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Suzanne Cannon | 5 years ago
Lucy: Feline With Severe, Chronic Stomatitis
Treatment Cost (USD): $705.70
Lucy is a rescued kitty who first came in to Jarrettsville Veterinary Center with her new owner because she wasn't feeling well - she was lethargic, not eating well, and had two large lumps on the side of her mouth. She was diagnosed with severe stomatitis and hospitalized for treatment. Over the course of the next several months, Lucy received multiple medical treatments in an effort to manage the distressing symptoms caused by her stomatitis. She was given several courses of antibiotics, steroids, and pain meds, and even received laser treatments to help manage pain and swelling. Eventually it was recommended that the best way to help Lucy would be to schedule her for a complete dental cleaning and extractions of diseased teeth.
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Regular Vet Visit
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Suzanne Cannon | 5 years ago
George The Cat – A Girl With A Painful Mouth
Treatment Cost (USD): $642.48
George, an older female cat, was rescued by a neighbor after her original owner passed away. Her new owner brought George to Jarrettsville Veterinary Center because she seemed to be in pain when eating, often pawing at her mouth.
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Kate Stafford | 6 years ago
My 1 Year Old Neutered Male Cat Has Been Singing The Song Of His People…

My 1 year old neutered male cat has been singing the song of his people nightly, starting around 0200. It’s actually more a chirp than a meow, but he doesn’t stop until the sun comes up. He isn’t locked out of the bedroom, food and water needs are met, litter is clean, etc. He doesn’t do this during the day. He seems to keep these shenanigans confined to the hallway or the bedroom. He just walks around chirping with the occasional half meow.

The only thing that seems to stop him is if I kick his brother (littermate and best friend) out of my bed and lock them both out of the bedroom, which makes HIM sad. Choir boy is happy to sleep in our bed any other time of day, with or without human or feline companions, so it’s not like he wants his brother out of the room because he himself is uncomfortable in there.

I should add that there have not been any food, litter, family dynamic, or even furniture changes. Nothing new in his world. What gives?!

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    What an interesting question.
    My first thought is to wear my veterinarian hat. To look for any signs of illness. An exam and blood work (with urine and fecal) are where I start. From there we talk about behavior. Cats are nocturnal critters and many just like to party after dark. Many also get too much slee due to boredom during the day. So I encourage clients to try to mix up the routine and find a mutually acceptable way to get the entertained and tired during the day so they can sleep with us at night. Things like catnip and taking out toys for the daytime (putting them away at night to discourage playing after dark). A really rigorous play session between 8-11 ( or a few hours before bed time) and a late night (right before bedtime) snack can help. In general finding a way to meet all his needs before bed so he will sleep through the night. Also leaving a tv on during the day. Or programming toys to turn on during the day to break up excessively long nap times during the day when you are at work might also help. If all else fails we use crate training at night at the clinic. The cats know it’s bedtime at 8 pm and they are crated all night. It keeps our in clinic motion sensors happy and the clinic quiet at night. This takes time and patience and they are never crates during the day so they get lots of exercise during the day. Hope this helps. Let us know what happens.
    Xox
    Krista

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Sharon Kim | 6 years ago
My Male Cat Has Trouble Passing Urine Today, Went To The Vet And Was Diagnosed…

My male cat has trouble passing urine today, went to the vet and was diagnosed with idiopathic cystitis. He’s not completely blocked only passing tiny dribbles of urine. Was prescribed an anti inflammatory, pain meds and new wet food. He’s been drinking lots of water and not eating since we got back from the vet. I’m worried about him. Was told to wait and see and then come back if no change or symptoms worsen. He’s been hiding under the bed no improvement. Won’t eat. We have some calming spray and topical drops coming in the mail soon just to see if that helps with any stress. Would love to hear anything you can contribute.

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    For cases like this when I have a very worried and devoted parent I ask them if they would like to learn how to palpate their pets bladder to be better able to monitor at home and also to give sq fluids to keep the bladder as flushed as possible. If you can afford it hospitalize your cat for iv fluids and have them monitor. Then I recommend you switch to a urinary formula canned food and maybe even add water. Also products like cranmate or dasaquin might help. Ask about what you can do at home. Ask about pain management and follow up urinalysis. Ask your vet to be as personally invested in your cats health as you are. If they aren’t find a different vet. Try a cat specialist. Good luck.

