Caregiver's cats behaving badly.

Dori, glad to hear Bruce is recovering! Our fur babies are special. My Tiger cat is pretty passive, but he is almost 15 now.

Dorianne,
Glad Bruce is ok!
Be sure to check under the couch for some hidden licorice stash.

Hoping you also have recovered from the worry.

CM,
One reading at 3:00 in the morning (awake since midnight) should not be laughing so much! How am I going to get to sleep now?

Fossilised excreta are much treasured for what they reveal about diet, apparently, or so I gather from enthusiastic boffins on BBC4. But yes very expensive - also, I think the scent might have faded too much to be useful. Or at least to be recognisable to a squirrel: "oh my God! A velociraptor???? Run for your lives - !"

Reminds me of a moment I'm sure the celeb in question would rather everyone had forgotten - I won't name her, I'll spare her blushes, if we can assume she ever did realise what she'd said wrong. She was asked for a comment after the gala première of Jurassic Park and said "oh amazing! Just AMAZING! You just couldn't tell where the special effects ended and the real dinosaurs began."

We cleaned and washed the porch yesterday, and the squirrel did not show or make territorial markings.
All your suggestions were great about obtaining repellant, especially the wolf poop, with prices and everything.
On our day trip over the grapevine, we pulled up to buy ice, and next door was an antique mall of strange stuff.
On the window was painted this sale: Dinosaur Poop.

I found it, but did not go in, the price was likely prohibitive for use as
aversion excrement. o well.

Found It! I really found it!

Having observed at least one respected dietitian at close quarters over thirty years, I can tell you that the ability to contradict your own advice with unblinking conviction is a key requirement.

I admit to serious bias. Can't bear the woman. But it's still true - !

I imagine the age of the dietitian makes a big difference in the advice they give, advice about the "ideal" diet has changed so much over the years. And of course everyone brings their own personal biases into it too, can you imagine the kind of advice you would get from a vegan dietitian (or doctor for that matter)?

As someone who could probably eat Indian food 4 or 5 nights a week....I sympathize entirely with that cat! Lol.

My cats are indoor ones, so....yeah, I do believe the pancreatitis is entirely my fault with the people food and cat treats. It's not like I've never fed people food to cats, but Bruce must just be a little more susceptible to problems.  Plus after losing George only a year ago, I'm probably a little weaker in the parenting department.  ;-) 

Ha ha! I do think there are some good dieticians. With my mom's kidney disease, she managed to ward off dialysis for 10 years just by following the dieticians' nutrition system.

But then I think back to the 6-year old me (I look pretty normal in photos, maybe a very, very slightly bit rounded, like most of my father's side of the family)....mom took me to a dietician, who instructed me on how to count calories, and all the lovely things I must never, ever eat again. What kind of person with any ethics trains a 6-year old in obsessive diet management?  (Edit: and also, they would never have done that to a boy - by "they" I mean my mother as well as the dietician!  When I think of how "important" it was that I be small and thin.....I still smart at how long it took me to achieve normal eating habits.  Into my early 30s!)

And then there's everything wrong dieticians still keep telling diabetics over and over and over again....basically loading them up with sugar. 

Oh gosh yes. And if they didn't make so much money from their pet food sales just think what annual vaccinations would cost!

The other thought that crossed my mind just now is that in any case owners of cats, unless they're confined indoor cats, who think they know what their cats eat are living in a bit of a dream world. We had one cat who liked lamb-flavoured Whiskas, but otherwise would nip round to the bins behind our local curry house for his dinner instead. It was the overpowering garlic breath that gave him away.

Don't start me on dietitians. It's personal. I'm sure of them are brilliant 😶

Countrymouse - while I was reading different things tonight, I learned that vets basically get one class in nutrition. And then you have to consider how much they are wooed by corporate informationals after they leave vet school!

I have similar problems with dieticians....like my friend's mom is diabetic....so the dietician keeps telling her to eat all these carb-y foods like, say, she can have as much toast and Cheerios as she wants, and is told to stick to low fat products (like low fat salad dressings, yogurts, etc.).

