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Protocol7 posted:We've actually tried two brands from PetSmart, one is the GNC Salmon flavored, the other is the Essential Pet fish flavor. I was thinking my cats just don't like the gel stuff, but I guess it could be an issue of flavor too. They love fish flavored canned food though. Another thing you can do for your cats is brush them daily. Don't use something like a Furminator, just use a basic metal comb if you can. That made a bigger difference for our cats than the hairball gel, honestly, but one of our cats doesn't tolerate any type of brush we've tried, so we rely on just the gel for her.
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May 31, 2019 21:14
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Oh, I brush Binx very frequently. Getting brushes is his favorite. You can rub the brush up against something and he'll come careening out of whatever dark corner he's in and screech at you until you brush him. I'm worried, especially with my feline health history, that something else could be going on. I'd say I shouldn't be concerned if the vet isn't concerned, but that's exactly how my late Crowley went into kidney failure despite taking him to the vet at least once a week while he was dealing with his urinary troubles... And the vet I last took Binx to was even a different vet, to boot.
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May 31, 2019 21:30
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Protocol7 posted:Oh, I brush Binx very frequently. Getting brushes is his favorite. You can rub the brush up against something and he'll come careening out of whatever dark corner he's in and screech at you until you brush him. Yeah, based on your recent experiences, it's normal to be concerned. Any change in behavior is worrying. Does he groom your other cats (meaning you actually need to be brushing them more, too)? Does he seem to be grooming more than usual (like he's itchy)? Have you tried brushing him multiple times a day? Some cats replenish their coats really quickly, so you can't just get away with occasional brushing. I don't want to downplay your concerns, but if he's acting normally otherwise, still active, still eating and drinking normally, and still using the litter box normally, there's a good chance there's a non-scary explanation for his hairballs. On the other hand, if his weight is dropping, or he's getting dehydrated, or not eating/drinking as much (or drinking way more than normal), or he's vomiting/throwing up without hairballs... those are all red flags. X-rays can help identify things like obstructions or some tumors, but if he's using the litterbox normally and eating normally, that wouldn't be my first thought. A good blood test and urinalysis can tell you a lot about organ function if you want the peace of mind. Finding a good vet can be really hard. Vets have to juggle owner concerns with owner lifestyles, and most of your relationship is going to be how comfortable you are with their approach: do they over-treat, under-treat, or something in the middle? Peace of mind is valuable, but it comes at a cost. A lot of vets won't mention diagnostics like X-rays and blood tests unless there's a serious concern, but they're actually really helpful records for a vet to have over time, especially since animals are so good at hiding issues. You should feel comfortable asking your vet if that information would help identify what's going on - and your vet should be able to explain why it would or wouldn't help.
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May 31, 2019 22:15
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InvisibleMonkey posted:Syke, we went away for a couple of days and in this past week after we got back she managed to pee on my backpack (on the floor), my bf's jeans (also on the floor), and today on the bed. We took her to the vet because clearly something is going on. They sent us home with a sample-kit and some medicine, it's up to us if we want to give her the medicine this weekend or wait until they get the urine sample. I'm leaning towards waiting to see if she does it again since we don't know if it's an infection yet, we cleaned her box and replaced the litter just in case she just thinks it's too smelly. Anything else I should be looking out for? My roommates cat would pee on any towel left on the floor and it wasn’t any kind of medical issue at all she had just decided towels were fair game for peeing on. If the backpack and floor laundry are frequent targets my main suggestion is to put those things in closets and a hamper and see if your cat still has a problem. If it is a medical issue cat will pee on the carpet somewhere so you can rule it out.
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May 31, 2019 22:35
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mistaya posted:My roommates cat would pee on any towel left on the floor and it wasn’t any kind of medical issue at all she had just decided towels were fair game for peeing on. If the backpack and floor laundry are frequent targets my main suggestion is to put those things in closets and a hamper and see if your cat still has a problem. Yeah, we're being more diligent about picking up after ourselves, it's just that it's only been a problem recently which worries me. She also pissed on the bed today, which is a lot more annoying than floor-laundry. It is possible we kept the same litter in too long, it's the silicate kind that's supposed to last a month but we've never made it past 3 weeks max. Maybe it was getting unacceptable already.
