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My older cat is reaching the end stage of her life, with the beginning phases of kidney failure and hyperthyroidism. As expected she began to ramp up her water intake, but this past weekend she began to struggle to poop. So I took her to the e-vet and was told she was 8% dehydrated, despite all the water glasses she decimates during the day! So the water is going in and right back out - the solution being subcutaneous fluids. Alright, fine, they're cheap enough and looks easy enough, got all set up and began this week. Today was formal Day One of me administering the fluids and as expected it wasn't as easy as the vet made it appear. She wizened up real quick to my distracting methods and flinched upon needle entry and made multiple (some successful, tearing the needle out) attempts to run away. Now, she's super skinny (6lbs) for a variety of end-of-life reasons that I'm working to change, but in the mean time she has very little loose skin for me to pinch and stick the needle in. I'm super worried I'm doing it wrong and hurting her, as she didn't react near so violently at the vet's. My friend says "she's just a cat" re: her running away, and it's very likely she was paralyzed with fear when she's not at home. Is there some sweet lifehack trick I'm missing? I'm following the vet's instructions and demonstrations to the letter, minus some struggling in finding skin / scruff to pinch. I really don't wanna hurt my cat, but she also needs these fluids.
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May 15, 2015 04:15
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She's probably just a cat, and your friend is right. Just make sure you're not making an intra-muscular injection by accident, because I believe that is much more painful, unless I'm attributing to myself more accidental cruelty than is the case because my memory is fuzzy. My lifehack was to volunteer a relative to hold my cat very tightly. 
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May 15, 2015 04:27
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asymmetrical posted:My older cat is reaching the end stage of her life, with the beginning phases of kidney failure and hyperthyroidism. As expected she began to ramp up her water intake, but this past weekend she began to struggle to poop. So I took her to the e-vet and was told she was 8% dehydrated, despite all the water glasses she decimates during the day! So the water is going in and right back out - the solution being subcutaneous fluids. Alright, fine, they're cheap enough and looks easy enough, got all set up and began this week. Sorry about the plight of your cat and good on you for opting to administer fluids subcutaneously. Doing needle stuff on a very dumb cat and a very smart cat, I found that both settled after a few episodes of treatment. Diabetic dumb cat and smart kidney failure cat both seemed to realize that they felt better afterward and got into the routine. Cats love routine anyway, so if you can do it at consistent times it will help. When I had to do subcutaneous fluids for the kidney failure cat, I put her near the corner of a drafting desk (height helps) so I could use my left arm to crook around the front of her body and face to prevent bolting and used my left hand to hold the needle site. It's an awkward move, but after a few times she settled into it and learned to stay still. I hung the solution bag from a light stand so I could have both hands free for scritches and to catch her if she suddenly decided to get up once the needle was in. I'll admit, though, that part of the reason why it got easier over time was that she was declining. The fluids did give her an extended time with me, for which I'm grateful, and she spent the end of that time at home.