But toast and Cheerios are refined carbs....which are basically sugar for a diabetic! And with the salad dressings and yogurts and other low fat stuff, they basically just replace the flavour you lose from fat....with sugar!

Same with the grain-heavy cat foods. It's basically giving a cat sugar, which they shouldn't even have in their diets.

Sugar is the worst.  I have been eating more of it than I should....probably why I have more pain issues than usual right now.  So yeah, Bruce and I are both gonna kick our carb-y sugar habits, lol.  

I found this earlier tonight (last night???) after I brought Bruce home. I was researching foods just to make sure I knew what I was doing.  (Yay, my brand made the cut!)  Anyway, it's a useful, qualitative cat food review/analysis.

reviews.com/cat-food/

Edit:  I STILL have to wonder why no one makes mouse-flavoured cat food!?  It can't be an animal rights issue - what's the difference between slaughtering chickens and slaughtering mice? 

The scales fell from my eyes when the very same vet who had told me at one annual check up that such-and-such prescription diet was the only one he would endorse then told me at the next annual check up, when I noticed that the practice had switched to a new brand, that so-and-so prescription diet was the only...

Cats are obligate carnivores. I'm not one for conspiracy theories but when you look at the number of things modern cats have wrong with them, and then you look at the rows and rows of cereal-packed kibble, it's hard not to get cynical really.

I also had an enlightening conversation with a nice man, new cat owner, in Waitrose. I suppose he looked at my trolley's contents, and then was surprised that I was buying Hi-Life pouches. Didn't I worry about non-px cat food? "I don't get our menu plan from my GP, either," I heard myself saying.

On the other hand. I can tell you that Eukanuba puppy food is brilliant for body-conscious cats. Todd (Sweeney's brother) exercised a kind of droit de seigneur over our new puppy's dish and it turned him into a feline Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lol - I was just thinking....they ALMOST weren't going to let Bruce come home yet, because he refused to eat. But they were giving him Science Diet! Luckily the vet said maybe he'd feel more comfortable eating in his own home and I jumped on that. And true enough - Bruce was begging for food 5 minutes in the door, and cleaned his plate in 3 minutes!

Anyway. Bruce is home. He is very happy. I am exhausted.

He has to take antibiotics for a week. The vet did try to sell me their prescription Science Diet for Bruce's "sensitive stomach" that he thinks caused the pancreatitis, but I know that stuff is.....I won't say it's garbage, but it's pretty middle-of-the-road, "Iams"-level quality.  It costs 3x what it's worth, especially when you consider wheat, corn, and rendered fat are the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ingredients, respectively.  I buy grain-free, made in Canada food ("Now Fresh") from the pet store.  I wish the vets would sell better food, but none of them ever seem to have anything but yucky Science Diet. 

Anyway, I KNOW (mainly from my reading about pancreatitis) the problem was likely caused by People Food, and too many Temptations.  And that's totally on me, because I am a sucker for those big golden eyes and I have been giving in A LOT.

NO MORE PEOPLE FOOD. And much fewer Temptations.

We're all going on a diet!

mally I don't think you are who I am speaking of.

I worked in property maintenance for rental housing till an injury put me on disability. I saw many pets - cats, dogs, rats, mice, snakes, rabbits, gerbils, hamsters, birds - just abandoned or even "let loose" when people moved. I have seen cats and dogs left shut up in empty apartments with no food, and only water from the toilet - spent money out of our own pockets to feed them until we could find them placements. I saw many pets pregnant over and over - people becoming animal hoarders because they would not ("could not") spay or neuter or at least keep them inside.  In one unit the tenants used the only bathtub as the litter box for their 3 generations of 11 cats - I can't imagine how they bathed themselves. 

There are 3 cats that literally live at my vet's office because they were brought in for spaying and abandoned. 

This is in a town where the SPCA opened a special spay/neuter clinic on the low income side of town - $50 (CAD) for those who can't afford the vet bills.

People seem to be able to spend $12 on a single package of cigarettes (that's what they cost here) every day, or scrounge up $60 for a quarter ounce of weed, or take their kids to McDonald's 3x a week, but it's most often those same people who "can't" find $50 to get their animals fixed.  I am a liberal person, but animal neglect, like child neglect, p***es me off, royally. 

