inkedgrrrl

Hi,

My cat (2yo neutered male) has a limp tail. There are no visible signs of injury (no swelling, no wounds, no 'heat', no lumps or bumps) but he does sometimes give you a swipe if you touch it.

We recently moved house, and have been in the new place for 5 weeks now. Our new house is on a farm where dogs run freely, and we have only just started letting the cats outside (fully supervised by us, and only when we are sure that the dogs are inside). However, a few nights ago one of the dogs escaped and chased the male cat back into the house, although they didn't actually make contact, and a couple of nights after that, he fell into the pond (never seen one of those before!) so has had a few 'stressful' nights so to speak.

We haven't registered with a new vet yet as they all had their annual check and vaccinations a couple of days before we moved.

So what I'm asking is - could the limp tail be a sign of stress? Or would it be more likely to be a hidden injury? He is eating, playing, urinating and defecating, and otherwise behaving normally. His sisters have settled in brilliantly and he is still as close to them as ever.

I know a lot of people here don't think you should let your cats outside, but they have always been outdoor cats and have been climbing the walls since we moved here. We waited 4 weeks before letting them out, and like I said, supervise their outside jaunts (as much as we can anyway, they all seem to go off in different directions!) and only let them out when the dogs are inside, so please don't just give me a lecture on keeping them in - they would be very unhappy indeed.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I have an old car which is currently has a SORN against it. I'm thinking of 'resurrecting' my beloved old Polo and as such need to get it MOT'd and the like. My question is this....

Will it be legal for me to drive the car, with no tax or MOT to the MOT test centre? Also will the fact that it has a SORN make any difference? I don't want to get potentially done for driving with no MOT or tax! Also, last question! If it's legal to drive the car to the MOT centre but it subsequently fails the test, would it be legal to drive it back home again?

Thanks in advance!

Hi, one of my cats came in on saturday with a wound on one of her back legs. I phoned the emergency vet for advice and asked where I needed to take her to be cleaned up and checked over. The vet I spoke to said that as there wasn't a big flap of flesh (which there wasn't, it's more like a deep puncture wound) that there was no point in bringing her in, just to clean it up as best we can and keep an eye on her. When I said about the amount of bloode (there was a lot!!) she said that cats are renowned for bleeding profusely from the back of the hind legs and that it is completely normal.

I haven't heard anything before about cats bleeding profusely and it being 'normal' so I questioned her again but she stood firm and wouldn't see my cat. So....my questions is this - was I being fobbed off by someone on call who really didn't want to be bothered?

As it turns out my cat is fine, her leg is partially healed and there doesn't appear to be any infection. I've been cleaning it daily and she's not limping - she is running around as normal. The amount of blood really worried me though - my hands were covered in blood, and there was blood all over my bed and floor....was I being overly cautious, or was the vet just trying to get rid of me?!

And before anyone says that it's my fault for letting her out in the first place, don't even go there - I believe cats should be allowed to explore their natural instincts - hunting outside being one of them. Say what you will but it won't make any difference, however if it makes you feel any better then go ahead.

I'm going for a long weekend there and plan to do nothing but wind down and enjoy the views. I'm hoping to find somewhere nice to eat as well - all suggestions gratefully received!

Hi,

I have an M-reg VW Polo, and I'm in the process of basically running it in to the ground before buying a new car. Thing is though, I don't know where I should draw the line - the MOT is up in July so I was just going to see how much it would cost to get it through and go from there, but my right hand rear wheel has started making a very strange noise (like a really loud grinding noise that lasts 10 seconds or so). Looking at the wheel itself there is some rust but everything else looks OK. I know absolutely nothing about cars, and so don't know if I should take it in to the garage or just get rid - if I ask a garage then I know they will want my money so will say I should get it fixed so thought I would ask here first! So, I suppose I have 2 questions - what could the grinding noise be, and is it worth a repair? Everything else on the car is in very good condition - no rust or anything and it runs very smoothly. Any help appreciated!

Hi, one of my cats has just been diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and now has to have pills given to her 3 times a day. My problem is that I just can't get her to take them, I've tried crushing them into her food, hiding them in lumps of food, holding her mouth open and putting the pills in, putting them in the corner of mouth and stroking her throat, they just come straight back up again. She doesn't understand that these pills will save her...or at least stop its progression.

Anyone got any ideas I haven't thought of? All help appreciated!

Also, does anyone have any experience of owning a cat with HCM? Is there a type of food or anything that can make things better for her?

I went downstairs this morning just in time to see my 1 year old cat gulping down a piece of tinsel - I couldn't get to her in time to stop it from going down. It wasn't the fluffy kind, it was long and thin (about 8 inches I think). She's not having any problems at the moment, bounding around as usual, and is eating normally. I haven't seen her drink anything (which is normal, I never see her drink) and she's fine in herself.

My question is - how long will it take to come out, and if it's got tangled up anywhere and requires a trip to the vet, how long would I have to wait before I know if it's caused a problem? I'm watching over her the whole time at the moment just in case and as I said, she's fine at the moment, but I've heard of cases where animals have eaten something that has become tangled up inside and needs to be removed surgically so I need to know the signs to take her to the vet ASAP.

My kitty is lovely albeit a bit stupid (obviously)...and I'm starting to worry!

Hi Everyone

I just wondered if anyone had seen this?

http://www.celiahammond.org/index.php?module=pagem...

Basically, the London Olympic site is teeming with stray cats and kittens, and a charity was given the chance to catch them, neuter them and then find them a home. They have already saved over 150 cats and kittens. The ODA (Olympic Delivery Authority) has now decided that the charity can NOT continue. Any remaining cats and kittens (and there could be hundreds) have been condemned to death by crushing when the bulldozers move in to demolish buildings that exist on the site.

Hi,

I just came back from the vets with my two youngest cats - they just went for their annual check-up and thankfully all is well. My question is this - one of my cats gets so worked up about going to the vets that she wets herself in the carrier and is visibly distressed by the whole going to the vets thing. We have tried her in open cage carriers, closed carriers, carriers with a blanket over to make it dark to see if that calms her down but so far nothing has worked. She sits on one of my jumpers so her carrier smells of me, has toys to try and distract her, and her brother is next to her in another carrier and we place them close to each other at all times (they're very close cats). Her brother is cool as a cucumber, but poor Linux cries and cries and cries, and always ends up covered in wee. It's horrible to see her going through this - anyone got any ideas of how to make things better for her?