Dying cat finds an unlikely friend

KING5.com ^ | June 14, 2006 | SUSAN WYATT

[Ditter]

My last cat Motorola, lived to be 17. Sadly, no more cats for me they give me a headache. My dogs, Jack Russels, have a huge backyard that goes into a ravine with rabbits, squirrels, possums and rats. They are supremely happy but out front is a deadly street and they wouldn't last a minute if they got out.

[dixie sass]

You have a great receipt for getting cats with rabies from the raccoons. Nasty, nasty thing to happen to any animal but I know that you keep your animals vaccinated.

Many people think that because they have an indoor animal they are safe from this but they aren't.

[Lady Jag]

Yeah, male cats are mellower than females.

[Lady Jag]

Pookie must have been a fabulous cat.

[Nowhere Man]

My monitor is blurry too. I recently lost a cat due to kidney failure as well as one from it two years ago.



Muffin: b. 8-21-1987 d. 7-09-2004



Greystone: Found (4 weeks old) 5-12-2001 d. 4-15-2006

Greystone was barely five years old.



Greystone, a week and a half before he passed away.

[MEG33]

"After awhile they don't want to go out anymore".. Even our once wild starving stray no longer makes a dash..since her last rooftop adventure.

[Nowhere Man]

Cats don't sweat, they pant to keep cool.

[Nowhere Man]

What would you recommend for a feisty 12-year-old girl cat who's a tad bit skinnier than she should be? She gets half a can of wet food twice a day, and all the dry food she can hold.

She had tooth problems a little while back that made her lose a couple pounds, but she's gaining them back. I'd just like to help her gain more quickly.

Also, she and her "sister" (also 12) have a couple of thin spots on their fur.

I'd have the thyroid values checked or at least ask your vet about it. Cats get hyperactive thyroids when they get older or at least a lot of them do. Usually they lose weight, hair loss can be a symptom as well as things like heart problems, high blood pressure and blindness if you let it go on. Pansy, one of my cats, she has a hyperactive thyroid and she is on meds for it. She is doing quite well, there are times her weight yo-yos a little but you have to work out the dosage of meds with your vet. Pansy will be 19 in August.



Pansy: b. 1987 -

[Lady Jag]

no longer makes a dash..since her last rooftop adventure.

Maybe that's why our most recent stray stopped - last time she got out it was pouring and she hates water.

[Xenalyte]

Awwww, look at Pansy! She knows she's a lovely girl.

The vet thinks they're both fine - he says that as soon as we get rid of every last flea (we're getting close), it should clear up in a couple weeks.

Dolly (the feisty one) is allergic to fleas and gets bad dermatitis, so she's taking monthly allergy shots that I think are a mix of B vitamins and something Benadryl-like. One out of every five or six times she gets the shot, when we get home from the vet, she shoots out of the carrier like her tail is on fire, and rushes furiously about the house at top speed. Then she sits down and cleans one of her back feet like it's personally offended her.

[pookie18]

She was my all-time fave...

[abner]

That's great to have the grass. But let me ask you this. After they eat a meal, then chomp on some of that grass, do they sometimes throw up their food?

Not yet! Crossing my fingers. We do have one cat that just likes to throw up to keep us on our toes though... He is about 14 years old now. But, come to think of it, he has always done that. I think that some cats do that more than others.

[beyond the sea]

My dogs, Jack Russels, have a huge backyard that goes into a ravine with rabbits, squirrels, possums and rats.

Sounds great.

[beyond the sea]

That's a beauty!

[abner]

Thanks... I'm around, I just don't post that much anymore. Too much bickering on the board for my taste.

Spoiled cats??? I have those.

Trouble will be famous soon... He is going on our new lighthouse balloon in one of the windows. They did an airbrush painting of him from a photograph.. Amazing. I can't wait to see it.

[Lady Jag]

Ain't no sense in having pets if you don't spoil them!

You can post to me, I don't bicker.

You have a lighthouse balloon? How fabulous! You still have the flag, anything else? Trouble deserves to be famous! Any idea how big he's going to be?

[Lady Jag]

Found it. It's a beauty!! And I'd forgotten the space shuttle.

[libertylass]

Have you had her dewormed? Worms may keep her thinner than she should be. In the cat rescue business we use Drontal per it's instructions on the bottle. But, it would be smart to take her to the vet for a check up. Or...maybe she's just one of the lucky thin ones! :-))

With respect to outside cats.....hmmmm.....I have both. The ones that are allowed outside live at my mother's house, on a quiet street. They sleep inside at night. We've never lost an outside cat at my mom's house as I was growing up and otherwise.

However, at my condo I live next door to cat hater man and we battle all the time. Our condos back up to an alley so I maintain the cat colony by trap/test/neuter/innoculate/return program. There are cats that I've missed, or haven't gotten to yet, and they could end up fighting with one of my males who is a notorious "escape artist." So, I have to fight with him all the time to get him back in at night when the ferals come to eat the food I put out.

There are some cats that are just not happy indoors, but my other 25 cats (currently finding homes through our adoption process) do not get to go out, except for the few that can go on my patio and stay there. (They won't jump!!)

My vote is no on outdoors, unless it's a socialized feral that gets out every time you open the door, and your home is in a fairly safe area. (No Coyotes or busy streets, etc.) Keeping them indoors is something they never miss if they've never known the outdoors.

[Lady Jag]

That's a beauty!

[little jeremiah]

I'll try... the other half of lj will help me later.