I have a poor feral cat out back who got an abscess. I did not know what was going on about 8 days ago when I noticed her face or side of its head swelling. The cat seemed to be disoriented. In retrospect, I think the cat was febrile and suffering.

The next day the abscess popped. It was a big open sore for 2-3 days. Now it is healing, and the cat seems more comfortable. The cat is moving, and eating food & water in a couple of different locations. It has also slept in two different shelter spaces. (I replace the bedding in those.)

The wound on the side of its face appears to be healing. Given that the cat is feral, I did not want to try to administer antibiotics topically or orally. I considered putting the cat in a cage, and taking it to the vet. However, given its bad physical health, I almost sure the vet would rightfully put the cat down. Also, the trauma and stress of trapping the animal would be counterproductive.

The sore is very large – but as I said healing. I am afraid of secondary infections or chronic, growing infections. Are there any signs I can look for to determine whether or not the cat has a good chance of recovery, or is going downhill?

Joe

We learned this week that our 9yo female domestic cat FIV+ has bilateral ear canal polyps more severe on the right. Our local vet does not perform the surgical removal of these polyps. How to find a vet to perform surgery or a dermatology specialist? A video otoscopy was recommended. In Maryland, Harford County. Willing to travel though don’t want to stress cat out too much with a looonnggg ride. Thanks in advance.

Update: German Shepherd Diesel.
I would like to receive your advice regarding my German Shepherd, Diesel, who has developed a limp. His limp has gotten a little bit better, but sometimes he will limp very badly. I have limited his activity and made sure he isn’t putting any unnecessary stress on the foot. I’ve located the source of his discomfort, which is on his right rear ankle, and it is swollen. There’s no apparent injury to his paw, and I’m concerned it could be a sprain or even a fracture. He was running around in the house on porcelain tiles playing ball, and I noticed him limping on one of his runs. I’m unsure whether to proceed with an x-ray or to monitor his condition for a few more days. Your professional opinion on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time and attention to Diesel’s situation.

Hello all,
Writing in with an agonizing and drawn out struggle with my cat Petra..

I rescued a feral kitten in 2022 who developed cryptococcosis the following year – confirmed through a biopsy.
She has the cutaneous and nasal form, and while we tried itraconazole for a few months, it did devastating damage to her nose.
Vet switched her to fluconazole 37.5 mg (at that time my cat was just over year old and weighed 3.5 kg) once a day… and the symptom relief was remarkable!
Within a month, her nose was much less inflamed and starting to look “relatively normal” again, and best part was she was no longer having difficulty breathing, no stertor or mouth open.
Her many crusty skin lesions and nodules under the skin cleared up miraculously!

But, the success was short-lived, because a couple of months later she developed a big bulge on her abdomen/side under the skin – which eventually erupted. She had had several of these nodules and lumps, that ulcerated last year but the fluconazole seemed to clear them all up. Until now. I was so disheartened, to say the least.
The crater-like ulcer got infected and our vet (RCVS licensed in UK) decided surgery was the best option.
We did this, and the vet found more ulcers which needed to be removed to patch up the skin. It was a horrific looking surgery aftermath when she came home.

Petra required to wear a cone for 3 weeks after her surgery so she couldn’t touch her healing wound. It got infected anyway, and this increased her “cone suffering” duration.
The impact of many vet visits, surgery, and follow ups while the vet checked if the wound was healing and if the stitches could be removed, was quite an ordeal for Petra.
She gets very stressed and is difficult to put in a carrier. I feel that the stress of cone duration + all the vet trips triggered an inflammatory response in her and her nose started showing signs of the fungus again. Inflammation, distortion and worst of all the stertor was back.

The vet increased her fluconazole dose to 75 mg a day (37.5 mg morning, 37.5 mg evening). This had no noticeable effect and her nose got more inflamed as each day went by. 2 months later and her nose is worse than ever and the tip is so inflamed. With the loss of scent and ability to breathe sufficiently, she’s become reluctant to eat more than half a tin of food a day. Sometimes all she will eat is half a tablespoon and then runs off, upset.

