Long hair kitten

[HeatherG3000]

Hi all!

I've just got my first long hair kitten! He is such a scruffy little thing, absolutely gorgeous!All previous cats/kittens I have had are shorthair, so never really experienced the fur balls...but this little mite is always grooming. We got him home on Sunday and I think he was grooming a lot for soothing purposes, to try calm himself and de-stres cos it is stressful for them being moved about and entering new surroundings! But I got a bit of a fright yesterday when he started hacking. No vomiting and his toilet habits all seem "normal" at the moment, but I was a bit worried cos he is sooo tiny and he made this really loud barking hacking cough! I'm sure it is just fur from over grooming, but can anyone reassure me?

I'm going to vet with him tomorrow to get the once over and get him microchipped too! So I will run it past my own vet anyway!

[bobbys girl]

Not a lot of experience with this, but perhaps you could help him out by brushing him. If his hair is that long you will probably have to do that anyway. So the sooner you start, the sooner he gets use to it.

What is his name and when do we get to see him?

[busydee]

Good idea to get them used to being brushed right from the start.

[HeatherG3000]

Rhett Butler...totally living up to this classic name!

[bobbys girl]

OOH gorgeous, how sweet is that! How did he get his name?

[meriad]

Oh my he is totally adorable - I want him LOL

Of my six only one is short haired; the rest are either semi long or long haired. Harry in particular (black cat in my avatar) overgrooms quite a bit and regularly hacks up hairballs. Besides the regular brushing you can also give him some hairball foods / treats

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/esearch.htm#q%3Dhairball" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - just to give you some ideas

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/esearch.htm#q%3Dmalt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - various malt options that also help


Just a word of 'caution' with the brushing - don't overdo it on the tail. Apparently hair on the tail doesn't grow back as quickly as the rest of the body so you could end up with a rather scraggly looking tail.

The Kong Zoom Groom http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp? ... pf_id=0210" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is a very soft brush and quite effective. What you're trying to do is get more of the loose undercoat off the cat vs the actual outer fur.

This metal comb is another fantastic one - http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp? ... f_id=63986" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. I use it loads on my girl Ava who is a long haired Norwegian Forest Cat. Thankfully she absolutely loves being brushed whereas Harry - also an NFC - absolutely detests it; and he needs it most; typical

Good luck with the little one - too cute for words

[HeatherG3000]

Rhett Butler, classic name. My favourite movie of all time is Gone With The Wind so it really had to be!

he is a Norwegian Forrest Cat too so thanks for allt he tips on brushes to use on baby boy! He is off to the vet this afternoon so I will maybe see if they have some food types to help with digestion of fur!

[Crewella]

He IS gorgeous!

[HeatherG3000]

Poor little thing has an upper respiratory infection. A late night visit to out of hours vet confirmed this. He is on antibiotics and anti inflammatory to help woth temperature and infection. Vet did bloods with white blood count being high showing signs of him fighting the bacterial infection going on. He's only 15 weeks old, the wee soul!

Has anyone got experience with URIs? And how long did it take for recovery?

[greenkitty]

Hector has more than his fare share of URI's over the years, you were right to get him to the vet quickly, many times in an older cat they can just fight off the infection without need for intervention but in one so young they need the medication. It can take a while for them to get over but he should start to bounce back now.

[bobbys girl]

Sorry to hear about Rhett. I hope he is soon on the mend.

[Crewella]

Poor little soul, hope he's feeling better soon. xx

[Fran_ki]

Rhett is just so gorgeous !!!
Hope the wee darling is on the mend soon xxxx

[HeatherG3000]

Hi All,

Sadly Rhett passed away on Sunday morning. The flu was obviously just too much for his young little body to cope with. On Staurday we had been trying to syringe feed him baby food and kitten milk to keep him going but he took a turn for the worse on Sudnay morning. We took him to the emergency vet and they incubated him hoping oxygen and fluids would help strengthen him, but he passed shortly afterwards. We are so sad. We only had him with us for 3 short weeks but it felt like a lifetime!

This is our second kitten to pass away in 3 short months and we have done so much grieving

[sarie]

Oh god Heather I'm so, so sorry. I can't quite believe what I'm reading After everything you went through with Henry you were well overdue some happiness with little Rhett.
I'm so truly sorry If there's anything I can do please PM me, I can't imagine how you must be feeling. xxx

[Willowgill]

That is so sad - poor little guy and he looked so beautiful. I'm so sorry.

[JulieandBarney]

Oh Heather, I can not believe that I am reading this......I am so, so terribly sorry for you, my deepest sympathy to you, so sad......x

[Crewella]

Oh no, poor little guy. I'm so very sorry. (((hugs)))

[meriad]

Oh no Heather I am so very very sorry

RIP little boy - sleep tight. So so young

[bobbys girl]

Oh Heather I am so very sorry to hear the news. I was really sure he would be OK. So terribly sad.

RIP sweet boy. Many ((hugs)) to you Heather.