7-year-old cat with "smoker's cough" !

Bill Graham wrote:
If he is an "inside cat", you may be able to help him (and yourself) with an
air filtration device. There are several on the market that sit in the
middle of the room and clean the air by recycling it continuously through
filters and high-voltage plates that attract dust particles out of the air
that passes through them. Unfortunately, all my cats are outside cats, so
they have to depend on we humans to not contaminate the air with foreign
substances. This Summer, I had my favorite cat die from getting a dose of,
"Round-Up" weed killer from a neighbor's lawn treatment. - Just one of a
dozen or so hazards to outside cats......

Hi Bill.

We're in the country - fields, sheep, cows, a stream, tractors, and more
than voles and rabbits than a cat can cope with!

Your "Round-Up" reference alerts me!

I haven't used any round this place for several months although I will
have to again, in the next few weeks. (I always keep him locked inside
while I do it late afternoon and he only regains his freedom the next
morning.) But how did your cat die of the Round-Up? I mean, how did he
ingest it or absorb it?

Now you're making me wrack my brain for anything else round about this
property that might be responsible but can't think of a thing. We have
quite a range of ornamental plants in the garden. Never seen him
nibbling any one of these in particular but it could be that he is.

The only problem we have here is that since his brother died he's been
trekking a quarter of a mile each day to play with a neighbour's cats
and unfortunately that neighbout thinks very little of cats. He and his
wife keep three large dogs which they adore and keep inside and groom
and mollycoddle, but the cats are kept semi-feral outdoors just to keep
down the voles and rabbits! Food is put down for them in the garage and
they can sleep in there at night in the midst of winter. Anyway our lad
developed a serious respiratory infection about two months ago, with one
nostril oozing fluid which eventually became green fluid, so the vet put
him on antibiotics for five days and the condition cleared. She thought
he may have caught cat-flu or possibly Feline Chlamydophila (formerly
known as Chlamydia). We can't stop him from going up there for the
company and of course we can't command the neighbour to start loving his
cats and showing them some respect. But it's possible that he's
reacting to something up at the property rather than round here.

Having said that, it was sunny all day yesterday and we watched as he
spent literally the whole day leaping about in the fields above spots
where he could obviously detect moles! 7pm last night he came in
utterly zonked!

Eddy.

honeybunch wrote:
I think youre on to something here with the new detergent. I dont
think you live in the USA but you must have similar detergents to our
Free and Clear detergents. Its really something to watch out for with
pets and also for ourselves. Sad that Puss' twin brother had a
malformed heart. One never knows. House cats are blessings that are
only with us all too briefly.

Honeybunch, this is my second reply to the above. The first one somehow
didn't make it to the server - timed-out or something. So this one will
be brief.

Yes, am sure your US and our UK detergents are the same. The
multinationals are quick to profit from their new formulas. And of
course these days they put all sorts of chemicals in them in order to
produce that whiter wash.

We've bought a brand called "Ecover" - environmentally friendly (and
pricey). There's a better line called Surcare, with absolutely no
"parfum" at all but the supermarket was out of stock. So we'll see how
it goes.

Eddy.

Rene wrote:

I agree with Bill's suggestion. Also, what kind of home cleansers or
air fresheners do you use? I've will use only certain things,
especially floors, where cats' faces are much closer to than ours. I
will use natural cleansers like vinegar or baking soda.

Does anyone in the household smoke? Secondhand smoke is bad for
asthmatic cats (and all people, for that matter).

Hi Rene. Carpets vacuumed with no sprays or powders, and the wooden
floors are vacuumed and wiped over with warm water only. And we use no
air fresheners. No smokers in the house either.

Have wondered about his cat food though. He long ago made it clear he
will eat only one brand! But surely a cat-food wouldn't cause asthma,
would it?

Eddy.

Eddy wrote:
Bill Graham wrote:
If he is an "inside cat", you may be able to help him (and yourself)
with an air filtration device. There are several on the market that
sit in the middle of the room and clean the air by recycling it
continuously through filters and high-voltage plates that attract
dust particles out of the air that passes through them.
Unfortunately, all my cats are outside cats, so they have to depend
on we humans to not contaminate the air with foreign substances.
This Summer, I had my favorite cat die from getting a dose of,
"Round-Up" weed killer from a neighbor's lawn treatment. - Just one
of a dozen or so hazards to outside cats......

