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RheaConfused posted:Yes, it's a very commonly recommended treatment for feline herpes, which causes runny eyes, but if you haven't been to a vet yet to be formally diagnosed you should definitely go. (in the US at least) Well, I'm taking them in tomorrow, but now that I've looked it up, it seems like that's what it's for. Thanks to all of you. Like I think I said earlier, I'm new to the whole... being in charge of their care thing.
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Nov 30, 2011 07:34
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Since a lot of the top differentials for feline upper respiratory infection are viral, antibiotics (either systemic or topical) often aren't really indicated unless the discharge is thick/green/yellowish which may indicate a bacterial co-infection. When people say "runny eyes" I usually think of just watery secretion. So just saying a vet isn't necessarily "wrong" for not prescribing antibiotic eye drops/ointment in a cat with runny eyes. If they believe it's primarily viral, at least.
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Nov 30, 2011 09:03
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Nono, my vets never prescribe it as a fix, it's usually prescribed as a preventative measure, if they can stop the eyes becoming infected in any way then they do but I asked my vet today over the phone and he said it's safer to just let it pass on its own except in extreme cases because it will go away and usually pill intervention isn't needed and since we don't fully know the effect it could have on their organs in the long run you won't find many UK vets who will prescribe anything but preventative eye drops for cat flu but he did some work in the US apparently and admitted that he did prescribe small doses of human pain killers and such because it's a much more common practise over there but when he came to England he did the same, only once and the owner freaked out because she thought if the pet needed "human strength" pills it must be dying, I guess that's us paranoid Brits for you  Is there anyone who's been prescribed pills who just puts the pill down the cats mouth instead of crushing it up? I always worried that crushing it into food rather than taking the pill in its whole form would make it less effective somehow, does anyone know is there's any truth to that? My worming pills taste like beef so the cats just swallow them but with other pills I just hold them under my arm, open the mouth, stick it down, hold their mouths shut and blow on their nose to make them swallow, does it make ANY difference if it's crushed into food? Other than being easier.
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Nov 30, 2011 16:29
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Sometimes my cat's pupils get very large, he meows like he's nervous or upset and starts pouncing on me and biting in a not-playful manner. Does anyone know what causes him to act like this? Normally he is incredibly friendly, and loves getting pet and sitting on me. edit: he's about 2 1/2 years old, male, has been neutered, all his shots, good health, etc.
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Nov 30, 2011 18:27
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Our office cat is a Mackerel tabby. She has a nice striped, spotted pattern in her coat. My question is how does her coat have individual hairs that have different colors throughout? For example the base of the hair is black, then golden. Then black again. I'm curious as to how cats, or really any animal do this? Chang half a hair color then back again. Anyone have a good article on this?
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Nov 30, 2011 18:53
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Vomax posted:Sometimes my cat's pupils get very large, he meows like he's nervous or upset and starts pouncing on me and biting in a not-playful manner. Does anyone know what causes him to act like this? Normally he is incredibly friendly, and loves getting pet and sitting on me. Does anything trigger this? Like while you're petting him or anything or is just just out of no where? Behavior changes in cats can be related to something medical, and are usually the first signs of something being wrong. It wouldn't be a bad idea to bring him by the vet for a look over just to make sure.
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Nov 30, 2011 19:08
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PolarKitt posted:Is there anyone who's been prescribed pills who just puts the pill down the cats mouth instead of crushing it up? I always worried that crushing it into food rather than taking the pill in its whole form would make it less effective somehow, does anyone know is there's any truth to that? My worming pills taste like beef so the cats just swallow them but with other pills I just hold them under my arm, open the mouth, stick it down, hold their mouths shut and blow on their nose to make them swallow, does it make ANY difference if it's crushed into food? Other than being easier. They sell these things called pill pockets here. They're basically treats with holes in them which you stuff pills into. It worked alright with my (old) cat for a few days, until he figured out how to just eat the pill pocket and spit the pill back out. Still, it makes giving whole pills easier. I don't think there's a significant difference in non time-release pills if they get it in food vs. getting it ground up, but I really don't know for sure.
