I have a senior cat who was receiving insulin but is now off of it per the Doctor’s orders. His glucose level has returned to normal, at least for now, by way of the DM cat food only.

The cat has become very playful, like a kitten, during the last week or so. Should I be concerned about the change in behavior?

Hello,
I have a 12 week old kitten who was spayed 11 days ago. I noticed after the 4th day that she had some swelling under her incision. I took her to the ER vet who did an US and said the internal stitches were still intact and there was no hernia. She aspirated some sanguious fluild and looked at it under the microscope and said she was infection free. The kitten had been confined to the bathroom since the spaying but I found out on the third day she was jumping in and out of the bathtub. Hard to keep a 12 week old kitten still and quiet! So after the vet visit we confined even more so- in a free standing shower for 5 days. I then noticed it was firmer- maybe 10% smaller- but definitely firmer looking- more defined. So back to the Er vet who did a second US and said all looked good- no hernia. She then said to let her out of the shower and resume normal activity- the serima should resolve. I was like what! That’s the opposite of what the other vet said. The kitten has been eating and acting normal all through this recovery period. I check the serima daily and it’s the same size. Do I let her tossel with her sibling? How long will it take for the body to reabsorb it? And why did it get firmer after she drained it? I’m so conflicted what to do. Some sites says it takes weeks- I might be impatient. The incision has almost completely healed and looks good. I’m so confused as to how I should be treating this!
Thanks so much!!

If it helps a puppy to grow up with another puppy does the same hold true for kittens? Will cats be happier and better adjusted if they have a sibling? Does it help to get 2 from the same litter or should they be unrelated?

I have a 6 week old kitten that developed severe diarrhea 5 days ago. I took her to the vets 3 days ago. Stool culture positive for coccidia. She has been on treatment for 3 days with no improvement. Her rectal area is raw. She is eating and drinking but obviously does not feel well. I have been bathing her and putting Desitin on her rectal area per my vets recommendation. Shouldn’t she be getting better by now?

My cat ran away for 7 weeks we found her extremely malnourished and dehydrated displaying neurological issues. We rushed her to the vet but we couldn’t afford the hospitalisation so we took jer home with prescriptions and subcutaneous fluid replacement therapy. Jer liver enzymes were elevated they said it should get better as she eat very slowly in small quantities. Its been 5 days since we found her. The neuro issues have disappeared. She has been peeing regularly in increasing quantities and though week she can walk around. She is alerte. But she refuses any food in any form. I have tried wet dry kitten formula replacement. She eat a bite or two the first days and nothing since. What should i do?

Does anyone have experience with chemo drugs used for feline intestinal lymphoma, small cell type? I’m anticipating having to decide next week to pursue a course of chemo -or not- for my Oak. Oak is now 11 years old, rescued by me as a kitten from a shelter, but never adopted out due to the eosinophilic granuloma that became apparent when he was about 4 months age. He is such a sweet kitty, I call him my ‘circus cat’ because I can train him to do almost anything. Sadly, I’m now training him to happily take gel capsules so we’ll be ready if the time comes. I would appreciate any insight you have on how well your cat(s) tolerate chemo (if you can include the name of the drug, that’s a bonus!). Thank you so much, judy

Does Reflux in premature kittens exist?
I’m asking because we got 4 tiny premature kittens yesterday with their mother. She didn’t have milk when the were born, so the little ones were bottle fed/syringe fed the 2 days before they came to us.. However since she still showed interets in her babys they stayed with her. They had around 70gram according to their owner. When they arrived, they were cold and crying. One died a few minutes after they arrived, despite slowly warming up. It had tiny bits of milk in its nose.
(they were fed ca. 60 minutes earlier)

When they were finally warmed up two were drinking, one was fed with a syringe. All were urinating normally, one had a bit of bowel movements (yellow and soft). I placed them to their mother who was very worried about her babies and cuddled around them immediatly. She had a heat pad below her box to help keeping the temperature. She was extremly nervous, so I left her alone for the time being.
When I looked after them for the next feeding, the second one was dead. Milk around nose and mouth. I checked for cleft palate, but there was none visible.
The other two also showed no signs of a cleft palate. However, they felt cold again despite lying on their mothers belly.

I warmed them up again and this time I didn’t put them back – as it seemed that the despite mother and heat pad below they could’t keep their temperature. So they stayed in the box we use for raising kittens.

One was drinking, one was not. The none drinking was tube fed. When I looked after them a ca. 15 minutes later the non drinking one hat milk running out of its nose and mouth. I cleaned it immediatly and it started breathing again – but I guess it still got something in its lungs, as it died a few minutes later.

The remaining one was now warm, still urinating normally and drinking. But it couldn’t settle down. It was always crying and seemed restless. The next two feedings went normally – as dfar as that is possible with such a tiny one. When I wanted to feed it in the late evening I found it dead – a bit of milk running out of nose and mouth. It was the smalles one of them with only 67 gram.

I’m very worried that I did something wrong… They were not the first babys I bottle fed (or syring fed/tube fed). But it’s not like I’m very experienced… Usually the ones I get are at least full term… I only had one premature Baby before, that also died after 2 days. It had only 53 gram when being born – but it was with me since birth.
None of the babyies I cared lost as much milk through their nose – and especially not their mouth. The only ones that did this, had a cleft palate. The healthy babys may choke at some milk at the beginnig when they try to figure out the bottle – and may show a bit milk at their nose when doing so – but they never showed those problems. They were fine later,

These ones died more or less immediatly after I took them in – and that’s why I’m asking myself, if I did something wrong – or if I should do something different next time – as all of them showed milk at nose and mouth. The third one looked like it had spit our everything it drank earlier and the last one also had more than just a drop outside of nose and mouth. I only fed tiny amounts – ca. 1ml each feeding, to get them started, was that still too much? The previous owner said nothing about problems with feeding – and I used the same milk as them.

It seemed all aspirated milk because it came back out of their stomach (reflux).
I know reflux is not unusual in human preemies – but what’s with cats and is their a way to avoid that? (If that’s the reason for their problems at all). But if not why came the milk back up?

One of our 6 month old kittens will suck on the blanket a portion of the night. Will he outgrow this behavior? Are there any concerns if he doesn’t?