and dryer. However, there is a good 4 5/8" gap between the washer and the side of the fridge - perfect for my drat under-the-bed cat to hide behind. Anyone have any big ideas for blocking a gap like this? I was thinking like a 4.5" PVC pipe cut to the height of the washer shoved vertically in the crack and then shimming with some cardboard, but I'm very open to other less hideous suggestions. Also the washer is 2 1/8" off the floor. Should I block this as well? Maybe one of those door draft protectors would work there? Anyone else had to block this prime hiding place off as well and has a good method to the madness? I'm probably worrying too much about this, but I could just see that drat cat going behind the thing and not coming out again for 3 months.
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Aug 13, 2010 04:32
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Crooked Booty posted:It varies a lot, but cats can get hepatic lipidosis eating anything less than ~50% of their daily required calories for a period of 2+ days (depending on the calories, the fatness of the cat, and who knows what else). What are you feeding her? 2/3 cup is a lot if it's a high calorie food, and 1/3 cup per day may be enough. I would offer her some canned food or something else stinky and see if she eats. I'm almost certain she's eating this: http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/products/cats/dry_food/senior_cat_hairball_formula/ (I threw out the bag when I poured it into a big food tupperware thing, but I know it's Chicken Soup of some kind) Which recommends 2/3, but if 1/3 is enough that makes me feel a lot better about the portions she has actually eaten. I'll see what kind of nasty canned food I can find at the grocery store tomorrow. Think I should mix in some of her kibble just so she's getting, you know, nutrition? Hah. Damn Bananas fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Aug 13, 2010 |
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Aug 13, 2010 04:46
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drat Bananas posted:I'm almost certain she's eating this:
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Aug 13, 2010 04:52
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For the 'heating up her food' thing, you could try boiling some water and then just mixing a little of the hot water in with the kibble. When it cools enough, give it to her. If you're really worried you could try feeding her tuna or something. Better for her to have something she doesn't normally have than to go hungry.
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Aug 13, 2010 09:03
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Do dogs get eye floaties? Zoso's been chasing invisible bugs all week. He'll look up, snap at nothing, look up more, snap again, etc. We've looked closely at his skin to make sure there are no fleas that could cause this, and if there were fruit flies I'd know because I hate those loving things. He just keeps going and going until I distract him with a treat. What the gently caress 
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Aug 13, 2010 13:57
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Abbeh posted:Do dogs get eye floaties? Zoso's been chasing invisible bugs all week. He'll look up, snap at nothing, look up more, snap again, etc. We've looked closely at his skin to make sure there are no fleas that could cause this, and if there were fruit flies I'd know because I hate those loving things. He just keeps going and going until I distract him with a treat. What the gently caress Fly snapping with no bugs can be a sign of seizures but if you can distract him with a treat that's probably not it. Could it be dust floating in a sunbeam or something?
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Aug 13, 2010 13:59
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I live in a flat, and have a neighbour who lives upstairs. He has an old dog who sits outside, all alone, in the front yard, for the better part of the day, everyday. This dog barks at people, scaring young children, and terrifying people who try to visit me, or deliver something, or even drop off the mail. I've been attacked by dogs in the past, so I'm frightened by barking dogs. Even though I've lived here for a year and a half, this dog still barks at me. Since the dog is in front yard, I'm forced to use the back door more often than not. Alas, this neighbour has live here for years so the landlord isn't doing anything. Since they both refuse to do anything about the dog, is there anything I can do to help this dog lose his territorial attitude? Is my only solution to move?
