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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?
Hi looking for some advice. I have contacted almost every source of Google and rescues possible. I am a single mom with an 8 year old son. Recently we had to put our cat down. He was older than my son. On top of that, my son has not heard from his father in 2 years. He is having a hard time and really wants a kitten. I don’t know if they have any programs to help with long term care for people with disabilities. . therapy animals maybe? I have also spoken to some shelters offering to volunteer in turn for help with the new kitten. So we are both helping each other. It seems that the shelters are over crowded with animals looking for loving homes and I can definitely give that!! I am not sure about my financial future as a new single mom and want to be safe.. not making mistakes in the long run. Can anyone point me in the right direction?? Thanks!!
Hi!
As you’ve already had experience with a cat and know the cost and care that ar associated with it, perhaps adopting an adult cat instead of a kitten would be better? At local shelters you can usually see the cats and play/interact with them. That way you can also get a sense of the personality… plus it’s already litter trained, had its shots and is probably spayed/neutered too.
I agree with Sarah!! The cost of adopting an adult is a fraction of a kitten. And if you adopt from a rescue they have usually provided all the medical care needed for a while (about a year, because all cats should receive yearly examinations). But please ask about the appropriate diet and exercise plan to save on emergencies like urinary tract infections and urinary blockages.
My 7 month old neutered kitten keeps peeing on towels and blankets. He doesn’t have a UTI-he was tested. We do our best to keep him out of the bathroom, so the towels are manageable, but it’s impossible to keep him away from the blankets. Help!
Have you tried a different litter in the box? The type of litter you are using may be part of the issue.
I agree with Sarah. Start with dirt in the box – that seems to attract cats. Slowly transition to a more normal litter.
Hello,
I wrote a ridiculously long answer, which seems to have disappeared into oblivion.. I suggested the following;
1. Never doubt the cat. They are always trying to tell us something, albeit, not always in the most socially pleasing manner. Trust they need you and listen to them. I always say that “if your cat had opposable thumbs they would write on the wall “HEY! MOM! I NEED ____” but instead they pee out of the box.
2. Do multiple urinalyses, not just one. Too often the answer lies in the second or third urine submitted.
3. There is a very strong environmental component. Try lotd of different litter boxes, scrutinize the location (like down in the basement (who wants to go down there?), next to a loud piece of equipment (like the washer or dryer,, too scary), or take the cover off, try different substrate (like potting soil, which is nice a soft like a towel?), try a wide box, low box, covered versus uncovered, etc etc.
4. Try a big cage covered in litter in one area, sand in another and soil in the last. see where he goes. Then fill the bottom with that. Each day add newspaper to the corner or one edge. Every day you make the litter area smaller until it only exists in an area the size of a litter box. Then add the litter box. See if that helps to retrain him.
5. You can board him with us. We essentially keep them until they are calm and litter trained. It is a bit of solitary confinement meets spa escape. The clinic cats were all former inappropriate urinating cats brought in to be euthanized. We retrained all of them. It can take a while but it helps them calm down and readjust.
Lastly, we forget to see the world through our cats eyes. They aren’t us. They too often get fed the wrong food, which causes bladder inflamation, get too bored inside, and some of them really are reclusive, and we dont give them places to hide, or perch, or run.
Please follow up with me at the clinic. I want to help you guys.
I am here for you all
Krista
How much medication at the same time without damaging the bodytoo much?
So, we have a group of 22 kittens (6 months) and 2 mothers. All are treatet for ringworm (Microsporum Canis) and in 3 days are finished (only 8 showed symptoms, but since they all had contact, all had to be treated).
They were treated with Itraconazole (1 week treatment, 1 week break, 1 week treatment, another 1 week break and a last week treatment). Additionally they were bathed 1 once a week in Enilconazole.
Some of them are treated with marbocyl for cat flu right now (most likely Calici).
Additional they were tested positive for giardia and worms (Toxocaridae?) last friday after most of them developed bad diarrhea that smelled incredibly bad.
For the Giardia they get treated with Metronidazole (twice a day).
Fenbendazole is not an option, as it doesn’t help anymore most of the time.
So now I still need deworm them and make a flea treatment (as they have also fleas). I don’t want to do worm and flea medication at the same day – as that would mean that at least the ones with cat flu would get 5 medications at the same time.
Only two more days till the ring worm treatment is finished, so I thought of doing flea treatment the following day and deworming the day after that to spread the treatment a little.
Some of them are clearly not well right now, so while I would normally deflea/deworm at the same time, I’m a bit hesitant here.
What do you think?
What I have to add – one of the kittens died this morning without known reason. It was not extremly thin or dehydrated and acted normal when I saw it the first time this morning. When a collegue wanted to clean their room she called me because it would lie on the floor and couldn’t move. (I was like 20 meters away in another room) She said it made strange noises and lost poo (diarrhea). When I arrived it was already gone. The hair on his tail was poofed up, eyes/pupils wide, but no heart beat and breathing. I tried to bring it back, but without success.
