Calling all Cat people...

[PJmomrunner]

My cat had blunt trauma to her eye two weeks ago (I gave her a black eye with my ankle bone--I zigged, she zagged ) and her eye swelled shut and got red and weepy. The vet gave her a local shot of antibiotics and put her on opthalmic drops twice a day for 10 days. After 3 days, she looked almost as good as new, but it never completely cleared up. Now it's in both eyes--goopy and red rimmed. I was asked by vet's office person, "do you want a refill or do you want to bring her back in?" The vet is going to call me back, so I guess we'll figure it out, but I wondered if anyone has ever experienced a kitty with an eye infection that won't quit?

 

[Barry]

... I would drain it myself and flush it out. Sometimes infections can be tough....

Yettch. I found just how deeply I loved my dog when he got bit by a rattlesnake and it gave him a grapefruit-sized abcess on his neck that had to be cleaned out and packed with clean gauze daily. What a lovely way to start each day!


Alas, PJmomrunner, I have no words of wisdom for your situation. I'd be inclined to just get the 'script refilled.

 

[momshell7]

Sorry to hear about your kitty!

Sorry to hear about your kitty!

I hope your kitty's eye get better soon. I know how upsetting it can be when your pets aren't feeling their best. A while back our dog was in his kennel, which is beside the washer, and he somehow knocked the detergent bottle off the washer and it fell on his kennel. When if fell the kennel somehow punctured a hole in it and my dog got drenched in laundry detergent. This happened during the night, so we didnt' find him til the next morning. Poor dog was covered head to tail. He bathed him several times and took him to the vet. The poor thing had burned corneas. We had to give him drops in his eyes several times a day for two weeks. Luckily, his eyes are now fully healed. We were so scared he would be blind from it. I guess its a good thing it was detergent and not bleach. Needless to say I keep the detergent on the dryer now and not the washer!

Sending prayers and hugs to you and your kitty!

Michelle

 

[PJmomrunner]

Thanks for the empathy, folks. The vet took it out of my hands--had his assistant call and say, "bring her in!" So, in she goes in a couple of hours.

Michelle - burned corneas! I've scratched my cornea and it is right up there with childbirth in the pain department. Poor doggie!

Barry - Oh yes, that's love!

 

[Granbonny]

My solid black cat, Rufus, started sneezing a few weeks back when the pollen started. Not to be gross. but, he sneezed out yucky stuff from his nose..He got better..but started again last week. he came in the house one day and and I thought he was a strange cat. Yellow He is in house now. I know he doesn't feel great..but can still devour 2 cans of Fancy Feast..2 times a day. I wish I could keep him in..but, he wants out every a.m. Hates using the Littter box.B/T/W..he left a mouse at my front door this a.m. First mouse I have ever seen up here in the Mountains. Neighbor is remodeling across road and much stuff piled in his driveway. He never leaves my yard...so, I'm sure that's where he found it.He loves my neighbor and will venture across the road to visit with him. No traffic here..so do not worry. Bonnie

 

[PJmomrunner]

Kitty Health Update

Kitty Health Update

Pesto has an upper respiratory infection (yep, a kitty kold). The vet is a little concerned she isn't responding as well as he would like to the eyedrops, so he extended the prescription for those, added a dose a day (oh, fun! eye drops for kitty 3x per day!) and he added liquid clavamox twice a day (that's even more fun!) BTW, Pesto is a gray tabby, Alfredo is pure white and Tiki is almost pure black.

 

[PJmomrunner]

Sorry about Barney-Boy, Pam

Sorry about Barney-Boy, Pam

It's so hard to lose a long-time family pet. Hopefully Pesto will kick this thing and be fine soon! She's gonna have to get just a bit more cooperative with taking the antibiotic--little stinker spits it out! Gosh, I hope the others don't get it!