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Aug 13, 2010 15:09
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^^^ What does the dog look like when he's barking? Is his tail wagging or his ears up or something? It could be he wants attention. Have you tried interacting with it at all? Maybe bring some treats over and try to sweet talk the dog into being your buddy. My neighbors at my old apartment had a big old pit mix that was never socialized or even walked. It would just sit on their steps and bark at us. However if I got close to it, it would turn tail and run away crying. He was just confused and not vicious at all. He was also terrified of my beagle. Instant Jellyfish posted:Fly snapping with no bugs can be a sign of seizures but if you can distract him with a treat that's probably not it. Could it be dust floating in a sunbeam or something? Maybe, though he did it this morning with no light coming in from outside. Maybe he's still traumatized from a bee trying to steal his food the other day (I had to kick the bee - right in its FACE). Abbeh fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Aug 13, 2010 |
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Aug 13, 2010 16:53
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Abbeh posted:^^^ The dog doesn't wag his tail, and his ears aren't completely up either. His stance isn't friendly, it's aggressive, but he isn't charging anyone or pulling against his leash. He just stands tall, alert and stiff. The dog always barks at me, so I haven't managed to befriend him. However my husband grew up with dogs, so he eventually befriended the dog. I know it's possible to be on friendlier terms, but the dog frightens me and his owner is rarely present, so it's unnerving. I'm still concerned that the mailman doesn't always deliver our mail, since the dog is sitting in front of my door. Sometimes when we get food delivered to our house, the delivery man is frightened. (My husband has to meet him at the sidewalk.) Once you've been lectured by an angry chinese food delivery man holding your supper hostage, you see things in a new light. If I were to give the dog treats, what kind of treat is safe to give old dogs? If I ask my neighbour if the dog has food allergies, will that come off as creepy? Either way it's a good idea, and I'm starting to feel encouraged. edit: My husband tells me that sometimes he charges at people, so that's more aggressive than I thought. Should I be worried about my 6 month old niece coming to visit next month? Btw, sometimes my female cat acts like she can see things that aren't actually there. I think she's looking at tiny reflections on the walls, or dust particles, since she's still so young and active (aka crazy predator), but her brother is completely indifferent. It never concerned me, I thought she was just being a kitty, especially since their eyes are more attuned to movement than ours, it's hard to keep up with them. They also like to listen to our neighbours through the walls/ceiling. msViolet fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Aug 13, 2010 |
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Aug 13, 2010 17:54
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Crooked Booty posted:That stuff is pretty low calorie. If she's around ten pounds, she should be eating around 200 calories per day, so 1/2-2/3 cups. Their feeding guidelines actually look pretty accurate in terms of calories. I wouldn't bother mixing in her kibble -- even crappy canned food is nutritionally complete, and it's way more important that she eats something than that she eats something high quality. If she doesn't eat much tomorrow, I'd take her to the vet. She ate a third of the can of Fancy Feast in one sitting and got bored, so I'll try again in a couple hours. I also have some of her kibble soaking in the broth in the fridge, I'll heat that up tomorrow and see if I can transition her back to boring kibble. Side note: I knew that grocery store food was poo poo by PI standards, but I've never been a stickler for no corn/wheat/soy in ingredients so I figured I'd find something at the grocery store, but I didn't realize that EVERYTHING has "meat by-products" in it except two that I could find. In case anyone's curious they were Fancy Feast "Fish & Shrimp Feast (Flaked)" and Meow Mix "Market Select with Chicken breast in gravy" (but with added sugar? really?)
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Aug 13, 2010 23:16
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I'm getting my cat vaccinated for the first time (that I know of). I already did rabies, so I was going to do the FVCRP&C vaccine. Is it worth it to do Bordetella? She's going to be living with another cat soon, but that cat should theoretically be up to date on its shots too... e: Also, frontline plus or advantage? Lackadaisical fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Aug 15, 2010 |
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Aug 15, 2010 04:52
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Lackadaisical posted:I'm getting my cat vaccinated for the first time (that I know of). I already did rabies, so I was going to do the FVCRP&C vaccine. Is it worth it to do Bordetella? She's going to be living with another cat soon, but that cat should theoretically be up to date on its shots too... The FVRCP will need to be boostered if she's never had it before, so don't forget. I wouldn't bother with the bordatella unless you're planning to board her. For indoor cats I use advantage as it's cheaper and you won't see any ticks inside anyways. Honestly, if neither cat is going outside and you don't have a flea problem in the house, I'd give them both a dose after you move in and leave it at that until you get inspired a few times a year, but I'm lazy and cheap. YMMV.
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Aug 15, 2010 05:25
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Enelrahc posted:The FVRCP will need to be boostered if she's never had it before, so don't forget. I wouldn't bother with the bordatella unless you're planning to board her. The other cat is an indoor/outdoor cat but mine is (hopefully) going to be strictly indoor. I was going to take my cat to one of those cheap clinics. The kind they offer weekly at Petco (although I'm not going to the one at Petco since I know how awful that store is). I don't know if they can booster is. Is that going to be a problem?
