Allspark Pet Parent Thread!
- Thread starter Ironbite4
- Start date
I leveled up again. The female cardinal talks to me now.
Alright, SO!
Turns out the bald spot WAS ringworm: but not a particularly bad one? Which is what the vet said. We're going to order the meds to treat it tomorrow morning. Also: the elder cat, Charlie, has recently been spitting up mucus. She was eating, she still wanted to play, but stuff like purring (and to a lesser extent: eating.) would cause he to spit up small volumes of mucus. Turns out she had a little kitty cold, but now her voice is coming back and she hasn't spit up all today. In fact: when she got her usual treats (for being a good girl in the cage to and from the vet.) she not only ate them ALL (which she hasn't done in a good few days. Usually she left one or two behind, which is unusual behaviour for her.) she went back for seconds, THEN tore into the dry food we leave them have "a voluntee". So yeah: kitty on the mend.
Edit: she feels better. Despite sounding like a life long chain smoker and LITERALLY croaking like a frog at me: she's begging me for the nightly treats.
Turns out the bald spot WAS ringworm: but not a particularly bad one? Which is what the vet said. We're going to order the meds to treat it tomorrow morning. Also: the elder cat, Charlie, has recently been spitting up mucus. She was eating, she still wanted to play, but stuff like purring (and to a lesser extent: eating.) would cause he to spit up small volumes of mucus. Turns out she had a little kitty cold, but now her voice is coming back and she hasn't spit up all today. In fact: when she got her usual treats (for being a good girl in the cage to and from the vet.) she not only ate them ALL (which she hasn't done in a good few days. Usually she left one or two behind, which is unusual behaviour for her.) she went back for seconds, THEN tore into the dry food we leave them have "a voluntee". So yeah: kitty on the mend.
Edit: she feels better. Despite sounding like a life long chain smoker and LITERALLY croaking like a frog at me: she's begging me for the nightly treats.
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I graduated from college back in December of 2001. During that first year out of school, I moved to San Diego to start my career, my now-wife graduated, we got married, she joined me out in San Diego, and we started looking at cats so she'd have someone to keep her company at home while I was at work. We ended up getting two kittens toward the end of 2002. We got Vicky (a beautiful gray cat with quite a temper who immediately became queen of the household) around Halloween/Thanksgiving time, and Timmy (an extremely gentle Siamese) at the end of the year. We got a third kitten, Blue (another Siamese, and the trouble-maker of the group), about a year later. The three of them were with us for the next 14 years.
We lost Vicky (kidney disease) and Blue (cancer) in 2018, when each was 15 years old. Now, we just lost Timmy at the age of 19 yesterday, apparently to congestive heart failure. He'd been successfully fighting off failing kidneys for over two years, but he started getting fluid build-up around his lungs that left him unable to breathe. With all three of them, we'd known their time was short for quite a while, but you're never ready for the end.
We did get another pair of kittens, Shea and Aria, in 2019. I'm not sure I was really ready for them yet, but an opportunity arose, and we couldn't say no. Our kids adore them, and I think it's helping take some of the sting out of losing Timmy.
We lost Vicky (kidney disease) and Blue (cancer) in 2018, when each was 15 years old. Now, we just lost Timmy at the age of 19 yesterday, apparently to congestive heart failure. He'd been successfully fighting off failing kidneys for over two years, but he started getting fluid build-up around his lungs that left him unable to breathe. With all three of them, we'd known their time was short for quite a while, but you're never ready for the end.
We did get another pair of kittens, Shea and Aria, in 2019. I'm not sure I was really ready for them yet, but an opportunity arose, and we couldn't say no. Our kids adore them, and I think it's helping take some of the sting out of losing Timmy.
Condolences my friend. Even when the end is broadcast to you: you're never ready for it. Your kits are beautiful.
Agreed with Wonko.
This is charlie. She's the last of the family that came into the house all those years ago: the dog, and the two cats. She was rescued just shy of christmas, covered in fleas, full of worms, and her little paws freezing to the ground.
She's not eating right now, and she's dehydrated, and according to the vet: she's got air in her stomach? We're giving her some pills which are supposed to ease pain and nausea. And of course, we're waiting on the blood test, which should come in on thursday. Should, the last one we had done was like two days late.
My mother thinks that if we can get her to eat some, get her wanting to eat, she can pull through this.
I think we've never had a cat break 13 years old. I think charlie is at the end of her road, and because we were watching her like a hawk because we recently adopted whiskey: we caught her decline quicker than we did for maggie and laika.
Even when you see it coming, even when it's broadcast to you: it never gets easier. I'm going to be worried sick about this sick little kitty, and then I won't HAVE to be worried about her anymore, and I'm going to feel even worse.
She's not eating right now, and she's dehydrated, and according to the vet: she's got air in her stomach? We're giving her some pills which are supposed to ease pain and nausea. And of course, we're waiting on the blood test, which should come in on thursday. Should, the last one we had done was like two days late.
My mother thinks that if we can get her to eat some, get her wanting to eat, she can pull through this.
I think we've never had a cat break 13 years old. I think charlie is at the end of her road, and because we were watching her like a hawk because we recently adopted whiskey: we caught her decline quicker than we did for maggie and laika.
Even when you see it coming, even when it's broadcast to you: it never gets easier. I'm going to be worried sick about this sick little kitty, and then I won't HAVE to be worried about her anymore, and I'm going to feel even worse.
