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I was warned about loss of appetite too but it's the complete opposite.
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Jan 15, 2020 03:21
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Well, I just got... really, really scary news from my vet. I brought Jackie in to her new West Coast vet because she has been acting a little bit *odd* since we got to CA. She'd had an ear infection back in November that had been treated and seemed to go away, but it had made her dizzy and made her gait a little awkward and "off". That quickly went away, but it was seeming to come back to a small degree since we got to CA. She's been acting normal, eating normal, pooping normal, everything totally normal and good except this one thing. So I brought her in today, and it turns out she has some sort of growth/mass in her right ear canal - possibly just a polyp or something benign, possibly it's a tumor and could be malignant, which is really, really terrifying. And scary as all hell. Jackie's never had any serious health problems before, so I'm somewhat terrified. For the time being, I'm giving her eardrops twice a day for a week then once a day for a week, and then they're going to take another look and we'll see what's what... I'd be more immediately concerned if she had any other symptoms besides the dizziness, but she really doesn't - not yet, anyway. The ear in question never even looked inflamed or abnormal in any way. and she never paid any extra attention to it. So... Bit scared, especially because I don't exactly have the fairly large pile of money all these tests *and* eventual treatments will cost. I sincerely hope that my dad, Jackie's original adopter, will help me pay for some of this stuff or I'm not really going to have a whole lot of options, which... well, sucks. For now I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and I'm just going to hope that the drops help this thing go down, and I can't even begin to think about the concept that she might have cancer yet, so... Yeah.  Keep your fingers crossed for Jackie's sake. The good thing is, she's doing really great otherwisem and is happy and purring and well-loved. 
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Jan 15, 2020 04:47
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Does anyone have experience recognizing the difference between failure to throw up a hairball and coughing fits? For about a month now, my beautiful indoor munchkin (or maybe half-munchkin?) kitten Sloane, pictured here:  has been having little cough/gag episodes generally after waking up. I've never seen her actually spit up a hairball; she'll kinda cough or gag for about 30 seconds and then it usually ends with her seeming to swallow some mucus and stuff. At first I assumed that she was having issues with hairballs; I've tried some specialized treats, oils, and cat grass, but it didn't seem to make a difference. From reading around I've started to wonder if it has nothing to do with hairballs and she actually has asthma or at least some kind of throat irritation or allergy or something. Her breathing, appetite, poopin and peeing, energy levels and sleeping and stuff have all otherwise seemed to be totally fine since we got her (she was 6 months old when we got her, now she's almost a year); is this something I should be concerned about? I figured she would either pass a hairball or if this was still a problem it would have escalated by now, and I just don't want to be ignoring what might be a bad sign. Our house may actually have poor air quality because it's extremely old with crappy windows and is near a highway, etc., and we're moving soon to a place that should be significantly better in that regard, so my current plan is to see if this stops happening at the new place. Martman fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Jan 17, 2020 |
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Jan 17, 2020 04:37
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Definitely take her to the vet: mine did that and at first they thought it was just an upper respiratory infection, then a couple weeks later they thought it might be pneumonia, then a week after that they determined it was FIP and we had to put the poor little guy to sleep a month and a half later because he just couldn't get oxygen because of the pneumatic mass in his chest. That last one is highly unlikely to occur, but still, you don't want to risk a kitty getting advanced pneumonia.
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Jan 17, 2020 04:43
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Hrm yikes. You are probably right, and I generally just have trouble committing to going to the vet because I don't want to make a big issue out of things etc., so yeah I think it is fairly obvious I should get her checked out. When you say "mine did that" do you mean basically exactly along the lines of what I'm talking about? It's just been easy to write off as some weirdness when waking up given that she's able to play really intensely and doesn't seem to display any weird breathing even when she gets going at 100%.
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Jan 17, 2020 04:48
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He would have a fit once a day or every couple of days where he'd hack or wheeze like he was about to hack something up, but never did and fid a licking and swallowing motion afterwards. He tried to hide it (like cats do) but it became increasingly evident his energy level wasn't where it should have been and his nose and lip color worsened as time went on. Seeing a vet before a move or trip is generally a good idea anyway, just to make sure everything is fine going into it.