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Aug 15, 2010 05:41
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Lackadaisical posted:The other cat is an indoor/outdoor cat but mine is (hopefully) going to be strictly indoor. Oh then yeah, do it monthly. I'd still just do the advantage. There should be a box that the mobile clinic will check on the form they give you - usually it's a carbon copy deal with boxes that indicate then the next one is due. The booster is due in 3-4 weeks, so just hit the same clinic on the same day the next month as those things generally have a pretty regular schedule. You might want to think about doing FeLV at the same time (which would need a booster on the same time frame), since the other cat is going outside. It's passed through cat saliva, so if the other cat picks it up, then your cat could get it through the water dish. The vaccine isn't 100% effective, but it's a good safeguard. The vaccine isn't normally given to indoor cats because of its incidence of vaccine related tumors is a bit higher than the other vaccines, but the benefits would outweigh the risk for you I'd think. Just make sure they inject it in the leg and not into the haunches or scruff - that goes for any vaccine really. The idea is that if they get a vaccine related tumor, they can amputate easily. It's rare as complications go, but worth the minimal extra effort to inject farther down the leg than many people tend to do.
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Aug 15, 2010 05:54
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 Thanks! That's incredibly helpful. And ya, I was going to do the FeLV and FIV as well. Better safe than sorry I figure!
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Aug 15, 2010 06:01
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Lackadaisical posted:
Just be aware that with the FIV, she will test positive if she ever has an FIV test. If you ever have to give her up for some reason or if she's ever lost and picked up by animal control, just make sure people know that she got the vaccine because it's pretty typical to euthanize for a positive FIV (it's a big reason why most people don't do it). So microchip her so that animal control would find you and contact you and not euthanize right off the bat. It's only passed through sexual contact or deep bite wounds, so risk of infection is very minimal for a spayed female cat.
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Aug 15, 2010 06:12
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Should I not have her vaccinated for it then?
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Aug 15, 2010 06:24
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Lackadaisical posted:Should I not have her vaccinated for it then? It's a personal decision you have to make based on the information available about the vaccine. This website gives a somewhat neutral and easy to read interpretation of the official AAFP stance on the vaccine. You can skip to the conclusion on that one if it's more medical talk than you can wade through.
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Aug 15, 2010 06:35
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Wow, that is really interesting. I didn't know any of that. I think I'm going to opt out of getting that vaccination. Last question since I won't be able to ask my vet before I take my cat tomorrow. We think my cat has asthma since the only symptom she presents is wheezing. We aren't treating her for it yet. Is that considered healthy enough to safely get vaccinated?
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Aug 15, 2010 06:44
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Lackadaisical posted:Wow, that is really interesting. I didn't know any of that. I think I'm going to opt out of getting that vaccination. You'd have to ask your vet about that to get a real answer because you'd need to know what was actually wrong with her. The mobile clinic will probably vaccinate her as long as she isn't looking sick, but just make sure you keep an eye on her for a few hours afterwards. If she starts having respiratory problems, then you'd want to get her to a vet right away.
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Aug 15, 2010 06:58
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My mom found a picture of a Shorkie and now wants to get one. I tried looking on petfinder for her but apparently there aren't any on there, and all the breeder websites for Shorkies look really unprofessional. There isn't even a wiki page for Shorkies. Is this a legit breed? Are there legit breeders that breed Shorkies? Thanks.
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Aug 15, 2010 15:06
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waar posted:My mom found a picture of a Shorkie and now wants to get one. I tried looking on petfinder for her but apparently there aren't any on there, and all the breeder websites for Shorkies look really unprofessional. There isn't even a wiki page for Shorkies. Is this a legit breed? Are there legit breeders that breed Shorkies? Thanks. No, they are not a legit breed, and there are no legit breeders who breed them. They're a designer cross (read: mutt) bred solely for their appearance with little to no attention paid to temperament or genetic soundness.
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Aug 15, 2010 15:10
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Thank you. Any good article about this that I can link to her?
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Aug 15, 2010 15:11
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This isn't a bad article (beware, it's a long one). http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/magazine/04dogs.t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2 The key issues are that when you mix two breeds together you're not automatically going to get the best of both strains. Purebred dogs have had enormous amounts of energy put into them to standardize everything from their appearance to their personalities. In mutts there's no way to determine what the puppies will be like until they've been born. And when unscrupulous breeders are breeding solely for cute, fad-ish dogs then they're not exhibiting any of the same control that was required to make the original breeds which they're crossing for profit. Plus often these breeders don't screen puppy homes thoroughly, and an alarming amount of these dogs will end up in shelters when the cute factor wears off. All in all it tends to result in unreliable "breeds" that people pay way too much money for. A good option is to adopt from a shelter or a rescue organization. There are loads of adorable dogs just waiting to be taken home -- and they lack the pretension of being "designer" dogs.
