Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
Good afternoon!
I volunteer at a local rescue in their feline only facility. We received a young cat, named Cami, recently that is 9 months old. She has a right head tilt that started about 2 months ago (7 months of age) according to the person who had her since she was a kitten.
A local vet attempted an exam but did not have a scope small enough to look into her ear and the exam became very uncomfortable for Cami. The plan was to get a smaller scope, knock her out and do the exam. Unfortunately, they are unable to acquire the scope at this time. The suspicious is that this is a polyp.
Any ideas what this could be? We are currently wondering if this could be something treatable with medication (to try first) or should we pursue the polyp investigation. Since we are a rescue we are trying to balance the cost but still address Cami’s needs.
Cami shows no distress because of her condition. She does not scratch the ear or shake her head. And is awfully cute!
Thank you, in advance, for any help you can offer!
Hi I have read your article about seromas and how to best leave them alone. Now my kitten has one after her desexing surgery however hers keeps getting bigger. At what size does it become concerning?
It doesn’t look infected and she is behaving just fine.
Thank you!
Good morning-
Have you already gone to your follow up visit to the vet? If not- I would ask them to look at it. Meantime, so long as it is not warm or sore to the touch or bothering her, I would just keep a close watch. If her behavior changes (lethargic, loss of appetite) I would call the vet ASAP. I’m assuming you’ll have a few kitten check ups in the near future, so your vet can also help you monitor it. Seromas can take a very long time to resolve. Best of luck!!
Hey! Thank you so much for your response! I’ve been to the vet and they have said to give it some time. They have already removed three of the four stitches and we have an appointment for the last one next week. She seems okay I am only worried now that she sleeps 90% of the day which is very unlikely! Do I need to worry or is that normal after an operation?
I agree with Sarah! Seromas aren’t inherently dangerous but they can also hide an underlying issue so it’s best to have your vet check it. Thank you for having your kitten spayed. It is so important to help them live longer healthier lives and control the over burdened pet population. Best wishes to you both. Let us know what happens.
Hi Krista,
Thank you so much for your reply! I have been to the vet and they said to give it some time. We have another appointment to remove the last of the stitches next week!
She is just still so tiered sleeping 90% of the day… is that normal? She is eating fine and extremely snuggly. Just out of character for her to sleep this much.
I rescued a kitten several weeks ago. He was said to be a female and to be 4 /5 weeks old. Took him to vet next day and she turned out to be a boy around 3 weeks old. Was very sick and had fleas really bad. He is healthy now but very aggressive. I have an 8 year old cat who has never been with any other cats. The kitten attacks him to the point he cries and I can’t get him to stop attacking my adult cat. Please help
Good morning- keeping the kitten confined may help. I am confused as to how a kitten so small can have the ability to be attacking a full grown cat though. As far as introducing them, I would keep visits monitored , and go slowly.
We are already past the introduction and at first they were fine and all was well. The healthier the kitten gets the more aggressive he gets. My adult cat will not return the aggression. I honestly don’t understand it either
Hello!
Here’s what has worked for me in the past. We set very strict schedules and regiments to help define acceptable behavior and safe times and zones. I think that the other very Important item to talk about is cats don’t think like us. They usually like and need the opposite of what we think they want. So. For cases like this we define individual and community zones. All cats get their own space where no one can bother or harass them. If needed cages are used. At the clinic with all of the cats coming and going we cage them at night and it reinforces a safe me only zone. It also reduces intercat aggression. Things like toys, Feliway and games help. Cats with too much energy are given toys to keep busy and burn off excess steam. Things like hunting for food (my way of scattering dry kibble instead of getting it given to you without working for it. I also use catnip, catnip toys, laser pointers and neutering ASAP. In some cases we have used harness training to let cats go outside on chaperoned walks.
It’s important to say that you cannot reprimand a cat. They are not trainable like dogs. Reprimand will only cause fear and heighten aggression. If all else fails sometimes finding a kitten to play with your kitten helps. They can correct each other and exhaust each other. I hope this helps.