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May 15, 2015 06:46
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asymmetrical posted:Is there some sweet lifehack trick I'm missing? I'm following the vet's instructions and demonstrations to the letter, minus some struggling in finding skin / scruff to pinch. I really don't wanna hurt my cat, but she also needs these fluids. Yeah. This isn't very nice but gently caress it, your cat is dying. Deactivate your cat by putting a food bag closing clip on the scruff of their neck. After that just hold them down and stick the loving needle in, it's 100% a 2-person job. I had to do this around christmas time to our dying cat and he didn't complain much, but yeah it's squicky and you need to just shove it in there but make sure it doesn't go all the way through and out the other side, either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9TmmF79Rw0 My question: we have got our cats LOVING orijen cat and kitten dry food. But they love that dry food so loving much. We try to give them dry food and also wet food. They're super picky with the wet food though? We give them wellness wet and have gone through tons of flavours finding out what they all like, but man they're picky. The two they like are 'chicken and herring' and 'turkey and salmon'. Can anyone recommend some kind of healthy wet food that cats go crazy for? edit: we did our dying cat in the bath, put his little cat bed in the bath, put him on the cat bed and hung the drip up on the shower curtain rail. My wife read the liquid measurement readout while I did the needle stuff. Since the vet said 'too much liquid will kill him', it was important we stopped the flow at the right time redreader fucked around with this message at 08:01 on May 15, 2015 |
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May 15, 2015 07:58
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redreader posted:Yeah. This isn't very nice but gently caress it, your cat is dying. Deactivate your cat by putting a food bag closing clip on the scruff of their neck. After that just hold them down and stick the loving needle in, it's 100% a 2-person job. I had to do this around christmas time to our dying cat and he didn't complain much, but yeah it's squicky and you need to just shove it in there but make sure it doesn't go all the way through and out the other side, either. Wild Calling is p good. http://wildcalling.com/
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May 15, 2015 08:01
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redreader posted:...Can anyone recommend some kind of healthy wet food that cats go crazy for?... At the risk of repeating myself in this thread: Fussie Cat. I order mine through Amazon since it's not available locally.
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May 15, 2015 08:10
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Thanks, I ordered some fussie cat from amazon. It made me think though: why the gently caress don't people feed cats tuna or whatever? is there a reason to not feed your cat tuna or cans of <some normal fish>?
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May 15, 2015 08:57
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I'm gonna guess it's the salt, although I don't believe I've ever tried cat food (or in sufficient quantity to remember) to tell how much difference there is.
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May 15, 2015 10:11
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I feed my cats canned tuna in springwater occasionally as a treat but afaik doing that all the time will be bad because it's lacking a few cat-required nutrients.
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May 15, 2015 10:14
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So, they spent all night with us in the bedroom. Freyja slept on my computer chair and Loki curled next to my wife. This AM he chased her into the kitchen and was hissing and growling but no contact. Later on, she tried to come out of the kitchen and he was there and he got into it with her. He chased her through the living room, both cats screaming and running, I squirted some water but the two morons flew under the bed and scuffled before I was able to coax him out with the laser pointer. She looks OK, no visible cuts or anything. They had been sleeping in the same room for about an hour now. Him on the bed her on the high ground (dresser) and he was able to leave. On his return she was growling and hissing and he got scared and dashed under the bed. I am really discouraged as it's been over a week now since her vet visit and they are still really tense around each other. We were able to give them treats yesterday for staying in the same room with out fighting but I don't know if this will ever work itself out at this point. I just don't want any of them being hurt. There has been some statue-like staring contests going on now as well. I try to break them up by distracting them but they look away momentarily then back at each other. I'm sorry to keep going on about this but I am just really concerned. Should I just keep them separated and restart the process? I don't feel like that really solved anything. Do I let them settle it (although everywhere says not to)?
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May 15, 2015 18:09
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Funkysauce posted:I'm sorry to keep going on about this but I am just really concerned. Should I just keep them separated and restart the process? I don't feel like that really solved anything. Do I let them settle it (although everywhere says not to)? The standard advice in this thread is generally pretty much 'as long as they're not drawing blood or screaming in pain, leave them to it'. Hissing and growling, yowling and swatting at each other is just how cats sort out their social hierarchy, such as it is. If you keep trying to intervene or separate them, you're just making the process take longer. Keep an eye on them, but don't rush in every time they raise a paw to the other.
