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Apr 15, 2013 20:22
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1up posted:Any advice on getting a cat to just What helped for me is to wait until the cats are clearly in a "chilled" state. They're not teasing each other into a play fight, at their food dishes, or are actively seeking affection. If they sit on the couch or in your lap, that's the best time. Maybe you could introduce the brushings by giving a stroke with the Furminator and then immediately offering a treat that they ONLY get during groomings? Something high value like a tiny bit of tuna or whatever they go nuts for. Be patient and only brush them a bit each time, ending it before they can get agitated. Hopefully then you could acclimate them to where they really enjoy the brushings. My cats will now bliss out during their sessions with the Furminator, although legs and belly are still no-go areas (they're both shorthair, so it doesn't matter as much to me). You could also start out with a gentler brushing tool, like those "luv gloves" that have little nubbies to groom a cat. Good luck! You can also get hairball preventative gel for them, just make sure it is petroleum free (most of them are just flavored Vasoline). That will help on the hairball front. Good luck!
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Apr 15, 2013 22:25
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when it comes to brushing? I finally cracked and bought two furminators [damned long and short hair cats] but only one cat will remotely tolerate being brushed. The other two actively act like they're dying and you are a horrible murderer because you're forcing them to hold still. My fluffy cat is already in full swing hairball land from spring coat blowout and he needs to be defloofed. I'm just scared of pinning him down because he has a bad hip, but I can't think of an alternative since burritoing kinda defeats the purpose here.
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Dr. Chaco posted:All the "extra stuff" is far from free to the clinic. They are already doing the surgery for free ($5 is a drop in the bucket for what it costs the clinic to spay an animal), it makes sense they would cut their losses by offering other parts of the procedure that may not be strictly necessary for an extra fee. You can make the argument that those bits should actually be considered necessary, but then they would have to charge everyone more than $5, and then the program wouldn't work and no one's animals would get fixed. I have this conversation with clients all the time because we have a program to fix feral cats for free. No, that doesn't include any vaccines except rabies, pain meds to go home, IV catheter and fluids during surgery, FeLV or FIV testing, unless you pay extra. That's why it's free. Thank you for clarifying the "extra stuff" Dr. Chaco. In no way did I ever intend on skipping out on the bill or doing anything shady as you put it. I've never done that nor would I. I misunderstood the form this morning and the only extra thing Bebop needed was the post-op bring home meds which cost 25 dollars and I had that amount on me at the time. There was a long list and I misread the $50 dollars. I paid in full when I picked her up this evening. When I got her to the vet this morning there was a whole sheet of "extras" and it was a bit overwhelming. I'm not familiar with this program and the vet didn't mention in any of our 4 phone calls that there could be any extra charge or I'd have been more prepared. She'd been going into heat at least every 2 weeks so it was important to get this done as soon as possible. She had already had all of her shots, and also got the rabies shot, so now she is up to date and very comfortable next to me on the couch. I love all of my cats beyond words and would never have them if I couldn't take care of them. I only needed the program this time because I am between jobs and I couldn't stand to see her so uncomfortable in heat again even though she's an indoor cat and will not ever go outside again. She was dumped in my neighbors bushes so young the vet said at the time said she wasn't even old enough to be away from her mom. I spent over an hour getting her out and spent many a sleepless night feeding her and making sure she survived. I am beyond thankful that such a program exists and I would never take advantage of it, or a vet, because they provide a very valuable service to my much loved cats. Delayed Reaction fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 04:24
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Delayed Reaction posted:Thank you for clarifying the "extra stuff" Dr. Chaco. In no way did I ever intend on skipping out on the bill or doing anything shady as you put it. I've never done that nor would I. I misunderstood the form this morning and the only extra thing Bebop needed was the post-op bring home meds which cost 25 dollars and I had that amount on me at the time. There was a long list and I misread the $50 dollars. Sounds like it all worked out ok then. Some of the extra stuff is nice, and maybe should be mandatory for all surgeries, like IV catheters and IV fluids during the procedure, and a lot of low-cost clinics do without much in the way of monitoring. The other side of that coin, though, is that cat spays take literally 15 minutes or less of surgery time. That is still enough time for things to go wrong, though it's not as likely as it is with an older or less healthy animal having a more involved surgery that takes a couple of hours. I guess what I'm saying is don't feel too bad about not being able to afford all the "extras," the most important part is getting the surgery done. I hope I didn't come across as too abrasive--I was trying to make the point that I am sick and tired of people skipping out on their bills, particularly when they knew the price ahead of time and signed the estimate and authorized the treatment, without directly saying that I expected you to do that.
