but it DOES WORK!!! and that's important. You really don't want to get into the blocked passage for a boy. VERY expensive. Really, don't use any other DRY food, bluedaze. I don't think it matters what canned food you use, and a lot of them love plain old Friskies.
Mawsey ......... I'm so happy to read that your Noche' came back home ..... I know just how devastated you were feeling ........ it's such a helpless feeling when you just don't know where to look and of course you always fear and invision the worst ..... it all turned out okay and I'm glad :)
well bluedaze, i cant keep my doggies treats or bones in their dish any more due to DH chowin down on them all the time! so cat food and good for the bladder may be what i need...:) divvi
The little guy seems to be ok. No bladder stones-just crystals that we hope his new very expensive prescription diet will help. I haven't seen any new puddles so I assume he is using his litter box. Hard to tell with two cats. Thanks for asking. The two boys are snoozing at the moment.
If the bladder crystals block the urether, the urine can back up into the kidneys and kill him. Over the years, I have lost a couple and also had a cat have to have a very expensive operation to basically trans-sex him. Not recommended although nowadays it's not as bad as it was when we had it. What you need to learn is how to feel if his bladder is really full, and keep an eye on that. Believe me, it's cheaper to get the KD diet. And give him wet food.
Thanks briegull. This is not an uncommon problem with altered boys. He is definitely going in usual amounts of clear urine. Think we're out of the woods. Now I can stop poking around their litter box. Dennis has been giving me some strange looks. I have been palpating Meeko's bladder and it is fine.
In re altered boys: both my young male Siamese were altered when they were close to a year old. This gives me a little relief from concern because when they're neutered very young some vets feel the apparatus doesn't grow fully and can hence clog up more easily. Sounds like you are out of the woods. My last male before these two was also altered late, was usually inside (he was deaf), but somehow he and Dip, the other male we had got, into pissing contests inside.. amazingly, not smelly! and I was really leary of bringing in more males after Foxy died. But Foxy only had one bladder infection in his life, late-on, so we gave him the KD. I think for awhile I mixed it with a Purina bladder health product. Oh, my, when I think back, how many cats we've had!!
oh, yes. You know, Chimi has NEVER forgiven me for getting Max. He sits in my lap when he wants food, and occasionally in the morning he head-butts, but he has taken up with daughter Jeannette, sleeps with her and looks at me piercingly: SHE didn't bring that other cat in! He and Max bat at each other and chase each other, which is good for both of them, but there's no real hostility with him.
They pee all over the place-or worse they can't go at all. This is a real emergency-can die. May strain to go or have blood in their urine. Meeko looked and acted fine. Actually peed on my shoes where I could see him. Off to the vet we went.
We have a cat named 'CC' for short. She was abandoned by our neighbors in 2000 - about a year old. We adopted her - it took 3 months to get her to come into the house. We didn't know her name, but we soon found one for her! For the next 2 years we kept finding those gray/blue leather garden gloves in the middle of the floor. We had a cat/doggie door. The neighbors soon learned that if they were missing a glove to come see us. Thus the name cleptocat - CC for short. She would even go in our shed and grab them. If Art took them off while working outside, it was not unusually to have one missing. She did bring in the occasional live mouse or bird, but the most amusing was a pair of thong underwear. Believe me they were not mine. No one ever came to claim them!!
Over the years she has progressed - the ever changing cat. She went from a non-affectionate cat to now being a loving cat - on her terms of course. She use to bite your hand if you touched her belly - now she will lay between us in bed with her hind end towards us, raise her leg so we can pet her belly. She has definitely become Art's cat - will sit in his lap but not mine. She really started to change her personality after we had our dog of almost 17 years put to sleep. We miss her dearly and even though we love CC, we still miss our puppy.
She never traveled in a car until we hit the road in our RV in 2004. At first she would hide under the bedroom slide until one day she crawled up under and got caught in the wires and gears for the slide. That was a read job getting her out - she was so scarred. We boxed it in so when the slide is in, she can't get in there. She now rides under the recliner and we no longer have to fear her jumping out the door when it opens. In 2006 when we left the place we were working at on the Southern Oregon Coast, she got away. We had an appointment up north to get work done on the RV, so he left and I stayed with the car. I played 'cat and mouse' with her for over two hours. I finally told enough is enough - took her bowl and food to someone that was going to feed her until we got back. I gave one finally try to catch her and she surrendered - rolled over on her back and raised her paws into the air!!!
