until you spend the night with two kittens in the last throes of heat. Poor girls they are so uncomfortable and sought comfort from me all night. I even went to bed early 8:00 a rarity for me, but spent the better part of the night, petting and soothing both Quince and Pippi who simply can’t understand why mom won’t let one of those handsome studly kittens into the room! After all, that would take care of the problem right? Not in my lifetime! I would rather be sleep-deprived thank you very much! I kept telling them next week girls, the torment will end.
Normally, when my cats start sneezing, I don’t hit the panic button. I call my vet who sends me either Clavamox or Amoxy and in about a week’s time, the cat has finished half the meds and is on the meds.
But this year, something different is coming around my group. Squirrel became ill first with multiple sneezing fits (at one point, I counted 20 rapid sneezes) She slept on my chest the other night and I could hear her labored breathing. I woke everytime she sneezed as she sprayed my face and neck with her discharge. (lovely)
This is not a snotty nasty discharge, but a thin watery one. Day before yesterday she stopped eating as her nasal congestion had built to the point she could no longer smell. (If a cat can’t smell, she can’t eat.)
I took her in yesterday and my vet tried his darndest to pill her. I warned him ahead of time that she is the worst cat to pill or give liquids to. He scoffed at me, saying he has done this for so long, it would be easy. HA! In the end, I received injectibles to give her (dexamycin) She gets two shots daily.
He also tried to get her to eat, but she would have none of it. She is home now with her roommate Riley (also ill) in our shop.
I really feel that it when it comes to the cat world, the germs are getting smarter and the vets just can’t always keep up. The vet told me he thought after the round of meds that Squirrel will be “just fine.” I sincerely hope so. That this is just a bad case of nasal congestion and nothing else is waiting down the pike. But the weather is such a factor. It is so cold here bitterly so- even the barn cats are huddled around the space heater when I go out in the morning. We are supposed to have rain this time of year and there isn’t even a snowstorm in the mountains right now. For Oregon to go through December with little to no rain is unheard of.
Yoda is being a pure puppy and he wants to chase these cats so bad. He listens though and when they are racing through the house and I tell him “No Chase!” He reluctantly settles down and just watches the NASCAT show zoom by him. I can tell he wants to join in as the activity is pretty frenzied at times-I put him on a leash this morning because I couldn’t get McGee or Fog to stop play fighting. I know they were play fighting because it was silent tumbling over and over- kicking and even biting, but all harmless play. If it had been vocal that would have been another story and I probably would of had some cat bites to tend to afterward.
Never a dull moment here that’s for sure-
I was wondering if I’m already disqualified because I just realized I’m a day late with your entries (I responded to Friday’s on Saturday). I always look for new entries in the morning (I didn’t notice that you were writing them at night) So right from the start I technically missed the first day. I was wondering why there was another one posted (I thought you posted two today….yes I have a lot on my mind) and that’s when I checked the date/times. You don’t need to post this because I already wrote something earlier today on your Saturday entry, I just wanted to know if I’m out of the race. I hope I didn’t confuse you.
If the group is getting sick, why not try adding powder Lysine to the water. It works wonders for my gang and when I get sick, I use the capsule type for myself. Just make sure you get it from a nutritional store or organic store or some place like that. Don’t buy it from a grocery store or some other place that might sell a cheap version of it (that could be synthetic or something like that) I just picked up a 1 pound container made by NOW. You can order online from iherb or another reputable vitamin website but I can’t think of the name right off hand. It’s usually cheaper to go online. Just a suggestion.
What? Maybe I didn’t make myself clear- you just have to comment on the blog anytime from the date of the contest to the end of December- that’s all. No you are not disqualified? There is no disqualification and my apologies if I didn’t make this impromptu contest clear. 🙂
And the L-Lysine, I use it regularly all the time for everyone. 🙂
“To qualify for this contest all you need to do is leave a comment on my blog from today to the last day of the month.”
I thought that we had to comment every single day from the start of the contest to the end. Oops! 🙂 Thanks for clarifying!
I was fuddle-brained when I wrote that out-
I’ve found that veterinarians vary in quality considerably. I’d say that, because they deal with animals, their concern doesn’t seem to be as great as human doctors. However, these days, there aren’t many human doctors who care overly much about their patient, either.
I have a teenager or just a small ginger feral in my colony. She always follows me to the car. She is dear to me. She is sneezing. Her lips look wet sort of dark. She isnt really eating. I dont wanna take her home to others(like i could catch her)whats going on. HAs someone poisoned them?
Walt sounds more like an upper respiratory but the safest thing to do is catch her and take her to the vet. The dark lips isn’t something I ever have encountered before and again, i am not a vet. It is so much SAFER to trap her and get her in to be seen. Let your vet know she is considered feral or semi-feral though she doesn’t sound like she is feral at all. In my experience, when they are sick, they accept the help a lot easier than when they are healthy and you are trying to capture them to neuter and get examined. Have a cat carrier nearby with the end of the carrier (the back) on the ground- the cage door open and the entrance pointing to the sky. Have it near your car and when she follows you just scoop her up by her nape, support her rear legs and lower her down. You have to keep your breathing even, you can’t get stressed and you have to be fluid about your movements. If you miss- then you won’t see her for a few days as she recovers from the betrayal-