Cat Chat Feline Forum

Very good point. My dog gets anxious if husband is late home from work. When husband left his last home the dog stayed for nearly 3 months before we could get him back, so Dad being late home from work sends him into places dogs shouldn't ever have to go in his mind. And we know this one! There is s...

Funnily enough I was thinking it might not be too clever when you look at how deer need to be managed in the absence of predators to add boar to the mix. I can't help thinking once we realise we messed up let's stop doing any more damage but I'm not convinced undoing what we've already done is sensi...

Oh now I did not know that, I did hear of discussions considering reintroducing them and wolves to some parts but did not think there were any at all here. I stand corrected, thank you Ruth. Yes I was always brought up on the tapeworm mantra but why would pork be targetted when beef is also a host? ...

I am currently looking more closely at a home prepared diet for CKD Molly because renal diets are proving expensive and unpopular. Madam won't eat organ meat or bones, making this more challenging, until recently, when Felini brought out Felini Renal. Molly loves raw pork mince, which so many source...

I don't know. My gut is still saying that being approached and followed can't be helping the situation, though obviously there is more to it, but surely changing just that to see how much difference it makes might be worthwhile.

Oh, that sounds more like inappropriate play maybe? Do you know much about his time before he came to you? Has he got better or worse with you?

If he was a wild cat mix that might well be a factor, and being rehomed several times would not have helped him either, but you can only start from here to work on moving forward. One detail jumps out at me - you're telling people to approach him a certain way. I would stop that, and tell people to ...

Sorry for calico kitten. You did your best but it did sound like you were fighting a valiant battle against all odds.

Or if you don't have a spare room, would a secure run with a heated cat house in the garden be an option?

There seem to be so many obstacles, I do hope there is a way to harness that enthusiasm you have for helping unwanted and neglected cats into loving homes.

I needed time after Misha. We were offered Sarah and as we had a vacancy in the house I couldn't refuse, but I made it very clear to OH my heart was broken and he must take on this one as his. Three years later when I was just about ready to be nudged, along came Henry, demanding that I heal and lov...

We're all so busy discussing practical solutions, but is that what Mum wants? How did she cope with litter trays until now? If she "hasn't come to terms" with losing her last feline companion, does she actually want another one so soon? Is litter trays just an excuse to avoid saying "...

My boy never got on with prebiotics, I don't remember which brand we tried but it made him much worse. As he was long haired the clean-up was a whole lot of fun. When the Dire Rear strikes badly, vitamin B can be given by injection (by the vet obviously) because you can stuff as much as you like int...

Fingers crossed for her and you

Hi sorry I can't help with bottle feeding kittens but I wouldn't just not feed this one for 24 hours, that sounds a lot more dangerous than someone else dealing with choking.

Poo bags, if you don't want a food caddy knocking about. I have used doggy poo bags ever since we started clumping litter, long before there was a dog. I also find them useful for food leftovers.

What was the weight loss diet, was it a formula food or just less of her normal food?

Oh, my one regret is not keeping a diary of progress

Welcome to CatChat and sorry for your difficult news. It sounds like your vet is being at best insensitive and you're in shock at the diagnosis. Perhaps after the holidays a phone call when you're better prepared for all the facts that will help you decide on a course of action? And if you don't hav...

Ok, fingers crossed!

Warning, long post! There are a few much more timid cats than mine here and each of us has handled our unique cases in our own unique ways, so hopefully you will get lots and lots of ideas. I have an indoor only home and Molly was brought in as a companion for the desperately stressed, lonely and fr...

"Secondary Hyperparathyroidism" - that was thought to be THE way CKD caused hypercalcaemia, but now they believe it's more complicated than that. Isn't it always. To be fair Lucy is older and anaesthetic risks increase with age, so worry is understandable. Oh you should see Hubby whenever ...

Oh wow you have my sympathy - my timid girl is only recently starting to be almost a normal cat, aged 15 and after nearly 9 years with me.

Are you looking for how to get them handleable generally, or how to deal with this second vet visit in particular?

Idiopathic eh? I'm afraid the word makes me think of the words idiot and pathetic in a train crash. It's what they say when they run out of ideas. Five years ago I had idiopathic urticaria - it wasn't magic, it was some mineral deficiency. I don't even know what, all I know is switching to raw sea s...

Maybe they only do the IV for a full anaesthetic, not sedation, I wouldn't know. This might be of some interest http://www.iris-kidney.com/education/hypercalcemia_in_ckd.html with reference to diet and treatment. Do your vets check sodium and potassium? Would that be checked along with calcium? My t...

Tricky one. Thoughts that might help or might make it even more difficult: What has the progression been like from diagnosis to the last test? Has there been much more loss of function, and at the last test what was the situation - IRIS stage, etc? How is Lucy in herself - have you noticed any signs...

We actually did the opposite Molly - Lucy was 9 when she was diagnosed from an SMDA test and we changed her diet but didn't go down the medication route, she's 14 now, as you know, we are waiting for this years bloods. Was it one of the Early Renal diets? We had such limited options when I had Mish...

I zeroed in on age too, do you know which kind of kidney disease it is? Chronic, Polycystic, etc? You'll be hard pushed to get a better resource than http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm for everything there is to know about kidney diseases. Dry foods seem to be more palatable than wet foods, but whet...

Cobalaplex, vitamin B complex.

I think if you need a second opinion another qualified vet would be better than the internet, and I don't mean that unkindly, just that there are people on the internet who claim that drinking hydrogen peroxide cures everything (it doesn't, it's highly toxic!) and a vet has access to the latest rese...

Yes we all aim for the sweet line between too much and too little, more often than not fall one side or the other, and occasionally get it spectacularly off. But we are only human. And 14/15 feels young these days but really it's still a good age, and health conditions just can't be helped. Walter w...