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Apr 16, 2013 04:43
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Dr. Chaco posted:Sounds like it all worked out ok then. Some of the extra stuff is nice, and maybe should be mandatory for all surgeries, like IV catheters and IV fluids during the procedure, and a lot of low-cost clinics do without much in the way of monitoring. The other side of that coin, though, is that cat spays take literally 15 minutes or less of surgery time. That is still enough time for things to go wrong, though it's not as likely as it is with an older or less healthy animal having a more involved surgery that takes a couple of hours. I guess what I'm saying is don't feel too bad about not being able to afford all the "extras," the most important part is getting the surgery done. It's all good  I don't blame you one bit for being sick and tired of people skipping out on bills. In my case, I filled out paperwork at Animal Services, paid the 5 dollars, and received nothing at all but how to take away food the night before (none of the extras or pricing). So the very first in person contact and extras/prices I had with the vet was when I dropped her off this morning. I'm so impressed with them I'll be back regularly as needed. I'm also extremely impressed at how much technology has come as it's been over a decade since I had my other 2 spayed and neutered. Thank you for all you do for our animals I just don't know what I'd do without mine!
Delayed Reaction fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 04:51
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Dr. Chaco posted:All the "extra stuff" is far from free to the clinic. They are already doing the surgery for free ($5 is a drop in the bucket for what it costs the clinic to spay an animal), it makes sense they would cut their losses by offering other parts of the procedure that may not be strictly necessary for an extra fee. You can make the argument that those bits should actually be considered necessary, but then they would have to charge everyone more than $5, and then the program wouldn't work and no one's animals would get fixed. I have this conversation with clients all the time because we have a program to fix feral cats for free. No, that doesn't include any vaccines except rabies, pain meds to go home, IV catheter and fluids during surgery, FeLV or FIV testing, unless you pay extra. That's why it's free. I had no idea there was all "extra" business for fixing cats. If I only paid $35 each to have my cats neutered, did they likely not get pain killers or anything? They were at least knocked out, right?  I didn't receive any pain meds to take home, I know that...Now I'm worried I'm a terrible pet owner who put my cats through undue stress and pain through my ignorance of the procedure. 
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Apr 16, 2013 05:01
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Niemat posted:I had no idea there was all "extra" business for fixing cats. If I only paid $35 each to have my cats neutered, did they likely not get pain killers or anything? They were at least knocked out, right? Many of the anesthetic agents that are used provide at least some pain control, so even if no additional was given they were likely covered at least through the procedure and possibly for a little bit of time afterwards. They would definitely have been anesthetized - don't think you could really do a spay or neuter on an awake animal, haha.
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Apr 16, 2013 05:09
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Niemat posted:I had no idea there was all "extra" business for fixing cats. If I only paid $35 each to have my cats neutered, did they likely not get pain killers or anything? They were at least knocked out, right? They most likely were anesthetized, don't worry. Most vets don't do the boot method... Cat neuters are also pretty minimal in terms of really needing pain meds. Usually a single shot in the clinic will suffice as scrotal incisions are pretty minimal in terms of post-op discomfort.