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May 31, 2019 23:03
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mistaya posted:My roommates cat would pee on any towel left on the floor and it wasn’t any kind of medical issue at all she had just decided towels were fair game for peeing on. If the backpack and floor laundry are frequent targets my main suggestion is to put those things in closets and a hamper and see if your cat still has a problem. InvisibleMonkey posted:Syke, we went away for a couple of days and in this past week after we got back she managed to pee on my backpack (on the floor), my bf's jeans (also on the floor), and today on the bed. We took her to the vet because clearly something is going on. They sent us home with a sample-kit and some medicine, it's up to us if we want to give her the medicine this weekend or wait until they get the urine sample. I'm leaning towards waiting to see if she does it again since we don't know if it's an infection yet, we cleaned her box and replaced the litter just in case she just thinks it's too smelly. Anything else I should be looking out for? Things it sounds like you already do: make sure you scoop litter at least once a day, even with only one cat. And obviously clean any messes with an enzymatic cleaner. Things to watch for: any changes in eating/drinking and litter box visit habits. Is she drinking more than usual? Less? Is she going to the litter box more often now? Is she squatting down but not producing any urine? Cats with bladder infections tend to display changes in litter box visits. Don't try to scare her or chastise her for peeing somewhere else if you catch her in the act. Punishing a cat who's already uncomfortable can just stress her out more and make the problem worse. If you were given painkillers, those can be really important for helping a cat through urinary discomfort even if it's not an infection (cats seem to be able to magically inflame their bladders when they feel stressed). Personally, the only reason I'd wait before giving the medication is if you have an antibiotic. In that case, waiting can help if they're going to do a urine culture to make sure the antibiotic is appropriate for that type of bacteria, or if it's a heavy-duty antibiotic that might upset her GI tract, you might want to wait for a definite diagnosis.
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May 31, 2019 23:22
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That last bit was really helpful, thanks! It's a painkiller and the vet said that the treatment for a regular bladder-infection would basically be that plus wet food with water added. I think we'll give it to her tomorrow. Stuff we did or were already doing: -enzymatic cleaner plus washing machine (biotex soak for the wet spot on the duvet) -leave less items lying around ready to be peed on -scoop the litter-box twice a day or right after she goes -never chastise her for making a mess Stuff we noticed after paying attention: -she squeaks before using the box, she always squeaked after to signal that she's a good girl and we can get on with scooping her poo poo now, thanks -no apparent change in drinking-habits -still obsessed with food It's hard to tell what she's doing in there except for digging noises because it's a covered box, nothing new though. No sounds of straining or discomfort. We really don't have the space for a second litter-box so we're just super diligent about keeping it clean and fresh, it's very roomy and the cleanest box ever. The only thing I can think off that has changed is that we haven't been letting her out in the backyard since her escape, she's vocally unhappy about that but she kind of has to deal until we win the cat-proofing war. Her escape may also have been stressful, she was gone for half a day and must have been stuck in a neighbour's backyard. We were worried sick until she loudly came crashing across some fences when I called her late at night.
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May 31, 2019 23:55
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InvisibleMonkey posted:That last bit was really helpful, thanks! It's a painkiller and the vet said that the treatment for a regular bladder-infection would basically be that plus wet food with water added. I think we'll give it to her tomorrow. InvisibleMonkey posted:It's hard to tell what she's doing in there except for digging noises because it's a covered box, nothing new though. No sounds of straining or discomfort. Good luck!
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Jun 1, 2019 00:35
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Re: hairball treatments that arent gel. One of my cats hates the goop but would scarf down hairball soft chews. https://www.amazon.com/PetNC-Natural-Care-Hairball-Chews/dp/B00URQCRHQ
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Jun 1, 2019 01:02
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Well, this morning my partner noticed that Jasper seemed to be swollen under his chin, so it was back to the vet. He's running a little fever, and his mandibular lymph nodes are swollen. The rest of his lymph nodes look fine, and the vet wants him back on Monday to check him out again. Poor little guy! We got more of an antibiotic, some RX science diet wet food, and a probiotic to sprinkle on top. He's gained about a pound since last visit, still playful, still drinking water. Just need to watch out for lethargy and refusal to eat, which means a visit to the ER vet, which, fortunately we have a few of here in Memphis. Taking care of a tiny stray is stressful!