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May 15, 2015 19:32
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Funkysauce posted:So, they spent all night with us in the bedroom. Freyja slept on my computer chair and Loki curled next to my wife. This AM he chased her into the kitchen and was hissing and growling but no contact. Later on, she tried to come out of the kitchen and he was there and he got into it with her. He chased her through the living room, both cats screaming and running, I squirted some water but the two morons flew under the bed and scuffled before I was able to coax him out with the laser pointer. I am not a cat expert but you're clearly not happy so I'll say what I think: don't let them fight if they're really going for it. Get feliway asap and use it. Also you may want to consider re-introducing them as if one of them is a new cat. edit: or what the person above me said. redreader fucked around with this message at 19:59 on May 15, 2015 |
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May 15, 2015 19:56
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floofyscorp posted:The standard advice in this thread is generally pretty much 'as long as they're not drawing blood or screaming in pain, leave them to it'. Hissing and growling, yowling and swatting at each other is just how cats sort out their social hierarchy, such as it is. If you keep trying to intervene or separate them, you're just making the process take longer. Keep an eye on them, but don't rush in every time they raise a paw to the other. After posting that, I found blood in the living room. I can post pictures, there are bunch of splatters and a few fingernail sized drops. She always used to scream like she was being murdered even before this, when he'd go to play with her but I figure this is actually hurting her. I don't know if this is because she has been shorn for the summer or what but I'm still keeping them together to see if it happens again.
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May 15, 2015 20:01
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My 2 cats have been doing something very similar recently, totally out of the blue a few nights ago me and my wife were woken by incredibly angry yelling/hissing from them. They only actually made contact briefly before we broke them up, no blood as far as I can tell, just a few tufts of fur. It happened yesterday night and this afternoon as well. The rest of the day they apparently have no issue with each other and after the shouting match they seemed ok, if a bit tense and stand-offish. All 3 days it's started in the room we keep their litterbox in, although I don't know if that's relevant in any way, I don't think anything has changed in there or anywhere to explain the sudden change in behavior.
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May 15, 2015 21:23
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Funkysauce posted:After posting that, I found blood in the living room. I can post pictures, there are bunch of splatters and a few fingernail sized drops. She always used to scream like she was being murdered even before this, when he'd go to play with her but I figure this is actually hurting her. Our cat and kitten still fight a little, but them fighting and the kitten screaming in pain/fear have stopped mostly since we got feliway. They even sniffed a bit the other day:  That picture shows an amazing breaktrhrough. Somebody fucked around with this message at 23:55 on May 22, 2015 |
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May 15, 2015 21:25
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Arriviste posted:At the risk of repeating myself in this thread: Fussie Cat. I order mine through Amazon since it's not available locally. Literally my apartment right now:  It's all my cat will eat, other than stolen mozzarella  redreader posted:Thanks, I ordered some fussie cat from amazon. It made me think though: why the gently caress don't people feed cats tuna or whatever? is there a reason to not feed your cat tuna or cans of <some normal fish>? Cat foods have added vitamins and amino acids (particularly taurine) that aren't present in canned tuna intended for people. potee fucked around with this message at 01:20 on May 16, 2015 |
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May 16, 2015 01:14
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asymmetrical posted:Is there some sweet lifehack trick I'm missing? I'm following the vet's instructions and demonstrations to the letter, minus some struggling in finding skin / scruff to pinch. I really don't wanna hurt my cat, but she also needs these fluids. If you can get another person you absolutely should. One person to administer fluids and the other to prevent fleeing / comfort the cat / whatever makes life so much easier, and gives you an extra hand for holding the bag and shutting off the flow and all the other poo poo you need to do while also keeping a cat calm. Feed your cat immediately after or give treats and they'll accept it reasonably quickly I think. One other think I found helpful is that my cat toward the end really enjoyed being under the covers, especially his blanket so we would just wrap him up like a Hot Pocket and leave a little opening for his face so he could be pet and comforted and another little spot to put the needle in. Helped dramatically at keeping him calm and in one place. redreader posted:That picture shows an amazing breaktrhrough. Breakthrough the tables more like it. Cute cats though 
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May 16, 2015 01:16
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Any advice for how large a room should be if introducing kittens to a home? I feel like a bathroom is too small, but it's either that or a bedroom. I'm thinking about going with the bedroom and just sleeping on a couch for a few days so I won't distress them. Any suggestions on keeping them away from under the bed?
