Charlie is not doing well...

He started weezing and his nose is all stuffed up. I brought him to the
vet again this AM. He was given more IV fluids, another antibiotic for
a week and some drops for his nose and eyes. The vet said it doesn't
look good. He is a frail, weak kitty. I am going to try to get him to
eat some mushy food. I tried canned tuna today and he didn't want any.
He is still peeing and has the diareeha. Please say a prayer for my
kitty!!

I don't know what to think about shelters. If something bad happens
again, I will be devestated and will not adopt a shelter animal again.

Megan

What if you try giving him baby food? My little guy who is a very picky
eater is on medication and I have been putting it in baby food and he is
lapping it up.

I had a similar experience with one of my cats that I adopted from a shelter.
After I had him for about a week, he began sneezing constantly to the point
where I came home from work one day and there was blood everywhere due to the
fact that he had burst a blood vessel in his nose. So, off to the vet we
went the next day (I was told that it could wait until the morning when I
called the emergency vet) and I was told that he had an upper respitory (sp)
infection and that he was actually older than what the shelter told me. I
was told that he was 6 months by the shelter and the vet told me that he was
well over a year. The age itself did not bother me as I wanted to adopt an
adult, but the point that they would lie about it was frustrating. The vet
told me that they see sick animals that are adopted from shelters all the
time. The actual experience made me want to go back to shelters to adopt
though being that I know that I can help these animals that obviously need it.


Good luck with Charlie and let us know how everything turns out.

A&A's Mama wrote:
He started weezing and his nose is all stuffed up. I brought him to the
vet again this AM. He was given more IV fluids, another antibiotic for
a week and some drops for his nose and eyes. The vet said it doesn't
look good. He is a frail, weak kitty. I am going to try to get him to
eat some mushy food. I tried canned tuna today and he didn't want any.
He is still peeing and has the diareeha. Please say a prayer for my
kitty!!

I don't know what to think about shelters. If something bad happens
again, I will be devestated and will not adopt a shelter animal again.

Megan

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200611/1

Hi Megan,

I've heard that Fancy Feast will get some cats to eat. When mine aren't
feeling well I give them turkey or chicken baby food or boiled chicken
breast (that one is a fav!). The last time one of mine didn't feel well due
to stomach upset and wouldn't eat the IV fluids kicked in his appetite. He
hadn't eaten in almost three days and that's not good for cats. If you boil
the chicken breast try to get him to drink some of the broth. That will at
least have some nutrients in it for him. Let him know you love him and you
want him to stay

Sending prayers for Charlie to get through this,

Stacey

"A&A's Mama" wrote in message
oups.com...
He started weezing and his nose is all stuffed up. I brought him to the
vet again this AM. He was given more IV fluids, another antibiotic for
a week and some drops for his nose and eyes. The vet said it doesn't
look good. He is a frail, weak kitty. I am going to try to get him to
eat some mushy food. I tried canned tuna today and he didn't want any.
He is still peeing and has the diareeha. Please say a prayer for my
kitty!!

I don't know what to think about shelters. If something bad happens
again, I will be devestated and will not adopt a shelter animal again.

Megan

"A&A's Mama" wrote

I don't know what to think about shelters. If something bad happens
again, I will be devestated and will not adopt a shelter animal again.


Megan.

What makes you think being a "shelter animal" has anything to do
with Charlie's problems? Breeders often have cats all packed in
to a small space and they have the same problems PLUS they are
BREEDING cats when millions are euthanized because they are
unwanted. Alleycats, or strays that have not been rescued by a
shelter would have the same risk of herpes and a greater risk
of other, much worse problems than UTI.

I was getting ready to offer sympathy for Charlie's problem,
and I do sympathize, but I find your comment about shelters
upsetting.

"MoMo via CatKB.com" u27647@uwe wrote
I
was told that he was 6 months by the shelter and the vet told me that he
was
well over a year. The age itself did not bother me as I wanted to adopt
an
adult, but the point that they would lie about it was frustrating.

Maybe they just made a mistake.

Anyway, a young adult cat might be stronger than a small kitten and have
larger
passages, and so would probably be more inclined to survive a UTI with
treatment. It's just a bad cold when it comes down to it.

I prefer adult shelter cats. Everyone wants kittens, it seems. So the adults
languish at no-kill shelters or are euthanized.

When you adopt an adult cat that has been in a shelter for some months,
you get a cat with excellent toilet habits, and who is otherwise a known
quantity because the staff has had time to observe if he is good with
children and other people, if he likes other animals or would prefer
to be an only cat, if he has any health problems, that sort of thing.

And you don't have to worry about him climbing the curtains,
etc. I would not trade the cat I adopted at age one or two
from a shelter six years ago for anything in the world.

The vet
told me that they see sick animals that are adopted from shelters all the
time. The actual experience made me want to go back to shelters to adopt
though being that I know that I can help these animals that obviously need
it.