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It really doesn't ever get any easier. Timmy was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2019, just months after losing the other two from that trio, and we were told then it was unlikely he'd make it another year. We spent the next two years thinking he was nearing the end every time he started coughing, wobbled trying to get up, etc. He kept fighting through everything, until the rest of his body broke down as well. I think we were as prepared as we possibly could be, and it was still just devastating.
Sorry to hear about Charlie. Hope she can pull through.
Sorry to hear about Charlie. Hope she can pull through.
Welp! The blood test results came in.
Other than a slight varience in the kidney: there's nothing wrong with her. She's getting some antibiotics for the thing, and something to bolster her appetite. So yeah: literally no reason she won't live another 13 years if she wanted to.
This is why I suffer from depression and anxiety. All this roller coaster bullshit.
Other than a slight varience in the kidney: there's nothing wrong with her. She's getting some antibiotics for the thing, and something to bolster her appetite. So yeah: literally no reason she won't live another 13 years if she wanted to.
This is why I suffer from depression and anxiety. All this roller coaster bullshit.
Tips for force feeding a cat!
1.) This is a two person job. Unless you're very good with rope, or run some kind of kitty kat BDSM dungeon (the safeword is "meow".), it will never be a one person job.
2.) Get a nice thick blanket/towel. Wrap offending kitty up like a purrito.
3.) Person 1 holds purrito like a baby in arms, and preferably sits in a standard chair. Make sure it's a wooden chair, or some other material that is easily cleanable/replaceable.
4.) Person 2 mixes wet cat food (like the tinned stuff.) with water to make a semigelatenous slurry. Spoon the slurry into a large plastic syringe.
5.) Person 2, using off hand: (coordinate orientation of kitty with person 1.) grab kitty under chin and hold head back. Not too far back though, don't hurt kitty.
6.) Person 2, using primary hand: force syringe between teeth, and attempt to squirt small amount of slurry onto the roof of mouth, no further back than the back teeth on the jaw.
7.) Let kitty chew and swallow, repeat step 6 as often as needed.
If you've done this right: there will be very little mess on the kitty or the surrounding environment. When the kitty inevitably gets sick and tired of being handled: purrito status makes it very difficult to harm person 1. The extra water in the food will help kitty hydrated.
According to the vet: adult cats need 235 calories in a day: so roughly 1.5-2 cans of wet food. For kitties recovering from illness, or after a long period of deprivation: more feedings with LESS FOOD per feeding is indicated. Adjust your math as necessary with kitties reactions. If kitty is gagging while being fed, you're putting the slurry too far back in the mouth. If kitty is vomiting AFTER feeding, but only regurgitating small amounts: feed slightly less per sitting. If kitty is passing most or all of the feeding back into the environment: take kitty to vet, there is another problem present.
1.) This is a two person job. Unless you're very good with rope, or run some kind of kitty kat BDSM dungeon (the safeword is "meow".), it will never be a one person job.
2.) Get a nice thick blanket/towel. Wrap offending kitty up like a purrito.
3.) Person 1 holds purrito like a baby in arms, and preferably sits in a standard chair. Make sure it's a wooden chair, or some other material that is easily cleanable/replaceable.
4.) Person 2 mixes wet cat food (like the tinned stuff.) with water to make a semigelatenous slurry. Spoon the slurry into a large plastic syringe.
5.) Person 2, using off hand: (coordinate orientation of kitty with person 1.) grab kitty under chin and hold head back. Not too far back though, don't hurt kitty.
6.) Person 2, using primary hand: force syringe between teeth, and attempt to squirt small amount of slurry onto the roof of mouth, no further back than the back teeth on the jaw.
7.) Let kitty chew and swallow, repeat step 6 as often as needed.
If you've done this right: there will be very little mess on the kitty or the surrounding environment. When the kitty inevitably gets sick and tired of being handled: purrito status makes it very difficult to harm person 1. The extra water in the food will help kitty hydrated.
According to the vet: adult cats need 235 calories in a day: so roughly 1.5-2 cans of wet food. For kitties recovering from illness, or after a long period of deprivation: more feedings with LESS FOOD per feeding is indicated. Adjust your math as necessary with kitties reactions. If kitty is gagging while being fed, you're putting the slurry too far back in the mouth. If kitty is vomiting AFTER feeding, but only regurgitating small amounts: feed slightly less per sitting. If kitty is passing most or all of the feeding back into the environment: take kitty to vet, there is another problem present.
Alright, so she's been getting better day by day. She had already begun resuming some of normal habits: sleeping on the big bed, wandering around the house, sitting on my computer/desk around 9 pm because they usually get treats when I turn off my computer at night.
As a consequence of this: we had planned to NOT force feed her today. At least for the first few hours to see if she would eat on her own.
Between when I got up, and the middle of writing this post: she's been found at the food bowls and actually eating... twice. Maybe tonight she'll actually want her treats.
As a consequence of this: we had planned to NOT force feed her today. At least for the first few hours to see if she would eat on her own.
Between when I got up, and the middle of writing this post: she's been found at the food bowls and actually eating... twice. Maybe tonight she'll actually want her treats.
Clipped whiskeys murder beans today. Did one of them just a touch too short, and he started bleeding.
CORN. STARCH. Safe for consumption, readily available. Clean the clipped spot and then dip the bleeder in cornstarch. INSTANTLY stopped the bleeding.
CORN. STARCH. Safe for consumption, readily available. Clean the clipped spot and then dip the bleeder in cornstarch. INSTANTLY stopped the bleeding.