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May 16, 2015 02:23
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demota posted:Any advice for how large a room should be if introducing kittens to a home? I feel like a bathroom is too small, but it's either that or a bedroom. I'm thinking about going with the bedroom and just sleeping on a couch for a few days so I won't distress them. Any suggestions on keeping them away from under the bed? The main thing will be having you around as a source of reassurance and comfort. Maybe overnight in the bathroom with the litterbox and some water, but I've never really had much problem with cats getting acclimated to a new place. Go with how they react. If they're bold and curious, let them go and explore. If they seem scared and overwhelmed, limit their environment for a while.
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May 16, 2015 02:43
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I hadn't really considered myself as a source of comfort. I assumed they'd be terrified of me. I guess I'll see how they deal with me before evicting myself for their sake.
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May 16, 2015 03:10
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demota posted:I hadn't really considered myself as a source of comfort. I assumed they'd be terrified of me. I guess I'll see how they deal with me before evicting myself for their sake. Spend a lot of time with them when you first get them home - cuddles, pets, playing, etc. Don't overwhelm them, though. Let them begin to explore the environment with you as the home base for safety. Get them some food and water so they associate you with those things and see you as a surrogate mother. Start building that bond as soon as you can.
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May 16, 2015 04:19
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Cat's back to the vet tomorrow.  She doesn't seem dehydrated anymore, and she's getting a little better at peeing in the litterbox, but she's clearly uncomfortable all the time and isn't eating much - if at all. Her jaw seems to be really sore, too. Tonight she basically licked the gravy off her food and left the meaty bits alone.
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May 16, 2015 04:22
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Is there any way to get my retarded rear end cats to finish their loving food? I'm tired of buying this good expensive wet food for them to not even eat it. I put a standard can in for 3 cats, they'll eat about half then nothing. They'd rather starve the gently caress to death than eat the rest of their food. Is there anything I can get them to do to finish it?
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May 16, 2015 04:26
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Gothmog1065 posted:Is there any way to get my retarded rear end cats to finish their loving food? I'm tired of buying this good expensive wet food for them to not even eat it. I put a standard can in for 3 cats, they'll eat about half then nothing. They'd rather starve the gently caress to death than eat the rest of their food. If your cats are healthy and of a good weight there is no reason for them to eat more than they do. Give them less and store the extra in the refrigerator. It will keep for a week at least.
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May 16, 2015 04:36
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So we are now settled in our new house and decided it was time to get Oscar a new companion and so we could get used to a second cat before our baby comes in a month or so. Oscar is very, very friendly with humans - he's basically like a dog in the sense that he loves to be around us and any company we may have over at all times. He also gets along well with my parents' large dog. We figured he'd be fine with the new cat, but instead he stalked her and hissed/swatted at her a couple of times. We decided to put her in the spare room along with food/water/separate litter box for the time being. I'm hoping that if we keep introducing them a little bit at a time that they will eventually get along. Luckily the new cat is very submissive so hopefully that will help. If anyone has any additional tips that would be awesome. Oscar is about 8-9 months old and the new cat (still undecided on name) is around a year old. I felt really bad too because Oscar just seemed more freaked out than anything, he would bat at us and cry when we would try to pet him until they were in separate rooms and we calmed him down. Pics just because. One of them shows how he's just been following/looking over her the whole time she was out and about. Oscar  Lucy (tentative name)  Oscar stalking Lucy 
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May 16, 2015 05:33
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Deteriorata posted:If your cats are healthy and of a good weight there is no reason for them to eat more than they do. for 3 cats, they were getting a can of wet in the morning and 2/3rds of a cup in the evening. Is that still too much? The wet is Blue Buffalo and the dry is wellness. The main reason I went back to wet is because one of my cats has a very concentrated urine.