Oh - her latest: she has discovered TV. We catch her looking up at the TV.
but since people will be looking here for cat tales, I should report that Maxi, our young bluepoint Siamese, is now going forth outside, wearing his vest, on a daily basis. The leash stays attached to the vest - it's all lightweight cloth - and when he wants to go out he starts playing with it. Knocks it off the table, etc. Stands quietly while I put it on him, then sallies forth, chasing insects, etc, with me at the other end of the leash. Politely walks up to say hello to people who come to say hello to him! Much better behaved on his leash than any dog I've ever had!
I tried to get my cat Katrina to use a leash, she wouldn't have anything to do with it. I've never seen the vest thing. She chewed off 2 collars, so I've given up on that. I tried a harness & she wouldn't let me put it on her, so I took it back. The vest thing sounds interesting, where did you get it. I loved your story briegull. I used to have a tiny back yard with a privacy fence & she would go out with me each morning for her "adventure" while I had my green tea. But I haven't let Katrina out here, I am afraid of losing her.
So sorry. I didn't know if it would work. What I was trying to show was a picture my niece posted on her facebook page. It probably wouldn't let anyone on who wasn't her facebook friend. Anyway, the picture was of a traffic sign that said "Slow Cat Crossing." She said the sign was on a bicycle trail, and she actually saw a couple of cats crossing. I thought you would enjoy the sign.
crazy k farm. $20! It goes on very easily, two velcro patches, wide, so you just wrap it around them. Maxi at first would wiggle but he's made the connection now with going out, so he's quite happy to wear it. I would never leave it on him outside alone.
Thanks briegull! I ordered a M/L in leopard for Katrina. I measured her girth at 18". Hope it's not too big. The only thing that worries me is that I tried to put on her Santa suit last year & she would have none of that this time. She hid under the bed. Hopefully I can get this on her & out quickly so she will connect it to going outside. Now to repurchase a leash. I hope this works, she wants to go outside so badly.
Hi, all cat people. Just an update--Noche had his one-year checkup. We got him a little kennel. I left it open in the living room for a few days. He went in and out quite a bit. Took a nap in there and was generally okay with it.
However, on his big day, got him in the kennel and shut the door. Everything was fine until DH picked up the kennel and took him out to the van that was picking us up. He set up the biggest yowling you ever heard. I felt so sorry for him.
Anyway, he checked out just fine with the vet. Weighed in at 12 lbs. God his rabies shot and his distempter shot. Also had a big old pill to make sure he doesn't have any worms. Dr. said he was a very bold and robust kitty. But we all knew that.
Back home--his bus trip didn't make him happy but he was oh, so happy to be home and out of the kennel.
He's a good kitty and we sure do love him. He sits on DH's lap for his afternoon nap and they both sleep for several hours.
Mawzy, over the years I've only had a very few cats that were really happy to travel in the car. Most do as Noche did, meowing pitifully all the way to the vet and back. I'm glad he checked out fine, since we all know you neglect him terribly, and don't even like him very much. (-:
Mawzy, I have to put the carrier in the bathroom where there's no escape. Then once captured & in the car, Katrina puts her paws over her eyes in a corner. She has a nice cat bed in the carrier (I think it is a dog carrier, so big!) I now have to take her every 5 weeks to have her soft paws applied. I always dread the ordeal.
I lock my boys and their carriers in the utility room so they can't escape. They seem to grow extra appendages when I cram them into their very large carriers. I put their carriers facing each other in my car and they serenade me loudly the entire 5 min ride to the vet. I have to turn the carriers upside down to "drop" the cats out for their visit. They are only too happy to jump back into their carriers for the trip home.
I highly recommend the 2-door carriers. Use the top door to place kitty in the carrier (be sure it's properly latched before picking it up) and the side door to let kitty out.