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Nov 30, 2011 19:52
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PolarKitt posted:Nono, my vets never prescribe it as a fix, it's usually prescribed as a preventative measure, if they can stop the eyes becoming infected in any way then they do but I asked my vet today over the phone and he said it's safer to just let it pass on its own except in extreme cases because it will go away and usually pill intervention isn't needed and since we don't fully know the effect it could have on their organs in the long run you won't find many UK vets who will prescribe anything but preventative eye drops for cat flu but he did some work in the US apparently and admitted that he did prescribe small doses of human pain killers and such because it's a much more common practise over there but when he came to England he did the same, only once and the owner freaked out because she thought if the pet needed "human strength" pills it must be dying, I guess that's us paranoid Brits for you I don't know if you're referring to lysine here, but it's not used as a pain killer. Basically, by giving lysine, the virus doesn't get enough arginine and it dies, so theoretically giving lysine helps cats get over a herpes breakout. Also, it doesn't have to be in pill form. Last time I took a cat in for runny eyes, the vet gave me lysine treats to feed to the cat instead of lysine pills. The cat liked them a lot; no pilling required.
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Nov 30, 2011 20:27
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PolarKitt posted:Is there anyone who's been prescribed pills who just puts the pill down the cats mouth instead of crushing it up? I always worried that crushing it into food rather than taking the pill in its whole form would make it less effective somehow, does anyone know is there's any truth to that? My worming pills taste like beef so the cats just swallow them but with other pills I just hold them under my arm, open the mouth, stick it down, hold their mouths shut and blow on their nose to make them swallow, does it make ANY difference if it's crushed into food? Other than being easier.
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Nov 30, 2011 20:34
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tronester posted:Our office cat is a Mackerel tabby. She has a nice striped, spotted pattern in her coat. If you really want your mind blown, think about bird feathers. The microscopic structure and development of feathers is pretty insane even without considering color, but feathers can have really complex color patterns. With birds, not only do they have melanocytes depositing pigments into the feather as it develops, but they're also making those reflective/irridescent colors by a completely different method involving microscopic textures of the barbules creating refraction patterns. So with some irridescent bird feathers, if you smash the feather with a hammer, the color will disappear.  Now you should go get a peacock feather and contemplate it for a while. 
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Nov 30, 2011 20:36
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tronester posted:Our office cat is a Mackerel tabby. She has a nice striped, spotted pattern in her coat. http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/catstut6.jpeg If the color changes 1/2 way up the hair, the cat has 'smoke' coloring.
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Nov 30, 2011 20:36
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Vomax posted:Sometimes my cat's pupils get very large, he meows like he's nervous or upset and starts pouncing on me and biting in a not-playful manner. Does anyone know what causes him to act like this? Normally he is incredibly friendly, and loves getting pet and sitting on me. The wikipedia page about cat coat genetics has lots of big words I don't understand, but I assume to be the answer to this question. From what I gather they just have magical proteins that change the color of the hair as it's growing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_coat_genetics#Genes_involved_in_fur_pattern_and_shading Now I'm gonna really blow your mind. Did you know if you were to shave your cat, the pattern would still be there on its skin? Not only do the hairs band in color appropriately to have that coat, but it matches their skin color too.
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Nov 30, 2011 20:55
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wraithgar posted:Now I'm gonna really blow your mind. Did you know if you were to shave your cat, the pattern would still be there on its skin? Not only do the hairs band in color appropriately to have that coat, but it matches their skin color too. I did not realize this until my cat got shaved for surgery. It was a neat surprise.
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Nov 30, 2011 21:07
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wraithgar posted:The wikipedia page about cat coat genetics has lots of big words I don't understand, but I assume to be the answer to this question. From what I gather they just have magical proteins that change the color of the hair as it's growing. Another cat, an orange marbled tuxedo kitty, has the same sort of super long fur but it's white or orange so it blends in better. But if you touch that fur and only that fur it's like hitting a funny bone or something and he freaks out. We called that "fur attack" and sometimes did that just for our own amusement (bad owners, BAD!)
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Nov 30, 2011 21:20
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Kerfuffle posted:Does anything trigger this? Like while you're petting him or anything or is just just out of no where? Behavior changes in cats can be related to something medical, and are usually the first signs of something being wrong. It wouldn't be a bad idea to bring him by the vet for a look over just to make sure. I guess it's usually after he's been cuddling for a while. Like he'll fall asleep on me for 20-30 minutes, then when he gets up he hops down on the floor and stares at me for a couple seconds before freaking out. He's about due for a checkup anyway so I'll run it past the vet.
