Cat Health Questions
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Geriatric cat with arthritisMy 18yo chocolate Siamese mix female neutered cat over the last 3 years has been diagnosed as being border line diabetic with border line kidney failure, she was put on prescription food and given some kind of gel medication for the kidney failure. However, because she is so old and hates medicine, I told my vet 3 years ago that I wasn't going to force it in her twice a day for the rest of her life, so the meds only lasted a week (I'd much rather have a happy cat on her death bead then one who his hiding from me all the time on her death bed). However, I have kept her on the prescription food. Over the last 3 years, I've had follow up visits that say her "levels" haven't changed significantly, yet 3 years ago she was only given 2 years left of life. On to my question.... Over her life span she has been extremely overweight at one point weighing 28 pounds(10 years old)... at that time we noticed her back legs popping out of socket, vets assumed it was weight related and we put her on diet and got her down to a normal weight. Well it kinda comes and goes over the years but recently has gotten worse...it doesn't seem to hurt her but requires me to lay her down on her side and it goes back it it's place. Additionally, she has seemed to walk stiffer over the last 3 years and more recently over the last week, her back seems to arch more and more. It doesn't seem to bother her if you stretch her out but it seems to be getting worse over the last two weeks. Is it possible it's due to the cold weather. Do cats get Arthritis? Could it be related to her other medical problems. My concern with taking her to my regular vet is, not only does it cost me 150 dollars for blood work (which I don't mind when she's sick) but for 3 years her "levels" haven't changed, they want to vaccinate her (which makes her deathly ill every time and she seems to be continually sick for months afterwards), they are requiring me to give her a rabies shot at least (which they tell me wont make her sick, will it?) and I'm just not sure they were right with the original diagnosis. She's 18 years old, weighs 10 pounds, has cataracts in her eyes, probably arthritis the last thing I want to do is give her medicine or treatment she doesn't need.... help!!! | |
Cat herpesvirus treatment optionsmy 18yo male domestic short haired cat has been diagnosed with herpes virus which causes outbreaks of upper respiratory problems from time to time. He is treated with antibiotics which usually works. Before diagnosis he was treated with prednisone injection. Does this strenghten the virus? If so, for how long? What other treatments are recommended for virus? | |
Ringworm in catsI believe I have an outbreak of ringworm in my house. I have one immune suppressed male cat (8yo domestic short hair neutered) who has a scab on his face (currently being cultured by my vet)and all five of my animals have a really bad case of dry scalp with lots of scratching and biting the pads of their paws. I have read various information about how ringworm is treated and am afraid the vet will prescibe griseofulvin along with sulfur baths for everyone. I live in a small house and the thought of smelling sulfur for the next few months is really alarming. I've also read where Selsun Blue shampoo and Bacillinum would be less toxic and a better alternative for them - especially the immune supressed cat. What are all of the options available to me? | |
Previous cat died from FIV - how to prevent new cats from getting itI have a question about how to get a house safe after having an incontinent, FeLV positive cat in the house for a few years. When I had this cat, I had no other cats. Now I would like to get new cats that are not FeLV positive. I was wondering if the house is safe for these animals after the passing of the FeLV positive cat 4 months ago. My FeLV positive cat past away about 4 months ago. We lived that house for about 4 years. The last 3 years of her life she was getting more and more incontinent, leaving drips on the window sills, carpets and wooden floor. Since she died, I have steam cleaned all but one of the carpets and mopped up just about everywhere she went. Since the floors are old, they absorbed a lot of urine. Even after cleaning them, some stains still remain. Can the Leukemia virus live in those stains? Also, I still have the sofa that she slept on - Will steam cleaning eliminate the virus from there or should I throw it away? Can the leukemia live for a long time in cloth like a carpet or a rug? I have one very large scratching post that she used for about 6 months. Is that still useable or is it unsafe ? Finally is there anything else I should watch out for to ensure that my house is safe for new cats Thank you for your help | |
Cat urinating in basement - inappropriate urinationI have a problem with my cat (3yo male neutered domestic short hair) doing his business ( poo and pee ) in the basement. Currently the basement is used for a bedroom, but the cat keeps doing his buisness by the drain, as well as our dog ( dachshund smooth, black and tan, toy size, about 12 lbs ) . we are trying diffrent ways of blocking the cat from the basement but he keeps finding ways to get down there. he also goes in his litter box too. the dog dosn't do his buisness down there as nearly as much as the cat does. can you tell me why the cat keeps doing this and what we can do? this is causing a major problem. ive tried saying using the " NO " command, he runs away but keeps doing it again later. the cat somtimes get's loose outside. but is not outside for very long. maybe 2 hours at the most. i dont know if this matters but he walks around the house crying.. it sounds like crying.. he will walk back and forth making crying noise's. | |
Cat with wound that will not heal overThe end of July our cat (6yo male neutered domestic short haired) came in with a wound on his back hind quarters. It looked as if something had taken a bite out of him. We have many animals around such as skunks, fox, coyotes and neighboring domestics that could have gotten him. It healed up with a big ugly scab and the hair never really grew completely back there. We thought it had healed up and was done but, last week we woke up to find he had chewed it all off over night. Opening it all back up. It is starting to scab over again but I am concerned about the skin around the wound itself. It seems to be black. Should he be on an antibiotic for this? Is there a way to keep him from chewing at it? We never actually see him chew at it. |
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Dog with fleas
Last night my 7yo female neutered maltese was scatching a little & I noticed that the day before she did a little too. I rolled her over to look through her and found a flea...then 2 more a little bit later. I immediately ran to the store and bought Sergeants flea control that you put on their back between the shoulder blades & put that on her immediatedly. I washed all of her bedding & have vaccumed the house at least 3 times since. We have a huge 2 level house and the dog is 99.9% of the time on our main level in our living room & dining room. I found only 2 today...and that was early this morning...I have not seen any since...but am scared to death of how many fleas are in our house that I cannot see. I am afraid they are crawling everywhere & don't know where to start. The dog sometimes goes upstairs in our bedrooms.....I am afraid these pests could be in closets & etc....any advice would be greatly appreciated! - Click
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