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Jun 1, 2019 18:47
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My wife and I moved to a new house last year and there was a cat that would hang around the back door and scratch and complain when she was hungry. The neighbors at the time told us that she was the house cat of the previous owners and they abandoned her. We've been taking care of her since but since we hand indoor pets and she is very skittish we didn't bring her inside. Friday she was attacked by some stray dogs and was bleeding and limping after we scared off the dogs. It was too late that night to get her into a vet so we had to wait until Saturday. The vet said nothing was broken and the wound was shallow, the X-rays showed everything intact and we got her vaccinated and everything else. They said she would be able to walk in a few days and to let her rest away from any other animals until then Last night we noticed she had a lot of fresh blood on her back legs and had a hitch in her breath. We tried to make her comfortable and clean her. This morning she was howling and she seems to be even worse. She seems like she is in a lot of pain and not going to make it. We live in a small town and there isn't anything open on sundays. We feel like she is going to die and want her to not be in pain anymore. We are both pretty distraught any don't know what to do other than keep her as comfortable as possible before we can see someone Monday.
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Jun 2, 2019 13:22
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I'm sorry, that sounds horrible. Is there something wrong internally or is the blood from the wound she had before? Did she tear it open? Try to keep her calm and still so she isn't able to strain it further and wrap it so she can't aggravate it any more if you can. I don't think we can really give more advice other than get her to the vet when it opens which you already know. Noisy doesn't mean dying though, often cats will go very quiet if they aren't going to make it.
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Jun 2, 2019 16:35
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We had an emergency vet that would see her. The tissue on her back legs that was crushed by the dogs was dying and she wasn't responding to the antibiotics or pain meds, maybe because she is FIV positive. We had to or her down to stop her from being in constant pain. We're all a mess now.
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Jun 2, 2019 18:56
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So an update on Buddy's diet/size. I've got her on Wellness Core dry, switched from the Purina blue bag. I've kept her serving size (whenever she complains about it) to about a quarter of a 1/3rd cup, less if there's already a few pellets in the bowl. I've been trying a couple of occasional wet foods but nothing's stuck yet. She seems happy with the dry, but god forbid I pull out cheese in any form. She absolutely loves string cheese. For comparison, January this year  June this year 
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Jun 3, 2019 02:37
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Hey guys... so I always grew up with two different casts of pets at both my moms house and my dad higE, which may be part of the reason why none of them ever felt like my pets - though I still got very attached to most of them! One of those was a feral kitten that my mother adopted when I was 13. They had found the kitten outside at 2 or 3 weeks old, and very weak, and the kitten was getting some attention at the shelter but they didn’t think it looked good and they did t have anyone to take him. We were there because our last cat, a wonderful long anda and lanky friendly tabby named Calvin whom we all loved, had died really tragically at the age of 2, death by car. We were there looking for a new friendly kitty to adopt. However, my mother winds up adopting the sick feral kitten who is just well enough to hiss and scratch and bite anyone who tries to help, and at the time I didn’t really get it when there were so many healthy friendly kitties (I was barely 13 cut me some slack). Anyway, my mom follows all the instructions very carefully from the shelter and calls the vet a lot, and nurses the kitten back to health. We find out they had misidentified the gender of the cat at the shelter and he was a she, so I suggest naming her Lola in a jokey inverse of the song, and my mother approves. Lola turns out to be a very cool but VERY independent cat, and for her entire life has only ever trusted my mom - she trusts me maybe the most after her, because she actually purrs and exposes her stomach to me (though I would never DARE touch it). I was not always friends with Lola, though, and she had to teach me some intense lessons about respecting cats. At age 13 I was still a bit too cavalier, like many kids, in picking up cats or petting them too much at times. Lola made me grow out of this, however, because Lola didn’t take any poo poo from some human kid. She scratched and but SO MUCH HARDER than any other cat I had ever encountered, it really shocked me. She was not afraid to *wound* me. Frankly, it’s because