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Nov 30, 2011 22:01
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pandaid posted:might not be what you're describing, but this is about cat coloring Actually the banded individual hair pattern of a tabby cat (the brown on bottom, yellow in middle and brown on top) is agouti. Same as that of many wild animals such as wolves and mice, and some breeds of dogs too. It is much as Crooked Booty describes. The brown pigment is called eumelanin and the yellow pigment is called pheomelanin and they are derived from the same precursors and are the only two hair/skin pigments that we and pretty much all animals with hair/fur have. Variation in coat color boils down to the concentration and distribution of these two pigments both on the individual hairs and over the animal's entire body. In agouti animals, eumelanin is deposited on the hair at the beginning of hair growth, then there is a switch to pheomelanin and then back to eumelanin. The specific transporters involved and regulators of this switching have actually been identified and studied but I won't bore you with the details. So to have a non-agouti (often called solid or self colored) dog such as a lab the first thing that needs to be "turned off" genetically is this switching. Topoisomerase fucked around with this message at 22:13 on Nov 30, 2011 |
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Nov 30, 2011 22:09
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The vet used the worm/flea/tick drops on my 8 week old kitten yesterday. I'm glad I locked her up in the bathroom last night and today as the poor critter has been throwing up 3 inch worms. Yuck! I imagine her appetite and weight gain will increase now. I've had her for two weeks and she's still a skinny little thing.
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Nov 30, 2011 22:20
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Braki posted:I don't know if you're referring to lysine here. No I was just mentioning that my vet worked in the US and he used to give pain killers that were used for humans in small doses to his patients again I'm pretty sure we don't have Lysine in the UK, probably some variant of it or name differently but I've definitely never seen it before this thread. Esmerelda posted:Holland See everyone I ask says they have to hide pills, with my dogs we do but they eat it so quickly they usually didn't have time to realize there were pills in there, my cats are pretty easy actually, they wriggle a little bit but aren't violent in any way so the pill goes in fine. I've been recommended pill pockets by the vets and to wrap it in treats but I don't need to and they seem to realize if they eat the thing that isn't a treat they get a treat afterwards and it's easier than fighting :P
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Nov 30, 2011 22:30
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At first I thought it was super cute that Nibbler hid behind the curtain on our bathroom window, because he would only attack your foot if you got right up against the curtain (which doesn't really happen due to its placement). This morning I walked past the curtain at a distance of several feet and he lunged out and grabbed my bare foot. I think the curtains are getting hemmed. He's very good about not attacking feet outright, but if the foot is on the other side of a blanket or curtain, it's fair game. I don't think he even realizes it's attached to a person until it's too late to abort the pounce.
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Nov 30, 2011 23:49
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How do you get a cat to eat that doesn't want to eat? I just got my cat back from the vet after dental surgery(has only the two top canines left) for Stomatitis. She had a weeks hospitalization, and the vet said she started eating a little there. Since she's been home, she ate around 6 kibble pieces, and nothing else. She has decided she no longer likes wet food, and is very picky about dry food. I tried wetting the food to make it easier for her, but any changes to the food and she thinks it's medicine and never eats that type of food again. How do I get her to eat?
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Dec 1, 2011 00:21
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Dilber posted:How do you get a cat to eat that doesn't want to eat? I just got my cat back from the vet after dental surgery(has only the two top canines left) for Stomatitis. She had a weeks hospitalization, and the vet said she started eating a little there. Since she's been home, she ate around 6 kibble pieces, and nothing else. She has decided she no longer likes wet food, and is very picky about dry food. I tried wetting the food to make it easier for her, but any changes to the food and she thinks it's medicine and never eats that type of food again. How do I get her to eat?
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Dec 1, 2011 00:38
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Dilber posted:How do you get a cat to eat that doesn't want to eat? I just got my cat back from the vet after dental surgery(has only the two top canines left) for Stomatitis. She had a weeks hospitalization, and the vet said she started eating a little there. Since she's been home, she ate around 6 kibble pieces, and nothing else. She has decided she no longer likes wet food, and is very picky about dry food. I tried wetting the food to make it easier for her, but any changes to the food and she thinks it's medicine and never eats that type of food again. How do I get her to eat? Try warming up some of this:  Cats don't taste as much as they smell. Warm food smells better, the stinkier the better. Also if her teeth hurt the puree of baby food is still easy to eat. Get food in your cat please, even if you have to use a food syringe. Cats who don't eat die faster than you'd think possible. Also call your vet if you're worried.
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Dec 1, 2011 00:43
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My two month old kitten loves to sit in my lap and I did not mind but it is becoming a serious problem and I do not know how what to do. She is stepping on my balls and that freaking hurts. I don't want to teach her not to sit in my lap but do I have any other option? I am pretty sure googling for other people with this issue has me on some sort of beastiality watch list, by the way. I now live in fear and must cup my balls whenever I hear the pitter patter of little feet, lest any moment she may pounce on them in her scramble into my lap. Diogines fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Dec 1, 2011 |
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Dec 1, 2011 04:30
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You'll just learn to proactively guard your balls whenever you cat comes near you/shifts its weight/gets up to leave. I'm sure my Raja is a much fatter gently caress than your kitten, and I've been able to avoid any incidents for a couple of months now. Good luck!