Petra’s vet wants to put her on a maximum dose of 150 mg of fluconazole, daily, before assessing her quality of life and potential euthanasia.
I decided to try homeopathic remedies first, while continuing 75 mg a day of fluconazole) but it doesn’t appear to be helping 3 weeks in.

I’m concerned about continuing vet interventions, because Petra is so stressed by them, and at 150 mg a day she will need to see the vet frequently and likely need blood tests. At 150 mg a day, it’s also a non sustainable chunk of my monthly expenses (taken from diminishing savings), and she is not my only cat or responsibility… this could go on for years..

If she has no positive response (symptoms relief) at 150 mg, the vet is out of ideas other than euthanasia. I live in Bahrain and the options for treating this fungus are very limited.
They have not seen it in over 40 years of vet practice, so this is a first time.

I love Petra and it’s been hell witnessing her struggle to breathe for over a year. That’s what makes me panicky and consider quality of life, if she cannot be cured or brought to a level of management where the fungus doesn’t impede her breathing.

I need advice from a community of animal lovers, vets, who can also understand and take into consideration her temperament and adverse reaction (inflammation) to vet visits.

I was really hoping the homeopathic medicine would help and the practitioner I found has many years of successes working with animals. It’s either the wrong remedy, or just going to take a long time. In the meantime, in my opinion, my cat is suffering and struggling. She takes gasps of air every so often and her mouth is slightly open while she makes a snoring sound as she tries to breathe through her blocked airway. She has lost weight as she eats much less now. She was 4.7 kg in April before her surgery. At the beginning of June she was 4.5 kg and now she is closer to 4 kg.
Also within the last 2 months, her eyes have gotten affected by the nodules. One above her right eye, under the skin and affecting the bone. The other is in her left lower eyelid.
During this whole ordeal, her right lymph node under her jaw has been the size of a golf ball.. and the left one also swelled up a few months later. But that side seems to have gone down.

Any help or advice on what to do.. would be very much appreciated.

Pics from most recent (today June 3rd 2024) to last year before fluconazole and way before, late 2022, when she was a kitten.

NEED ANSWER TODAY ASAP!!!! TIME SENSITIVE urinary blockage and 2nd catheter in already for my 4 year old male cat, who has been in ER vet hospital since Sunday:

Full story:
Hi, my male 4 year old cat has been in vet ER hospital since Sunday (3 days now). They said he had urinary blockage and inserted a catheter. His blood tests and x-ray were normal, they said we caught the blockage in time. On Monday evening his urine through catheter and in the collection bag was clear and he was alert.

They removed the catheter at 10am on Tuesday (yesterday) and then at 2:30pm same day they said he did pee small amount once… BUT then they said he was straining to pee …and they reinstated the catheter! Is this ok, to give him so little time after first catheter removal, only from 10am to 2:30pm on Tue, before reinserting it??
Before and after reinserting this 2nd catheter, the vet said he felt an urethral spasm and thinks that’s the reason for 2nd “blockage”. My cat is very stressed so maybe irritation from catheter and stress is causing spasm? Is there anti spasm and anti inflammatory meds he can get, to reduce irritation and spasm risk? Can he get less liquids to allow more time for the spasm and irritation to calm down before he tries to pee? Can we wait longer to reinsert catheter 3rd time?

If they remove the catheter again today…..and he again can’t pee….what is the procedure? Can I take him home to see if less stress can calm him and allow him to pee? How long to wait at home? Can I give raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar with water?  Should I take him to regular vet if he blocks again? Take him directly to MEDVET in Chicago to have PU surgery? How do I transport him….1h drive….anything I need to do/know? I am in Chicago/ North Indiana area.

