Search found 1631 matches

by fjm
Fri Feb 25, 2022 12:38 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Cat with liver issues; how to get balance of food right with vomiting risk (higher carbs needed)
Replies: 18
Views: 1101

Re: Cat with liver issues; how to get balance of food right with vomiting risk (higher carbs needed)

PS I should have mentioned that Poppy is on 4 small meals a day, with regular snacks in between. The aim is to have the stomach never too full or too empty. Too big a meal and she is liable to vomit. The following is from a presentation on nutrition for dogs with liver disease - cats would be simila...
by fjm
Fri Feb 25, 2022 12:27 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Cat with liver issues; how to get balance of food right with vomiting risk (higher carbs needed)
Replies: 18
Views: 1101

Re: Cat with liver issues; how to get balance of food right with vomiting risk (higher carbs needed)

WARNING: do not stop the Prednicare without first consulting your vet - stopping it suddenly can be EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. I have a dog (Poppy, toy poodle) who was diagnosed with acute liver failure just over two years ago, and has coped with chronic liver disease ever since. She started on 5mg Predni...
by fjm
Tue Feb 22, 2022 7:53 pm
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Boy or girl??
Replies: 3
Views: 353

Re: Boy or girl??

Compare with photos/videos on the internet - and confirm with the vet when you take him/her for vaccinations.
by fjm
Sun Feb 20, 2022 6:53 pm
Forum: Rescue & Rehoming - General
Topic: Legacy cat
Replies: 5
Views: 1551

Re: Legacy cat

I would not despair of them all living together amicably, with sufficient time and patience taken over the introductions, but nor do I think that you should feel bound by your promise to keep her yourself if you come to believe she would be happier as an only cat. Your father would want what is best...
by fjm
Sat Feb 12, 2022 12:06 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Chronic Kidney Disease food help
Replies: 9
Views: 2065

Re: Chronic Kidney Disease food help

I don't know of a list of phosphorus levels in UK foods, but the information is often available on the manufacturers' websites and sometimes on the big online retail sites like Zooplus and PetsAtHome. It can vary in how it is presented - % per 100g as served, % of dry matter, mg per 100kcal - so you...
by fjm
Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:57 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Chronic Kidney Disease food help
Replies: 9
Views: 2065

Re: Chronic Kidney Disease food help

Finding a food CKD cats will eat and continue to eat is a hot topic here! I know I am not the only one with boxes and boxes of food Tilly loved when I ordered them but now won't touch! When looking at phosphorus levels it is important to consider the amount per 100kcal, rather than just the percenta...
by fjm
Wed Feb 09, 2022 8:17 am
Forum: Bereavement Support
Topic: Heartbroken and lost
Replies: 2
Views: 1174

Re: Heartbroken and lost

And mine are with you. Be kind to yourselves and each other - grief hurts, but little by little it does become easier to bear.
by fjm
Sun Feb 06, 2022 8:17 am
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Picky eater cats can be a danger to themselves
Replies: 7
Views: 664

Re: Picky eater cats can be a danger to themselves

Excellent warning. It is why I try hard to introduce my animals to a wide range of foods when they are young, including emergency options like canned sardines and scrambled egg. Not only do foods go out of production or become unobtainable, but manufacturers often change the formulation, which can b...
by fjm
Fri Feb 04, 2022 10:11 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Cats weight
Replies: 10
Views: 702

Re: Cats weight

A good rescue has huge experience in vetting prospective owners and matching cats to homes - much safer than advertising or trying to find a place yourself. Most take the cat in, often into a foster home, to evaluate its needs and to sort out any health issues before rehoming - beginning to get his ...
by fjm
Fri Feb 04, 2022 1:35 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Cat wanting in and out of house constantly
Replies: 2
Views: 342

Re: Cat wanting in and out of house constantly

Assuming that she is spayed it could be that there is another cat around and she is patrolling her territory, that she has found something interesting to watch, it is raining and she wants to be outside but not to get wet, or a hundred other reasons! If it is very recent and sudden and she does not ...
by fjm
Fri Feb 04, 2022 12:17 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Cats weight
Replies: 10
Views: 702

Re: Cats weight

I would start by contacting Maine Coon and Ragdoll rescues in your area, if there are any, or the breed clubs if there are not. They are more likely to know of a home suitable for a large cat with his particular needs. It sounds as if both his physical and emotional health are suffering at the momen...
by fjm
Fri Feb 04, 2022 9:18 am
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Cats Climbing on house roofs
Replies: 5
Views: 1242

Re: Cats Climbing on house roofs

Yep, normal. Cats seem to like to give their humans incipient heart failure. Then they drop from the roof to an upstairs window sill, and jump 8 feet to reach one with an open window...
by fjm
Thu Feb 03, 2022 2:47 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Thyronorm
Replies: 4
Views: 1100

Re: Thyronorm

From the DEFRA product information database: "As thiamazole is a suspected human teratogen, women of child-bearing age must wear non-permeable single-use gloves when administering the product or handling the litter/vomit of treated cats. If you are pregnant, think you may be pregnant or are att...
by fjm
Wed Feb 02, 2022 12:19 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Why did Ziggy die
Replies: 3
Views: 416

Re: Why did Ziggy die

Sometimes there are no answers, just the knowledge that as he did not respond to the very best efforts of you and your vet whatever it was obviously something major, and probably not survivable no matter what you did. Had you been closer to your vet his final days might have been filled with ever mo...
by fjm
Sat Jan 29, 2022 8:49 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Cat behavior helppppp
Replies: 2
Views: 328

Re: Cat behavior helppppp

I wonder if he just prefers smoother scratching surfaces? Have you tried giving him some planks of wood instead of traditional scratching posts? My cats have always stropped their claws on fence posts and similar structures outside, and shown little interest in purchased scratching posts. It is also...
by fjm
Thu Jan 20, 2022 4:54 pm
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: What is it with renal food?
Replies: 9
Views: 740

Re: What is it with renal food?