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May 16, 2015 18:50
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Gothmog1065 posted:for 3 cats, they were getting a can of wet in the morning and 2/3rds of a cup in the evening. Is that still too much? The wet is Blue Buffalo and the dry is wellness. The main reason I went back to wet is because one of my cats has a very concentrated urine. Cats generally eat until they are full and no more. If they're not eating it all, it's usually because there's too much there. Some ferals will have food issues and eat everything in sight all the time if they starved when young and end up very fat, but you generally don't need to worry about it unless your specific cat has issues. I give our cats about a tablespoon of canned food each at 9 each night. They camp around me for two hours ahead of time waiting for it, and snarf it all down in minutes. They can free feed dry food all day long, but they go nuts for the canned stuff. We used to just give them dry, but one of them has a habit of under-hydrating, so the canned is a little boost to her moisture. Seems to have done the trick with her.
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May 16, 2015 19:36
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JohnnyCanuck posted:Cat's back to the vet tomorrow. Bladder infection from hell and an infected tooth. Don't seem to be any masses in her abdomen, though, which was something I'd been worrying about from the last visit. They doped her up, did urinalysis, more subcutaneous fluids, and then gave her another shot of pain meds and a 14-day antibiotic shot. Either the tooth gets extracted or we manage her pain on it. :P
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May 16, 2015 22:19
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Uh-oh. I've just felt a small lump in the scruff of my cat's neck. I reckon it's where she was vaccinated (3 weeks ago), though, so I don't know whether I should be... expeditious, although I'll definitely pester a vet about it (maybe tomorrow?), unless y'all think it's unnecessary entirely (maybe there's supposed to be a lump? a lymph node?).
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May 17, 2015 07:55
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supermikhail posted:Uh-oh. I've just felt a small lump in the scruff of my cat's neck. I reckon it's where she was vaccinated (3 weeks ago), though, so I don't know whether I should be... expeditious, although I'll definitely pester a vet about it (maybe tomorrow?), unless y'all think it's unnecessary entirely (maybe there's supposed to be a lump? a lymph node?). Nah, definitely call the vet on that. Hopefully it's nothing but I don't think there's a lymph node there.
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May 17, 2015 12:38
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supermikhail posted:Uh-oh. I've just felt a small lump in the scruff of my cat's neck. I reckon it's where she was vaccinated (3 weeks ago), though, so I don't know whether I should be... expeditious, although I'll definitely pester a vet about it (maybe tomorrow?), unless y'all think it's unnecessary entirely (maybe there's supposed to be a lump? a lymph node?). By the way, ask your vet to vaccinate in the lower leg, not the scruff. If they develop a vaccine-related sarcoma, they can amputate a leg to save the cat. If one develops in the scruff, they can't do much.
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May 17, 2015 13:41
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Holy poo poo. I was about to post all relieved.  Well, anyway, I guess it's a thing that happens that I didn't know about because it's my first vaccination. It should go away on its own in the course of a month. Seriously, sarcoma? Human vaccines don't come with this side-effect, right? (I mean, not in such a matter-of-fact way.) By the way, I was told that if the lump starts growing I should bring the cat to cut the lump out... So, to straighten out the euphemisms, I've got a tumor in my cat that might go away on its own? Also, does this mean my cat is predisposed to develop vaccine-related tumors? This is making me kind of paranoid about cat vaccines.
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May 17, 2015 13:53
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supermikhail posted:Holy poo poo. I was about to post all relieved. All cats are pre-disposed. I think they originally thought it was from the adjuvant in the vaccine causing a reaction and creating tumors, but some doctors have told me it can happen with all injections. Because of that we try to vaccine as little as possible (3 year FVRCP, 3 year rabies if you can), and if you do vaccinate to do it as far down the body as possible in case they have to amputate.