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Apr 16, 2013 05:10
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Niemat posted:I had no idea there was all "extra" business for fixing cats. If I only paid $35 each to have my cats neutered, did they likely not get pain killers or anything? They were at least knocked out, right? I went through a reduced rate program and the anesthesia was included as was the rabies shot. The only extras I was asked to pay more for were the take home pain killers and a whole sheet of other things that I did read carefully and deemed unnecessary until a later visit when my first paycheck comes in a few weeks. I'm sure yours was knocked out and given pain killers. I suppose some vets may not think the take home meds are needed depending on the procedure. I believe fixing females is more involved than the males also. But I'm sure Dr. Chaco may have more or better information than I do since I used the Fixing Alabama Program. Niemat, you're a wonderful pet owner for caring enough to get your cat fixed in the first place, among many other reasons I'm sure
Delayed Reaction fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 05:12
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Delayed Reaction posted:I went through a reduced rate program and the anesthesia was included as was the rabies shot. The only extras I was asked to pay more for were the take home pain killers and a whole sheet of other things that I did read carefully and deemed unnecessary until a later visit when my first paycheck comes in a few weeks. I'm sure yours was knocked out and given pain killers. I suppose some vets may not think the take home meds are needed depending on the procedure. I believe fixing females is more involved than the males also. Spaying a female involves removal of the uterus and ovaries generally through a small abdominal incision (your cat will have a shaved patch on her side with a couple of stitches, self dissolving or other). Unless they had trouble finding all the parts to remove, vets here generally don't give any pain meds to take home as the shots they get in the surgery cover it. They feel tender for a few days of course but then she needs to be fairly quiet and let it heal without leaping around all over the place. If you're going back for vaccinations, you might want to read this link: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=vaccines
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Apr 16, 2013 13:23
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Ratzap posted:If you're going back for vaccinations, you might want to read this link: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=vaccines Pierson is a hack. She has good stuff mixed in with complete bullshit. Hell I'd rather have someone ask their vaccine questions here (or better yet with their vet!) than go by Pierson, who regularly argues with specialists who are fantastic at what they do when she has no specialist training and is basically a spergy goon. I made this more blunt than usual because whenever her website is posted a kitten dies somewhere.
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Apr 16, 2013 16:07
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Ratzap posted:Spaying a female involves removal of the uterus and ovaries generally through a small abdominal incision (your cat will have a shaved patch on her side with a couple of stitches, self dissolving or other). Unless they had trouble finding all the parts to remove, vets here generally don't give any pain meds to take home as the shots they get in the surgery cover it. They feel tender for a few days of course but then she needs to be fairly quiet and let it heal without leaping around all over the place. Most places in the US don't do flank spays, so the incision will not be on the cat's side. Also, it's still major abdominal surgery and newer ideas are getting away from the whole "let them be in pain so they don't run around" thing because that's pretty drat cruel. Pain control is something that we have generally historically done a pretty piss-poor job with in vet med. Part of the problem is recognizing signs of pain. That being said, many cats probably do rebound pretty quickly, but this isn't really a great justification for downplaying the idea of controlling pain in spayed cats. Topoisomerase fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 17:59
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Topoisomerase posted:Most places in the US don't do flank spays, so the incision will not be on the cat's side. Also, it's still major abdominal surgery and newer ideas are getting away from the whole "let them be in pain so they don't run around" thing because that's pretty drat cruel. They sent my cat home with Buprenorphine and instructed me to give it to her every 12 hours until it's gone. Her tummy is all shaved and her incision looks good. She's being very loving just like before and seems comfortable to say the least They wanted me to keep her confined to the bathroom but so far she prefers being under the bed. I'm extremely impressed with the level of care and compassion the vet showed to her and me.