of Lola that I’m as respectful and understanding of cats as I am now, I’d say. She was very sweet when I learned to never pick her up, never pet her too much or in certain places, never touch her tails or ears or legs/paws - stuff like that which is how I treat all cats now by default. Anyway, I am rambling like usual, Lola is very sick right now and not eating quite as much as she should, and seems... not quite her usual self. She is *21 years old* though, and up until this past year she never showed any signs of aging. She still seems ok to me and she is eating, so that’s good. My mother seems reticent on the topic of taking her to the vet and just avoids it when I ask. I don’t know, I think she is really terrified that if she takes Lola into the vet, she will simply never come home and never see her again  So, I don’t know what to do.... Lola doesn’t seem to be in pain and she’s eating again, but she did seem sick before. I don’t know. I can’t even imagine how hard this is, with my mom having had this for over 2 decades, and saving her from the brink of death initially. I don’t blame her for being extremely emotional. I’ve barely had Jackie for half that time and I can hardly imagine feeling more attached than I already do
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Jun 3, 2019 03:51
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Are mobile vets an option?
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Jun 3, 2019 03:58
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funmanguy posted:We had an emergency vet that would see her. The tissue on her back legs that was crushed by the dogs was dying and she wasn't responding to the antibiotics or pain meds, maybe because she is FIV positive. We had to or her down to stop her from being in constant pain. We're all a mess now. Poor kitty. Thank you for helping her. gently caress the rear end in a top hat previous owners. 
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Jun 3, 2019 04:08
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 Chilling in the heat
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Jun 3, 2019 09:36
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Synthbuttrange posted:Are mobile vets an option? That’s a very good point; l’l suggest that, I’m not even sure she’s aware that’s an option. I just know that she will not even answer when I suggest the vet but just sighs and looks boxed into a corner, which is sad for me to see.... if she knows vets even make house calls she might feel very differently, if I know my own mother at all. Thanks again.
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Jun 3, 2019 11:47
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This weekend, we bought a CatH2O water fountain for our cats. One of them has already drunk from it at least twice, and that might be because her former guardian already used a similar one before she moved in with us. Our other cat has never seen such a thing before, and in 24 hours I hadn't seen him drink from it yet. It's possible I just didn't/haven't seen him use it, but I was concerned enough that last night I set out his regular water dish because I was worried he might get dehydrated. Of course, I didn't see him drink from the water dish either. Is that a thing to be concerned about? It seems like figuring out how to drink from a water fountain is simple enough for a cat, but I might as well ask if there's anything in particular I should do.
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Jun 3, 2019 15:43
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Do you feed them wet or dry food? Cats don't usually drink much because they get most of their moisture from their kills in the wild, so if you're feeding wet food you probably won't see them drinking from a bowl/fountain very often. My cats took a little while to take to the fountain we bought; Cinnamon started using it within a day after we got it (which is good because we mostly got it to keep her hydrated after her pee issues)but for the first few weeks I only saw Loki playing with it rather than drinking from it. He still has a tendency to lick the plastic and not the actual water... but he does get some eventually. 24 hours isn't very long for a cat to adjust to a New Thing, so I wouldn't be worried yet.
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Jun 3, 2019 16:26
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Sefal posted:Water fountains.....
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Jun 3, 2019 16:29
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gradenko_2000 posted:This weekend, we bought a CatH2O water fountain for our cats. One of them has already drunk from it at least twice, and that might be because her former guardian already used a similar one before she moved in with us.
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Jun 3, 2019 19:20
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It took us a week to see Katya drinking from the fountain, but she uses it occasionally now. I think she prefers the water-bowl so we just keep both around, I like the fountain because it holds two liters which is handy when we're gone. Her new toys came in today and she's super excited about them.  