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May 17, 2015 14:44
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So, cats get these infections from other cats (+fleas presumably, but these also come from other cats), so the best approach would be not to vaccinate, but not to let your cat(s) outside (where they could come into contact with a carrier in one form or another)? I guess you shouldn't vaccinate if your cat is completely home-bound, right? drat, the world is a crazy place. Vaccines are supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread for humans. Now, with cats, they are the slightly lesser of two evils? I'm gonna try to avoid letting my cat out this summer (except for my notorious carrier-walks). I guess I should invest more attention (if not money) into better toys, because my cat, too, only plays when I play with her, and I can't play the whole day. supermikhail fucked around with this message at 15:10 on May 17, 2015 |
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May 17, 2015 15:08
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Shnooks posted:All cats are pre-disposed. I think they originally thought it was from the adjuvant in the vaccine causing a reaction and creating tumors, but some doctors have told me it can happen with all injections. Because of that we try to vaccine as little as possible (3 year FVRCP, 3 year rabies if you can), and if you do vaccinate to do it as far down the body as possible in case they have to amputate. Is there's some kind of study or something I can quote to my vet about this so I don't just sound like some kind of paranoid fur baby person? Although I guess if he's a decent vet he'll do it anyway to keep me happy.
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May 17, 2015 17:14
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JohnnyCanuck posted:Bladder infection from hell and an infected tooth. Don't seem to be any masses in her abdomen, though, which was something I'd been worrying about from the last visit. They doped her up, did urinalysis, more subcutaneous fluids, and then gave her another shot of pain meds and a 14-day antibiotic shot. And she peed entirely in the litter box this morning. Good girl, Mocha!
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May 17, 2015 17:24
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I mean legally all animals need their rabies vaccine regardless of where they hang out. Bats can most definitely get into your home and gently caress poo poo up. All I can recommend is look into your state's laws regarding rabies vaccinations and see how you can get your cat's 1 year rabies into a 3 year rabies. In Massachusetts you need to get their rabies vaccine boostered 9-12 months to the day for it to be a 3 year rabies vaccine. Other states may have different laws. And vaccines are awesome, cats are just weird. Organza Quiz posted:Is there's some kind of study or something I can quote to my vet about this so I don't just sound like some kind of paranoid fur baby person? Although I guess if he's a decent vet he'll do it anyway to keep me happy. I kind of half-assed this, but I went onto the American Association of Feline Practitioner's website and looked at their vaccine guideline. It was released in 2006 so it's fairly recent. If you search for "Sarcoma" there's a couple of hits that come up. If you scroll all the way to page 1440 on the bottom, in Appendix 2 it goes over where to vaccine and how to monitor post-vaccination masses. The 2006 American Association of Feline Practitioners Feline Vaccine Advisory Panel Report I hope that's helpful. It's kind of long and dull but the entire report is pretty interesting. Shnooks fucked around with this message at 00:58 on May 18, 2015 |
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May 18, 2015 00:50
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Okay, I'm in the north-west of Russia. I'd like to share that bats don't exist here, as far as I'm aware (although I'd go bonkers for a compulsory vaccine if it came with bats). And my almost-7-year old cat was first vaccinated last month, and I don't think I've been breaking the law, because presumably vets would have told me about it. Although they've casually inquired from time to time. (Unfortunately, I had to borrow the money to deal with whatever ailment my cat had then, and any other expenses were out of the question.) Or there could be laws, but everyone might be ignoring them.
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May 18, 2015 07:06
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Shnooks posted:I mean legally all animals need their rabies vaccine regardless of where they hang out My cat hangs out in Australia. Thanks for the link though, that's very helpful.
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May 18, 2015 07:15
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Oh yeah if there's no rabies where you are I think you're set. I don't know the protocols and laws there, just what we need to do in the U.S. to send cats and dogs overseas (and Australia is a total bitch to get your pets into) Edit: a lot of people, at least here in the US, often ignore vaccine laws with cats because they never go outside and you basically never have to take them to the vet unlike dogs. I'm just a stickler for it 
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May 18, 2015 14:48
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