Last summer my beloved cat, Summer escaped my home and was missing for two months. When she was found she had lost about 1/3 of her body weight and her personality had changed. While she was previously very much the “alpha” cat and could be a bit of a diva she is now timid and very loving. During the time when she was missing I was under an incredible amount of stress; having a pet pass away is heartbreaking but having a pet go missing is agonizing, I would not wish the experience on my worst enemy. I couldn’t sleep for much of the two months. Our cat Gracie was by my side the entire time. She did take over as the leader of our little cat pack (pride??). When Summer returned Gracie and her initially got along okay, however within about two weeks Gracie started going after Summer causing a significant amount of stress on Summer. She would chase her off the litter box and food bowls. We created a safe space for Summer and over the past year she has very much chosen to stay isolated away from Gracie, our other cats come “visit” without an issue. Several months ago Gracie started urinating outside of her box. We first had to go through the process of elimination to determine which cat was urinating outside the box. All cats have had urine and bloodwork done to rule out any medical issues. Gracie is now isolated and Summer has free reign of the house. Inappropriate urination has stopped. Our other cats can come “visit” Gracie without incident, however as soon as Summer enters the room Gracie attacks her. We have tried medication and we have tried putting a drop of vanilla on each cat so they smell the same. I would prefer to not spend the rest of my cats lives isolating one or the other to create peace in our home. I will note that Gracie has limited or no sight in one of her eyes, she has always been a bit of a “scrapper” with the other pets when they approach her on that side, that being said this isn’t a case of Summer startling her, she is seeking out Summer to attack her.
I would love advice from anyone who has had a similar experience; what worked, what didn’t?

Good evening! I am a client at Jarrettsville Veterinary Center and the front desk ladies very helpfully advised me to post here saying I was a client to ask my question. =) We are in a bit of a kitten conundrum.

Our neighbors’ barn cat had kittens, and they are living under our garden shed. The kittens are about 7 weeks old or so, according to my neighbors, and they are extremely friendly, outgoing, adventurous, playful, etc. We are assisting the neighbors in trying to find them homes, and we are trying to figure out when it is appropriate to separate the kittens from their mother. We have read/heard 12-14 weeks, however we (my husband and I) are concerned for the kittens’ safety. There are foxes and hawks that live around our house, and the mother cat is staying away from the kittens for longer and longer. The kittens are starting to venture out further and further away from the safety of our shed (where they are just…exposed in our yard), and we are uncomfortable with the idea of leaving them outside for 6 more weeks (though they have managed this far okay).

Additionally, the mother cat has already moved the kittens twice, according to the neighbors, and they didn’t know she was over here until we found the kittens and told them. We are worried that she might move them again and we might not be able to find them if she does so. We are willing to bring them into our house for their safety, but the mother bolts, and we are worried about hurting the kittens’ development during this young stage of their lives and causing mama cat undue stress. We also don’t want them to get eaten by foxes or hawks. =\ Any advice would be super helpful!

Thank you!

I have two cats – Vinny born 2/2020 and adopted 4/2020. In 3/2021, we adopted our second cat, Duke, who was born 9/2020

Vinny has been very healthy until recently. Not long after adopting Duke, Vinny lost his voice, started coughing, deep breathing – we took him to the vet and they treated him for a URI.

He’s been off the antibiotics for about a week and his voice started becoming hoarse on 4/8, which slight coughing starting 4/9.

Duke has apparently always had a thing with sneezing. Usually 1-2 times daily, very random times. The foster care chalked it up to stress. His FELV came back negative when they tested him.

Both cats are set up with vet appointments – Vinny as a sick visit and Duke to get a general check up (new vet for us due to a recent move) and to address the sneezing concern. Both cats are completely up to date on all vaccinations and both neutered. 100% indoor cats.

I’m considering asking the vet to test them both for Feline Herpes Virus and do a retest for FELV.

Anything else that it could be?

Hello! I will try to keep this as short as possible but is hard because so much has happened.