Hi Bill.

We're in the country - fields, sheep, cows, a stream, tractors, and
more than voles and rabbits than a cat can cope with!

Your "Round-Up" reference alerts me!

I haven't used any round this place for several months although I will
have to again, in the next few weeks. (I always keep him locked
inside while I do it late afternoon and he only regains his freedom
the next morning.) But how did your cat die of the Round-Up? I
mean, how did he ingest it or absorb it?

Now you're making me wrack my brain for anything else round about this
property that might be responsible but can't think of a thing. We
have quite a range of ornamental plants in the garden. Never seen him
nibbling any one of these in particular but it could be that he is.

The only problem we have here is that since his brother died he's been
trekking a quarter of a mile each day to play with a neighbour's cats
and unfortunately that neighbout thinks very little of cats. He and
his wife keep three large dogs which they adore and keep inside and
groom and mollycoddle, but the cats are kept semi-feral outdoors just
to keep down the voles and rabbits! Food is put down for them in the
garage and they can sleep in there at night in the midst of winter.
Anyway our lad developed a serious respiratory infection about two
months ago, with one nostril oozing fluid which eventually became
green fluid, so the vet put him on antibiotics for five days and the
condition cleared. She thought he may have caught cat-flu or
possibly Feline Chlamydophila (formerly known as Chlamydia). We
can't stop him from going up there for the company and of course we
can't command the neighbour to start loving his cats and showing them
some respect. But it's possible that he's reacting to something up
at the property rather than round here.

Having said that, it was sunny all day yesterday and we watched as he
spent literally the whole day leaping about in the fields above spots
where he could obviously detect moles! 7pm last night he came in
utterly zonked!

Eddy.

We feed squirrls, raccoons, a couple of possums and birds. After my neighbor
used the Round-up,The raccoons and possums disappeared for about a month. A
37-1/2 pound bag of dog kibbles that we used to buy every month, has lasted
over three months now. That Round up killed off half the wild life within
about a mile radius of us! My wife researched it on the internet, and found
out that it is notorious for killing pets and other animals. And they have
the nerve to advertise that it's, "Safe around pets".

Eddy wrote:
honeybunch wrote:
I think youre on to something here with the new detergent. I dont
think you live in the USA but you must have similar detergents to our
Free and Clear detergents. Its really something to watch out for
with pets and also for ourselves. Sad that Puss' twin brother had a
malformed heart. One never knows. House cats are blessings that are
only with us all too briefly.

Honeybunch, this is my second reply to the above. The first one
somehow didn't make it to the server - timed-out or something. So
this one will be brief.

Yes, am sure your US and our UK detergents are the same. The
multinationals are quick to profit from their new formulas. And of
course these days they put all sorts of chemicals in them in order to
produce that whiter wash.

We've bought a brand called "Ecover" - environmentally friendly (and
pricey). There's a better line called Surcare, with absolutely no
"parfum" at all but the supermarket was out of stock. So we'll see
how it goes.

Eddy.

About thirty years ago, I had a student from Israel swtaying at my house. He
was working as a Physicist at our project (SLAC) for the Summer. He was
amazed at how long milk would keep in my fridge.He said that in Israel, milk
would only keep two or three days, and here, it would keep for two weeks. I
asked him whether they pasteurized and homogenized it there, and he said,
"Oh yes. Certainly". So, the only conclusion I could draw was that we feed
hormones to our cows that preserve our milk for an unuswually long period of
time. Either that, or we put preservatives in the milk, and don't say it on
the outside of the cartons. Just another good excuse for drinking beer, I
guess....:^)

Have wondered about his cat food though. *He long ago made it clear he
will eat only one brand! *But surely a cat-food wouldn't cause asthma,
would it?


A food could have an ingredient(s) that causes an allergy (like
humans). Many times, cat allergies manifest themselves as skin issues
(scratching, sores, etc.) or something more direct like vomiting. If
he eats only one brand, the manufacturer could have changed one thing
about the food that now bothers him.

Bill Graham wrote:

About thirty years ago, I had a student from Israel swtaying at my
house. He was working as a Physicist at our project (SLAC) for the
Summer. He was amazed at how long milk would keep in my fridge.He said
that in Israel, milk would only keep two or three days, and here, it
would keep for two weeks. I asked him whether they pasteurized and
homogenized it there, and he said, "Oh yes. Certainly". So, the only
conclusion I could draw was that we feed hormones to our cows that
preserve our milk for an unuswually long period of time. Either that, or
we put preservatives in the milk, and don't say it on the outside of the
cartons.