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Apr 16, 2013 20:44
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Topoisomerase posted:Most places in the US don't do flank spays, so the incision will not be on the cat's side. Also, it's still major abdominal surgery and newer ideas are getting away from the whole "let them be in pain so they don't run around" thing because that's pretty drat cruel. Yeah I asked a vet about this a few years ago and that was the response I got. They don't give us any painkillers for spayed cats which you would think would be painful (vet told us once: they deal with pain differently. Even so you'd think pain is pain right?) but then when they take a tooth or two out as part of a dental they give painkillers. On the subject of vaccinations, what would you then recommend HelloSailorSign? The whole subject of duration of immunity seems to be unnecessarily murky assuming the research is on the level.
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Apr 16, 2013 22:09
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Delayed Reaction posted:They sent my cat home with Buprenorphine and instructed me to give it to her every 12 hours until it's gone. I love buprenorphine in cats. It makes them so happy.  As to the above post, cats and dogs feel pain just like we do. They hide it well but at the end of the day a spay is major abdominal surgery and it hurts. Thinking that they deal with it differently and don't really need pain meds is an older school of thought.
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Apr 16, 2013 22:18
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four lean hounds posted:What helped for me is to wait until the cats are clearly in a "chilled" state. They're not teasing each other into a play fight, at their food dishes, or are actively seeking affection. If they sit on the couch or in your lap, that's the best time. Maybe you could introduce the brushings by giving a stroke with the Furminator and then immediately offering a treat that they ONLY get during groomings? Something high value like a tiny bit of tuna or whatever they go nuts for. Be patient and only brush them a bit each time, ending it before they can get agitated. Hopefully then you could acclimate them to where they really enjoy the brushings. My cats will now bliss out during their sessions with the Furminator, although legs and belly are still no-go areas (they're both shorthair, so it doesn't matter as much to me). I have a nubbin brush and a slicker brush that I've tried on him before, but it's the exact same reaction. He didn't completely hate the nubbin one, but it did absolutely nothing to stem the flood of floof. What little I could brush of him with the furminator yielded a compact ball of hair the size of a softball  The treat thing is a great idea, I don't know why I didn't think of that before. The treats will also work on our kitten, who doesn't mind brushing but hates being held or restricted in any manner. God bless Spice, who will just hold still and tolerate almost anything in this world.
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Apr 16, 2013 22:18
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Tamarillo posted:Get both. I bought a ragdoll and a shelter cat at the shame time, they're both awesome and they're best buds (most of the time) My apartment complex charges a monthly fee per pet, so two cats isn't an option for me at the moment. I've decided to check out the British short hair later this week and inevitably walk away with it because there's no way I'll be able to say no to that face.Question about purebred cats: Am I supposed to skip the neutering even if I have no intention of breeding? I'm not sure if that's a social faux-paw  with purebreds...
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Apr 16, 2013 23:08
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Nuts and Gum posted:Question about purebred cats: Am I supposed to skip the neutering even if I have no intention of breeding? I'm not sure if that's a social faux-paw I think some breeders actually require you to provide proof of fixing (so you don't away their business and all that). However, I've only had rescue cats, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong... edit: HelloSailorSign posted:They most likely were anesthetized, don't worry. Most vets don't do the boot method... Horrifyingly, my sister's exboyfriend's mom (who had zero vet/vet tech/surgery experience) looked up a few YouTube videos on the boot method and used to fix all their cats that way using the YouTube videos as instruction as she did it in a lot of cases.  Niemat fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 23:27
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Nuts and Gum posted:My apartment complex charges a monthly fee per pet, so two cats isn't an option for me at the moment. I've decided to check out the British short hair later this week and inevitably walk away with it because there's no way I'll be able to say no to that I just got a Bengal last Saturday from a breeder. She made me sign a contract that I would absolutely neuter him at around 6 months.
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Apr 17, 2013 00:25
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Niemat posted:
Do I even want to know what the boot method is?
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Apr 17, 2013 01:29
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Dead Cow posted:Do I even want to know what the boot method is? Probably not. You literally take the cat, shove it head first into a boot so it can't bite or scratch using its front claws, and cut without any sort of anesthesia or pain killer.fake edit: I threw in spoiler tags just in case.
