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Cranberry

By Cranberry
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Bastet

Bastet

(edited)
26 minutes ago, BooksRule said:

I worry that I'll be faced with that as well.  My two are 19 years old (sisters) and are getting so frail. 

If you're interested in potentially having euthanasia done at home when the time comes, you may want to look in advance for such service providers near you, and if they are available on weekends/holidays.  Lap of Love is the organization I've gone through, and they do offer those appointments in my area.

Edited by Bastet
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bosawks
bosawks

Happy 9th birthday and 6th gotcha to Sweet Alli!

JTMacc99
JTMacc99
EighteenTwelve
EighteenTwelve

Speaking of which...everybody, meet Quirk.  Congenitally cross-eyed, had to have her tail amputated when it got run over, and makes little squeaky noises like a dying smoke detector.  I adopted her on

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Scarlett45

Scarlett45

7 hours ago, Browncoat said:

That poor dog probably needs to go outside!

Yeah I know every dog is different but in the two years I’ve had Cosmo I can usually tell a “I have to go potty” whimper and a “I’m trying to bribe you for biscuits” whimper. The way he’s whimpering and the wag pattern of his tail, Id assume “potty”. Especially since it’s the morning. 

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luv2lurk

luv2lurk

7 hours ago, Silent Scream said:

Licking the hand that feeds you, and if it will not, then bite it!

Actually, my cat does the same thing to indicate I need to get up and feed her. She will start with approaching my nose/mouth with a lick kiss which semi works to arouse me from sleep. If my hands are under the cover, she will move it back to get to them. One time when biting did not work, she licked my entire arm which was not under the covers. Difference from this video is I am not awake enough to capture on camera 😀

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isalicat

isalicat

There is a stray (not neutered) tom in my backyard all the sudden and he has decided to try and move in, so the last two nights - actually around 5 AM or so - he is coming through the cat door in search of food and shelter. My tom is neutered and a big lovable lug who doesn't see him as a threat, for some reason, and his sister, who is smart enough not to like the intruder, is a tiny thing so her hissing and growling are not impressing the new guy. Not sure what to do about this as I don't want to close off the cat door - it is my cats' emergency exit as well as their way out to go to "the bathroom" (i.e. my garden), but I can't have the responsibility of another cat and this new tom seems mostly feral - he is not at all open to being approached. When I get out of bed he will go back out but since I am not actively being mean or loud, I'm afraid pretty soon he will just come back in if I go back to bed. Any suggestions? (and he is spraying...yuck!)

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Leeds

Leeds

(edited)
On 5/2/2023 at 4:00 PM, isalicat said:

There is a stray (not neutered) tom in my backyard all the sudden and he has decided to try and move in, so the last two nights - actually around 5 AM or so - he is coming through the cat door in search of food and shelter. My tom is neutered and a big lovable lug who doesn't see him as a threat, for some reason, and his sister, who is smart enough not to like the intruder, is a tiny thing so her hissing and growling are not impressing the new guy. Not sure what to do about this as I don't want to close off the cat door - it is my cats' emergency exit as well as their way out to go to "the bathroom" (i.e. my garden), but I can't have the responsibility of another cat and this new tom seems mostly feral - he is not at all open to being approached. When I get out of bed he will go back out but since I am not actively being mean or loud, I'm afraid pretty soon he will just come back in if I go back to bed. Any suggestions? (and he is spraying...yuck!)

How about one of the magnetic cat collars and cat doors that the stray can't activate?

Edited by Leeds
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isalicat

isalicat

9 hours ago, Leeds said:

How about one of the magnetic cat collars and cat doors that the stray can't activate?

That is a good suggestion if I could afford to entirely retrofit my cat door (which we had built into the house - it is quite literally a very, very short tunnel with two cat doors that we had built into the wall of my office next to the patio sliding glass door - it is lined with carpeting and has a little overhang above the outside door to keep the rain off whatever cat is on their way in).

In the meantime I just decided to close the cat door on the inside with the little plastic sliding panel at night and let my cats out on demand should they need to go out (they'll let me know!) until the new guy is sufficiently discouraged. I don't think he will try to get in during the day (I would never close the cat door when I'm not home because as I said - its their emergency exit just in case). Fortunately Mr. Stray hasn't been around for a couple of days (its been raining and he is not an idiot :), so maybe his experience of being in here with me up and around was sufficiently discouraging.

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JTMacc99

JTMacc99

6 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Maybe the younger, nicer cat ate it?

@peacheslatour as to whether or not it was the mean cat or the sweet cat who ate the mean cat's hard food, evidence points towards the mean one.

The younger cat is like a little noodle. It seems super unlikely that she ate the amount of her own food she usually does and half a bowl of the other cat's food as well. She's not big enough to put away that much food.

Also, due to the mean cat's ongoing attempts to murder the little one, they rotate having access to different portions of the house. The little one doesn't have access to the big one's food for that long. 