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Jan 17, 2020 04:53
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Alright thanks, that does sound very similar. Sloane doesn't really try to hide it but I think that's just 'cause she seems more like a puppy in many personality ways. Hope they can identify something not too bad!
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Jan 17, 2020 04:56
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My guy Franklin had similar symptoms, and it turns out he has some mild kitty asthma. After a few day stretch where he was having a coughing attack at least once a day, I took him to the vet, and she prescribed a round of oral steroids which helped him immediately. It's been over a year since then and he still has a 10-15 second cough maybe once a month, with no other noticeable effects. I also got an air filter and have made it a point to vaccum more often. I hope your cat has something at least as manageable!
pzy fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Jan 17, 2020 |
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Jan 17, 2020 06:18
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I posted a bit ago with a couple questions about integrating my new cat after my resident cat broke in the safe room, cornered and kinda attacked the kitten. Things are going well now! They can spend time in the same room (supervised) and the resident cat is no longer in bitch mode and happily trills and chirps and runs to the kitten when I let her out into the rest of the apartment. I did talk to the vet and she prescribed a low dose of cat Prozac for the older one. We’ve been on that a little over 2 weeks and i can’t be sure it’s the reason things are better but it seems to be taking effect. Problem now is that the kitten is still somewhat afraid of the older one because of a couple of those attacks. She kind of hisses, swats and cowers a bit when she gets sniffed most of the time. Other times she looks like she’s about to do some play wrestling but then gets spooked. The resident totally takes this in stride and walks away without any issue. I’ve been doing joint play / treat sessions with them a few times a day for 15-20 minutes and it seems to be helping. Is that the proper procedure in this case? Keep doing fun stuff and handing out treats to both of them until peace happens?
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Jan 18, 2020 02:07
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SixPabst posted:I posted a bit ago with a couple questions about integrating my new cat after my resident cat broke in the safe room, cornered and kinda attacked the kitten. Yeah, let them keep interacting. We had a new kitten that was terrified of one of our older cats and would flip out if it came close. A year later, they're chasing each other up and down the hall. Just let them be cats and chill out.
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Jan 18, 2020 02:13
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I'd just try letting them out whenever you're home/awake and seeing how it goes. If the adult cat isn't bullying the kitten then they should be fine.
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Jan 18, 2020 17:54
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That’s pretty much what I’m doing today and this weekend. The older one just really wants to play with the little one but we aren’t quite there yet. Older cat did spend a couple mins grooming the other one with no issues. Things are looking up! E: in the course of like 8 hours the small one has become the bold one and is now launching kitten attacks at the resident. I think we’re good. Thanks to you all for soothing my anxiety. SixPabst fucked around with this message at 02:51 on Jan 19, 2020 |
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Jan 18, 2020 21:00
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In the continuing saga of my allergies versus my cat, it seems that the allergies are winning. Maybe. My prolonged sickness has been confirmed to be from walking pneumonia, the question is how did it develop. Is my clogged and sometimes runny nose due to allergies, or because I am sick? Did my clogged nose lead to post nasal drip and cause my pnuemo, or was my pnuemo made worse by the drip? Currently I am taking Claratin D and Flonase, but these seem to be only halfway effective. It could also be because my pnuemo isnt gone yet from the anitbiotics. But assuming the worst, that my nose congestion is my last real allergy symptom, what does the thread suggest. I clean the apartment 3x a week and dunk Sasha weekly in Allerpet. 
