Long Haired Cat with Diarhoea

[shazie]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum and I was wondering if you could offer some advice. I have taken in an abandoned long haired ginger cat, it's a very long story but we believe she was up for sale a month ago and hasn't sold so they have abandoned her and she'd been hanging around my street for about 2 weeks.

A week ago, I befriended her and it was pouring down with rain and hasn't really stopped since, she sat on my wall all night on the Tuesday night getting soaked through.

The following day I managed to catch her and take to the vets, but no microchip, I took her in but I have 5 cats as it is and I'm having problems integrating my 7 month old kitten male since September with my Bengal female, the other 4 tolerate him, so as you can imagine it's a bit hard her at the moment.

I have the boy shut in the living room, the new one in the back bedroom and the other can go everywhere else.

This long haired one, wouldn't eat so by the Sunday I had to go to the vets, they have her a couple of injections and within a few hours she picked up, started eating but now because we don't know what food she's used to, we have the runs and she is now in a right state on her bottom area and tail.

I have never had a long haired cat so I'm wondering what the best thing to do to clean her up, do I wait till her runs clear a bit or do I try and get a tub of soapy water and with the help of my partner sponge her down? I'm worried if I try once and need to do it again she's not going to let me or like it and be even more scarred.

I have a sad feeling that we aren't going to be able to keep her because it's like a military operation moving everyone around to give them different enviroments. So I'm a tad stressed at the moment, I don't want to rehome because she is so sweet and pretty, if I have to I will do my best till the New Year now.

We have our turkey cooking in the oven at the moment and I plan to give her some to try and stop the runs, not sure how long it will carry on for.

So any advice would be so appreciated at the moment.

Shazie

[JulieandBarney]

Hi Shazie

Well done to you for caring for this poor cat. a pat on the back from me

What food are you feeding this fella at the moment ?, sounds like his diet may have changed considerably !......x

[shazie]

Hiya,

To get her to eat on Sunday she had roast beef and gravy, she seems to like gravy, I normally feed my on Good as it looks in jelly, so I got some Asda pouches in gravy and mainly she's had turkey in gravy, she's eating like a horse at the moment.

But I'm hoping once my turkey is cooked in another couple of hours and cooled, she will like a piece, if not I'm lost what else to try her on. Don't want her going down hill over the Christmas period.

[shazie]

She looks fat her, this was take a few minutes ago, not seeing her bottom mind.

[Kay]

plain steamed white fish will help to settle her tum - frozen coley sold in Tesco's is pretty cheap

she's very pretty, and pale ginger females are not common, so she should be rehomeable if you have to go down that route, but obviously it would help to get her healthy first

I've never had a long haired cat, but I've read that clipping as much hair as you can from the bottom area helps to minimise the effect of the runs, and would let you then clean gently with a damp cloth or pet wipe - if she'll let you, of course - but trying to bathe her would probably result in more of a traumatic struggle than clipping her fur

[shazie]

I have some frozen cod in the freezer that we didn't like, I'm not sure she is a fish lover but I will get it out and try it if the turkey doesn't work.

I might trying to gently cut some of the fur off tomorrow, yes less traumatic, but I've only just got some trust with her, but she can't be smelly, at least cutting bits off, then it won't be as bad as just washing it and getting more on there I suppose.

I have a ginger female, I know how rare they are, about 8 years ago my other half said that I could have another at but it had to be a ginger female, I didn't realise till a year after we got Lilly. He was gutted, he thought he'd won, we'd only just got together.

The photo below is Lilly on the left, Freya the bengal in the middle and Inga on the right, taken about 5 years ago.