I noticed the same. That's why back home we always boiled the milk before using
it, even though it was pasteurized (and homogenized, I guess, since cream did not
form on it until after boiling).


Just another good excuse for drinking beer, I guess....:^)

This reminds me of the following verse:

"There are many reasons for drinking,
but one has just entered my head:
If a man cannot drink when he's living,
how the hell can he drink when he's dead?"

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
*
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.

Patok wrote:
Bill Graham wrote:

About thirty years ago, I had a student from Israel swtaying at my
house. He was working as a Physicist at our project (SLAC) for the
Summer. He was amazed at how long milk would keep in my fridge.He
said that in Israel, milk would only keep two or three days, and
here, it would keep for two weeks. I asked him whether they
pasteurized and homogenized it there, and he said, "Oh yes.
Certainly". So, the only conclusion I could draw was that we feed
hormones to our cows that preserve our milk for an unuswually long
period of time. Either that, or we put preservatives in the milk,
and don't say it on the outside of the cartons.

I noticed the same. That's why back home we always boiled the milk
before using it, even though it was pasteurized (and homogenized, I
guess, since cream did not form on it until after boiling).

Unfortunately, boiling it may not change the chemicals or hormones that are
in it via the cow, so you may still be ingesting them. If there were some
way of removing those hormones, then someone would do it, and market hormone
free milk. The same thing is true of flurodated water. It doesn't just treat
the water, but also the teeth of someone's children. Us conservatives think
that they should go to the drugstore and buy their own childrens medicine to
treat their teeth, and not put their medicine in my drinking water. It may
not hurt me. (It probably doesn't) But its the principal of it that we
object to. We just want pure, clean, not-screwed-with drinking water. By the
same token, I want pure hormone-free milk. If they can't remove it, then
they shouldn't put it in the milk. And putting it in the cow is really the
same thing.



Just another good excuse for drinking beer, I guess....:^)

This reminds me of the following verse:

"There are many reasons for drinking,
but one has just entered my head:
If a man cannot drink when he's living,
how the hell can he drink when he's dead?"

Eddy wrote:

But surely a cat-food wouldn't cause asthma,
would it?

In my own experience, and that of the many who report on the Yahoo
groups Feline_Asthma and FelineAsthma_InhaledMeds -- no.

Before I discovered that cats could be treated with inhaled medications
-- while Will was still inadequately controlled by two-monthly
injections of depo medrol -- his vet and I tried everything, including
two different trials of novel-protein, limited-ingredient food. His
asthma was unaffected. Others have reported the same.

It's not unusual for an asthmatic cat to *have* allergies to food. Will
does. Asthma is an immune-function disease, and those cats who have it
probably have other allergic reactions at higher than average rates. But
the allergens that are specific to asthma seem to be all airborne.
--

Wayne M.

Wayne Mitchell wrote:
Eddy wrote:

But surely a cat-food wouldn't cause asthma,
would it?

In my own experience, and that of the many who report on the Yahoo
groups Feline_Asthma and FelineAsthma_InhaledMeds -- no.

Before I discovered that cats could be treated with inhaled
medications -- while Will was still inadequately controlled by
two-monthly injections of depo medrol -- his vet and I tried
everything, including two different trials of novel-protein,
limited-ingredient food. His asthma was unaffected. Others have
reported the same.

It's not unusual for an asthmatic cat to *have* allergies to food.
Will does. Asthma is an immune-function disease, and those cats who
have it probably have other allergic reactions at higher than average
rates. But the allergens that are specific to asthma seem to be all
airborne.

Yes, and food allergies can cause swelling in the air passageways and
broncial tubes. Right now, I am worried about a problem I have had about
three or four times in the past. I eat something that causes my upper lip to
swell up for an hour or so. /Since I play the trumpet in a couple of bands,
this is disasterous, because when it happens, I can't get a sound out of the
instrument at all. The other day it happened after I ate some artificial
maple syrup. Since I didn't have anything else, (it was the first thing I
had in the morning) I suspect either the artificial flavoring or a
preservative in the syrup. So I am beginning to narrow it down. But God
only knows what they put in cat food. I'm not sure they even have to list
the ingredients on the package.