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Jun 3, 2019 19:36
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Tater took a week to make sure the fountain wasn't The Enemy before he'd drink from it. Some cats take awhile to process new things.
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Jun 3, 2019 19:48
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Tater Love 
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Sweetheart's first interaction with her fountain was going paw-first into it (it's one of the ones that has a bowl that the water flows down into) and being Very Alarmed. Now it's her favorite water source. Cats. 
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Jun 3, 2019 19:57
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So I just saw some small rice-sized worm like things in the fur around one of my cat's butthole as he was walking by on a table. They seemed to be stretchy but I'm not sure if they were moving on their own or just reacting to the moving fur. Some Googling suggests that these are likely tapeworm segments. While these probably don't pose an immediate health threat to the cat it is super gross. A vet visit is scheduled for Wednesday. In the meantime has anyone dealt with these before? some questions I wasn't able to find clear answers for: 1. Do I need to worry about cleaning everything like an OCD freak to prevent reinfection? I'm not clear on whether or not ingesting the straight eggs will infect the cat or if the worm has to complete part of its lifecycle in a flea first. If the latter part then we don't have to worry about eggs around the house once the initial infection is cleared out? But then... 2. These are indoor cats that are not currently on any flea treatment regimen. As far as I can tell we don't have any fleas but we do live at ground level in a neighborhood with at least one outdoor/feral cat around and multiple dog owners. Does this mean we need to get a flea treatment plan going regardless? 3. Can humans get infected? One site said only a specific species of feline tapeworm can be transmitted to humans but that point wasn't elaborated on. Butt worms are proof that if there is a god he hates us all.
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Jun 3, 2019 22:42
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Fabulousity posted:So I just saw some small rice-sized worm like things in the fur around one of my cat's butthole as he was walking by on a table. They seemed to be stretchy but I'm not sure if they were moving on their own or just reacting to the moving fur. Some Googling suggests that these are likely tapeworm segments. While these probably don't pose an immediate health threat to the cat it is super gross. A vet visit is scheduled for Wednesday. In the meantime has anyone dealt with these before? some questions I wasn't able to find clear answers for: Whether you start a flea treatment plan depends on a lot of things. Have you had the cats for a long time (meaning this is definitely a recent infestation that occurred in your living space)? If so, this means a flea definitely made it into your space. Do you leave windows/doors open? Do you see outdoor animals coming up close to investigate your place? How well sealed are your windows/doors? Do you have plants growing near the exterior walls that could help pests get inside? Basically, how rare do you expect this to be? You should at least get a flea comb and take a look for any flea dirt on your cats. The type of tapeworm that humans can get from pets is rare, and it's contracted by people who (presumably accidentally) ingest dog/cat feces. It's mostly found around livestock in rural areas. So it's very unlikely that your cat would have that type of tapeworm in the first place, and as long as you don't ingest your cat's feces, your exposure would be limited anyway. You can talk to your vet about which type of tapeworm your cat most likely has. And if you think this is proof that god hates us, you should see your cat cough up a large roundworm. Edit: To be clear, the most common tapeworm has a flea as its intermediate host, and the cat is infected by ingesting the flea. The rare tapeworms have large or small prey animals (think deer/sheep vs rabbits/mice) as the intermediate host, and the cat is infected by ingesting that prey animal. The rare tapeworms are also much smaller, so the fact that you're seeing rice-shaped segments being shed automatically makes me think you've got the more common one. LoreOfSerpents fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Jun 3, 2019 |
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Jun 3, 2019 23:29
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LoreOfSerpents posted:Lots of good info. Cool, thanks! There is a window the cats like that has a large hydrangea bush buttressed right up against the screen and sometimes wild critters will go slinking through the bush for cover so it's possible a flea got in that way. In the meantime I'll get the flea comb to be sure and also talk about longer term flea treatment with the vet.
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Jun 4, 2019 00:00
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Boogalo posted:Poor kitty. Thank you for helping her. gently caress the rear end in a top hat previous owners. Thanks, I needed somewhere to sort of vent. Because of this whole experience I am going to the humane society tomorrow to get setup as a foster for cats.