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Apr 17, 2013 03:11
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Ratzap posted:On the subject of vaccinations, what would you then recommend HelloSailorSign? The whole subject of duration of immunity seems to be unnecessarily murky assuming the research is on the level. Vaccines and their frequency of administration are highly dependent on the surrounding location and environment of the cat. Where I live, if a young adult cat came in as a stray rescue, I wouldn't run a titer for panleukopenia, I'd just vaccinate it. Vaccine reactions are far more rare than the diseases they're meant to protect. There's a huge feral cat population, many people try and take in stray cats, many cats frequently are indoor/outdoor, and many indoor only cats frequently escape. I do 1yr Rabies and 3yr FVRCP/FeLV (after kitten series). If I was in a different location with a different client base, then I might stop vaccinating (completely up to client discussion at that point) for FeLV/FVRCP around 4 years depending. The main thing I'm mad about is that she makes token remarks towards taking exposure in mind, but in reality that's a major factor in vaccine administration. It's true, duration of immunity hasn't been worked out for many of these things. Titers themselves may or may not let you know if an animal has sufficient immune response because the levels necessary for coverage aren't known. That's also why I don't like her recommendations - it's essentially taking owned cats and using them as the guinea pigs in uncontrolled (scientifically) environments and trying to base conclusions off that. I haven't seen any convincing research that vaccines are implicated in chronic kidney disease, yet that's a concern she lists for vaccination. In fact, the article on kidney inflammation that she quotes as showing that the FVRCP vaccine is "proven to cause kidney inflammation" says no such thing. In fact, the compound the researchers implicated in maybe causing the inflammation was found to cause the most inflammation in one of the cats that got the lowest amount of the compound. As their sample sizes were also very low, they said, as was reasonable, that the compound (which can be found in commercial vaccines) may cause patient specific kidney inflammation but that more research was needed. There certainly are known cases of immune overreaction to anything that can stimulate immune response - but those cases are extraordinarily rare.
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Apr 17, 2013 03:16
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ToastFaceKillah posted:I just got a Bengal last Saturday from a breeder. She made me sign a contract that I would absolutely neuter him at around 6 months. Same with my Ragdoll - nads chopped by six months or else!! Personally I agree with it because it cuts down in the number of lovely byb "selling pure bread kittinz onli $350!!!!!!" for crossbreed cats with no vet checkups or vaccinations or anything.
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Apr 17, 2013 06:07
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Braki posted:I love buprenorphine in cats. It makes them so happy. I think that's what they gave my cat when she had her spay. By the second day, she figured out that I would always get the bottle out before medicine time and sit her on the table, so she would hop up there and sit patiently for her painkillers. She seemed quite upset when the painkillers ran out and she kept waiting for me to give her meds. My cat is a junkie. 
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Apr 17, 2013 06:54
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Topical, since we're talking about desexing cats.. Hugo's breeder just got ripped into on facebook by an insane fellow Ragdoll breeder who has tried to set herself up as her 'mentor'. About five years ago, my breeder sold a breeding cat to another registered breeder. This breeder has had this male cat for five years and has suddenly decided that what the world needs are BURMESE DOLLS! This woman is now using the male cat to breed with her Burmese queens. However, this is ALL. HUGO'S. BREEDER'S. FAULT. because she doesn't desex her kittens before selling them, conveniently forgetting that this was in fact an entire breeding animal sold to a fellow registered ragdoll breeder. She had a huge meltdown and said that she didn't want "HER" (read: the offspring of breeding queens she had sold to Hugo's breeder) involved in this sort of carry on and that if she truly loved her ragdolls she would stop this DISGUSTING practice of selling them with desexing contracts. I saw this when I got in from walking home in the rain from a long day at work, so put on my bitch pants and called her out for being an immature child and refuted every point her absolutely retarded and barely coherent argument. loving insane breeders - no brains required, just two entire animals and apparently a birdcage to shove them in!
