Pet Ailments

[Bruder Cuzzen]

HELP !

Me poor ole Fritz ( the cat ) has some sort of skin infection on his belly , I've scanned the net for help but have yet to identify it ( does not appear to be ringworm or mites , but  my eyesight isn't so good so maybe I'm wrong ).

It is a nightmare trying to get him to the vet , I've tried some over the counter fungus creams on him , but I don't know if they did any good ( since they must be applied twice a day for 2 weeks ( for humans ) and I haven't been that diligent with the applications , also maybe this is not such a great idea since he licks himself down there ).

A friend suggested tea tree oil .

Before I try to douse him with it , does anyone have any info to share ?
It would be much appreciated since I'm getting quite concerned over me best bud .

Thanks .

[Darlica]

Tea tree oil might work, just remember to dilute it properly it's far to strong to use undiluted.
I always use it on tic bites both on me and the dog

I however think you should go through the hassle and get the cat to the vet so you get a proper diagnose. You wouldn't forgive yourself if it was something serious and you didn't had it look at.

to you and Fritz!

[Opsa]

I would be very reluctant to treat a cat with human remedies. I agree, he needs to see a vet.

Did you check out this site: Cat Skin Problems

Could be mange or an allergy. Poor Fritz. Poo' old Boo.

[beagle]

I would be very reluctant to treat a cat with human remedies. I agree, he needs to see a vet.

Yep, that's how I understand it too. Dogs and cats have different metabolisms from humans in many respects. Cats often have trouble with Pyrethrins in insecticides for example. Also if it comes to using topical steroids/antifungal agents you'll need an expert to get the strength right for the skin thickness and won't want the cat to be able to ingest it.  Using the wrong strength of steroid on skin can permanently thin it, and ingestion can eventually give the sort of health issues bodybuilder steroid abusers get.

Also you may need a cone around the cat's head to stop it worrying the area (that's what they do for dogs anyway, and don't they just love it. Not).

[Darlica]

What Opsa and Beagle said about animals and human remedies.

However I think Tea Tree would be safe. There are products like shampoos and insect repellents containing Tea Tree specially designed for animals. But as I said dilute if you want to try it.

There are usually recommended ratios mentioned on the bottle, if it says noting about cats and dogs think of them as toddlers and then dilute some more if you are going to use it on a larger area, that's the advice we got from our dog's breeder.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Thank you all ,

I decided that a professional is/was the best option yesterday .
One of Fritzie's vet's is willing to make a house call , it will be a bit pricey , but I've yet to pinch pennies or dollars as far as Fritz is concerned .

The problem has always been timing and getting him to co-operate .

All shall be well . Thanks again !

[Bruder Cuzzen]

He caterwauled all the way to the vet ( about 90 secs from the house ) . They think he may be allergic to something so the isolation begins . First we are trying a diet change , I cleaned out his litter box with detergent and bleach and brought back unscented clumping clay .

He has to stay indoors for at least two more weeks for his belly to heal , he was licking so much that his anal glands had swollen ( the vet cleaned him up and released the fluid ) .

I feel pretty bad for him , yet i'm laughing at him at times .
He gets caught up on everything with the cone around his head .
He has a hard time walking since he is always trying to peer past the edge of the cone , so he is more crouching as he moves and so the cone catches the carpet or crack in the floor and he is stopped in his tracks . He gets around this by walking backwards for a bit .
Much of his time is spent lying and sitting around looking very dejected and depressed .
Since he is indoors 24/7 , I'm having a hard time getting this paper work done .

[Opsa]

Aw, poor old Fritz. Is he a longhaired cat? (Aside from the underside, of course.)

[Bruder Cuzzen]

He is a short haired tabby , close to being considered a medium haired cat though .
He likes to groom himself or scratch an itch but can't .
When i see him scratching at his cone  . i reach  in and help him out .
He wasn't using his litter box so i dumped it on the cellar floor , he prefers the outdoor washroom but oh well, i hope the vet finds the cause for his licking .

[anthrobabe]

Oh poor Fritz. I had a female cat once who had allergies-- oh she'd just lick herself bald where she could reach- she looked horrible and i'm sure the neighbors thought I was the worst cat abuser ever.

Good luck with it- both of you.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

He is a short haired tabby , close to being considered a medium haired cat though .
He likes to groom himself or scratch an itch but can't .
When i see him scratching at his cone  . i reach  in and help him out .
He wasn't using his litter box so i dumped it on the cellar floor , he prefers the outdoor washroom but oh well, i hope the vet finds the cause for his licking .

