Kitten with Feline Leukemia Virus becoming Overweight

Hello all,

I will be taking my kitten to the vet for a checkup and for advice,
but I also wanted to see if anyone here had any advice as well.

I have a 9 month old kitten. He was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia
Virus when he was about 5 months old - he had the ELISA and the IFA
test.

So far he hasn't gotten sick. He seems very healthy, he's extremely
energetic and very happy.

What's concerning me is his weight. At 9 months old he is larger than
most full grown cats I've seen just in height and length, but he's
becoming pudgy as well. When I read up on the Feline Leukemia Virus,
it says it is important for him not to become stressed and that
something as simple as him running out of food could stress him out,
so I would be nervous to restrict his food.

I have been playing with him more, he'll play fetch like a dog, and he
loves the laser pointers as well. He will also play a lot on his own,
so it seems like he is getting a lot of exercise, but he still is
getting bigger in the belly.

I'm nervous with him because it's likely he won't be alive for a lot
of years and I don't want to do anything that could make it worse for
him. He's a sweet guy.

wrote in message
...
Hello all,

I will be taking my kitten to the vet for a checkup and for advice,
but I also wanted to see if anyone here had any advice as well.

[...]

Sounds to me like you are doing everything right--more exercise can
never be bad. He is so young, I bet he will burn it off in no time.

Bless you for taking in this kitten.

P.S.--if you have any soft elasticized strings, such as the ones in
workout pants, these have really given our play a shot in the arm.
Unlike the ever popular feather on a string, these spring back
when they--or you--let go. It's a riot.

Response to "cybercat" :

P.S.--if you have any soft elasticized strings, such as the ones in
workout pants, these have really given our play a shot in the arm.
Unlike the ever popular feather on a string, these spring back
when they--or you--let go. It's a riot.

That's a great suggestion, cybercat. Gabby seems to love the Cat
Dancer that Phil suggested so perhaps another "springy" toy would work.

Do you think waistband elastic (the bands, not the string) would work?

I checked at Michael's Arts and Crafts store but they only had elastic
plastic string like for creating stretchy jewelry. I doubt that's
suitable.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

"-Lost" wrote in message
...
Response to "cybercat" :

P.S.--if you have any soft elasticized strings, such as the ones in
workout pants, these have really given our play a shot in the arm.
Unlike the ever popular feather on a string, these spring back
when they--or you--let go. It's a riot.

That's a great suggestion, cybercat. Gabby seems to love the Cat
Dancer that Phil suggested so perhaps another "springy" toy would work.

Do you think waistband elastic (the bands, not the string) would work?

I checked at Michael's Arts and Crafts store but they only had elastic
plastic string like for creating stretchy jewelry. I doubt that's
suitable.

I haven't been around for a few days (and too rushed to read in depth just
now), but I was wondering how Gabby was doing. Is he getting any calmer?
He has had his "big snip" hasn't he?

Hugs,

CatNipped



--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

"-Lost" wrote in message
...
Response to "cybercat" :

P.S.--if you have any soft elasticized strings, such as the ones in
workout pants, these have really given our play a shot in the arm.
Unlike the ever popular feather on a string, these spring back
when they--or you--let go. It's a riot.

That's a great suggestion, cybercat. Gabby seems to love the Cat
Dancer that Phil suggested so perhaps another "springy" toy would work.

Do you think waistband elastic (the bands, not the string) would work?


I am not sure.

These are the pants that contain the perfect cat toy!

http://tinyurl.com/yuxp5o

(Plus they are
soft, 90% cotton, really comfy for exercise or just relaxing.) They
have all sizes. If you get them just for the drawstring get them used!

On Dec 4, 4:06 pm, "cybercat" wrote:
"-Lost" wrote in message

...

Response to "cybercat" :

P.S.--if you have any soft elasticized strings, such as the ones in
workout pants, these have really given our play a shot in the arm.
Unlike the ever popular feather on a string, these spring back
when they--or you--let go. It's a riot.

That's a great suggestion, cybercat. Gabby seems to love the Cat
Dancer that Phil suggested so perhaps another "springy" toy would work.

Do you think waistband elastic (the bands, not the string) would work?

I am not sure.

These are the pants that contain the perfect cat toy!

http://tinyurl.com/yuxp5o

(Plus they are
soft, 90% cotton, really comfy for exercise or just relaxing.) They
have all sizes. If you get them just for the drawstring get them used!


That's a great idea! I also have this small cat scratching post that
has a couple toys hanging off that really stretchy string and he goes
nuts for those.

I'll have to look into getting some stretchy waist band material and
making him some toys, I think he would like that.

I'd reallly like to get him one of those really big cat trees with the
toys hanging off of them, but the ones I've seen are priced so
ridiculously high.

Response to Jaslyn :

I'd reallly like to get him one of those really big cat trees with
the toys hanging off of them, but the ones I've seen are priced so
ridiculously high.