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Apr 17, 2013 08:06
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Today was going to be a pretty chill day. I pull up in front of my apartment, and I see that there is a kitten stuck in the blinds. She got her leg stuck in the strings binding the blinds. She scratched up my stomach a bit as I was trying to untangle her, and one of our other cats kept charging her and attacking her. I don't know why he was being an rear end in a top hat, but I had to kick him away multiple times because he just kept charging her. I'm pretty sure he was attacking her. That was about three hours ago, and she's fine now running and playing with her sister. I am still feeling really stressed.
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Apr 17, 2013 19:20
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HelloSailorSign posted:Vaccines and their frequency of administration are highly dependent on the surrounding location and environment of the cat. Where I live, if a young adult cat came in as a stray rescue, I wouldn't run a titer for panleukopenia, I'd just vaccinate it. Vaccine reactions are far more rare than the diseases they're meant to protect. There's a huge feral cat population, many people try and take in stray cats, many cats frequently are indoor/outdoor, and many indoor only cats frequently escape. I do 1yr Rabies and 3yr FVRCP/FeLV (after kitten series). If I was in a different location with a different client base, then I might stop vaccinating (completely up to client discussion at that point) for FeLV/FVRCP around 4 years depending. The main thing I'm mad about is that she makes token remarks towards taking exposure in mind, but in reality that's a major factor in vaccine administration. Thanks very much for the reply, so basically she's hyped it up and gone to 11. I'm in the UK, rural mid Scotland to be precise and we kind of wondered why the vets here used different vaccines than the ones 40 miles away in Edinburgh. Thankfully the UK has no rabies so we don't have to worry about that. I have a 14 year old female and a 13 year old male, both neutered. They were vaccinated as kittens and had boosters for 12 years but they have so little contact with other cats out here, I've just had them in to the checkup this year and skipped the boosters. They barely go outside anymore either, just to sun themselves in good weather and with an RFID cat flap they're safe when they duck indoors again. I'm glad to hear the kidney inflammation is overblown, the idea of paying to damage my cats every year was upsetting to say the least. The whole thing is likely to rumble on for some time yet I suppose.
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Apr 17, 2013 20:45
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Anonybominous posted:Yeah, the bathroom is really the only place I can put her box, so it looks like I'll just be getting used to having company. At least it's good to know other cats do this too... My cat can be a little odd sometimes and has some issues. Cats. Could be worse. Luna likes to pee while we're brushing our teeth.
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Apr 18, 2013 00:37
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I just moved to a new apartment and brought my cats, Lucy and Ethel, with me. They're both about 5 years old and this is not the first time they've moved. Ethel got over her fears pretty quickly and started exploring the new apartment. She already has favorite spots picked out. She cries when I leave her sight, but overall she's doing quite well. Lucy however is another story. She went into the bedroom and hid under the bed, which is one of the only pieces of familiar furniture. That was Saturday. She's become quite chill under the bed. I can reach under and she'll start purring away. Ethel will visit her, and she seems quite content. She's not hissing or abnormally stressed. The problem is, she won't leave the bedroom. I have to keep a separate litter box at the foot of my bed. She has a bit of a food obsession, and I was hoping I could coax her out with that. But even that won't work. If the food dish is inside the bedroom, she's fine. But even one inch outside the door frame and she won't go for it. I'm worried that she's so incredibly chill in the bedroom but has shown zero desire to venture out. If she was showing signs of exploration, that would be great. Instead she lounges about the bedroom with a "gently caress you, I'm perfectly happy making GBS threads in your bedroom" look in her eyes.