 

[char2mar]

Chlamydia and Cats

Chlamydia and Cats

PJ:

Did you know that cats can get infected with chlamydia in their eyes...strange but true. The vets up here in Canada always swab the kittens eyes when they do their first check up. Apparently momma cat can give their babies chlamydia. The bacteria can also be passed back and forth in cats with casual contact. If left untreated it can spread to an upper respiratory infection. I was kinda shocked that my little CoCo Chanel was being screened for chlamydia....I had know idea that cats could get chlamydia....apparently they can also get herpes virus type I. Who knew??? I'm not suggesting that your cat may have chlamydia...but if any of your cats are out door cats it might be worth having her eyes swabbed for that. You never know.....your cat may be alittle more fun loving than you think???? LOL....

If you search the net for "chlamydia in cats" you will find out all sorts of info on it.


Hope Pesto gets better soon!

Char

 

[Barry]

So how's your kitty, PJmomrunner?

FYI, to give a cat pills I swath the pill in butter, poke it down the cat's throat as far as I reasonably can, and then hold the cat's mouth shut until it swallows. Oh, and do it again after it turns out that the cat had fooled me, hadn't swallowed the pill, and spits it back up.

Cats get chlamydia up in Canada, Char2mar? Hmmm. You folks must get very very lonely up there during those long winters...

 

[Barry]

...I usually did the hide in the food or straw trick.....

What's the straw trick?

 

[Barry]

Sounds about as effective as my swath it in butter and jam it down the nasty little SOB's throat technique.

Maybe next time I've got to give my cat a pill I'll administer it as a suppository!

 

[PJmomrunner]

I have never used this particular acronym before, but the time is right...

LMAO!

Pesto is declawed in front and stilll I have punctures and gashes on my forearms! Pesto says Clavamox tastes YUCKY! She's not diggin' the "Elizabethan Collar" either! (Poor baby ) The inflammation in her eyes has subsided quite a bit, however, so the torture will continue! Thanks for your inquiries, caring, and, most especially, the description of the straw trick!!!

P. J.

 

[Granbonny]

Rufus

Rufus

My black cat..still is sneezing ****..but, not often...The pollen is still bad up here..Today, a neighbor came to visit for an hour with her small, Mexican dog (Cannot spell the name) Long-haired..while they were showing her house for sell..she took him out of his carrier and he was covered in yellow pollen on the porch.. I try to hose the porch down..every fews days..Rufus is still eating, ect..but told Hubby if he is still doing that..We will take him to Vet... I'm going to give him until next Monday. suppose to rain tomorrow. For those of you with cats. do you think he may have a Respiratory problem????Still active, climbing trees, chasing lizards eating... or..too much pollen up his nose... NO way to keep him in house all day..He climbs on front door, jumps on me ..ect. Bonnie

 

[char2mar]

So how's your kitty, PJmomrunner?

FYI, to give a cat pills I swath the pill in butter, poke it down the cat's throat as far as I reasonably can, and then hold the cat's mouth shut until it swallows. Oh, and do it again after it turns out that the cat had fooled me, hadn't swallowed the pill, and spits it back up.

Cats get chlamydia up in Canada, Char2mar? Hmmm. You folks must get very very lonely up there during those long winters...

Barry:

No we don't get that loney....too many sheep! LOL

Char

 

[ShezaGirlie]

Good one Char!

Barry said:

Maybe next time I've got to give my cat a pill I'll administer it as a suppository!

Are you gonna sell tickets to see that Barry??

 

[catwoman]

PJ:

Good to hear that Pesto is doing better. I hate giving liquid Rxes -- my vets always prescribe tabs or caps, unless I'm medicating kittens.
Clavamox is a pretty good Rx. It's the same thing as Augmentin. Watch for any signs of diarrhea.
If Clavamox doesn't erradicate the infection, ask your vet about zithro. Vets use the pediatric version (liquid or will split Z-tabs into 1/6ths.