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Dec 1, 2011 04:36
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She may be sleeping in one room and moments later make a mad dash for my crotch....
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Dec 1, 2011 04:38
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Buy a cup? Put a bell on her? Sorry for the flippant replies, I just haven't found anything to deter my own ball stomper, so I'm not sure there is any magic remedy v v
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Dec 1, 2011 05:07
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SupahCoolX posted:Assuming no dietary restrictions with the medical conditions: What about putting some tuna (or other treat) on the food? Or giving her a little of that separately to whet her appetite, then luring her to the food with it? She won't eat of it. I've been trying. The second anything that isn't her food touches the dish, she refuses to eat it, and won't eat anything later either. wraithgar posted:Try warming up some of this: I'm in China, and the baby food I've found has Taro in it, which I think is poisonous to cats. It's really hard to tell because the internet has nothing on the tuber, but says the plant is poisonous. I have an emergency calorie thing to give her if she completely doesn't eat, but that's a last resort because it's mainly just fat. *edit* I just found a store that has that specific baby food. I'll see if she'll eat it, no matter how expensive it is 
Dilber fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Dec 1, 2011 |
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Dec 1, 2011 05:21
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Had my new kitty (we decided to name her Molly) taken to the vet today. Other than getting her de-wormed (which I've noticed has made her tummy seem less bloated), she's a perfectly healthy 7-week old kitten. Now it's just booster shots in a week or two.
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Dec 1, 2011 07:11
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Klungar posted:Buy a cup? Put a bell on her? Sorry for the flippant replies, I just haven't found anything to deter my own ball stomper, so I'm not sure there is any magic remedy v Well, there are some remedies but they are pretty magical, which doesn't necessarily make them practical. My kitty-cat Jackie used to be pretty merciless when it came to this sort of thing, and the fact that when I first got her she weighed about 18 pounds (down to 13.5 now!) didn't much help. That meant that when she stepped on me down there with one of her front paws (complete with 7 sharp-as-gently caress claws on it, drat polydactyls) it generally had the capacity to result in tremendous pain on a number of levels. I think my initial reaction when that first happened (screaming bloody murder and spasming in pain followed by 10 minutes of crying and moaning) made her realize that she'd done something that caused me pain, and taught me to instinctively cover my balls anytime she was walking in the vicinity. The combination has worked, because we've both been more cautious and my genitalia have remained considerably safer. Of course, I've got like the sweetest and most considerate and sensitive and awesome kitty in the world (  ) so I don't know if it's a solution that works for everyone - "get your cat to stop walking in a cavalier manner over your crotch by having her realize that it can cause you a great deal of pain" could be tough to pull off. You should see her in that situation though, it's amazing- she behaves REALLY carefully and cautiously, and always looks at me expectantly before crossing my lap so I can make appropriate arrangements to protect myself. But she's usually very much aware of where she should and shouldn't step. I love my kitty so much 
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Dec 1, 2011 07:14
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Things to do: 1. Buy a bell. 2. Perform a piece of performance art for the benefit of my cat, to fake immense pain and hope she realizes why.
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Dec 1, 2011 13:24
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Thank you so much for the suggestion for that specific baby food! She ate almost the whole container in one sitting. How much should I give her a day? She's just over 3 KG. It'll be expensive(around 5-6 bucks each bottle) but worth it to get her fed! I'm a bit worried about taurine deficiency, but it's just good to get her eating. Hopefully once she feels better she'll eat cat food again. Payment is now given in pictures. This is Rosie(formerly Breakfast). She's named after my Grandma now because neither of them have bottom teeth.    This was her when we first took her in. She was really, really sick and weak.    This was her eating tonight: She's still fairly thin because she's had a hard time eating for a while and lost some weight, and had surgery last week to remove all but two of her teeth due to Stomatitis.    Here is my other cat, Dinner. I have a sick sense of humor, and he's a Chinese cat. He was the first stray I took in here.     Here's the two of them together. This is as nice as they are. Dinner's kinda a dick to her still.   I hope this counts as enough payment for help rendered, and if not there's more. 
Dilber fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Dec 1, 2011 |
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Dec 1, 2011 14:11
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Dilber posted:yaaay cat pictures Try mixing in her normal wet food now, not like puree'd together but loosely mashed together. The idea is to transition her back to her wet food, with the assumption that she was just being a typical not-hungry-so-I-will-starve-myself cat. Really, if you can't get her back to her normal wet food soon it's vet time even if she'll eat the baby food. The baby food is mostly a 'eat and don't die' stopgap. I'm very glad your cat is eating.