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Jan 19, 2020 18:57
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Gaj posted:In the continuing saga of my allergies versus my cat, it seems that the allergies are winning. Maybe. My prolonged sickness has been confirmed to be from walking pneumonia, the question is how did it develop. Is my clogged and sometimes runny nose due to allergies, or because I am sick? Did my clogged nose lead to post nasal drip and cause my pnuemo, or was my pnuemo made worse by the drip? Sorry to hear you are still going through this. One question, and apologies if you already answered it somewhere up thread and I missed it - did you get actual allergy testing to confirm that you have an allergy to cat dander? It would be unfortunate (and frustrating) if you're doing all of these good things to mitigate for cat dander, if you are actually allergic to something other than the cat. (I speak from experience on this one.)
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Jan 19, 2020 19:08
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I can also tell you, being in the med field, that Claritin (loratadine) is one of the less effective 2nd-gen antihistamines. My PharmD friend tells me that it works great at higher doses, but at the "non-drowsy" dose that's available OTC it's only marginally more effective than placebo. Zyrtec (certirizine) is my antihistamine of choice with a good balance of effectiveness and cost, although Allegra (fexofenadine) works better for some people it's also more expensive. The "D" at the end of these meds indicates that it has pseudoephedrine added, which you can buy separately as needed for way cheaper than the combined formulary. I can also second the "get allergy tested" suggestion. Even if you do come up allergic to cats, there are other options that an allergist can help guide you through. I actually got the allergy shots years ago because I was allergic to my cats amongst a whole slew of other stuff, now I can put my face right in my cat's floofy belly and not have any symptoms thanks to the combo of shots and daily Zyrtec.
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Jan 19, 2020 19:33
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Im setting up an appointment for one after the antibiotics Im on should clear up my pnuemo. And Im pretty confident Im allergic to cats as both my parents are and I have handled cats in the past. If i had a cat in my lap for an hour, my hands would start to break out in hives, my skin would itch, and eyes would begin to water and start to explode red. With claratin all that goes away, I only get welts after getting scratched and those go away within 20 minutes. I can stuff my face in my cats belly and my eyes will be fine. The runny nose is either because this is the longest Ive been exposed to a cat and or the pnuemo.
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Jan 19, 2020 19:51
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Well, my cat has just learned to open the toilet seat to get to the sweet sweet forbidden water. I'm gonna have to start putting a weight on the lid (he can open the bathroom door. He can open every door. Help.)
small ghost fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Jan 19, 2020 |
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Jan 19, 2020 19:53
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According to blood tests my cat is down to about 25% kidney capacity. Which might explain why even small injuries take weeks to heal. On top of that they had to pull out this tooth  And then stitch up the hole. Which I can't imagine will be healing much better than the rest of her. She's not eating as much as she should. She begs for everything like ham but when I give her a slice she won't eat it. Vets are optimistic but I have never seen them not promise the world as long as the insurance clears. They said that the infection might skew the blood tests for kidney values and that they will do another test in a week and preferably an ultrasound to see how the kidneys actually are doing.
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Jan 19, 2020 23:46
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Does anyone have any experience feeding their cat homemade food? I found this. Any input is appreciated. I have lost three total cats to kidney disease, and have used the same food for a long time, Taste of the Wild, a mix of canned/dry. Here's the recipe copy-pasted from that page: The Recipe Please check back to this webpage periodically for any updates to the recipe. Also see below the recipe for links to products that I purchase from iherb.