Char:
I treated a kitten 9 years ago for chlamydia. He was 5 or 6MO and I had gotten him from someone else. Tetracycline ointment & doxycycline capsules took care of it.
You can use a 4-way vaccine that protects against chlamydia when vaccinating kittens, but chlamydia is not one of the bugs that's commonly encountered. I don't think my vet uses a 4-way when she vaccinates my kittens.

Barry & Pam:
We seldom have problems pilling cats. The Abys & Orientals are the easiest. The 2 Persians have such short muzzles that their jaws are extremely strong. If necessary, we use a very long pill "gun." It's the diameter of a pencil, about 6-7 inches long, with a plunger. Pull the plunger out, put the capsule or tab in the other end. Open the cat's mouth, insert gun, press plunger. Works like a charm!
Also -- you won't accidentally suck up the pill......

Granbonny:
I'll bet your cat has an upper respiratory infection. If he's eating and drinking OK, I wouldn't worry at this point.
I don't know that pollen affects animals like it does people.

Pam:
Sorry to hear you've lost a longtime companion. My condolences.

 

[Barry]

Kinda cool to see there's so many cat people around here.

I live in the Nevada desert, and if you don't have a cat you have mice and rats. And if you have mice and rats you have rattlesnakes. Now, I actually have nothing personal against rattlesnakes, but not in my house, please! (Yes, that's happened)

Alas, the coyotes like to munch on cats: I've gone through 10 cats in as many years, they just went outside and never came back. My current kitty is very savvy, though, has been dodging coyotes & catching critters for probably 4 years now. Although my living room in the Spring often looks like I belong to some weird Satanic cult, with body parts from various varmints scattered about by my cat.

Had an interesting experience a couple of days ago. Was reading in bed, spotted some movement to my right, and looked to see that there was a baby cottontail in bed with me! Presumedly my cat had brought him in, and he'd gotten away. Didn't seem to be any the worse for wear, I caught him and let him go.


PS Dogs have masters. Cats have staff.

 

[Wise]

PS Dogs have masters. Cats have staff.

Big time ditto. We have four small dogs (with big egos), but our cat is really the boss. Her name is Jet (unimaginative, I know), but we call her The Queen since she really does rule!!

Barry, our daughter and her family just moved and have a small shed/barn near their house. They've discovered they have snakes in the barn. Don't what kind they are. Hope they take the advice they were given and get a couple of outside cats. They have an inside cat, but she's resistant to living outside. I'll tell them about your situation and try to sway them to get the cats. She has a baby girl and a little boy 2 years old. The boy is ALL boy and will be in that barn if given half a chance.

 

[Barry]

...Barry, our daughter and her family just moved and have a small shed/barn near their house. They've discovered they have snakes in the barn. Don't what kind they are....

See if you can find out what kind of snakes they are. If they're gopher snakes (they go by different names in different parts of the country), let them be and you'll have no problems with rattlesnakes, at least not in that shed - they fill the same ecological niche as rattlesnakes, and there's no room for rattlesnakes then. Some folks think they kill rattlesnakes, but I think they just make the area incapable of sustaining more snakes than are already there.

They look surprisingly like rattlesnakes, but don't have the arrow-shaped triangular head of rattlesnakes and other pit-vipers. They also don't have rattles, but that's not a great indicator because rattlesnakes can lose their rattles. Gopher snakes are astonishingly docile - you can just pick them up and they'll slither around and on you but don't ever bite. Catching gopher snakes was one of my favorite past times as a boy, and I still find it to be fun although I'm more inclined now to leave them alone so they'll stick around.

 

[Barry]

...Couldn't figure it out until my vet told me that he's bringing me stuff because he didn't see me hunt and, now that I'm in his "posse" I have to learn how!...

I read essentially that in a book once: That cats do not share their kill except with a kitten that they're trying to teach how to hunt. So when your cat brings you that swell present of a beat-up mouse it's not because it's proud of its catch, but because it views you as an astonishingly inept hunter who has yet to learn how to catch your own.