OUR LATEEST NEW FELINE FREIND

none wrote:
Great photos and such beautiful cats! What camera are you using?

Thank you very much.I love them so I am blind to their bad points;they
do say that love is blind....

I just had to go and grab the camera to have a look-It is a samsung
Digimax A503 5million mega pixel.I wanted a bigger more powerful with
go faster stripes ect,but I couldn't afford one,so we ended up with
that one.I was a bit miffed to start with,but the more that I use it,
the better I like it-It just goes to show that I din't need one of the
bigger ones after all,did I?

I admire your kindness in caring for all these animals. I'm so paranoid
already about animal illnesses (after dealing with it for awhile) that I
would have quarantined that beautiful orange tabby if I discovered the
fleas and before I took him to the vet.

That is exactly what I should have done, but we had a look at him 1st
& allowed him to have a feed and a waddle around the cat bowl....
I don't normally allow them in...Ringo caught me by suprise & good old
fashioned guile..!
If anyone in appear's @ the public feeding bowl ,who seems in need of
help, we usual work as a herd(family!), & entrap them into our little
cat extension.It's a bit like a holding bay(it's like a veranda with
patio doors so that they can see outside yet be inside,especially in
the winter.) ...where we can keep them warm,feed them & let them settle
down for a while before going in & taking a look to see if we can see
what the problem is.

How can you be sure your other cats didn't catch some fleas from him?

*I can't*... is the short answer to that one-He slipped past me,had a
sumptuous meal &I looked at him whilst he was eating & discovered the
flea excriment inside his furr coat.The moment I saw it, we
stronghold'ed him immediately.I was lucky that he was freindly & hungry
enough to allow me to really.
With so many cats around, I had the carpet's & flooring treated by our
local authority pest control dept, quite recently.In England, you can
get them to come out & treat your whole house including your soft
furnishings too.They charge by the hour,but it still works out cheaper
to get them in, than It does to buy product's that may, or may not
work-this method is a tried & tested one by us & we know that it
works-all eggs/fleas die on contact &with all cats treated with
stronghold, none of the live fleas live either.
I'm so paranoid
already about animal illnesses.

I hope that I don't regret it tooI allowed him to sleep on that chair
for the evening, but transfered him to the cat veranda that night.
We had a case of ringworm recently, So I appreciate exactly what you
mean!!It came as an added extra with Tiggie & frightened the life out
of me.
I came here to get a possible diagnosis, because I had already taken
her to see a locum vet who told me that she had eczma?!!The group was
spot on tho...after a look under a woods lamp, she lit up like an xmas
tree.
Ringo was checked out for it today too,but thankfully no problems there
so far.He is isolated now,but I fear that if he did have anything
viral-I might live to regret it...It is a fatal error on my part,but we
all got so caught up in the moment with excitment, that *It is
possible*.I pray not though...You would think I would learn,eh? I spent
most of the afternoon going through him with a flea comb, which he
seemed to appreciate-I guess it saved him the trouble of grooming-He is
soooo friendly
Do you mind my asking what horrible lurgy you got caught out with?It is
always interesting to know what possible hazzards there might be that I
am not aware of yet...I seem to learn something new here every day I
drop by, which is a good thing.

I hope that I am answering in the correct format?If not, can someone
tell me where I am going wrong & how to correct it please?Thanks a buch
S.

on Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:52:16 GMT, "sheelagh"
wrote:

I hope that I am answering in the correct format?If not, can someone
tell me where I am going wrong & how to correct it please?Thanks a buch

Sheelagh, you are doing just fine!

As to letting Ringo in, I probably would have done the same and kicked
myself later. I let little Levi around my Rudy before he saw the vet, too.
H turned out to have a URI, eye infection and herpes. I did keep them
apart after the 2nd day for a week, though by then it was too late.
Thankfully Rudy is very healthy and didn't catch anything, though my dog
caught the eye infection (easily treated). So don't beat yourself up or
worry, what's done is done. Since Ringo was probably well loved until his
previous person died, he probably had proper medical care.

He must be so grateful to have a warm, dry and safe place to rest his head,
ample food, and a human who will comb him and pet him and make a fuss over
him. What a wonderful find for you! (And I'm still so tickled that you
named him Ringo

--
Lynne

http://picasaweb.google.com/what.the.hell.is.it/

wrote:



.Considering a recent ringworm problem

How did you spot the fleas and what were the symptoms of ringworm?