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Aug 15, 2010 15:35
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waar posted:My mom found a picture of a Shorkie and now wants to get one. I tried looking on petfinder for her but apparently there aren't any on there, and all the breeder websites for Shorkies look really unprofessional. There isn't even a wiki page for Shorkies. Is this a legit breed? Are there legit breeders that breed Shorkies? Thanks. I'm assuming a Shorkie is a Yorkshire Terrier/Shih Tzu Mix? So you could just check petfinder in your area for a mix of one of these breeds. And a life less pretty much summed up the wonderful world of mixed/"designer" backyard breeding. There are no reputable breeders of Shorkies, Maltipoos, Schnoodles, Wangdoodles, Vermicious Knids, etc.
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Aug 16, 2010 00:13
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To sum it up in simple terms to your mom: Designer dogs are a big fat scam.
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Aug 16, 2010 00:27
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There is a black cat outside my house, it appears to have a collar, it will not stop meowing. What should I do? Edit: It appears to be well groomed and clean KevinHeaven fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Aug 16, 2010 |
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Aug 16, 2010 04:09
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KevinHeaven posted:There is a black cat outside my house, it appears to have a collar, it will not stop meowing. What should I do? If you can coax it near you, see if it has tags. If it does, lure it with some tuna and call the owners. It's very likely someone's indoor cat that got out.
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Aug 16, 2010 04:33
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I gave it some tuna, but there is no tag on the collar... Now the cat is just sitting peacefully under my patio table in the rain.
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Aug 16, 2010 04:36
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What exactly should I tell someone to convince them not to let their big dog approach my small dog? The other morning, I was leaving my sister's house and still on her porch (right after her cat scratched Zoso's face, so he was already upset) and a guy walks by with a very hyper husky. He asks if Zoso is friendly, and I say not to bigger dogs. So naturally the guy lets his big husky run up to my beagle, and naturally Zoso freaks out and tries to bite the dog. I was on the tiny porch with nowhere to go, so I had to lift my poor guy up by his leash to get him away from the other dog. What more can I say? I said he wasn't friendly. We couldn't even back away or anything. I just feel like no one believes me when I tell them that my beagle is dog aggressive 
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Aug 16, 2010 13:50
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Abbeh posted:a guy walks by with a very hyper husky. Wow, what a dumbass. People like that piss me off, because obviously he's too  to own ANY dog, let alone a husky.  Maybe if you said more than just he's not friendly, as in, "He gets terrifies and attacks larger dogs," or something to that effect? Aside from that, I dunno what to tell you, the world is populated with idiots. :/
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Aug 16, 2010 15:23
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Tell them he is getting treated for rabies. Then smile.
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Aug 16, 2010 17:03
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It's been almost a year with our new cat and his poop is still yellow and he gets occasional diarrhea. I did a test with his poop (I wasn't entirely sure it was his poop) and it tested negative for parasites. My vet said it was likely due to stress of the other cat. They tolerate each other now. But I'm wondering if I should do another test for parasites or change the food or something.
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Aug 16, 2010 17:11
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What's he eating now? Crappy food makes crappy craps. Or he might have a sensitivity to one of the ingredients.
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Aug 16, 2010 17:49
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They're both on really good food (Innova dry).
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Aug 16, 2010 19:07
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It was a gorgeous husky, and really friendly. You'd think beagles would be more inclined to get along with other dogs, but I guess something went wrong a long time before we got him, and so far no training has made him better I like the rabies suggestion, but it's a pretty small town and I'd hate for that to backfire and get us in some sort of trouble - especially after we saw a rabid skunk the other day. Uhg.
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Aug 16, 2010 19:14
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Abbeh posted:It was a gorgeous husky, and really friendly. You'd think beagles would be more inclined to get along with other dogs, but I guess something went wrong a long time before we got him, and so far no training has made him better You pretty much need to be very forceful about it. You should be saying "He's aggresive" not "He's not friendly with big dogs". Then get between your dog and the other person/dog and tell them loudly to stop if they keep coming. It's better to make people think your dog (and you) is meaner than he really is than to have him get approached repeatedly by other dogs. Even if he never hurts any of them it lets him rehearse bad behaviors. It sucks having to act like an rear end in a top hat just because other people won't use common sense, but it is the unfortunate reality. People never want to believe that my lab could be dog aggressive either ("but it's a lab!").
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Aug 16, 2010 20:45
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