This afternoon I made chicken pancakes for dog treats - and Tilly would have eaten the lot, given half a chance.
by fjm
Thu Jan 20, 2022 7:40 am
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: What is it with renal food?
Replies: 9
Views: 740

Re: What is it with renal food?

Oh how I sympathise! I have an enormous stack of boxes of food Tilly liked but will no longer eat; liked but threw up 15 minutes later; liked the gravy but left the lumps... And she prefers wet to dry - the dry is often simply ignored unless it is this week's favoured flavour. On the plus side I ope...
by fjm
Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:23 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Cat litter (including Tigerino query)
Replies: 5
Views: 888

Re: Cat litter (including Tigerino query)

I tried fine clay for cats with CKD who were producing copious quantities of urine. It turned into a soggy mess that stuck to the tray like cement - I would not recommend it. I found the wood granules more successful, particularly Cats Best Original Clumping, which clumped reasonably well if the tra...
by fjm
Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:30 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Balconies and cat flaps
Replies: 4
Views: 584

Re: Balconies and cat flaps

I know people have fitted flaps into glass doors, but it is expensive and tricky - more a specialist job than diy. There are specialist companies online that could give you an idea of the cost, but If you are renting it may not be feasible. Then there is the risk that your cats might not use it howe...
by fjm
Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:07 am
Forum: Bereavement Support
Topic: This guilt is crippling! I feel like I failed my girl.
Replies: 9
Views: 2106

Re: This guilt is crippling! I feel like I failed my girl.

Wise words from Mollycat. Your love for Juliet shines through every word in your post. At the end it enabled you to think of what was best for her, despite your longing to keep her with you to the very last. The What-ifs and If-onlies can be overwhelming, but you did everything possible, gave her a ...
by fjm
Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:58 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Mouth Issue
Replies: 6
Views: 795

Re: Mouth Issue

Looks like hair to me - a gentle upward tug might do the trick, or pushing it upwards with a soft cotton bud or similar.
by fjm
Wed Jan 05, 2022 8:56 am
Forum: Bereavement Support
Topic: Not coping after losing my cat
Replies: 2
Views: 1321

Re: Not coping after losing my cat

I am so sorry. Tilly was not "just a cat". She was your friend, your companion, your shadow, your confidant, the centre of daily rituals of loving care. She helped you through the death of your mother and was a link to her love, so losing Tilly must have felt like also losing your mother a...
by fjm
Wed Jan 05, 2022 8:37 am
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Cat with COVID?
Replies: 3
Views: 476

Re: Cat with COVID?

I too would call your vet. If it is Covid 19 it should be a mild illness, but the cat should be isolated from other animals, but it could, of course, be something else entirely, and your vet is best placed to advise you on what to watch for and whether she needs treatment. https://www.cdc.gov/health...
by fjm
Tue Jan 04, 2022 9:19 am
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Coordinating 4 cats for a New Years/Christmas photo..... :)
Replies: 9
Views: 729

Re: Coordinating 4 cats for a New Years/Christmas photo..... :)

I always thought it was six lost days, don't know why. Then there was the confusion between local time and railway time, and differences in how length and distances were measured, etc, etc - a lot of things we take for granted are very modern - and geographically local - constructs. It is lovely to ...
by fjm
Mon Jan 03, 2022 7:12 am
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Coordinating 4 cats for a New Years/Christmas photo..... :)
Replies: 9
Views: 729

Re: Coordinating 4 cats for a New Years/Christmas photo..... :)

Love it! The two persian girls posing politely, Casper getting it nearly right until he went cube-shaped and the Naughty Tortie trying to photo bomb her own photo!
by fjm
Sat Jan 01, 2022 6:37 pm
Forum: Health and Behaviour Queries, Help and Advice
Topic: Incontinence or control issue
Replies: 3
Views: 817

Re: Incontinence or control issue

I doubt she is doing it to get at you - far more likely to be due to discomfort from her illness and urgency from the steroids, which are well known to increase thirst and urination as well as appetite. The extra food would also increase the volume and frequency of poops, of course. Does she dislike...
by fjm
Sat Dec 25, 2021 9:29 am
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Merry Christmas
Replies: 6
Views: 679

Re: Merry Christmas

And a very Happy Christmas to everyone from us, too.
by fjm
Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:41 am
Forum: General Cat Chatting!
Topic: Travelling UK with a cat...
Replies: 5
Views: 665

Re: Travelling UK with a cat...

I have travelled with a cat, but it was more from one place to another with longish stays of weeks or months in each, rather than constantly on the move. The cat was confident, sociable, very attached to me, and used to moving between my flat and my parents' house, so he knew how to make himself at ...