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Jun 4, 2019 00:49
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What's the best way to gear a cat up to taking a walk? I want to try taking them out and I feel like they'll probably hate it but I want to try
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Jun 4, 2019 01:10
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Len posted:What's the best way to gear a cat up to taking a walk? I want to try taking them out and I feel like they'll probably hate it but I want to try Start by putting the harness on them for short periods of time indoors until they stop worrying about it. Then introduce the leash and short trips outside your door. Be aware that they likely will hate it, yeah. Out of our 3 cats only one enjoys walks outside. He actually refuses to be carried outdoors. We were walking down a long trail and he got tired and started slowing down and sitting and if one of us picked him up he'd push on us until we let him walk. Like yeah buddy I know you can do it 
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Jun 4, 2019 03:08
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SSJ_naruto_2003 posted:Start by putting the harness on them for short periods of time indoors until they stop worrying about it. Then introduce the leash and short trips outside your door. This. Also associate the harness with good things--mine both get nicer treats with it and a lot of positive reinforcement.
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Jun 4, 2019 04:27
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funmanguy posted:Thanks, I needed somewhere to sort of vent. Because of this whole experience I am going to the humane society tomorrow to get setup as a foster for cats. Its tough, but you gave her a warm place and comfort at the end and did all you could. Venting here is just fine. As for fostering, we have a handy thread for that too! https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3768887
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Jun 4, 2019 04:43
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Hey y'all! Dumb question - How big of a deal is it if I'm a few days late on flea medication for an indoor-only kitty? My little guy hates it, and it's always a bit of a struggle. We just moved into a new apartment this weekend, and he's still a little anxious, so I'd like to wait a few more days before I stress him out any more. Thanks!!
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Jun 4, 2019 06:08
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discoukulele posted:Hey y'all! Dumb question - How big of a deal is it if I'm a few days late on flea medication for an indoor-only kitty? My little guy hates it, and it's always a bit of a struggle. We just moved into a new apartment this weekend, and he's still a little anxious, so I'd like to wait a few more days before I stress him out any more. Thanks!! Entirely depends on if there are unhatched flea eggs on your cat or another flea presence that can take advantage of the lapse. If not then you're fine, if so then you could be at risk of the fleas getting a reproductive cycle off. No way to really know in advance though.
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Jun 4, 2019 06:11
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thank you for the advice, thread!
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Jun 4, 2019 06:35
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Re water chat, my cats weren’t big on water until we got the dog. Now they drink out of the dog bowl all the time. I would continue to put water in their food/water bowls, but after 5 months of nothing happening with that except it getting bits of food in there and then all gross I think I’m calling it quits. I don’t know why they love the dog bowl so much. But they’re all getting more water than before so Also thanks for the flea talk which made me realize that now that we have a dog that’s getting flea treatments, the cats need flea treatments too. If I discovered butt worms on one of my cats I might never recover cause that skeeves me out on a whole nother level. CeramicPig fucked around with this message at 11:11 on Jun 4, 2019 |
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Jun 4, 2019 11:09
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CeramicPig posted:Re water chat, my cats weren’t big on water until we got the dog. Now they drink out of the dog bowl all the time. I would continue to put water in their food/water bowls, but after 5 months of nothing happening with that except it getting bits of food in there and then all gross I think I’m calling it quits. I don’t know why they love the dog bowl so much. But they’re all getting more water than before so Well if the dog's using it it must be good water, since the dog didn't drop dead from it. Can't trust water just for cats, you know. Cats are so weird. I used to have a cat that would eat one single kibble of dog food every day after finishing his meal. He always looked like he found it disgusting, but every day he'd be back for his dessert. He did it from his kitten days until the dog passed away. Cats.
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Jun 4, 2019 16:03
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When i get home after work. i always give my cats wet food right after (dry food is available at all times). One of my cats jumps to the kitchen counter and cant wait for me to fill her bowl. the other waits patiently. I fill both bowls and and put them down. the one that's waiting patiently will sniff it. walk away. 5 minutes later she'll come back to it and eat it cats??
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Jun 4, 2019 16:08
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