Vets are pretty good at that sort of thing.

I'm sorry your cat is feeling puny; hope it's not something common, like allergy to grass or something (seeing as how you let him out to do his business).

[Darlica]

Poor old chap!

I don't know if cats are as sensitive but I know dogs can get really depressed if you laugh at them when they wear a cone or some other sort of bandage.



I guess better to be safe than sorry and try not to laugh...

[Opsa]

Oh yeah, cats can be very defensive about being laughed at. They'll not speak to you for days!

_{I'm serious!}

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Poor old chap!

I don't know if cats are as sensitive but I know dogs can get really depressed if you laugh at them when they wear a cone or some other sort of bandage.



I guess better to be safe than sorry and try not to laugh...

He looks depressed most of the time , I do notice a change in his expression when we laugh at him .

[Opsa]

Just give him a lot of extra love. I'm sure he feels like a freak show. Give him an extra ear-scratch from his Weird Old Pal Opsa.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

He was just on my lap , he hops on when I'm sitting at the computer , he's been licking my arm a lot and trying to head butt me .
I'd just been rubbing my knuckles into his head to get him off , but he stayed and tried biting me , he wasn't successful with the cone in place , but his scratching ability was undiminished . When the claws come out that is the signal that he wants me to put on the gloves and fight , or snake a string around for him to catch .

I gave in and let him out yesterday .

[anthrobabe]

Cats seem to have no problem at all letting us know who is boss. I mean I wouldn't let my kids lay on my paperwork or laptop- but any old cat that wanders along is simply going to be allowed the run of the place.

We used to have a cat that would get into the box of any game we were playing- like if we had Monopoly out she'd have to lay in the empty box (or lay on top of it and smush it) so we learned that in order to keep her off the desk or homework or whatever we would just get a box top from a game and she'd be content to hang out in that. It worked for all- she was still the boss and we got our stuff done.

Her name was Boo-- I miss that cat- she was my baby before I had my real daughters.

[Opsa]

Aww, what a nice kitty story.

I love old cats. They're so good at hanging out and making their people feel relaxed. My Mom had a persian cat named SomeLove. When he got old he decided to live on the edge of the kitchen sink. We just worked around him.

[Earthling]

We currently have 32 cats, mostly rescued from some dire circumstance or other. Skin conditions can be caused by many things, we had one instance where it was diet, and an ongoing situation with Spike that is idiopathic, but responds well to steroids (prednisone). One thing we never do is let the cats out - too many potentially fatal hazards out there. We chose our house knowing we needed space for a large herd, so it's not bad in here, and having (currently) 12 litterboxes helps a lot, too. The missus is pretty good at figuring out what's wrong with a sick cat, so if folks have questions I'll be happy to ask the expert...

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Great , thanks ET ,I forgot about the huge pride you have , I should have thought of asking you in the first place .

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Oy Earthing !

There has been little improvement with my old pal's tummy , it is still inflamed and blotchy .
The vet gave me Hydroxzine to administer , but it has done little .
I believe his underside is warmer than I remember it to be , it seems a bit a heat is being generated down there .
Have you come across this with any of your pride ?

[Earthling]

Sorry about the delay in replying. It seems that I'm not getting any email notifications of anything from anywhere except fecesbook.

Have you tried changing his diet? That did work for us once, back a while ago. Spike has the itchiness, but not the loss of hair or blotchiness. I'll try to remember to ask the wife for additional insights tomorrow, unfortunately she's already down for the count tonight.

BTW, they just had a recall of Nutro Max Cat dry cat food, so if you're feeding him on that you should return the bag and go to something else. We had to return $120 worth of it and switch over to Meow Mix. Made for some stinky poops, lemmetellya.

[anthrobabe]

  fecesbook! You got that right-but I gotta check mine everyday.

Adn you have to get 'stink stopper' to put in the Meow Mix-- I do think it helps.

[nefyuBB]

The beastie's diet consisted of food the vet recommended and canned tuna . He is now eating a duck and peas mix .
He's begging a lot these days , he wants more tuna .

[Earthling]

Duck and peas? [holds left eyebrow down with left forefinger while pushing right eyebrow up with right forefinger] That's a pretty fancy feast, there. (HA!) We'd probably try various types of food for a week or two each to see if anything had a positive effect. I would think that you'd need at least a week of diet change to see a response if there was going to be one. Has the vet considered the use of steroids?
The belly may seem warmer if the fur is gone. Fur acts like an insulator, keeping his heat inside. Without it you get more direct exposure to kittywarmth, and their normal operating temperature is higher than yours so it would naturally feel overly warm.