Thank you for the advice. They did well last night and Koba, my adult cat actually layed with me for an hour like he did before Stinky Pete, the kitten came. The vet said he can’t be neutered until May so that will have to wait. I say a lot that I will send Stinky Pete packing but I honestly would never do that. He is with us til I pass and at that point one of my kids will take them then.
My 16-1/2 year old calico has been on prednolisone since August. Even though she was still eating normally she went from about 9 pounds to 7.2 pounds in a year. Tests showed everything was good with the exception of inflamed intestines. Being on the prednolisone has helped her gain weight again, she now weighs about 8.4 pounds. Within the past month on occasion she has started howling very loudly for no apparent reason. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain, sometimes it actually seems as though she’s confused. Any ideas on what could be causing her howls? What can I do to help her? Dr Graff has been her vet since she was a tiny kitten, I would bring Pumpkin in if necessary but hate the idea of stressing her out in doing so. Thanks for any suggestions.
Hello,
I think it would be best to bring her in. In cases like these I get worried about kidney and liver issues and these are best diagnosed with bloodwork and/or an ultrasound. Certainly dementia can happen to any and all mammals but we rule out medical issues first. Dr graf is at the clinic on mon-weds through Saturday. I hope this helps. Best of luck.
I just had my 5 month old kitten spayed on Friday Dec 13, 2019. On Sunday there was a good amount of bruising. Today is Thursday and day 6 of recovery and there is a bump a little smaller than a ping pong ball that is under the stitch line. Does this look like it is just a fluid sac or do you think a hernia? She runs, jumps, is and has been very active, eats, pee, poop, everything else is normal. I push on it and no reaction from her, there is no fever to it either.
First picture is the bump on day 6. Second picture is her stitches on day 6 of healing. Third picture is what her belly looked like on Day 2 and 3 after spay.
Hello,
Lots of kittens get some mild localized swelling at the incision site. But there is a little more bruising than I think is normal. I’m not particularly overly concerned if she is acting completely normal (eating, drinking peeing, pooping and active happy), but, I always always think it is best for the vet who did the surgery check any questions or concerns the pet parent might have. If you are a JVC client please let me know and I will have someone check tomorrow. Or i am happy to check on Sunday (open 1-3). We don’t charge for our own post op rechecks. Sincerely
Dr magnifico.
That bruising is gone now, it was there on day 2 and 3 then started to fade away. I am calling my VET in the morning to check and see if they think she should come in or just wait and see if it goes away. I am in VA so I am not a client of JVC but I do have an outstanding VET who sees all my fur babies and did this surgery. She is just the first kitten who is this light in color so the bruising was shocking at first, and the energy she has is crazy. I have had one other female that I adopted before she was spayed but she was calm and the older cat we had did not mess with her during healing. This little spit fire I have now won’t slow down and our older cat and her love to chase, stalk, and rough house with each other so its been a rough time keeping them apart. My boys were easy as the incisions are smaller and healing was faster. I think she has a Seroma as its squishy and no pain when I push on it. I would guess a hernia would hurt and slow her down a lot due to pain.
Hello!
Sounds good. Please let us know what the vet says. Happy holidays!
Hello, I have a 2.5 year old desexed female cat and a 4-month-old male kitten. We moved house 4 months ago, and adopted the new kitten about 3 months ago. In our previous house, we used to let the older cat out during the day to roam the neighborhood, although she never went too far.
Since we’ve moved, we only let her out once or twice a week as there are a lot of cats here and she gets into more fights and has gotten injured once. She seems very stressed out, wanting to go out constantly.
We have tried everything to ease her stress: playing with her a lot, brushing and cuddling her daily, giving her a mix of wet and dry good food (that she likes), putting up Feliway diffuser around the house, and she plays with the kitten daily.
However, she still exhibits signs of stress, ie hiding, minor crouching, hissing or growling from time to time to us or the kitten, sleeps more, meows more, generally less affectionate towards us.
Do we have to let her go outside daily like before, so she can be less stressed, or is there any other way to lessen her stress? It has been 4 months and I am worried it will become chronic stress for her.
Have you taken her to the vet? Those are signs of stress, but they’re also signs of injury and illness.