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Apr 18, 2013 02:22
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I have had my 2 kitties (one kitten & one 2-3 y/o) for several weeks now. So far there have been no "accidents" but there have been 2 times when I have observed the older cat making the iconic pre-wharfing sound.  And then he stops and walks away without incident. I have had cats growing up and can handle the regular hairball. But is there any reason for concern if there are multiple expected hairballs without any payoff?
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Apr 18, 2013 06:25
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Slybo posted:
Does he retch/gag at the end, and then swallow whatever comes up, or does he just hack-hack-hack and then be done? If it's the second, he may actually be coughing, not heaving. It sounds and looks similar to a lot of people, and is a sign of lung disease (like feline asthma) if he is coughing. If he's just not vomiting it all the way up and is instead swallowing it, I would treat it the same as any other episode of vomiting--go see a vet if it's worrying you or if it persists or if his appetite decreases or he gets lethargic.
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Apr 18, 2013 06:59
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Midnight, a slightly psychotic black cat that my fiancée and I adopted from a barnyard when he was a tiny kitten, is now about 1 1/2 years old. He's always had a bit of an attitude - he only likes to be pet when he wants to be, and he gets cranky if we're late in feeding him in the morning - but lately he's been getting worse. When we walk around, especially in the morning and late evening, he likes to hide and pounce our feet/ankles using his claws and teeth. As a result, my feet now have little claw marks all over them. What can I do to help put a stop to this behavior? I'd love to get him another cat to play with, since he interacts well with other cats, but we live in a smallish apartment (1br + kitchen, living room, and a small den) and I'm concerned that that might be too much. Please help save our feet!
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Apr 18, 2013 14:18
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Devil Wears Wings posted:What can I do to help put a stop to this behavior? I'd love to get him another cat to play with, since he interacts well with other cats, but we live in a smallish apartment (1br + kitchen, living room, and a small den) and I'm concerned that that might be too much. Please help save our feet! I say go for the second cat. My fiance and I lived in an apartment that was just 1br + kitchen + bathroom, and our cats coped with it better than we did. If you're concerned about space, you can always buy a couple cat trees to give them vertical spaces to hang out, but they shouldn't really have a problem with it.
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Apr 18, 2013 16:51
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Nyarai posted:I say go for the second cat. My fiance and I lived in an apartment that was just 1br + kitchen + bathroom, and our cats coped with it better than we did. If you're concerned about space, you can always buy a couple cat trees to give them vertical spaces to hang out, but they shouldn't really have a problem with it. Ditto this. I admit I always thought the "get your cat a cat thing" was kind of a catlady drug-dealer type move to get you shacked up with tons of cats, but Marzipan was a holy terror that made me look like I was trying to kill myself with a boxcutter, and now she confines all her mauling to her mustache friend and I get all the pettins and awesome cat parts.
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Apr 18, 2013 18:09
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Thanks so much for the advice! I kind of figured that Middy was just acting out out of boredom, since he's also turned a couple of wires into playthings recently. Now to convince my fiancée, who's a bit more dead-set against the idea - though she might not be if I could just get her to visit the local animal rescue and see all the cute homeless kitties. Since Middy is a guy, would it make the most sense for our second cat to be female? I've heard that two males can get territorial with each other.
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Apr 18, 2013 18:17
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That sounds about right. http://www.petfinder.com/cats/bringing-a-cat-home/cat-to-cat-introductions/ quote:If this were an ideal world, the New cat (N-cat) would be younger and smaller than the Existing cat (E-cat). N-cat would be of the opposite sex (or both would be female), sexually immature or neutered. His personality would complement that of the E-cat. You would take your time interviewing all candidates and would be rational, not emotional during the decision-making process.
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Apr 18, 2013 18:25
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At what point does cat wrestling become a problem? Our guys have been fighting more often recently, and I come in and break it up whenever it looks scary to me. The two know each other well, as long as one is able to disengage and run away is it OK? They have started occasionally vocalizing during wrestling as well. Never a spit or a hiss, but sometimes a low growl when one pins the other.
