I simply had to run a bag of kitteh poo to the vet in the snow before breakfast, but hey, it’s far ahead of yesterday.
[Shu came to us with passengers. We’re on the road toward fixing the problem.]
I simply had to run a bag of kitteh poo to the vet in the snow before breakfast, but hey, it’s far ahead of yesterday.
[Shu came to us with passengers. We’re on the road toward fixing the problem.]
If you didn’t know this already:
If it’s tapeworm, it’s spread by fleas, so you’ll have to get rid of any fleas.
A small reminder–flea eggs can hatch in the vacuum cleaner bag. The next time you vacuum, throw the bag out, even if you just changed it.
A quick trick to suppress any eggs that want to hatch in your vacuum bag is to preload a little bit of moth crystals into the vacuum as a preemptive strike. The only downside is that the exhaust air from the vacuum will have a fair tinge of “eau de mothball”.
Nope, that’s the only one he DIDN’T have—but fortunately these hothouse cats don’t even know what flea meds are, let alone fleas or ticks. Very hothouse cats. π
Awww, poor thing. Well, everything will hopefully be cleared up in a month or so.
:: Laughing :: You know, it’s pretty bad when running a bag of kitty poo to the vet’s for analysis is actually better than the prior day. :: Laughing ::
Best Wishes to you and Jane and Shu-chan and Sei-chan.
Smokey, the little guy who looks a lot like Eushu, has passed his second birthday, date unknown, and is fast approaching the date (not remembered exactly, but between Christmas and a couple of days after New Year’s, when he was rescued and brought to me. He’ll be all of two years old. (The vet had said he was tiny, but somewhere between six and as many as eight weeks old when I got him, and truly tiny.)
So, best wishes from Smokey to Shu-chan for getting rid of those nasty internal passengers.
With all the rannygazoo and carry-on you had to deal with yesterday, having to run a bag of kitty poop to the vet was practically a gimme win. My Stormie (who is currently sleeping between my knees — a popular cold-weather kitty hangout), was the hand-reared only survivor of an abandoned litter, and obviously had some immune issues early on due to lack of mother’s milk — (she got a horrendous case of ringworm, for one). We got the usual deworming goo, which took care of the usual suspects, but that did not take care of the Giardia infection and the resulting diarrhea — she lost 2 oz in one day — terrifying because she only weighed 16 oz at the time. But we got her over the Giardia, and got her through the ringworm. She has continued to be on the petite side (I like the term “gracile” — describes her perfectly) but my baby girl has thrived in the 7+ years she’s been on the payroll.
Hopefully, you will not need to make any more “Shu-poo” runs.
Ah yes, I’m going to have to take Beekle to the vet for a beak clip either this or next week. Get him a trim for Christmas π
For the past few years it’s grown faster during the darker months. At first I thought it might be liver failure but the vet says it probably isn’t since it’s seasonal. May just be hormonal. Anyway another opportunity for him to startle dogs by whistling at them and maybe even tell the vet she’s a ploppy bottom π
We had fleas and the resulting problems for the first time in ten years due to mice getting into the house and the kittehs doing their job. Just about cleared up now, but Dr. Mike warned us that it would take months rather than weeks. It’s always sumpthin’. π
If you get fleas in the house from an outside source, my vet gave me, well, sold me, a can of Knockout ES, which contains metheprene. It mimics the growth hormone in the flea and will prevent eggs from hatching, larvae from pupating, pupa from becoming adult, and renders adult fleas sterile. Best of all, you spray it where the cat likes to hide, rest, nest, etc., and the spray lasts for a good month. The life cycle of the flea is 2 weeks, I believe, so any eggs that got missed stand a chance of the resulting flea becoming sterile if it comes in contact with the spray. You don’t put it on the cat, though!
Ooo…that’s good to know. Haven’t seemed to have much trouble, for all the gardening. I think maybe fleas prefer grasses, but I’m not sure.
This was giardia, and I think he’s been harboring them since he arrived. He had a bout with other parasites early on, but continued to have problems, which we are happy to know are the result of something real rather than a chronic tummy-problem. For a while, we had the whole household on meds for it! π
Sooper-Shu kisses are dangerous things.
Our new rescue kitten came with fleas/2 types of worms/Respiratory Infection and Fungi. We cured every thing but the fungi before she gave it to us. Her and us are now undergoing ringworm treatment π
@Joe….thanks for reminding me. I just went and found my can of the stuff! π
Fleas aren’t the only vector for tapeworm. Lice can carry tapeworm, are common, less often diagnosed, and often immune to the poisons used to eliminate fleas. Been there….done that…but with dogs rather than cats.
Update: Sooper-Shu’s report came through clean, but these suckers are insidious, so we’ll probably test him again in a couple of weeks. Want to make sure we get them!
For all the problems, I can’t say he’s dropped an ounce! I think he inhales calories, because he’s very active and we DO NOT overfeed him! WAH!
But he’s also off the steriods they had him on for tummy troubles. That should help all our nerves!
That’s very good news. Shu-chan probably appreciates it even more than y’all. π
We have learned the hard way that cats off the street (our beloved Mr. Cat) can carry flea-borne parasites (hemobartonella, for example) for years before they get sick. If you have a cat that at any time had serious fleas, and his appetite drops, take him to the vet for a check. We nearly lost Mr. Cat and are still struggling with the meds (tetracyline! ew!) and associated Cat On Long Term Antibiotic issues.
Thanks for the heads-up.
One thing that made our bout with meds really a walk in the park is a product called Greenies Pill Pockets, a highly sugared (one suspects) confection with a hollow spot for a pill. Our cats beg for meds!
Alas, no pills for Mr. Cat. In any case, cats can’t taste sugar, but those pill pocket things smell/feel greasy and pungent to me, and they are great, we are using them to tempt Mr. Cat to consumption. His meds are a nasty mix of tetracyline, horribly bitter. I slurry 2cc or tetra (already diluted) with some watery-ish baby food (3 cc or more) so that he doesn’t foam green at the mouth and violently eject the stuff. Husband gave Mr. Cat some insufficiently obfuscated meds this morning only to have him heave and run around howling… *sigh* Speaking of which it’s time to go do that again!