 

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ABay

ABay

My neighbor's cat has been stuck up a tree for about 24 hours and looks set to spend another night there. There's no way to get a ladder in and it would have to be a huge ladder. Half the neighborhood has been in my yard and my neighbor's trying to coax the puss down and he keeps crying but he won't make the leap. It's so distressing. I can see him from my window. I took out some cat treat and shook the box but he won't budge. The civic authorities have been useless.

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Bastet

Bastet

They generally eventually make their way down.  But I know it's very distressing to wait.  You can call tree trimming companies to see if someone will come get him.  Whenever that happens around here, there's a neighbor who owns such a company who will volunteer to come over with his gear and climb the tree.  There are great videos on NextDoor of him lowering himself and a kitty back down to safety.

If no one can come out until tomorrow, if the cat's owners and anyone else very familiar to him can take turns sitting under the tree overnight, speaking quietly, that might help.  Half the neighborhood being there is probably just scaring him.

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Gramto6

Gramto6

(edited)

My yard tigers are just the opposite! They climb trees like lumberjacks and even will nap in the crotches in the huge cottonwood trees in my yard. Then they just scurry back down when they are done. One loves to stalk birds in the Finnish Dogwood. It will go up a branch and lurk there until a bird lands. Never caught one, but several times I've seen feathers fly as the cat swat at it. Another climbs the arbor over some plants the original owners put there, then it will sit and sun itself until it is ready to climb back down. 

I have never seen so many cats together that like to climb just about anything before!! It must be in their genes. They are all related.

Edited by Gramto6
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ABay

ABay

Tree cat update: I hired an arborist and the cat is now hiding under a woodpile in his human's yard. We left food and water out. His human is not home today. How the fuck they could leave under the circumstances I don't understand. I hope it was absolutely necessary to go wherever they went.

Thanks, @Bastet, for the idea. I called the woman who runs a local shelter I donate to and she gave me the name of someone.

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Bastet

Bastet

I'm glad the cat has you to step in, @ABay, especially if his owner chose to be somewhere else today (the hell?).  I'm pleased to hear it worked out, and he's halfway home.  Can he even get into the house if he tries, with his people gone?  At any rate, if he's not in the house by the time it starts getting dark, I'm sure y'all know this but just out of an abundance of caution, make sure you kind folks pick up the food, as it will attract all kinds of critters overnight that you won't want being anywhere near him.

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theredhead77

theredhead77

On 5/2/2023 at 4:00 PM, isalicat said:

There is a stray (not neutered) tom in my backyard all the sudden and he has decided to try and move in, so the last two nights - actually around 5 AM or so - he is coming through the cat door in search of food and shelter. My tom is neutered and a big lovable lug who doesn't see him as a threat, for some reason, and his sister, who is smart enough not to like the intruder, is a tiny thing so her hissing and growling are not impressing the new guy. Not sure what to do about this as I don't want to close off the cat door - it is my cats' emergency exit as well as their way out to go to "the bathroom" (i.e. my garden), but I can't have the responsibility of another cat and this new tom seems mostly feral - he is not at all open to being approached. When I get out of bed he will go back out but since I am not actively being mean or loud, I'm afraid pretty soon he will just come back in if I go back to bed. Any suggestions? (and he is spraying...yuck!)

Since you asked, my suggestion is to contact your local feral cat community resources / TNR resources, Best Friends Animal Society, and get that poor boy neutered and released, or fostered, or sent on his way home. If he is coming in for shelter he could have been someone's pet and was dumped, left behind, or lost. Help get him to safety.

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secnarf

secnarf

Ginny seems to be getting sick again. She did get better after the antibiotics she got at Easter, but now is having a runny nose and sneezing like crazy (and shooting blood-tinged boogers all over the walls and floors). She is still eating, still playful, and even getting a big more cuddly. But I don't know what to do about this. Insurance won't cover it as it's pre-existing. They suggested if it's herpes virus we could treat, but it's apparently incredibly expensive and difficult to get the cats to take the pills so treatment often isn't practical. Or, she could go under general anaesthetic and they could look to see if there are any polyps in her airway.

She is such an odd duck though - there is definitely something wrong with her beyond just being a stress-y cat. Even weird things like her pupils being round instead of slit-like, or her inability to eat chunks of wet food or anything chewy - she can't seem to figure out how to get them to stay in her mouth. Or how she rests her elbow on her hip when she sits.

See: her oddly round pupils.

ScreenShot2023-05-09at9_31_38PM.png.46c1988c57cbd76c8e1eff44fcddeeab.png

Aaaand Ginny and Luna sleeping:

ScreenShot2023-05-09at9_31_21PM.thumb.png.307c5583495d6d5356ac4dafe3d3d837.png

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Bastet

Bastet

(edited)
47 minutes ago, secnarf said:

They suggested if it's herpes virus we could treat, but it's apparently incredibly expensive and difficult to get the cats to take the pills so treatment often isn't practical.