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Apr 18, 2013 19:42
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I know I'm not supposed to ask for medical advice, but my cat's situation is rather unique and I think it warrants asking. Maxwell is a ~9 year old pure blood Norwegian Forest cat. We've owned him for about 8 of those years. Around 3 months ago, we took him to the vet. They noticed his weight was down from 13 to 12 lbs. They said that this was something of note and that we should keep an eye on it. Otherwise his behavior seemed normal. He was eating and drinking normally. We moved to a new house 2 months ago. We took him to the vet again yesterday. His weight was down to 11 lbs. We can now feel his spine/ribs/hip bonss etc. They noted muscle deterioration. They also detected a minor heart murmur. They decided to do fecal and blood work. All of this came back normal. They couldn't feel any kind of cancer anywhere. His breathing was normal. There were no parasites. Basically nothing. They can't find out what is wrong with him. His energy level is normal. He eats his food. He drinks water normally. He goes to the litter box normally. What the hell is wrong with this cat? I should mention that we have a second cat, who often "muscles" her way to his wet food bowl (I'm guessing as a sign of dominance) so that he can't eat entirely when we put the food out, however we have dry food out as well 24 hours a day. Could this be solely the reason why he's dropping weight? I don't think so, but at this point I'm grasping. the fucked around with this message at 22:58 on Apr 18, 2013 |
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Apr 18, 2013 22:56
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My cat actually had a similar problem not too long ago. Losing weight despite everything else being normal. I can walk through what we did with him and hopefully it'll help you. So at first, they felt around his neck because a very common condition that causes cats to lose weight despite a great appetite is hyperthyroidism, and sometimes when this happens you can actually feel the enlarged thyroid gland. They did actually feel a small nodule in his neck but normal cats can have slightly big thyroids and have it be normal. Then they took blood work and measured his T4. Usually hyperthyroidism will turn up certain things on the blood work to make you suspect it, and the T4 will be high. His blood work was fairly normal, and his T4 was normal. So, at this point his likelihood of being hyperthyroid is fairly low. Next we move to gut things, so something with his gut that's causing him to not absorb his food properly. The big two conditions here were inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and small cell lymphoma, with pancreatitis and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) being more unlikely considerations. The problem is that IBD and small cell lymphoma can be very hard to diagnose and distinguish from each other. Both can cause weight loss despite a good appetite, and both may not show anything on blood work. To look at this further, the next thing we did was ultrasound his abdomen. Those two conditions can cause thickening of the intestines which we can examine with ultrasound. His ultrasound was normal. At this point, we threw in chest x-rays because sometimes cats can have mediastinal disease that can translate into similar symptoms. Normal. Then we sent in some more blood tests: FeLV/FIV (we always test for this in cats that are requiring an extensive diagnostic work-up because if they're FeLV+ it affects their prognosis), and then some tests to rule out pancreatitis and EPI, and another test to 100% rule out hyperthyroidism. At this point, he was also overgrooming himself and we were suspecting a food allergy, and this, combined with all of those tests coming back normal, led us to a presumptive diagnosis of IBD. Usually for definitive diagnosis of IBD you need a biopsy sample from their intestine showing a characteristic inflammation, but even then it can be hard to diagnose for sure and it can still be very hard to differentiate it from small cell lymphoma because they can still look very similar on biopsy. Right now he is on a food trial to see if it gets better and if he does then we can be pretty sure it's IBD. Hopefully this is at least somewhat helpful. I hope they find out what's wrong with your kitty.
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Apr 18, 2013 23:23
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| # ? May 15, 2024 04:46 |
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What's the treatment plan for something like that? edit: They checked his thyroid and he's been tested for FIV/FLV a dozen times (we lost a cat a few years ago from that), so it's looking like IBD might be the likely candidate. I'll call the vet tomorrow. Thanks man .
the fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Apr 18, 2013 |
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Apr 18, 2013 23:30
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