It had no signs of being extremly sick. It was not affected by ringworm itself and hat no catflu. It had diarrhea, but ate well. It played, was active and so on. It showed no signs of liver problems (as Itraconazole could cause that) like yellow skin.
No one has seen what happened. I was thinking that it may has fallen off a wooden layer that are left and right to the door, right beneath the windows. The cats like to sit in it and look out the windows or wait for someone to come inside. But those are only like 1,20m in height.
So I’m even more worried that all those medicaton already was too much for that one :(.
I am assuming all medications were prescribed by a veterinarian and an exam done on all kittens? If so I would check with the prescribing Dr. I have had foster puppies who have been incredibly sick and on many medications at once at the advice of our vet. In the case of my foster pups they were very sick, the risk of not treating outweighed the risk of treating. That is a conversation though that you should have with the vet who examined and prescribed the meds. Best of luck with the kittens and so very sorry for your loss.
Thanks for your answer. Yes, all medication were prescribed by the vet of our shelter. I also planned to ask her this tomorrow when the next visit is scheduled. Just wanted to ask for other peoples experiences for similar situations.
We also had very sick kittens, where the risk of not treating them was bigger than the risk of treating – but they had other problems.
My Bengal cat was diagnosed with pyrometra and I was unable to afford the surgery 1000-1400 I took her home and treated her with antibiotics and now she is no longer sick. Is the infection just cleared up and she still has the desease or will it come back when she goes into heat? Will she be able to have kittens again?
Now that the infection has cleared up, I would plan to spay. Directly from a publicly available vet hospital website: “The rate of recurrence of the disease in a treated cat is generally thought to be as high as 50-75%.”
I honestly wouldn’t risk the queen.
Spay her asap. It will very likely come back. Glad to hear that she is better.
I’ve had a kitten for almost 2 months and have adopted a friends older cat. My kitten tries to be friendly but the adult cat hisses and tries to attack. I have put them in separate rooms with the doors between them slightly open and each has their own food, water and litter box. Should they get along better over time? I feel sorry for the older cat because she seems stressed out and won’t leave her hiding spot, even though the kitten is being friendly.
Just like with anything else, the will take time. Giving them each their own space is a great start. A perch and a play tree might be a good idea to look into for both cats. The older cat may just need more time to adjust. Best of luck and congrats on your new cats!
I rescued a 6 week old kitten who tested positive for HIV. I have done some research that states at this age test probably positive for hiv antibody but not virus. Can be tested at a later date and may be negative. My vet is not offering much hope. I have other cats. My vet states kitten can’t be around other csts however literature I have been reading states that is not true either. I need some advice on what my next steps should be.
Hello,
I know many cats living inside happily for years even with fiv. They need to be kept inside, monitored very closely for changes in weight, activity and kept ina closed stress free home and all must be spayed and neutered. I don’t worry about these cats and the rest of the household cats like I used to. I have just seen so many cats do well. And I have NEVER seen a healthy cat in these homes become fiv positive. Best of luck. Ps I’m sorry for the delay in answering.
I believe my 4 month old kitten has acid reflux. She was born from my sisters cats first litter so she has a lot of birth defects already. For the past month every time she eats a bowl of Meow-Mix cat food she throws up stringy saliva. She also seems to be chocking while doing it. Her other birth defects are twisted in legs, broken tail, and she has a little lazy eye. Please comment if you need any further information.
Hello,
Can you try feeding her wet food? Even in small amounts with water added and see how she does? Perhaps she cannot eat dry food? Or she eats too much too fast? Also meow mix is not suitable for a kitten. Please try a better quality food that is age appropriate (kitten food).
In the near future I am thinking of getting a kitten but I have a dog which I have had for 6 years but when seeing small animals such as rabbits he has a tendency to nip them nothing to harsh but I am just weary as the kitten has only got 3 legs is there any advice or tips to get my dog to stop nipping other small animals in preparation for the kitten thanks.
Hello
A trainer might be able to help you with basic obedience training so that he listens to commands and learns to listen before acting. Also it might help to start to expose him to cats in a safe neutral territory so that he gets used to them and is not so curious about chasing or harassing them. Dogs can be trained to live with cats safely. Good luck.
My cat just recently lost her kittens when they ran away on the Fourth of July. Now she’s hardly eating and she’s shedding massive amounts of fur. She’s not taking good care of herself and seems lost all the time. Is there anything I can do?
I would get her to the vet, to be quite honest.
I agree with laura. Also please try to provide her a quiet, warm, stress free place to rest and lots of food options. Please also have her spayed.
That’s adorable! We had one cat, many years ago that sucked on the ear of one of my stuffed animals her entire life… she was fine and never had any issues related to it that I can recall.
As long as he isn’t chewing holes in the blanket and eating the material he chews out of it, I would say this is a minor issue.
Thanks it has been a little less frequent and so odd it’s only a plush type blanket at night. It must be soft like like his mom’s fur. No chewing just leaves a wet spot haha
He’s suckling. Happens when mammals are removed from their mothers too soon, and can happen as a self-soothing behavior, particularly at bedtime.