Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
Hello,
I have two 4 year old cats who are brothers and I want to ask your opinion on what the best diet is for them. Both of them have spurts of throwing up after eating their food too fast (they both have been to the vet recently and had a normal exam) and I just want to give them the best diet possible so they can live a long healthy, happy life. What dry foods do you recommend? Grain free vs with grain? Should I also be incorporating wet food as well? What do you recommend?
About 2 months ago we had a cat walk into our yard in really bad shape. Had a lot of mucus coming out of him and his eyes were plastered shut. We didn’t take him in to the vet but asked and got an oral medication and eye drop as well. Oral medication is clindamycin hydrochloride which was instructed to give 2 times a day. Eye drop is neomycin and polymyxin B sulfates and dexamethasone. Those were instructed to be used 3-4 times daily.
He cleared up and started eating and putting on weight in the following weeks but has got the gooey eyes again now. Finally took him into the vet and he was administered a shot of something can’t remember want to say penicillin and another set of the same eye drops and oral med and was told to bring back in a few days. When we took him back he looked at his eyes and said it was entropion. He never had any tests done on him and was wondering if this is actual proper procedure for this.
We live in small town USA and this is the only vet in town so we are really limited. As of writing this today the cat has begun to sneeze a lot. We do not have a liter in the house but him and another neighborhood cat pretty much live at our house they just come and go as they please. Before shelling out 400 on this cat who is in need of something I am just wondering if this is the right procedure that needs to be done.
The picture with the goo is when he found us. And the pictures of the eye are what they look like currently. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Thank you for taking care of this cat???????? If it we’re me, I would sit with the vet with my list of questions as well as my budget that I have available and have a discussion about what can be done. I would ask the vet to list out all options and then work through the one that suits best for this situation. I hope that a plan can be made that will work????
Do FEMALE cats need bladder flush? FEMALE cat only pees a tiny bit. Keeps running to litter box. Trying to use it elsewhere. Doesn’t want to drink anymore. Antibiotics don’t help
This sounds like a possibly serious medical issue. I think you should speak to your vet ASAP and explain that current treatment (antibiotics that you mentioned) is not helping. I would also think they would do a complete check up and bloodwork. Hope things work out ok.
Has anyone noticed that orange cats are more “itchy” or is it just me? We have one now who itches an awful lot–way more than his brothers who are darker colors (black and tabby). They are all treated with Revolution every month.
Previous to these cats, I had a different orange cat who itched so much the vet ended up giving him steroid shots, which helped some. Since redhead and blond people seem to have more hay fever etc., I wonder if it’s similar for redhead cats.
Hello,
I don’t think I have noticed this? But now I’ll be keeping a scrutinizing eye out!
Hi Dr Krista, my 14 year old male cat’s BUN is 40 mg and Creatinine is 2.3 mg. Calcitriol is suggested. I wonder your opinion of using Pet Wellbeing kidney support gold instead (it’s a natural remedy) and changing his diet for a month and rechecking? Is a high or low protein diet suggested? Thank you!
Hello,
As with all patient treatment plans they need to be specially tailored to your pet based on a huge number of factors. It is not appropriate for any vet outside of your vet to recommend a diet or treatment plan as your vet knows your and your pet and the rest of us do not. Your vey can refer you to a specialist or ask for help from a veterinary nutritionist. I can say that I typically like to do a full chemistry and a urinalysis in these patients and I always repeat them a few weeks later to check consistently and progress. After a disease or condition is diagnosed and confirmed we set a list of short and long term goal and we recheck patients and diagnostics frequently.
I will schedule an appointment with you for a day within the next few weeks. I will have the 7/7/20 test results sent to you for comparison. Thank you!
Hi, I really need some help and advice. Last week Thursday the 2nd of July I found out my cat who is 15 years of age has got some type of liver cancer which I found so hard to believe due to him being so active and recently went for annual boosters in April 2020 all healthy during check up.
The blue cross animal hospital in London did a quick ultrasound which they found mixed echogenicity with multiple hard, irregular liver . mixed echogenicity with multiple hypoechoic circular lesions. What does this mean? Can anything be done?
Please can I get some advice on this if I was to go down a surgery route, Will he survive after surgery? Do cats have this due to there age? Any cure he has yellow ears and mouth.
Have been prescribed steroid and I got nutramin from another vet which has milk thistle.
They did refer me to an oncologist which are charging £2000 for a CT scan. Not sure if to proceed due to the ultrasound which confirmed the above. I don’t want to go and spend so much money and still back a square one with the above.
Please advice any experience will help. I am going mad here as I do not know what to do.
Hello,
If you don’t understand the findings of the ultrasound it is best to have your vet explain them to you along with how they correlate to your cats clinical signs and examination findings. Only your vet can provide all of this information. In some cases they can also do an ultrasound guided aspirate to help with the diagnosis. If you can afford it a CT scan is also helpful. If you cannot afford it trek them and ask for help within your budget. Lastly for a lot of cats with these issues medical management can help.