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Lauren Hall | 6 years ago
My Male Approx. 8 Yr Old Cat’s Blood And Urinalysis Came Back With Some Abnormal…

My male approx. 8 yr old cat’s blood and urinalysis came back with some abnormal results. He has a little blood (+1 according to vet’s scale) and protein (+2) in his urine. However, we ruled out kidney failure/issues. He has passed a stone in the past and had noticeable blood then, but the vet is saying he doesn’t know if that’s the cause now and wants to treat it as idiopathic cystitis, thus no known cause = no set treatment.
For various reasons, I have had suspicions that my vet is not acting honestly in all regards (from severe misdiagnosis, offering unnecessary treatments as only options, and charging me for services that I wasn’t asked/ told about) but will be moving in a month so will see a new vet anyway.
For now though, I want to address any possible issue before the move seeing as stress may worsen it. So this vet is saying since they don’t know what the cause of the test results is but want to give me various antibiotics and meds to treat all possible causes. But he himself said that the medicine he’d put me on (Orbax, 10 day supply) has less expensive alternative options but “they don’t have flavoring so it’s harder to get cats to take them” and I’d have to potentially give it 2x a day instead of 1x. But I don’t care how often and I honestly don’t care how much it costs, but I really care that my vet is acting in the best interest of my cat NOT prescribing just because he can. What’s more, Feline idiopathic cystitis seems to be diagnosed by things he didn’t do as he didn’t culture the urine (and said he doesn’t want to because it’s only 50% accurate), didn’t x-ray, and didn’t ultrasound (source:
https://icatcare.org/advice/cat-health/feline-idiopathic-cystitis-fic).
Based on the urinalysis results and clean blood work, has anyone had any similar experiences that could be a cause? I’d rather not put my cat on antibiotics he doesn’t need and potentially mess him up more… especially if proper steps of diagnosis haven’t occurred. Any advice would be very, very appreciated!

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  1. carrie Urquhart

    If he’s passed a stone before it’s likely he may have another. Male cats have a really hard time passing stones or crystals since their opening it very small. Was the cat showing signs of a uti, or was this routine labs? Do you know if they looked at the urine to check for crystals? Sometimes it could be an infection and a round of antibiotics clear it up, but id be weary of that diagnosis if they didn’t look at it under a microscope.

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Delaney Donelson | 6 years ago
My 9 Year Old Cat Is Peeing On Bath/ Kitchen Mats. However, He Also Uses…

My 9 year old cat is peeing on bath/ kitchen mats. However, he also uses the litter boxes. I have heard of surface preferences in cats but im not sure if this applies since he uses the litter box as well. My mom seems to think hes mad at me because i left him for a day and a half (with more than enough food and water). However, its not the first time this has happened. And unfortunately, i only adopted him about 3 months ago so i dont know his history on litter box use. And i added a picture of him because hes just too cute to be mad at, but the peeing is slightly frustrating. So, if anyone has any ideas or advice or helpful tips it would be much appreciated!

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  1. Anonymous

    I’d head to the vet, to be quite honest. If he’s clear of any illness, make sure he has two VERY CLEAN litterboxes in different parts of the house.

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Pawbly | 6 years ago
I Adopted A Beautiful Cat With A Stunning Personality, She Is Loving And Relaxed. She…

I adopted a beautiful cat with a stunning personality, she is loving and relaxed. She is 1 year 7 months old and they have been struggling to get her adopted. We brought her home And she was immediately so happy, eating and playing. We have two chihuahuas, one is a very timid, nervous baby but so so sweet. When we opened our bedroom door, she ran out to say hello and the cat just pounced on her, making deep scratch marks and only letting go when my husband yelled “NO!” In a panic. I am feeling such guilt at bringing a new pet into the house, that hurt my baby. I absolutely adore the new cat, but my heart is broken for my baby girl. She is now absolutely terrified of any sound, we are keeping them separated and the cat is happy as can be, but I am feeling so nervous about how to resolve this issue. Giving the cat back is just not an option for us, we already fell in love with her. What can we do in this situation?

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  1. Anonymous

    Did you do any sort of shutdown when you brought the cat home? By that, I mean keep her in a room to herself for a couple of weeks, to give her time to acclimate to the household, then allow her to meet your chi in a very closely supervised situation. Furthermore, had she been tested with dogs?