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please note that I do not recommend this recipe for cats with CKD (chronic kidney disease) – formerly known as CRF. Also, I definitely do not recommend the many recipes on the internet that use potatoes, pumpkin, squash, rice, etc., for CKD patients. Not only is the feeding of these species-inappropriate ingredients unnecessary, but they can be detrimental to the health of the patient. See below. It was a very sad day for our cats when humans got it in their mind that protein is a cat’s enemy. Quite frankly, I am getting very tired of watching cats end up protein malnourished on low protein diets including the so-called “prescription” diets – none of which would ever be fed to any cat in my care. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ September, 2011 update: Since writing this page many years ago, I have pushed heavily for the use of fresh bone (versus bone meal) as a calcium source. This requires buying a grinder. However, many people are either unwilling or unable to purchase a grinder so I am finally ‘giving in’ and will state that if you are going to use 3 pounds of boneless meat and skin, then the amount of bone meal (NOW brand linked below) to use is 2 1/3 tablespoons. That is 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon….or….7 level teaspoons. (1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons) Keep in mind that when you feed bone meal, your cat is missing out on the benefits of ingesting fresh bone marrow. Since humans are not as smart as nature, we cannot exactly define these “benefits” but our goal is to always stick as close to nature as possible and in nature, cats consume fresh bone marrow. A commonly asked question: “What do I do with the bones left behind in the grinder?” Answer: Discard them. I use the following ingredients – in amounts listed – per 3 pounds of poultry thigh meat/bones/skin or 2 – 2.25 lbs of whole carcass ground rabbit + 0.75 – 1 lbs of boneless chicken or turkey meat/skin/fat (see reasons above): 1 cup water or, preferably, more if your cat will eat it with more water – increased dietary water helps keep the urinary tract healthy and unobstructed with debris (crystals, mucus, protein, white blood cells, red blood cells, etc.) 2 eggs – (optional) use the yolk raw but lightly cook the white (soft boiling them for ~3-4 minutes works well) – remove all or at least most of the shell 5000 – 10,000 mg fish oil (5-10 capsules of the average 1,000 mg capsule) – I use 10 capsules for my cats. Fish oil is a good source of essential fatty acids – note that this is increased from the original amount of 2,000 mg – if your cat does not like fish, it is ok to use only 2,000 mg. Do NOT use cod liver oil! There is already plenty of vitamin A and D in the liver we are using. Vitamin E – 400 IU (268 mg) (powdered E in capsules is the easiest to use) Vitamin B-complex 50 – 1 capsule or tablet but if you have a picky cat, you should start with only 1/2 capsule or tablet for a total of 25 mg; you can try to increase from there for the next batch but if you determine that your cat is turned off from the food with more than 25 mg, then just leave it at 25 mg. 2,000 mg taurine (use powdered – either in capsules or loose) 1 tsp Morton Lite (or Windsor Half and Half for Canadian residents) salt with iodine when using all chicken but use 1/2 tsp when using rabbit + chicken (contains potassium and sodium – make sure that it contains iodine – see below for further explanation.) For people who cannot source Morton Lite Salt with iodine, use 3/4 tsp of regular salt (sodium chloride) with iodine + 14 tablets of potassium gluconate (99mg each) OR 14 capsules of potassium citrate (99 mg each) when using all chicken. If using rabbit + chicken, use 1/2 tsp regular salt with iodine + 7 tablets of potassium gluconate (99mg each) OR 7 capsules of potassium citrate (99mg each). If you cannot source potassium gluconate or citrate, the meat and liver have enough potassium in it for healthy cats. In that case, use 3/4 tsp of regular salt (sodium chloride) with iodine when using all chicken and 1/2 tsp of regular salt when using rabbit + chicken. Liver – If using ground rabbit (which includes liver) from wholefoods4pets.com, do not add additional liver. If using chicken legs, thighs or a whole chicken carcass minus the organs, add 3-4 ounces of chicken livers per 3 lb of meat/bones/skin. Fiber – 6/1/14 update: For the past 11 years, I have not added any fiber to my cats’ diet and they have done well. Keep in mind that a cat’s natural diet is extremely low in fiber. Contrary to popular belief, the hair and feathers of their prey is not a source of fiber. Fiber only comes from plant material – not animals. The only source of fiber for a cat in the wild is the miniscule amount in the gut tract of their herbivorous/omnivorous prey or the plants that they may eat. Since cats don’t generally chow down on much plant material, this is also a negligible source of fiber.
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Jan 20, 2020 00:49
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Gaj posted:Allergies Zyrtec and Allegra both do better than Claritin for me. Also talk to your doctor about dosages, you may be able to take higher dosages of Flonase and allergy pills than you have been. And I was also on Singulair to reduce congestion but I gather that it doesn’t work for everyone.