I noticed the flea excriment in his furr as I stroked him & headed
straight for my little bag of tricks for a disposable head lice comb-
Sure enough as soon as I dragged it through his furr, there they were
trying to hop of him & the comb too, fleeing (excuse the unintended
punn!!)
I keep a pot of warm water to hand & dip it straight into the water so
that they don't get much of a chance to hop off & try embedding
themselves into either soft furnishings or anyone else's furr.Whilst he
ate in the kitchen we let him be & then allowed the girls to have a
quick sniff of him.After a quick whiff, we let them out into their area
& put him in the cat pad on the supa~ doopa chair he seems to like so
much until he asked to go out this morning.I let him out into the
garden, & he headed straight back in for his breakfast..then off to the
vets we went.
It's so hard to catch. Even cats who you think might have ringworm test
negative for it and it's something else.

This was my first experience of ringworm, so I am not the best person
to advise you on this one.
However,In our case this time, I had just been to collect her from a
breeder who had given up breeding & was looking for a home for her.On
the day that we collected her, I noticed that she had little patches on
skin under her furr that *felt rough & a little bit scabby*.When I
asked the breeder why & what it was that made feel like that under her
lovely coat, she told me that it was an allergy to fleas,ticks & house
mites, with central heating just been turned on-That she was used to
being kept outside &that it would pass in a few days or so once she got
used to being indoors again(I am certain I must have *MUG* Printed on
my forehead!!!!).
Unfortunately,She failed to mention that she had been kept outside in a
rabbit run ,until after I got her home and rang her some days later
(out of concern),when it appeared to be getting worse, not
better(.Having never had any similar problems to this one, I was
stummped,but quarantined her for good measure as I was certain that
there was something amiss....
I took her to my local vet surgery & told him all the history that I
was given regarding her, & the locum vet agreed with the diagnosis-It
was eczma,gave me some science plan &some lotion to apply & wash her
with too.
By 3days later, she was incessantly nibbeling at her self & nearly
ripping out her furr with agrivation & I was @ a loss as to what to
do.. so I had a quick look on the internet to see if I could find
*anything symilar*...& fell on to* this site*.I asked the group what
they thought that it might be, & within minutes I was swampped with
quite a few people asking if it might be ringworm!I honestly couldn't
believe it & was reluctant to take her back to the same vet-who likes
telling the vet they could be wrong??!
Nevertheless, I thought about the alternatives & it didn't take me too
long to see that I had to just that(my own vet was in australia @ the
time .
By this time,Tiggs was almost scabby & I even considered the possiblity
that it could have been mange.
I was advised to ask if the vet thought that it might be apropriate to
have a look @ her under a woods lamp & consider the poss it could be
Ringworm... & sure enough, Tiggs lit up like an xmas tree;she went
bright green under the lamp!!!!We had bloods done @ that point to
support diagnosis.
I brought her home, then had to go back with the rest of the crew that
might have come into contact with her..none of them seemed to have it,
but around a week later,Lilly started to get the same scaly/crusty
lessions-only around 2of them;but two too many.
By this stage I was cleaning the house from top to bottom with the same
stuff that was used in the foot & mouth crisis in uk recently to kill
all of the spores & also sporal d to eliminate the rest of it on the
cats.Lilly was the only feline to contract it & we had a few weeks of
great fun washing down some very unhappy moggies.Meeee was an excellent
support to me having gone through a symilar outbreak herself.I think
that it did help that we don't have the same humid climate that she
has.
All cats have been clear now for a matter of several weeks now & we
keep testing(bloods and woods lamp too), every week for another 3more
weeks to ensure that we have entirely knocked it on the head...all the
signs are very encouraging-but we still have Tiggs appart from all of
the others & Lilly is most unimpressed at being confined too-but after
that horrible time,I would rather be safe than sorry again.Very
expensive error too!

what were the symptoms of ringworm

First sign was the scaly skin, then very shortly afterwards, you could
see the dark lessions/ circles if you parted the furr on her hind left
leg & one on her back too.Nibbeling at herself all of the time,unable
to stop herself(until she had a lampshade fitted to stop her!)-furr
pulling,generally looking out of sorts,off her food slightly-but
immensly better now as you can see in photos of her)
Worth mentioning that we had to be given precautionary treatment too as
it cross's species as well.
Very hard intensive treatment, not funny & a little hard to fogive-I
failed to see how breeder didn't know, & on contacting another who took
6bengalli cats from her to rehome,I found out that they all had it too
& to a far worse degree than we did.
I think meeee could advise you far better than I could & she was a huge
support too.
S.

wrote:

I hope that I am answering in the correct format?If not, can someone
tell me where I am going wrong & how to correct it please?Thanks a buch

Sheelagh, you are doing just fine!
Thank goodness for that,lol!

