Cat thread

[01101010]

You can always ask about the topicals as well. They make drugs you can rub on the insides of the ear. Of course, you can't have any other critters around who might lick the inside of the cat's ear, but my friend uses this mode of distribution and it seems to work. Dunno how effective they are, but then again, flea treatments like Frontline have been doing it for a long time.

[MuffinMan]

A good semi-strategy I've found when I give my cat his eye medicine is to sit on his back on the floor. I don't think he's much of a fighter anyway but it makes it so there's really no where to go when my fat ass is on top of him. I'm glad I've only had to do eyedrops and liquid mediciation, pills would be a pain in the ass.

[Lantyssa]

See if grabbing him by the nape shuts him down?  Might put up less resistance if so.

[apocrypha]

You can always ask about the topicals as well. They make drugs you can rub on the insides of the ear. Of course, you can't have any other critters around who might lick the inside of the cat's ear, but my friend uses this mode of distribution and it seems to work. Dunno how effective they are, but then again, flea treatments like Frontline have been doing it for a long time.

Flea treatments work like that because they're intended to stay on the outside of the animal. Topical administration of most drugs is so ineffective that to get therapeutic doses into the bloodstream you have to put toxic concentrations of it on the skin - in fact with many drugs it's actually impossible to increase skin absorption even by increasing the drug concentration, i.e. there's a maximum rate of absorbtion.

A good example is the ibuprofen gels (e.g. Ibuleve) that you can buy for topical anti-inflammatory application. The efficiency of skin absorption of ibuprofen is about 1%, so those gels only really work by placebo effect.

[01101010]

You can always ask about the topicals as well. They make drugs you can rub on the insides of the ear. Of course, you can't have any other critters around who might lick the inside of the cat's ear, but my friend uses this mode of distribution and it seems to work. Dunno how effective they are, but then again, flea treatments like Frontline have been doing it for a long time.

Flea treatments work like that because they're intended to stay on the outside of the animal. Topical administration of most drugs is so ineffective that to get therapeutic doses into the bloodstream you have to put toxic concentrations of it on the skin - in fact with many drugs it's actually impossible to increase skin absorption even by increasing the drug concentration, i.e. there's a maximum rate of absorbtion.

A good example is the ibuprofen gels (e.g. Ibuleve) that you can buy for topical anti-inflammatory application. The efficiency of skin absorption of ibuprofen is about 1%, so those gels only really work by placebo effect.

Good point, and yes I am aware that skin absorption horrible but it's still an option. Like I said, I got the vet to teach me how to give my guy injections after my cat proved he could shoot a pill out of the back of his throat on several tried.

And I tend to mistake the flea treatment getting into the skin oil production mixed up with absorption. My mistake...

[apocrypha]

I missed that you'd said that about the injections, sorry. Very cool that they taught you that, lot easier than tablets! Amazed me how quickly Sputnik got used to her twice-daily insulin injections, she barely resists at all any more. Although sometimes we have to be cunning about getting hold of her *before* we get the syringe ready or she tends to go and hide :p

[Lantyssa]

DMSO.  It'll solve all your absorption problems...

[Sjofn]

I am fucking terrible at giving cats pills. I can do all the other shit, but pills are still something I just can't do. Luckily, most of the time if they need a medication, it's something that can come in liquid form. Gilly was the only one who needed pills that I can recall, and I wound up having to grind them up and mix it with baby food. She was a lot like 01101010's cat. No matter what I fucking tried, I could not get her to just FUCKING SWALLOW THE GODDAMN PILL ARGHGHGHGH.

Stupid cats!

[Rasix]

Yah, one of my cats has decided to shit inside, where there are no longer any litter boxes.  He wasn't doing that a week ago when we moved them into the garage.  But now? Gargantuan dumps in random places.

Between that and my tortoise being a complete asshole (guy seriously just scrapes up against the door for hours at a time trying to get in), I'm about done with pets. 

[Ingmar]

What about your other non-pooping cat!

Jack randomly poops right in FRONT of the litter box recently, I think he's so tall now that he feels crowded in there or something. Luckily we keep it on top of a plastic tray thing, so it isn't a real mess issue or anything, but still. Annoying.

[Merusk]

Our male cat was doing that until we got a separate box for the female.  After a year he just decided he didn't want to shit in the same box as her for some reason.  Even though it was cleaned daily, no dice.  Now that he has "his box" it's not a problem even if the daughter misses a day or two of cleaning.   Damned animals with attitudes.

[Hawkbit]

We have three cats and two boxes.  They have distinct 'pee box' and 'poo box', though if I miss a scooping day all hell breaks loose.  Then we've got pee in the poo box and vice-versa.  Its kinda like the old Reese's "you got chocolate in my peanut butter" commercials, only less appetizing. 

[Trippy]

Jedi kittens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z3r9X8OahA

[Sjofn]

Our male cat was doing that until we got a separate box for the female.  After a year he just decided he didn't want to shit in the same box as her for some reason.  Even though it was cleaned daily, no dice.  Now that he has "his box" it's not a problem even if the daughter misses a day or two of cleaning.   Damned animals with attitudes.

Hmm, I may have to try this, I guess, because Jack is being an idiot.