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Jan 20, 2020 17:30
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Hey everyone, so I posted a while back about my cat Erin and how she had ascites looking for advice on her condition and I have an update to share as well as a question for a new issue. So long story short, Erin's ascites was being caused by Liver disease which vets at Bluepearl told me was terminal. She had portal hypertension which had messed up the blood vessels around her liver and I had to make the decision to put her down on Dec 7th as she had started showing signs of getting worse. I decided to adopt two kittens after some mourning following that decision and they've helped make her passing a bit easier to bear but I've now got a question regarding these new kittens. To start, the kittens are named Caramel and Jetson. Caramel is roughly 7 months old and female while Jetson is 6 months and male and they both came from different litters. What I'd like advice on is how to best handle mealtime for these kittens as I've noticed Jetson tends to eat his share of food quickly and then starts helping himself to Caramel's food. They don't fuss or fight over food so I'm not worried about things getting violent but I am concerned that Caramel might not be getting enough to eat because her brother is a little food vacuum. Should I be concerned and separate them during mealtime or am I worrying too much? So far Caramel seems fine and full of energy for the month I've had them both and they've been eating together for almost all of the time I've had them. Also, to make up for the long post here is a picture of the two of them cuddling together. 
Pyramid schema fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Jan 20, 2020 |
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Jan 20, 2020 20:53
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Separating them during mealtime isn't a bad idea, sure, but you might also just want to leave some dry food out and free feed them between wet food mealtimes. That way you can be sure both are getting enough to eat without worrying about it.
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Jan 20, 2020 21:06
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Yeah, and growing kittens can generally eat as much as they want as long as they're at a healthy weight, so free-feeding dry food is a good option.
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Jan 20, 2020 21:15
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Any remedies for ringworm in a kitten? It is on one spot on his forearm. Vet wants to do weekly sulfur dips for 4-6 weeks or until it clears up, which seems like a lot to put the cat through. Also he is getting his balls cut off next week.
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Jan 20, 2020 21:20
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Rotten Red Rod posted:Separating them during mealtime isn't a bad idea, sure, but you might also just want to leave some dry food out and free feed them between wet food mealtimes. That way you can be sure both are getting enough to eat without worrying about it. I do a mix of dry food in the morning and wet food at night. I give them about a cup and a half of dry food that they eat throughout the day so I'm not sure if that's offsetting the wet food in the evening for Caramel but she does seem fine so far. Do you think that might be enough or should I consider putting out more dry food after the evening meal?
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Jan 20, 2020 21:21
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Pyramid schema posted:I do a mix of dry food in the morning and wet food at night. I give them about a cup and a half of dry food that they eat throughout the day so I'm not sure if that's offsetting the wet food in the evening for Caramel but she does seem fine so far. Do you think that might be enough or should I consider putting out more dry food after the evening meal? Just always have a full bowl of dry food out.
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Jan 20, 2020 21:22
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Organza Quiz posted:I'd just try letting them out whenever you're home/awake and seeing how it goes. If the adult cat isn't bullying the kitten then they should be fine. They just played for a good two hours and now they're curled up together in the sun on the couch. Most stressful two months ever and I can't believe that it's finally over.
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Jan 20, 2020 22:04
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More cat feeding questions. We have 2 ~18 month old cats and have the same problem of one eating the other's food. The greedy one also seems to be putting on weight. I don't know exactly at what point you'd say a cat as fat but she has way more meat on her than when we got her. She begs for more food constantly and has started trying to sneak food off our plates if we aren't paying attention. I'm worried if we free feed dry food she's just going to turn into a giant fatty, how do you deal with a cat who seems to want to constantly overeat?
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Jan 20, 2020 23:57
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Get a puzzle feeder.
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Jan 21, 2020 00:32
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Agent355 posted:More cat feeding questions. Feed wet food on a schedule?