Look! Email notifications! Yay!

[pieces o nine]

We were out of town for a long weekend and returned about suppertime on the 4th day to find "Silent Bob" hiding out in my closet, grinding his teeth, and acting like he was in bad, bad shape. Jumped back into my car and kind-speeded back across town to the vet, who discovered a 4" stick stuck in his throat.

Dom thee Danger Catte and Silent Bob were sleeping on her houseplants, so housemate put "pungee sticks" (12" long turkey skewers) to keep them out. It worked well enough that she took them out after a month and threw them away. We *think* she may have missed one on the counter and Silent Bob got hold of it, jumped off, and was lucky not to skewer his brain. (*shudders*) The big mystery is: where is the other half of the stick? We've been searching diligently to avoid any future injuries, but haven't located it yet. The 'good' news part of the search was finding a Bob hairball on the tile; from it's condition, it was hocked up that morning. Therefore, Bob wasn't scared and in misery for more than half a day -- although that was half a day too long!

He's off his pain meds, finished his antibiotics, and back on his regular food. He's also back to wildly leaping across furniture to play, so we're thankful. This is the fourth life he's used in his first year -- still semi-feral at heart, despite being such a sweet kitteh!


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Back to Brudder's cat ... sending kind thoughts his way in hopes the ETs can give you helpful suggestions.

[Darlica]

And I thought only dogs ended up with strange object in strange places...

Some years ago a then neighbours dog managed to impale herself of a tree root while running through the woods like a juggernaut on her evening walk. She had the good sense not to wiggle and try to escape once impaled but stared to yelp instead, her owner quickly found her and called his wife who came with the car and a saw.

It took a couple of hours on the vet surgeons table a week with a drainage and a fortnight of rehab and then "Sussi" was back racing the lawn with our dog...

Items found in Terrier poo or Terrier tummies could easily become a book. 

[Earthling]

One other thing that could be contributing to Bruder's kitty's problem is some kind of mental stress. Is there anything different in the house/neighborhood/lifestyle at the Cuzzen place? Change in work schedule, new boyfriend, new refrigerator, new brand of litter? Painting the house? Anything like that?

[Bruder Cuzzen]

I can't think of anything here that is out of the ordinary .
Beastie is a happy guy these days since I found homes for the two abandoned cats that used to be here .
I'm thinking it might be a fungal infection .

[anthrobabe]

Oh i'm glad the stick was removed safely.
Oh cats and swallowing things--- string isn't really all that fun after all. I've seen reports of cats with a string going in the mouth and out the back end-- sometimes it kills them. So if you do the string/ribbon thing make sure it is supervised and hidden well away from them- and remember how adept they are at getting into things that they shouldn't be able to get into- like drawers and such. (this actually has a name- linear foreign body ingestion)

[Earthling]

It happened to our Cody about 15 years ago. He has since passed on, but not from that - they had to surgically remove a piece of ribbon that had knotted his intestines somehow. He was a highly entertaining cat, always into something and very goofy. He was I think the thirteenth or fourteenth - - no, fifteenth - - member of the Greater Herd.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

I'm thinking of getting rid of what little carpet is left in the house , change detergents , soaps and all that sort of thing .
OI ! this will be too much like work .
argh

[Bruder Cuzzen]

What a relief , the vet was right on the munny .
The diet change has shown positive results and me ole buddy boy has healed up nicely and has stopped licking himself so much under there .
He still bugs me for tuna , which I still give him but perhaps 3-4 cans a month instead of 1-3 a week .
I'm blaming it all on mercury and nasty poisons  .

[Earthling]

Me missus claims that too much fish can cause urinary problems - infections, crystals, blockages - in male cats. I didn't realize you were feeding him toona. Our guys are ban from toona unless they're on the way out anyhow. Right now I think she would allow Woofie to have some, and possibly Peete and Dood, but probably no one else. She rules with an iron litterscoop.

[pieces o nine]

My cats have always enjoyed knocking back a tuna water now and then, but all of them have flattened their whiskers in disdain at eating actual *tuna*.

Moufette (RIP) especially reacted to a can opener de-tinning water-packed tuna the way actors on tv react to a new can of Folgers™ coffee being opened and brewed.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Every time Fritz sees me entering the house with shopping bags he thinks there's cans of fish for him and he'll bother me while I unpack the stuff ,  expecting something good to eat .