I am happy you are doing good work, but I was talking about people who make a choice to acquire pets they clearly can't afford to maintain, not those who rescue animals.

We do cat, dog, and horse rescue; our budget is necessarily limited, so no cancer or diabetes treatment, or major surgery, but the babies we have/had were all rescued from dangerous situations, and most would have been dead soon. We do rabies shots, worm the horses, and pay for the farrier, but no extras; I wonder if they would rather have died badly? They're well loved, fed, warm, and safe (indoor pets; horses are well prayed for), and they have each other. We have two couples, not related, of cats, who play, sometimes fight (like married couples), and sleep tight together. The dog has 2 cat buddies, and the deaf, crosseyed, white, 12 y/o has her and me! We've tried to get homes for several of these (some more than once), but it never worked out, so we keep them - the other side of the story.

Bruce!
=^..^=

Sending good wishes to you and Bruce!! Such a worry
when our furry friends are ill. One of my cats
developed cancer at a vaccination site in a rear leg.
Surgery, 3grand, tumor returned and poor Finn is no more.
I can barely use the word euthenasia. He was a lovely
Smokey gray living boy. I'd do it again but I surely pray
these four kitties stay healthy. Hope Bruce bounced back
and is home asap!! Miow!

=^..^=
=^..^=
=^..^=
Love it ff!!!

Dorianne, sending catnip vibes for Bruce =^..^=

For such clever animals cats can be amazingly stupid.

LAY OFF THE DAM' LIQUORICE, BRUCIE!

You spotted it quickly, and acute pancreatitis should resolve, no? I hope to goodness he bounces right back.

My Sweeney managed to get a grass seed wedged under her third eyelid, the moron. The removal, the suturing her eye shut so that she couldn't worry at the wound, the re-opening and follow up care... her theoretical health care budget was so overspent I'm surprised I didn't get a call from the bank. The vet scratched the top of her head [PURR PURR] and said fondly: "well she is a very tough little cat :)." And a very good contributor to his pension plan, don't tell me. Fume.

Thanks Gershun. Luckily I switched to those little dental floss sticks awhile ago. I know they're not quite as good as old school floss, but I am more inclined to floss regularly this way!

Every penny is worth it for the joy this little guy gives me, to be honest.  He's still cheaper than therapy, I bet!  It's just....being Canadian, health care bills are still something of an oddity to me. ;-) 

I do get seriously mad at people who take on pets, only to give up on them when they can't find a way to pay the medical bills.  Ok, some bills are crazy expensive, and I understand sometimes people have to make a very, very difficult choice.  But some people can't even pay for spaying and neutering, or vaccinations, or medications an animal might need.  Like, sorry, but if you can't pay even those basic bills, you can't afford a pet.  Period. 

I'm glad our vet will let you visit your pet as often as you like, and is open late. Bruce is probably scared, sleeping overnight in a kennel, without me, but at least he knows I'm not abandoning him there. I left him with the most unwashed ("smells like home") items I could find for bedding, too, lol. The raggedy sweater coat I've worn all winter, the afghan that gets dragged all over the apartment, and the pillow and pillowcase from my bed (the one he was sleeping on just this morning!). I was going to take him the fancy cat bed that he never uses, but what would've been the point of that?  Just like a cat - a pile of my dirty socks would have pleased him more!

Oh Dorianne, I hope your Bruce will be alright. About four mths. ago one of my cats was ill and they suspected pancreatitis in his case. Turned out it wasn't but his white blood cell count is low and we need to bring him in periodically to have his blood checked. He seems healthy and fine right now but I guess if he were to catch a germ or something like that he would not be able to fight the infection off and he could get very sick.

I'm waiting for my Hubs to come back in March and we'll take him in again. I hear ya about the costs involved. We've spent a pretty penny too. But it's all worth it if he recovers. One thing the vet told us is to be very careful when you discard dental floss cause it can get caught in a cat's intestines and cause pancreatitis which can be fatal. Other things you should watch out for is raisins and mushrooms. Those are toxic to cats too. I wish Bruce the very best.:)

So this morning....something went wrong with Bruce. I dunno what but after breakfast, he was sitting up on the window ledge....and there was a little foam coming out of his mouth! And he kept doing this thing with his tongue like he had peanut butter stuck in his mouth.