  2. Suanne Villarreal

    Hi! We actually have separated them, the meeting was accidental (our chihuahua ran out of the room once the door was opened). Currently we are keeping them in separate rooms and switching them every so often so they can get used to each other’s scent. She was adopted from a cat shelter so no experience with dogs thus far…

  3. Anonymous

    That may very well have been due to shock. I would reevaluate in a couple of weeks.

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Shiria | 7 years ago
Has Anyone Experience For REM Sleep Disorder In Cats? Ezra Is An Ca. 8 Year Old…

Has anyone experience for REM Sleep Disorder in cats?
Ezra is an ca. 8 year old female cat. When she was in our shelter she seemed to be somewhat slow in her movements/reactions. She also had a weird way to walk – she moved her front legs a bit like a prancing horse. She also was a bit wobbly on her feet.
Otherwise she was very affectionate and cuddly, always eating good and didn’t seem sick.
However very often in the morning we found her bed wet. When we were around she always used the toilet and we never saw her urinating in her bed.
When we gave her to the vet, they found out, that she already was neutered and had an urinary tract infection. It was succesfully treated, but the problem still remained.

X-Ray and Ultrasound showed nothing special, same with bloodwork.
Her movements most likely were due to ataxia. Wether due to an accident or if she was born with it nobody knows.

So we found a new home for her and we informed them about her “problem”. I had contact with the new owners and it turned out she only pees when she sleeps. It looks like she has a seizure while she’s in deep sleep and she urinates during that. She may fall down from the chair our wherever she sleeps on due to her rapid movements – and wakes up confused.
When she’s in such deep sleep it is hard to wake her up, but possible.

An MRI then was done without result.

Medication for epilepsy was tested, but she became very quiet and tired with them, without solving the problem, so they were stopped.

Des anyhone have ideas what could be done to help her? Ezra itself doesn’t seem to suffer from this, as she doesn’t realize she’s peeing. When she wakes up she just goes away. But the danger of falling down is still there. The peeing is also a problem, which is why she is not allowed to sleep on the couch or bed when nobody is around.

The owner uses special pads on her chairs etc. depending on Ezras sleep those sometimes are completly shredded.

Maybe someone has an idea how to help in this situation?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    What an interesting kitty. My initial hiught was perhaps cerebellar hypoplasia. But I will do some research and digging and see if I can find anything. It is so wonderful to her that she found a home inspite of her uniqueness.

    1. Shiria Post author

      Hello,
      I know it has been a year by now. But Ezra is back at the shelter for a few months now, since her new owner died.

      She roams free at aour station now, as she won’t really find a new home (but is obviously still up for adoption). When she came back another epilepsy medication was tried, but with same solution than before, so it was stopped.

      Her problems still remain. And now that she moves freely we can often see her “seizures”. She nearly always falls down from where she sleeps during that. Luckily she mostly sleeps on the lower things. When she falls down she wakes up, but sometimes will just lie there, looking absent – as if she only slowly realizes what has happened.
      What I noticed too – she is extremely sensitive on her whole back and sites. When you touch her there, her whole fur will twitch (rolling skin syndrome?) and/or she may start licking herself or hands in reach and/or scratching with her hindlegs in the touched spots (seems like a reflex caused by touching her there).

      However she still demands attention and loves cuddling.

      A while ago she as started pulling out her fur on the left and right site of her back symmetrically on small areas. Blood works came back fine, the skin is fine, too. No parasites either. It looks like she is grooming herself, like cats soemtimes do with their theeth, but she starts pulling her fur during that. I think she pissibly has some sort of “frong feelings” there?

      So I’m just curious if you could find something?

  2. Shiria Post author

    I thought about “cerebellar hypoplasia”, too. I guess that’s what I meant with Ataxia. (We call them “Ataxie-Katzen/Ataxia Cats”. We sometimes have kittens, that show wobbly gait, problems with judging distance and similar – however despite this they are still normal, playful, active kittens. The worst case was a little red tabby whose mother most likely had contact with cat-parvo. He could hardly stand when he got old enough to leave his box. His littermates were wobbly, too but not like he was. He had a hard time to walk at the beginning. But after he got the possibility to run around and train hismucles, he learned how he can run and walk – it still was wobbly, but he was not falling over all the time anymore.
    However none of the kittens ever showed the symptoms Ezra does when she is asleep. And none of their new owners ever called because of soemthing similar.