[pieces o nine]

Silent Bob, semi-feral cat and grasshopper-catcher extraordinaire, jimmied open the second patio screen door (again) last night, and lit out for the territory before anyone was the wiser. 

Dom the Danger Catte had also joined the adventure, but he got no further than the end of the patio concrete before settling down to peer back inside until someone [me] noticed his absence and came to fetch him back. I was up until 3:30, checking the entire perimeter of the house at intervals for Bob, with no luck.

Housemate roused me at 6:30 with instructions to finish the "lost cat" posters and place them in specified spots about the neighborhood. This was my day off and I had serious art plans, all of which have been superceded by the search.

I am worried as this is a semi-rural develpment (I startled deer less than 10 yards from me as I rounded the house once) and he may have been carried off by a predator. He may be injured. He may be stuck up a tree or in someone's boat in a closed garage (apparently, wayward cats in this neighborhood like to hide out in boats in neighboring garages, living their pirate fantasies until the householders have cause to go out and open that door again).

Food and water out on both decks. Signs posted about the neighborhood, especially in the local park where the area kids will see it and keep their little eyes peeled (several have met Bob and like him very much). Housemate is to contact police for advice on lost pet recovery and the Humane Society for information on tracking his chip tomorrow.

I feel very sad and guilty. If it were *my* cat out there, I would be inconsolable. Meanwhile, Dom knows that something is amiss. He spends a lot of time looking out the patio door and crying (not the  LET ME OUT!  cry). He has been very snuggly and purring a lot. I wish he could tell us which way Bob went, but cats are rubbish at that sort of thing.



Bob, you little shit, where are you???

[Earthling]

Oh, dear, that's not good at all. I wish there was a magic way to figure out where he'd go, but if there is the only one who would know it is you. If he was feral for long enough, he might be clever enough to know the best hunting is at the verge - where the forest becomes a clearing. If there is such a place nearby, that might be where he is.

One of our gang opened the screen to the upstairs deck a few years back, and when I discovered it there were about ten or so cats lounging around in the night air. We initiated a panic catcount (after herding the wayward would-be wanderers back inside) and thankfully discovered no AWOL kitties. Psycho (RIP) got out there one time and jumped onto the (metal) roof of the hot-cold room, and slid right off the edge with a wide-eyed WTF look, but she landed fine and just sat there waiting to be picked up. My friend Lynne had a cat escape a few months back, and eventually discovered her hiding under her car (about 24-36 hours after the escape). If Bob is not too adventurous, he may turn up in a similar place. Hopefully the call of the wild is not louder than the call of comfort. If he sleeps with you, it might help to leave an old sweater or some similar pieces-scent-infused item out in a place he might hide, he may find it and establish a base of operations.

He is not likely to get stuck up a tree, but the other possibilities you listed are certainly valid risks. I hope you find him soon.

[pieces o nine]

Thanks, ET. The prodigal cat has returned.   

Housemate came down to rouse me *way* too early after another semi-sleepless night of jumping up to check the flood-lit backyard every time Dom made strange meows out the patio door. She had called Bob upon rising, and he came strolling out of the darkness, as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Dom proudly walked around for about a half hour, purring very loudly as if he were personally responsible for the return, and not just happy to not be mourning any more. (I suspect that if he *was* communicating anything to his on-the-lam friend, it was to complain that he was only getting single rations until there were two cats at the food bowls in the morning again.  (-ha!-)

I've had cats all my life. I know they pull this crap. It doesn't help when they are not where they are supposed to be. Meanwhile, there's a double-check on screened patio door locks going forward.

[Earthling]

WHEW! :whewsmiley:
I'm so glad he came back, I hate the thought of him not being prepared for the life of the wild. It might not be so bad if he was a true feral, at least then he'd know about hunt, kill, eat. But after living the good life for a while they go to hunt, play, torture, kill, repeat. Give him a silent hug for me, and a scritch under the chin.

[Darlica]

 
Good to hear that Bob is back!

[Opsa]

Bad boy! I'll bet your punishing him by giving him extra food and hugs. That's what I'd do.
Tough love!

That'll teach him!

[pieces o nine]

Sadly, he's streaked out the door, prepared to attempt to knock down the human trying to block his egress in the process, at least once a day since then.

[Opsa]

What an awesome kitty photo!

Love the tail. We call that phenomenon the " tail hook" around here.

[pieces o nine]

I googled for "cat + escape" and that was by far the best of the lot!