First thing I did was take him to the sink and use the sprayer in his mouth. He didn't really appreciate this! Afterwards, he hopped up on the treehouse and....usually he will lick all the water off his fur, but he would give it one lick and then give up. I knew something was wrong. Mama instincts kicked in.  I called the vet and asked if I could bring him in.

Lordie, trying to work that around getting mom to dialysis in time! Weighing the scales...throw mom in a cab or let my kitten possibly die of some kind of poisoning??? (Mom has a habit of dropping her meds out and not noticing, or finding them all - I was terrified he'd eaten a pill, or several.)  Anyway, they said I could drop him off and then come back after I dropped mom off.

After I hung up, I noticed this brownish splotch on my hand, where I'd been holding his mouth open. It took me a few minutes of smelling it to realize it was black licorice! He'd been trying to eat mom's licorice! So I thought that's all it was. Which still wasn't so good - licorice can be poisonous to cats.

As the vet pointed out. Licorice poisoning could kill a cat very swiftly and they needed to check his blood. Well, the little biter needed sedation so they could draw blood. Then it turned out he has acute pancreatitis! What! I didn't even know what that was. Apparently it means sudden onset inflammation of the pancreas.  And apparently he is in pain, too, which....just breaks my heart, poor little guy.  He never let on that he's in pain.  Everything was normal this morning - I woke up with him on my pillow above my head, nearly suffocating me with his tail draped over my nose and mouth.  Same as usual!

So he has to stay at the vet overnight tonight with an IV. I have been boo-hooing all day. Won't really know what the prognosis is till he's been on the IV 24 hours. From what I read, it could be a single acute case, or it could end up being a chronic problem. If it's a chronic problem, it could lead to diabetes. They don't even really know what causes it, but I'll probably have to be like a hawk on monitoring his diet....and he is the kinda fellow who will steal meatballs off your plate if you turn your back. (He loves meatballs....sometimes I call him Meatball.)

I went and visited him twice already today. Took him some nice bedding and spent an hour with him at suppertime. (The vet is open till 8.)

I think he'll be ok, even if he does end up with a chronic health problem. But MAN I was freaking out earlier. And this week is exactly one year since I had to put my beloved George down (cancer). After I left the vet I was literally crying and praying, "Please don't take him from me, please don't take him from me!" Over and over again. And I'm not a praying person. It seemed so unfair.

I miss him.  I'm exhausted and heartsick.

Edit:  This just cost me $650.  So with his first exams, shots, de-worming, neutering, and hernia repair, this "free" kitten has cost me $1350 so far, and he's not quite 6 months old!  Sigh.  I mean, I wouldn't do it any other way, but jeez. 

Same as I say, Dorianne; there are some strange people on this site..... lol

It is very weird catching up on this thread sometimes.

Edit:  I mean that it the best sense, lol.

Got to thinkin' Send....I'll bet you can get any kinda poop or pee at the zoo.I know they sell elephant dung here at ours~

All the birds and squirrels get along well here Send...They've been friends for Many years.
MsMadge,I knew a lady that went to the hospital and while she was out of her room,getting a medical test,a man went into her room and cut up her night gown and peed all over the toilet.When the lady saw what happened while she was gone,she marched down to the nurse's station and demanded to know who had done it and she found out it was a man that thought it was his wife's room and the hospital had to pay for a new night gown....Maybe the NH will pay for some new panties when the Panty thief strikes again..

What is the difference between wolf poop and wolf urine?
Can I just get a real wolf puppy?

Thanks Veronica and Cwillie.  I have just finished cleaning the porch and sliding door screen.
Before Cwillie posted, I imagined Veronica was going to send me off to Alaska looking for wolves.
We have coyote nearby though.

My neighbors have used cat litter, maybe that will work?

Or, I know, it i s time to get a C A T. !

I have to think on this, because I am attached to the squirrely squirrel.  There are also cat diseases.

When was it that life used to be simple?

I don't know how Luckylu does all this, feeding t h e squirrels and birds.