I hope this helps. I wish I could offer more advice. If you are still feeling confused and lost in what to do find a feline specialist or get a second opinion. Good luck
My cats have been patients at your clinic for some time. It’s a bit of a drive, which is fine for everyone but Flynn. He usually will poop in his carrier which in turn gets all over him. The poor staff and vet have to deal with his unfortunate messy, smelly “accident”. My question is if there is something we can give him to help this situation. Or if you have any recommendations to calm his obviously nervous digestive system. Thanks!
Hello,
Thank you for the question and for being so loyal you would drive such a distance and put Flynn through this.
The great news is that there is a whole lot you can do and try. First I would say start with making the carrier less scary and anxiety filled. This is accomplished by acclimating him to ir as a normal part of his day. Leave it out for at least a week before the visit. Or, try to incorporate it s part of his daily life. Put toys, catnip and food in it. Make it a part of his life and have it always be associated with enjoyable things.
Two, use feliway pheromones in the home and car and carrier.
Next when he is in the carrier in the car keep it dark and quiet by insulating with shredded newspaper inside and towels covering it on the outside. The less noise and motion from the car the safer he feels.
Lastly try anti anxiety medications like Solliquin (available at JVC) with catnip, to Benadryl to gabapentin, or even a longer term medication like fluoxetine. Each work a little different and all have advantages and disadvantages but we can help you find which is best in his case.
Hope that helps. Keep me posted and thank you again.
Thanks for your response! I will give all these a try. Thanks again! See you soon.
Hi,
Kirby,my 11 year old cat, has taken a liking to spending the whole day laying outside on the covered deck. He complains if I make him come in! He and my other cat Cricket have always been indoor only cats, so I have never been concerned about fleas. But now, I’m starting to be worried that he may contract them, even though he isn’t down on the ground. I’m assuming that fleas, as well as ticks, can fly, and I don’t want either cat to be exposed to them. What protection do you recommend? I don’t want to just buy something OTC without asking. Thanks, Maggie
I would talk to your vet about preventatives for fleas and ticks. And I would treat both cats since one can bring hem them inside to the other.
My 10 year old male Persian cat was blocked with a bladder infection.
One week ago, the Vet did a catherization to remove the fluids and sent him home.
He further recommended surgery to remove bladder stones. Is there an alternative to bladder surgery ?
Thank you.
Hi there-
We had a car with a blockage years ago. We had to have emergency surgery and put him on a special diet. We ended up with 8 more, stone free years with him????????
Thanks Sarah. This situation is really stressing me out. I put him on the Hill’s C/D diet. Do you know what emergency surgery he had ? I would like to avoid the surgery if possible.
Sorry- I hit submit before I finished- I was going to add that an in depth discussion with your vet is probably best.
Hello,
I don’t know enough to offer specific advice. Here’s what I usually recommend. If the cat is blocked do that they cannot urinate I place a urinary catheter and keep the cat on iv fluids in the hospital until the urine is running clear. Usually this is about 3-4 days. Then I remove the catheter and make sure they are able to urinate a normal amount easily and comfortably. I also start them on a urinary prescription diet. I much prefer watered down wet food vs dry. I take radiographs of the urinary stones and check a urine sample every 2-4 weeks. Many cats urinary issues will resolve over time with diet. For the rare cases of storms that are so big or those that will not dissolve we discuss a cystotomy to remove them. Either way all cats with urinary issues need diet changes and increase exercise and activities to help them from blocking again. I hoe this helps. Let us know what happens.
Thank you very much Dr. Krista. You have given me hope. I will follow your advice and let you know what happens.
Dear Dr. Magnifico,
I’m sorry to hear of the loss of your mom. I lost my mom a few years ago, and it takes a while to go through that grief. Take care of you!
My question:
One of my cats from a feral group (not living in the house) came home with a jaw degloving injury (see photo). I took him to the vet and the vet mentioned possibly correcting this with surgery but that such surgery doesn’t always hold. However, a few weeks later she said he looked okay to go home as is and not to try the surgery or he’d be worse off if it failed. He drools/slobbers now, which wouldn’t be so bad, but it has a bad smell, so I wonder if that’s normal. The vet didn’t think he needed antibiotics (I had asked if she could give him a long-acting antibiotic injection since it is next to impossible to pill him now without hurting him and/or making it bleed).
He is a precious boy, and I want him to be as comfortable as possible. I’m keeping him in the house now and have found a home for him with the same people who adopted a different feral from us, so hooray for that. Not sure if the injury is bothering him (or just bothering me with the smell). Will the smell go away over time?
Hello.
I would contact a vet who has done this surgery before and have it corrected ASAP. See my blog on seraphina. If you are near me please come to the clinic for an exam ASAP. It’s not a difficult surgery to do. But it needs to be done ASAP for best prognosis. I hope this helps.
Thank you, doctor. We think it was 17 days since the injury occurred.
Good morning-
I just want to add that antibiotics seem like they would have been necessary seeing as it was an open injury.
Hello,
There is not a “one diet fits all” advice. I have four cats and. Feed science diet. Canned and dry. But I know the health status of all of them. Please ask your vet, the person who knows your cats health status best, what their thoughts and advice are.