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Jan 21, 2020 00:35
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A puzzle feeder isn't a bad idea, but the main thing is you can't free feed overeating cats. You just have to restrict them to set meal times and amounts and separate them from other cats' food. I lived with a food obsessed cat for a long time and there's often not much else you can do except for be really vigilant and watch for her (or lock her in another room) when you're cooking/eating yourself. It's possible they can learn to not overeat if you do that. But not likely. From my observation cats' eating habits get pretty set in stone after kittenhood. Rotten Red Rod fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Jan 21, 2020 |
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Jan 21, 2020 00:39
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Yeah currently we're measuring food and feeding them throughout the day and then standing over them to make sure that they each eat instead of the tubby one eating both of their meals. Guess there's no way to curb the overeating and just have to deal with it.
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Jan 21, 2020 00:49
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Our apartment is having construction done on the balcony and I think it's freaking the cat out. Something has him wanting to hide. We found him under the sink and after pulling him out he claws us and runs right back. We blocked it off and he went to the washer and jumped in  they aren't actively working on the thing right now so unless he was super scared by them tearing down the thing ballpark 12 hours ago I don't understandEdit: fiance just informed me the house she stayed at last night had multiple dogs and cats so he could be freaking out from the smell of strange animals?
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Jan 21, 2020 00:53
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Rotten Red Rod posted:A puzzle feeder isn't a bad idea, but the main thing is you can't free feed overeating cats. You just have to restrict them to set meal times and amounts and separate them from other cats' food. I lived with a food obsessed cat for a long time and there's often not much else you can do except for be really vigilant and watch for her (or lock her in another room) when you're cooking/eating yourself. Yeah, but it's also possible that the hungry cat just has food anxiety and having an available source of food around at all times might reduce the desire to gobble down food all the time.
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Jan 21, 2020 01:09
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I would say to let him hide. You're just scaring him more pulling him back out/limiting where he feels safe. Eventually he'll need to come out to eat/poo poo and will figure out that he's not in mortal danger.
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Jan 21, 2020 01:12
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GenericGirlName posted:I would say to let him hide. You're just scaring him more pulling him back out/limiting where he feels safe. Eventually he'll need to come out to eat/poo poo and will figure out that he's not in mortal danger. Then he needs to hide in safer places! The sink has a large chunk of wall cut out giving access to between the wall and I am not okay with him crawling in there. I think he's settled on under the couch which is a much safer place to hide Edit: nope it was inside the wall. Operation figure out how to block the wall is a go Len fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Jan 21, 2020 |
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Jan 21, 2020 01:14
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In the meantime while you figure out a fix for the wall, you might consider making him a temporary hideout - cardboard box, blanket inside, and blanket over it, perhaps. And douse it with catnip and give a treat when he checks it out.
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Jan 21, 2020 03:00
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TofuDiva posted:In the meantime while you figure out a fix for the wall, you might consider making him a temporary hideout - cardboard box, blanket inside, and blanket over it, perhaps. And douse it with catnip and give a treat when he checks it out. That's the weird thing, he usually uses the linen closet for that. The thing came off the rails so he pushes it open and sleeps cozy back in the blankets. Or he'll sleep in the dryer if we leave it open with clothes in it. But he's beelining for the hole in the wall which he never did before. He will come out for treats but then he hauls rear end back to the hole like there's something out to get him Cats are weird is where I'm going with this
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Jan 21, 2020 03:06
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TMMadman posted:Yeah, but it's also possible that the hungry cat just has food anxiety and having an available source of food around at all times might reduce the desire to gobble down food all the time. It's possible, or she could just do what ours did - just eat like crazy and get fat. Oddly, I actually do have a cat that had anxiety about not having food all the time, and he had to live with the first cat. He got so anxious he started spraying everywhere. He now lives with 2 other cats that are ok with free feeding and all is good.
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Jan 21, 2020 05:22
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| # ? May 23, 2024 20:57 |
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SixPabst posted:They just played for a good two hours and now they're curled up together in the sun on the couch. Most stressful two months ever and I can't believe that it's finally over. That's so great to hear! We will all need pictures as proof though please understand
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Jan 21, 2020 06:49
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