    Please let me know if you find somwthing. I would love to learn more!

    It seems there is not much to be found for her specific problem. But maybe I’m looking wrong as English is not my native language. I only found a Youtube Video and some short texts on google, but nothing really helpful.

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suerena schaefer | 7 years ago
I Have 5 Cats And 2 Dogs. All Of Our Pets Area Rescues. …

I have 5 cats and 2 dogs. All of our pets area rescues. We just took in our second rescue dog. She is 7 mths old and is terrorizing the cats. I need some advice on how to have a happier home with all the pets. The cats are indoor/outdoor but spend most of their time outside. 3 of the cats tolerate the new dog the other 2 won’t come near her. I did the proper introductions, I’ve given the cats a “safe space” but nothing seems to help the last 2 cats. The biggest problem is that the new dog likes to chase the cats. She is a small dog, smaller than the cats. She doesn’t nip at them or try to bite them, she’s just curious and wants to play with them. All of my cats love my other dog who is 11 years old. They were raised with him, sleep with him and play with him. I’m sure the chasing and the spontaneity of the new dog freaks out the cats because they are nor used to that. I am at my wits end trying to figure this out. Countless hours of research has not helped at all. I am not giving up not am I giving any of my pets away, as has been suggested. I know this can work out, I just need help. Or just possible reassurance that my cats won’t be permanently scarred and things will work out as time passes. My anxiety level is at an all time high and everyone tells me just leave them alone and let them work it out. I don’t think I can do that. HELP!!

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    A safe place for the cats is a place the dogs can’t get to. It is the place that they can hide and take refuge from. Also it is time to start training the dog who is harrassing them. This might include crating them for periods where the cats can come and range freely, keeping the dog on a leash attached to you at all times outside of the crate so you can train and in general establishing boundaries and safe calm scenarios. It takes time. And a lot of dedication. And patience. And most importantly safest for your cats.

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Delaney Donelson | 7 years ago
My New Cat (have Had For 3 Weeks) And Resident Cat Refuse To Tolerate Each…

My new cat (have had for 3 weeks) and resident cat refuse to tolerate each other. I brought Louie home with the knowledge that they might never like each other but they would at least learn to tolerate. The first week seemed to go pretty well because when we let Louie roam and get a feel for the house Mia avoided him… but now… things seem to be getting aggressive. It doesnt matter where Louie goes or what hes doing (even just sleeping) Mia wants to attack him. Granted, as soon as he sees her he starts growling… but he only started doing that after she batted at him the first time. The episodes seem to be getting more and more aggressive. I would keep him in my room but its clear he wants to roam. And i find it unfair to lock her in a room after 6 years of letting her roam around the whole house. Before we got mia 6 years ago we had an older male cat, they got along well but he passed about 2 years ago. And according to the shelter Louie was surrendered with a sister but she was adopted without him. I need help on this one

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  1. Delaney Donelson Post author

    Thank you Sarah, the baby gate didnt work… i had one up and then a door screen up but no wwy to secure the screen so he found a way to get out of his own space. For the most part, he does confine himself to his own space still but now its more so the residemt cat that is ckming to him. I have thoe litter trays and food/ water areas still seperate so theres really no reason for him to HAVE to leave his room or for her to come in to his room but they still do. I just dont want this to be a stressful situation for either of them. Mia has never been a fan of any large cat toys (trees or posts) both of my cats are declawed (adopted that way) so they dont tend to “scratch” other than the occasional carpet scratching after a stretch. Shes afraid of the tree we have for her and hes too heavy for it, he knocked it over. (Hes 22 lbs) Any other ideas are welcome

  2. Sarah

    3 weeks in is still a fairly new situation. This will take more time than that. Having said that, keeping them together but separate may help. For instance, a baby gate or two could possibly help you confine them and keep them separated when not supervised, but still allow them to see each other and continue getting used to each other. It also gives them their own space which may help with the adjustment period. Just make sure each has access to their own litter tray and food and water. A few kitty “distractions” might also be helpful- for instance a cat tree and some scratch posts. If they have an outlet for some pent up energy, they may not use it on each other. Don’t give up? There are lots of people on this website that have lots of helpful ideas to share. Hopefully they will add more. Best of luck!!