Bless you. I will always adopt from shelters, though I still have not gotten
over the experience of seeing all those beautiful animals, each wanting me
to
take HIM home. It broke my heart. And I could not get one person among
my friends and family to go adopt one even though I offered to pay the fee
for two. Not one. (Which is when I actually began mistrusting people who
do not like cats. Likely the first sign of Clinical Cat Eccentricity, lol!)

All those cats, all of them lovely and deserving of a home. Then multiply
that
by thousands of rooms and pounds just like that, and it is overwhelming.

(Our species domesticated them, after all. They are not meant to be wild.)

cybercat wrote:
"A&A's Mama" wrote

I don't know what to think about shelters. If something bad happens
again, I will be devestated and will not adopt a shelter animal again.


Megan.

What makes you think being a "shelter animal" has anything to do
with Charlie's problems? Breeders often have cats all packed in
to a small space and they have the same problems PLUS they are
BREEDING cats when millions are euthanized because they are
unwanted. Alleycats, or strays that have not been rescued by a
shelter would have the same risk of herpes and a greater risk
of other, much worse problems than UTI.

I was getting ready to offer sympathy for Charlie's problem,
and I do sympathize, but I find your comment about shelters
upsetting.



Cybercat,

I am sorry that my comment upset you. I have adopted 2 kitten in less
than 2 mos. from my local SPCA. One has died and one is very sick. I
will be beyond devestated and heartbroken if something happens to
Charlie. I did a good thing by adopting from a shelter, but I am
feeling very burned right now.

Thanks to everyone's good thoughts and suggestions. I have bought some
Fancy Feast, some baby food and some Whiskas cat milk. He's not eating
it himself, but I am feeding him off my finger and I am trying to get
some liquid into him with a medicine dropper.

Please, please send good thoughts this way!

Megan

A&A's Mama wrote:

Thanks to everyone's good thoughts and suggestions. I have bought some
Fancy Feast, some baby food and some Whiskas cat milk. He's not eating
it himself, but I am feeding him off my finger and I am trying to get
some liquid into him with a medicine dropper.

Please, please send good thoughts this way!

Megan, I'm sending good thoughts for Charlie.

I have syringe-fed cats a couple of times and if you have a blender --
it works well to mix wet food and a little water together and then use a
syringe to squirt in the mouth. You do have to be a little careful that
you don't squirt it too forcefully down their throats and get it in the
windpipe.

I thought the cats would hate it. They did struggle at first, but as
they felt better with more food in their system they would start to purr
when they saw the syringe, even though they still weren't eating on
their own.

Hope Charlie perks up soon,

Rhonda

"A&A's Mama" wrote:

Thanks to everyone's good thoughts and suggestions. I have bought some
Fancy Feast, some baby food and some Whiskas cat milk

I don't know if anyone mentioned this but make sure the baby food does
not contain onion as it is toxic to cats.

-mhd

wrote:
"A&A's Mama" wrote:

Thanks to everyone's good thoughts and suggestions. I have bought some
Fancy Feast, some baby food and some Whiskas cat milk

I don't know if anyone mentioned this but make sure the baby food does
not contain onion as it is toxic to cats.

-mhd

I did not know that. I will have to look. I bought him chicken and
rice. I ended up bringing him to the emergency animal hospital. I was
just so scared. They assured me that he looks and sounds sicker than he
actually is. They even said that they didn't recommend a chest x-ray at
this point, b/c they don't feel it's a lung issue right now. So, we
were told to keep up the antibiotics. When we got home, we got some
baby food in him via syringe and also from our fingers. He's now
sleeping in the steamy bathroom.

Megan

A&A's Mama wrote:

I don't know what to think about shelters. If something bad happens
again, I will be devestated and will not adopt a shelter animal again.


Hi, I read your other posts on the subject of shelters, about the one
dying and the one that is sick.

How old is Charlie, I haven't been keeping up with every post like I
used to
I do wish your Charlie well, hows it going?

Far as shelters, Im sure wellness in shelter cats can vary widely

it's amazing! you would think us humans would have a good grasp on the
concept of sterility and air-borne germs etc... its no put down to
volunteers and shelters abroad, I am grateful for them all! but... in
comparison, think about how many folk die of staph infection in
hospitols.. drug resistant germs...

I'm sure there is a protocol for handling sickly cats, yet... lets be
honest
it is very tedious and difficult and a REAL CHALLENGE to quarantine
germs.
VERY HARD... no not impossible, but in practice.. it only takes on lazy
ass
volunteer to spread some bad **** around the compound if you know what
I mean

in practice I mean...

I know this to be true because it is easy to see how often humans ****
up on humans
(in hospitols)...

so! why would I expect shelter workers to be any more diligent with
cats? I don't
and they are not and your testimony is living proof of that fact

furthermore

we should

make a nationwide law! every dog and cat in a shelter, who is not
claimed by it's owner in 10 days, SHALL BE PUT DOWN WITHOUT EXCEPTION

there is no pain in their dying

a life not lived is a life not missed

best to you and your Charlie