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Dec 1, 2011 17:22
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AquarianFire posted:Ack! Now I'm finding out that she tested slightly positive for FeLV. That's worse, isn't it? The vet he took her to said that the line for positive was very faint, that she should be tested later and that she might not really have it. True or not true? This is an older post but I just wanted to say that Mia is 100% clear of both FeLV & FIV (and now completely spayed!). w000t! Also, she's become more and more "loving" since her surgery (which was only 2 days ago). She's healing well and as happy as can be. =)
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Dec 2, 2011 05:58
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In light of the cat puke thread...is there anything to look out for when it comes to cat puke? Indy happened to barf up her dinner tonight and it's the first time that this has happened in the 6 months I've had her. A couple hours later she hurked again but only a bit of watery mucus came up. Is this just normal, kitty ate too fast and then had a barf activity? Anything I should look out for as a sign to call the vet? She seems fine now. It's weird, with the cats I grew up with I just took cat barf to be a typical part of life, but now with my own cat one good hurk and I'm paranoid. 
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Dec 2, 2011 09:07
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- Age 2 - Sex F - How long have you had your cat? 1 week - Is your cat spayed or neutered? Yes - What food do you use? Fancy feast wet, slowly mixing in Innova which she doesnt eat at first but finishes later. Costco dry, this will be upgraded soon. I don't know which specific type so just assume the cheapest house brand. - When was your last vet visit? 4 months - Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? Indoors - How many pets in your household? 1 - How many litter boxes do you have? 1 My cat kneads a lot, which wouldn't be so bad but she rarely uses the cardboard scratching post. Which is the same type she had at the fosters home. I will be trying some different types come payday for that issue. Been working on getting her used to paw touching, managed to clip 1 front claw so far. Back claws she doesn't seem to care about. But is kneading a lot a problem? She does it constantly when sitting on my lap until she calms down, or just when half dozing on a chair. I've even seen her knead the air a few times. Kneading might not even be the right word, she slowly extends and retracts her claws, almost like she is flexing them. She seems to like doing it on my jeans/fabric chair mostly. She isn't actually scratching, just poking tiny holes which can be uncomfortable when sitting in my lap. ChaiCalico fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Dec 2, 2011 |
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Dec 2, 2011 18:56
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madpanda posted:But is kneading a lot a problem? She does it constantly when sitting on my lap until she calms down, or just when half dozing on a chair. I've even seen her knead the air a few times. Kneading might not even be the right word, she slowly extends and retracts her claws, almost like she is flexing them. She's happy. That's what cats do as kittens to get milk from momcat. Sometimes it means that adult cats were separated from their mom too early, but I don't think that's always the case. The technical term is "making biscuits".
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Dec 2, 2011 19:11
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Clip them claws, they're like fingernails. Get yourself a pair of these and just snip the tips off.
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Dec 2, 2011 19:20
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Aelia posted:Well, I'm taking them in tomorrow, but now that I've looked it up, it seems like that's what it's for. Just checking in post vet-visit. I realized I hadn't done that. He's got Feline Herpes, and was prescribed Terramycin & Idoxuridine eye goop. The vet also suggested continuing the L-Lysine, (250 mg. twice a day) since it should help. We also trimmed his claws pretty far, since he's not conscientious about retracting them when jumping onto laps, and my knees are already pretty torn up. The trimming seems to have helped, and the moral of the story is that I need to trim them considerably shorter than I had been. The vet suggested an EmeryCat. Is amazon the cheapest place to get those? (Edit: They've got a cat tree, and they're seemingly very happy to scratch at the sisal posts. Would this really be a necessary addition?) Also, do any of you feed your cats Tiki Cat, and where do you find it the cheapest? Edit: This is Patrick. He does not like eye goop, but he will put up with it. 
Aelia fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Dec 2, 2011 |
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Dec 2, 2011 19:51
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Aelia posted:The vet suggested an EmeryCat. Is amazon the cheapest place to get those?
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Dec 2, 2011 20:08
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duckfarts posted:Just looked up what an EmeryCat is, and it's just a cardboard scratcher, nothing more. Any cardboard scratcher will do (no brand name is necessary)- cats love them. You may need a vacuum handy though, as they'll get shredded up over time. If your cats dig sisal, that's fine too. There was some other scratcher mentioned that incorporated some hard material to help file down sharp nails or something, but I don't recall the product nor have I checked it out to see if it's any good or not. Yeah, when I looked up emerycat it was just a cardboard scratcher, but it seemed rather expensive for just cardboard. I think she may have meant an emery-board like thing? You know, a nail file. I'm sure I've seen those in a few PI pictures.
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Dec 2, 2011 20:32
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