[apocrypha]

Our two shit in different bits of the garden. Sputnik demurely hides behind a trellis, Zebedee brazenly wiggles her arse in the back flower bed. Hilariously, both dig a hole before they start... then miss it entirely when they drop the kids off. And then make the most pathetic attempt at burying it ever, again usually missing the offending turd completely.

What a delightful post, sorry.

[Sjofn]

Who says only parents get to discuss poop, huh? 

[apocrypha]

Hey I can talk shit all day long. 

[Sand]

So while recovering from surgery Louis was in bed with me everyday, curled up next to me, purring and helping me rehab.
Wednesday night he threw up twice. Once was just bile, but later that evening I found a second spot on the stairs with what looked like all his dinner. Next morning I woke up and new something was wrong because he hadn't slept with me. Immediately started looking for him. Found he had pooped outside his litterbox next the front door, which he never does.
Found him upstairs hiding in a closet meowing in what I knew was pain.
Immediately rushed him into a 24 hour state of the art vet emergency center.

He had a completely plugged and blocked urethra, which according to the docs can kill cats in as little as 48 hours. They put in a catheter and started him on IV's. His urine was FULL of blood. They pulled the catheter  this evening. If he is able to start being normally on his on tonight and in the morning he gets to come home again.

[Engels]

We had the exact same thing happen to our male kitty too, Sand. He recovered, but it was a very very close call. Its not that uncommon. In our case, our cat had crystalline deposits that clogged his urethra. He's now on a special diet to prevent that. Cost us ~$2500.

[rk47]

That's scary as fuck. What could've caused such a thing?

[apocrypha]

There are several possible causes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_lower_urinary_tract_disease#Causes) - bladder stones, which are usually caused by dietary issues. Inflammation and blockage, related to crystal formation, again dietary causes. Infection, physical trauma, tumors, etc. 60% of cases are idiopathic (i.e. they never work out what caused it).

[rk47]

  Let's hope they invent some medical test kits or something in the future. That sounds so painful.

[Hawkbit]

Just got back from cat ER... 

So we're in the middle of moving from Ohio to Seattle.  My wife is in transit right now, we're moving 4-6 weeks later so she can get us a place to live.  The house is torn apart, it's pure madness.  About a week ago, one of the cats picks up an allergy or cold, sneezing a lot.  He gets better, but gives it to the other two.  One got better, the other got worse.  He went all lethargic this morning, found him laying in his own urine.  On our brand-new carpet.

They get him on antibiotics and an appetite stimulant.  Also they pump him full of fluids.  So now I'm playing the waiting game, hoping he gets better.  He seemed better when I brought him home, but who knows.

[MuffinMan]

What's with all of the cat problems?

I'm going on month three(?) of Smeagol's eye problem. Still three medicines, three times a day. It looks much better than it did before but the ulcer is still not healed.

[01101010]

Dunno what is going on but one of my co-workers cats has a cancerous tumor growing in his abdomen which is preventing him from going #2 with any sort of regularity. He has dropped from 16lbs to 6lbs in 3 weeks. Very sad. He is 13.

[MuffinMan]

[JWIV]

Just a tip.  If you have a large can of say wet cat food, and it says refrigerate after opening, then for the love of christ, put it in the refrigerator, as opposed to letting it sit out on the counter for  a week or so, and leaving a fucking horrific stench for me to come home to after vacation.  Not to mention at least one cat with diarrhea due to eating spoiled food. 

[Sjofn]

To fit in with the cat problems, Lizzie has a MYSTERY LIMP. We have seriously no idea what her damage is. She was a gigantic bitch at the vet, but she's ALWAYS a gigantic bitch at the vet, and the x-rays showed nothing interesting, and she lets me feel up her leg and stuff with nary a peep. The ONLY indicator that anything wrong is, well, she's limping. And she doesn't even do that all the time. Stupid cat!

[Merusk]

Arthritis? Simply a pulled muscle? Canny bitch knowing you'll worry so she's faking?

[Sand]

Louis is home from the vet and doing remarkably better. He is on twice daily pain meds, twice daily anti-biotic and a once a day pill to stimulate his bladder to urinate.
So far so good.
They had me switch out his dry cat food for canned wet food. We stuck with the same brand though, Holistic Select. Also we bought one of the trickling kitty fountains that is supposed to make them drink more.

Spent all morning cuddled up in bed with me. 

[Hawkbit]

My cats drank a LOT more with a trickle fountain.  I had to pitch it because our damn hard water clogged the thing up horribly.  I need to get another one, next time I think I'll just use bottled water.  They need to make one that doesn't have a lot of nooks and crannies; anaerobic bacteria thrives in those little cracks.  Never could get it healthy looking.

[Engels]

I'm glad to hear your cat is ok, Sand. Those things can be very touch and go.  I was worried when you hadn't posted that it was too late :/

[Lantyssa]

My cats drank a LOT more with a trickle fountain.  I had to pitch it because our damn hard water clogged the thing up horribly.  I need to get another one, next time I think I'll just use bottled water.  They need to make one that doesn't have a lot of nooks and crannies; anaerobic bacteria thrives in those little cracks.  Never could get it healthy looking.

I've switched over to filtered water, though it was clogged before I did.  Still, it's an improvement as she only used to drink from the pond outside.  Getting her to switch took months.

[Mosesandstick]

Are cats not supposed to drink from ponds?

[Lantyssa]

I can't imagine it was the healthiest thing since it has fish, frogs, algae, and gods know what else in there.