I have 3 cats. My male cat is the one I am worried about the most right now. About a month ago all 3 got URIs and went to the vet. They were treated with antibiotics however they weren’t helping much so I had to bring them back a few times! Due to financial issues I ended up bringing them to our local shelter/humane society where they have a free clinic right now due to Covid. Biggest mistake EVER! They were so mean to my cat and overly rough with him completely stressing him out. I wasn’t allowed to go in the room with him however was able to watch some of what was going on through a window. This stressed my cat out so much that a week later he got a urinary blockage (2 weeks ago now)… I have never had issues prior with the other vet. He is 8 yr old. Anyways the vet cathed him and sent him home since it was the weekend and they are closed… where he ended up going to the ER the next day because he was crying all night…. They took the cath out… gave him pain meds and fluids… and kept him for 5 hours… He came home that night and has been on pain meds as needed and prazosin 2x a day. He is also on Hills C/D wet (with minimal dry of the c/d) He has been seen 2x since at the vet and Monday they did a urine sample/culture…. They said he has white blood cells so was put on antibiotics…but once the culture came back it showed everything to be normal…so was taken off of them…. Prior to all of this he was free fed however I have been switching all my cats to meal times 2-3 times a day… and will continue with that because of weight issues . He has been peeing, however, sometimes when I am peeing he will come pee in his litter box at the same time… He shakes his back end and puts it up in the air kind of and the pee shoots or sprays out …. this isn’t every time he pees but it has happened 3 times that I have seen. His pee clumps aren’t as big as they were prior to all this and now vary in size… sometimes a golf ball size give or take a little bit bigger/or smaller. I also will see his back end/tail twitching randomly in the day. The vet said this happening more than likely was due to stress. I have been making sure to keep the stress level low at home, use feliway (idk if it helps) and new toys/cat nip.

My questions are…

1. When switching to a wet food diet…. Will cats pee more than usual? They were on a 90% dry diet before. Sometimes I add a little water to it as I don’t see him drink a lot.

2. He only has a few days left of the prazosin… Should he been weened or go off cold turkey?

3. Is the shaking and spraying like pee normal? He does so in the litter box however because of his angle sometimes it gets on the wall.

I am new to this… and have talked to/seen several vets however they all say different things so I am confused… I just want to know if this is normal….. I think he is probably irritated from being cathed and such… due to licking his private sometimes and whining (both aren’t as bad as they were before however still happen)

Thank You for taking the time to read this.

Hello!

I’ll show the vet the video as well, but that won’t be for some time now. Until then, could you take a look at it and let me know if this looks like FHS? Should I try to get an earlier time to check with the vet?

Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkdWxhOc1FI

More details:
New member of the community and new cat owner here, we’ve got Haku 2 months ago. She is 2 and a half years old, neutered.

Ever since we have her, she had constant mini-episodes, consisting mostly in vigorously shaking her head multiple times in a row, trying to clean her ears, and trying to run and hide from the shaking. I define a ‘mini episode’ as around 10-20 seconds of shaking during the span of 1-2 minutes.

First we attributed it to the ear mites and the fleas she had. However, the ear mites and the fleas had been treated, and the episodes do still happen, albeit at a lower rate, once or twice a week.

She also has a bit of a hard time passing stools (she only goes potty once every 2 days), so on our last vet visit they prescribed some Royal Canin GI Fiber kibble.

After 2 days of combining the prescribed kibble with her usual food, she had this episode shown in the video, which was more severe than what she usually has (it might have lasted for a good 5 minutes, with another 5-10 minutes of less shaking afterwards). As seen in the video, she also has twitches all over her body and she tries to clean herself all over.
I feel like the episode was also triggered by stress, as we brushed her teeth beforehand.

One day later (today, the 25th Oct), she also started an episode while playing. We immediately stopped to let her calm down and by the time I got the camera up, the episode stopped as well.

We thought the more severe episode could have happened partly because of the Royal Canin Fiber, as she currently is on a lower carbohydrates diet. We stopped giving her the RC kibble today, I thought I’d discuss it further with the vet.

From what I gathered with the limited data I have, these episodes could be triggered either by stress or by ‘being too excited’, as in ‘im ready to pounce and play!’. So basically strong emotions. Is this something that can happen with FHS?

I will keep a closer eye on her and try to get the camera if she ever gets another episode. I will update this post if I have any updates.

Thanks for reading through this!