As to letting Ringo in, I probably would have done the same and kicked
myself later. I let little Levi around my Rudy before he saw the vet, too.
H turned out to have a URI, eye infection and herpes. I did keep them
apart after the 2nd day for a week, though by then it was too late.
Thankfully Rudy is very healthy and didn't catch anything, though my dog
caught the eye infection (easily treated). So don't beat yourself up or
worry, what's done is done. Since Ringo was probably well loved until his
previous person died, he probably had proper medical care.
Picassa photos
OH....wow Lynne!!!!This is the first time that I have actually seen
Levi &Ruddy.I have often seen you talking about them & I have to say
that they are really smashing indeed.Now I see why you were commenting
on Ringo too...Ruddy looks like quite a big cat,is he?I also wondered
how long you have had them both?Rudy looks like the cat that got to the
cream lol!I bet you get loads of entertainment out of the pair of
them...who needs day time Tv I ask you?!!!
I am so glad that I am not the only one that doesn't have exceptional
forethought, as I do feel a bit like beating myself up over not
thinking 1st, & allowing my heart to overide my common sense here

He must be so grateful to have a warm, dry and safe place to rest his head,
ample food, and a human who will comb him and pet him and make a fuss over
him. What a wonderful find for you! (And I'm still so tickled that you
named him Ringo
He seems to be over the moon & despite photo mug shots of him all over
our village, no one has claimed him as yet either.I want to feel bad,
yet can't help feeling glad.....


As for Levi...well words escape me...he is sooooo cute, isn't he? Am I
guessing right that you got them both from the shelter too?Was it at
the same time, or on two seperate occasions?The reason I ask is because
they seem ever so close despite playing "Bat n Kill" & the super photo
of Levis doing the "dying fly act" on the chair.I also particularly
enjoyed the huge wide yawn photo as well.He looks a right little
charactor...

We had a very similar cat that used to come and visit us who looked
ever so much like him, but she was a little girl that we called
Gracie.They both look like they have a bit of royal russian in them,
don't they?(Russian Blue or even the chatreaux perhaps?).Very close eye
colouring,similar paw colouring & the wonderful bunny soft furr too...
I saved a couple of them to send on to my daughter by e-mail today,as
I'm more than certain she would love to see him.She was heartbroken
when we homed her(& I felt so cruel @ the time), but it was for the
best & she now agree's it was the right thing to do now that she has
seen her lying on the hearth rug at her new owner's fire side.It is
Katie's 21st birthday today....It makes me feel so old...&emotional
too.She is @ University until the 18th so it will be good to see her
then.
Thank you very much for sharing the photos btw)
S.

on Thu, 14 Dec 2006 15:04:33 GMT, "sheelagh"
wrote:

As for Levi...well words escape me...he is sooooo cute, isn't he? Am I
guessing right that you got them both from the shelter too?Was it at
the same time, or on two seperate occasions?The reason I ask is because
they seem ever so close despite playing "Bat n Kill" & the super photo
of Levis doing the "dying fly act" on the chair.I also particularly
enjoyed the huge wide yawn photo as well.He looks a right little
charactor...

They were both ferals, found in the woods by friends who own a Bed &
Breakfast, www.torrentfalls.com
I got Rudy in February of 2003 and Levi just a few months ago. Rudy loves
everyone, dog, cat, people, and Levi is a ball of fun.

Rudy is a big boy, and I think Levi will be as well. Rudy needs to lose
some fat though... I should have named him Piggy.

Levi has an unusual bone structure in his face, which is very well defined
and narrow. He almost reminds me of a siamese in that way. At first we
thought he might be a Russian Blue, but he definitely has tabby stripes.
They show up much better in photos than in person, where you can hardly see
them. I really have no idea what his lineage might be, but it's fun to
guess!

My friends found Levi and 2 other kittens when they were just a few days
old and quickly determined they had been abandoned by their mother. Their
daughters hand raised Levi and his littermates. When they were 4 weeks
old, several of us (all rock climbers) adopted them. He's been a great
addition to the household! Looking at your photos makes me want to get
more more more! but I'm probably going to just stick to 2 cats. I think I
will foster a kitty in the Spring, though, for a local rescue which is
absolutely overrun with cats.

--
Lynne