Do they no longer simply give Famciclovir for that?  (I haven't had to deal with this in many years.)  That's not expensive at all, let alone incredibly.  L-Lysine is a good supplement to take regularly to keep the virus at bay, and then Famciclovir is an anti-viral given during flare-ups.  I'm curious to hear if there's now a different treatment protocol.

There's a PCR test that will determine if any of the three viruses typically responsible for upper respiratory infections are present, but herpes is the most common so a lot of times people simply opt to treat for that and only test if symptoms persist.

I hope you and your vet can solve this mystery; I'm glad she seems to be feeling well, but it's annoying not knowing why something keeps happening.

Edited by Bastet
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secnarf

secnarf

32 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Do they no longer simply give Famciclovir for that?  (I haven't had to deal with this in many years.)  That's not expensive at all, let alone incredibly.  L-Lysine is a good supplement to take regularly to keep the virus at bay, and then Famciclovir is an anti-viral given during flare-ups.  I'm curious to hear if there's now a different treatment protocol.

There's a PCR test that will determine if any of the three viruses typically responsible for upper respiratory infections are present, but herpes is the most common so a lot of times people simply opt to treat for that and only test if symptoms persist.

I hope you and your vet can solve this mystery; I'm glad she seems to be feeling well, but it's annoying not knowing why something keeps happening.

I'm not sure, that's just what the vet told me yesterday when we were there.

If this progresses will likely try a different antibiotic course, and then if recurs again after that pursue further testing.

I have tried lysine and it hasn't made a difference for her.

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Bastet

Bastet

(edited)

The herpes virus that can cause an upper respiratory infection in cats (FHV-1) is nearly as ubiquitous as the herpes virus that can cause a cold sore in humans (HSV-1) -- most of them/us have been exposed to it and thus carry it, but mostly chilling out with no effect; it's just a matter of whether an external force (generally infection or stress) taxes the immune system such that it gains power and causes symptoms. 

The first line of defense is the amino acid L-Lysine, and then a targeted antiviral like Famiclovir (which is a human drug prescribed off label in cats) in the event of a flare-up that causes symptoms.  Should it progress to a secondary bacterial infection, an antibiotic which targets that particular bacteria (there are several that typically occur) is also called for.

I have no idea, based on my last research about 15 years ago, what your vet is referring to in saying if the typical feline herpes virus is the cause of her symptoms it's expensive and difficult to treat, since the traditional treatment is both affordable and simple, and an admittedly cursory perusal of updates didn't indicate any significant change in protocol.  Maybe there's been a seismic shift since I last needed to know, of course, but if so it isn't readily available.  (I did not access VIN to check veterinary journal articles or even posts from veterinarians.)

I suggest an additional conversation about this, as well as to possible other causes since not all the symptoms fit a typical herpes situation. (Given her condition, I agree with a gradual wait, try this, see, try that approach.  I just would want a better explanation of what the vet is thinking now and a few steps ahead.  I hope whatever this is fades easily and she keeps on truckin' in the meantime.)

Edited by Bastet
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SoMuchTV

SoMuchTV

5 minutes ago, Leeds said:

Step 5 - go through the litter box to see what's "come out" there.

 

 

2 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

If you're lucky. Elastic bands can choke a cat's insides and kill them.

My step 5 would be, move the couch or sweep the yardstick under it, and retrieve 20 very dusty hair ties. And I know strings and narrow ribbons can be a hazard, but I’ve never known a cat to try to eat a hair tie. Maybe the really thin ones? Do they even still make those? 

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Leeds

Leeds

3 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

 

My step 5 would be, move the couch or sweep the yardstick under it, and retrieve 20 very dusty hair ties. And I know strings and narrow ribbons can be a hazard, but I’ve never known a cat to try to eat a hair tie. Maybe the really thin ones? Do they even still make those? 

May I introduce you to some cats I've known?

 

Bastet

Bastet

32 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

And I know strings and narrow ribbons can be a hazard, but I’ve never known a cat to try to eat a hair tie.

I never did until Riley (my current cat).  Others had just played with (or ignored) them, but she chewed on one (one of those basic Goody elastics) and ate a section of it.  Thankfully, that section was small, and she puked it back up, but that was the end of being able to leave one on the nightstand or anything like that -- bathroom drawer only.

This is the cat who also once swallowed, whole, a four-inch strip of stretchy ribbon [it was an eight-inch piece, folded] that she climbed into a tote bag to get.  Thank goodness I came in the room just in time to see it disappear, so I was able to induce vomiting right away and get it back up intact; something stretchy in that size would have absolutely resulted in emergency surgery had it tried to pass through her intestines.

She also eats soft plastic, like bags or Saran wrap.  (I'd had cats who like to lick plastic, but never actually consume it.)  Thankfully, I don't have much of that in the house to begin with, but I have to make sure to keep it closed away.  (I discovered this lovely habit when I came home from the dentist with one of those little goodie bags in my purse, and when I went to empty it discovered she'd eaten one of the handle sections.)

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