OH, I forgot to mention – you could always build a catio for her to spend time outside, SAFELY, protected from the other cats. There are tons of videos and plans online for this. If she truly wants to be outside, this might be the best option for everyone.
But get her to the vet, first, to make sure something isn’t actually wrong.
Hi Laura, thank you so much for replying.
We actually brought her to the vet a few months ago because of a fight bite she got from one of her outside trips. While the wound was not anything to worry too much about, we talked to the vet about letting her outside and expressed our worry (she’s gotten scratches before but it was the first time she got a bleeding bite wound), and the vet agreed that she should stay inside from then on.
Aside from the wound she was overall fine, thus why I believe these are stress symptoms…
As for the catio option, we are renting, and while we do have a garden, we share it with the landlord, so I don’t think it’s a viable option right now.
I work front desk at a vet and a client brought in a stray. No chip and shelters wouldn’t take her. She was going to be released outside since no one would home her and it’s so cold in VA.. so I took her in. I got her shots and tested for FIV, FeLuk, etc to know if she’s safe around my 10 yr neutered male cat. Then the vet said she seems to be pregnant but the ultrasound was inconclusive. But she definitely matches the description of “pinking” and has no hair around her nipples. But I have no idea how far along she is! Last week we didn’t see kittens on ultrasound but now they think she looks pregnant for sure. How do I know? Vet doesn’t want to stress her with more imaging. Also, what do I do when she goes into labor?? Will my male cat be okay around her? They’ve been ok the few times I’ve let them interact but will she change personality when she has kittens? Is she’s likely nicer now than she’ll be after just since she’s “nesting”? Is the stress too much to introduce her to my cat? She’s scratching through the door to get to the rest of the house so I’d like not to keep her cooped up 24/7. Also, when do I know labor is starting? Will she pick a place? How can I make that not be the bed or couch? Or can I cover them? And she eats like she’s STARVING! She looks so tiny to be pregnant.. I read you feed them all they want at a certain point; when is that? How much should I give her each stage? I have Hills ultimate care adult. I went ahead and got some Iams kitten food but when do I start mixing it in? I’m even more lost not knowing how far along she is. I’ve had her 1 week so at least that far along but I could use as much help as possible. Especially regarding labor. I know she’ll most likely do it all on her own but I see so much of what can go wrong working at a vet and I’d like to be prepared. I’ve attached pictures of her. Please help me help her.
Good morning-
She’s a cutie!! Seeing as you work at a vet’s office, I would ask my colleagues there. I’m sure your vets and the techs and other staff members are very happy that you have opened up your home to this kitty and would be happy to share their knowledge. I would start to introduce the two cats more often- the more comfortable they are together or around each other, the less stressful things will be all around. I would also keep an eye on where this new cat likes to settle down most often and put either a box with a blanket or some other nice nesting bed for her and hopefully she will use it. As far as knowing for sure about pregnancy- again I would talk to the vet. I am guessing another ultrasound and then maybe you can even count babies to see how many you might expect to have. Best of luck!????????
Thank you. I have been asking but I feel bad when they have busy days with surgery and so many clients. But I’ll keep asking. The only thing they did give an answer on already that you mentioned is ultrasound; said they don’t want to do another or even X-ray when she’s further along. They want to avoid stressing her out. Though in my opinion she doesn’t seem to mind. She’s very dog-like. Would rather get out of the house or she starts being destructive. They said I could board her there for thanksgiving since I’m leaving town and don’t know if she’ll be ready for labor. They’re helping me out like that but pinning down a vet or even a tech for a slew of questions is harder than you’d think. I appreciate your help! Have a good day!
Is a spay abort an option? If so, I’d go with that.
Hello!
In cases like these I really prefer to get a good exam before jumping on other treatment options. After I am sure there is nothing abnormal in the ear we talk about other possible causes of head tilt. I think it might be best to sedate and examine for ear issues and even a polyp in the oropharynx area. Start here. Try not to do otics until you get an exam done. I hope this helps. Let me know what happens.
Thank you! I appreciate your advice – I’ve seen your videos on polyps and you’ve seen a friend’s cat for nasal polyps. Will let you know what we find out.