Let me first say that the following links are to one of those catalog
sites where they try to carry something for EVERYBODY. AND, they are
not pet specific so some of the materials (in my opinion at least)
don't appear top-notch superior, but may well be "good enough." I'll
leave that up to some of the more experienced slaves to inform you on
because I've not enough experience in dealing with the types of
things cats like to use as toy "structures." They might be able to
spot something I don't immediately see.

Cat Play House - $20 - Appears very thinly carpeted.
http://www.collectionsetc.com/Item76151.aspx

Cat Activity Center - $15 - This looks decent.
http://www.collectionsetc.com/Item76199.aspx

Cat Maze - $10 - Phil (the resident cat genius and savior)
recommended this one.
http://www.collectionsetc.com/Item76219.aspx

Cat Scratching Block - $10 - Looks good but NEEDS a method by which
to secure it if you use it vertically -- and with my kitty's current
strength, you'll need something to hold it down horizontally as well!
http://www.collectionsetc.com/Item76220.aspx

Cat Play Maze - $20 - Looks good, but is more expensive than I
thought it should be.
http://www.collectionsetc.com/Item76243.aspx

Cat Tunnel - $10 - Looks great.
http://www.collectionsetc.com/Item76188.aspx

So anyway, I thought about the House and Activity Center and from
there attach some toys to it. The ONLY problem I see with those
items are, see all those kittens on them? It isn't very big.

One thought I had was to secure it to the floor and merely throw a
few scraps of wood to it, sterilized and carpeted of course.

I'm not a real fond of spending $100+ for a cat tree either,
especially if I can make something damn near identical. That help a
bit?

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

On Dec 5, 2:07 pm, "-Lost" wrote:
Response to Jaslyn :

I'm not a real fond of spending $100+ for a cat tree either,
especially if I can make something damn near identical. That help a
bit?

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

Thanks Lost, that definately helps, that site is great! I'm going to
have to do my kitty toy shopping online from now on. I have something
similar to that activity center, and I paid over $40 for it! The
larger cat trees at this place were over $200.

I think my kitty, Kobol, would also love that tunnel and the maze.

Response to Jaslyn :

On Dec 5, 2:07 pm, "-Lost" wrote:
Response to Jaslyn :

I'm not a real fond of spending $100+ for a cat tree either,
especially if I can make something damn near identical. That
help a bit?

Thanks Lost, that definately helps, that site is great! I'm going
to have to do my kitty toy shopping online from now on. I have
something similar to that activity center, and I paid over $40 for
it! The larger cat trees at this place were over $200.

I almost ALWAYS shop online. At least comparison shop online, it
saves so much time.

I think my kitty, Kobol, would also love that tunnel and the maze.

Oh, I'm sure! It's fun just looking at it and imagining what they'll
do with it.

One other thing that might help if you like to try and build stuff
yourself -- FREE cat condo and cat tree plans are available on the
Internet everywhere you look. I'm sure due in part to the multitude
of cat worshipers. Here are some I found:

http://www.orecatay.com/catcondo.pdf
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2qzqb2 - this is the same thing, but
Google is rendering it as Web document (HTML) for you. However, I
noticed the images don't show, so use the PDF link if possible.

In fact, I like that one so much I plan on going for it with some
modifications after I mock them up in CAD.

http://feline-furniture.tripod.com/ - This is a good one but with no
visual instructions so you might need to be somewhat competent with
woodworking, i.e. not ME. HAHA! It also has several more links
there (of which I did not check out).

http://www.catcondoplans.com/ - OK, this is NOT FREE, but the condos
looked so good I decided to post it anyway. I figured we aren't in
pet.cats.freeware or anything. Besides, $10 for 5 really cool
looking designs is a pinch in the pocket to most.

http://www.freeww.com/smallprojects.html#Anchor-30490 - All around
nice site which links to these 4 DIY (Do It Yourself) cat tree/condo
projects:

http://www.ronhazelton.com/howto/cat_tree.htm - UGLY but HIGHLY
detailed condo tutorial. Me personally, I'd make the condo twice as
tall and skip that odd looking four-way pyramid sisal rope thingie
and just make one giant primary one or at least make the four current
ones much larger.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/diy_ki...019,DIY_13787_
2274052,00.html - Which appears to be dead in the water? I viewed it
in 4 browsers and in none of them did content appear.

The Feline Furniture link above.

http://www.showcatsonline.com/x/building_a_cat_tree.htm - This one
looks out of this world! Like a kitty beat up Tarzan and took his
tree home.

So, if you like woodworking or you're just really stubborn and a
glutton for punishment like me, that should be enough ideas and plans
to propel you far into creating your very own Kobol Kondominiums.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

"-Lost" wrote in message
...
Response to Jaslyn :

You're killfiled on the basis of being a bitch to Lori, as well as being
stupid.

Buh bye!