Polgeria

My cats have always been free fed, but one has gotten over weight to the point of not being able to clean herself. I've started putting down a smaller amount of food each day, but I'd like to go to only feeding twice a day. They only receive dry food (before i get screamed at, they vomit and get the runs from wet food, and yes, I've tried many different brands from grain free to "normal").

My question is: should I remove the food after a set time, and only give it back for the next feeding, regardless if all have eaten (there are 6)? And how long should I leave the food down. They are eating a grain and soy free food right now. I will not feed them one of the special weight loss brands, since they're all full of fillers to just make the cat feel full vs giving a good nutrition. Also, one is under weight, so that wouldn't work out well for her.

A friend of mine just back up north from north carolina and her cats brought Stickfast Fleas with them. I apparently brought some home after the last visit to her house and have no idea how to get rid of them before the infestation gets too bad. Traditional things like Frontline or Advantage don't appear to work, neither does Dawn Dishsoap, and I will not put flea collars on them. Has anyone dealt with this problem before, and if so, how did you fix it?

I rescued a kitten almost a year ago, and the cats i already had were fine with her until about 4 months ago. Out of nowhere 2 of my adult females started being very aggressive with her. It started with one, then the other joined in, My kitten can no longer get out to eat safely, unless i bring her to the food, and keep the 2 attackers away from her...though they seem to be leaving her alone for bathroom trips, as I've found no evidence to suggest otherwise.

My one cat is very territorial, and i think that's one of the reasons that she's attacking, because i carry the kitten around and snuggle her to let her know she's safe, but I give the territorial one PLENTY of love too...she doesn't attack my other cats when they snuggle.

Also, the kitten is not spayed yet..and yes, i know I'll catch flack for that, and i know it should be done. But could that be relevant to the attacking? The other 2 females ARE spayed.

I'm at my wits end, I don't know what else to do to get the attacking stopped, I've tried everything I know. I'm at the point where I think re-homing the kitten is the only option left.

My vet has recommended giving my cat B-12 shots and sent me home with the shots. I know how to do it, have done it in the past with different cats, but am having a lot of trouble getting through her skin. Any suggestions? Also, whats the best way to keep her from bolting once I get the needle in? Please don't suggest a blanket, it didn't work, she's terrified of being wrapped up, it actually makes things worse.

It's a dog, and it's been treated with the advantage, or whatever the dog one is, had multiple flea baths, worn a collar, had dawn used on it....name it they've tried. It's one of three animals they have, and it's the only one the fleas are still bothering. the advantage worked on the other 2. They vacuum daily, and have washed everything multiple times.

I thought my kitten was just a black and white, but I noticed the other day that she has developed some orange coloring on the tips of her ears. Does this make her a calico? There are no other spots of orange.

She has no signs of ear mites, in fact her ears are spotless and pristine. She is not itching them like crazy, and is not shaking her head.

I sleep odd hours, so can keep an eye on her very well when she's awake, and she never seems to scratch them, but I've seen the sores, and she has dried blood caked in front of her ears.

Does any one have an idea as to what it may be? It doesn't seem to bother her. I plan on calling the vet for an appointment next week for her. She's had them for a few months now, they don't seem to get worse, and they don't get better.

I Know it's Not Ear Mites. Her ears are perfectly clean.

We have a lot of feral/stray cats in our area, and I would like to feed them, but raccoons keep getting into the food. How can i keep them out?

Eventually I would like to have the extra money to trap and release them, so I would like them to get comfortable with me, which is why I try to feed them. We have a local clinic that will spay/neuter, flea treat (advantage), and vaccinate them for $35.

My local animal control will just catch them and kill them. So I really don't want to call them. And I don't mind the visitors. I can live with the tom's spraying my porch. I go out every few days and spray vinegar around, so it's no big deal for me.

How do I keep the raccoons out of the food I put out?

A little while back someone posted a link that showed where and how the vets get their training in nutrition. I was hoping they could post it again so I can show it to my mother.

Okay, before I get yelled at, She's 14.3 lbs, 5 or 6 yrs old, and has lost 4/10 of a pound since she was in the vet last year. Despite the apparent lack of difference in weight, she has a skin flap that says she has lost fat. The only thing I can think of is that she lost fat and gained muscle, which does weigh more than fat. Despite that, the vet has her listed as a 8/9 on the body condition scale.

Also, she is eating a blend of Orijen and Taste of the Wild, leaning toward the Orijen, dry foods, so I don't need a food lecture either.

My problem is that her skin flap is getting in the way of her cleaning her bottom properly. She is loosing weight, and gaining muscle, so I know I've got her on the right diet.

AND SHE WENT TO THE VET THIS AFTERNOON. Sorry, I had to capitalize that so I wasn't told to take her in.

The vet does recommend I start cleaning her bottom before it gets bad. I forgot to ask how often I should clean her bottom for her while I was at the vet this afternoon.

Can anyone tell me? I've never dealt with this issue before. We adopted her at a very unhealthy weight, around 19lbs, so obviously we've done very well with her (we just recently switched to the VERY good food, so I anticipate even more weight loss).

Also, how can I get her to loose the skin flap (she's almost at the point of stepping on it)? She really refuses to play like my other 3, the most I can get her to do is follow a bouncy ball with hers eyes/head while it's bouncing. I have teasers, both cloth and feather, track and ball, mousies, hair ties, name a toy, I have it, but she's not interested in any of them (believe me, I've tried).

Look at my answers and posts, I'm all about kitty health. I've just never dealt with an over weight kitty.

I hate to say this, but the person who answers my question(s) without a food lecture, and with good advice will get the best answer, she won't tolerate an all wet food diet either, I've tried.

Has anyone else had this occur? My 7-8 week old kitten had been on a mix of wet and dry food until a week ago, while she was eating the wet food her stomach was very bloated, to the point that I had her tested for worms and she didn't have any. I stopped giving her wet food for a week, and her bloating went away.

I gave her some wet food tonight, and she's bloated right back up. I had been feeding EVo and Weruva, both a grain free high protein and high fat food. and I used the Weruva tonight too.

Any one else have this occur? She's been to the vet for this, but they are at a loss too.

I grind my teeth at night, and my dentist told me to sleep with a sports guard (My insurance won't cover the dental guard) at night.

Is there anything else I can do during the day, because my jaw is very sore and it's hard to eat sometimes. Also, does anyone know a good way to make my jaw relax?

Okay, before I'm yelled at, look at my other posts please. I do free feed, but I free feed a very quality food. My 2 fat cats, ages 5 and 6 yrs, 15lbs both at the time, now have a healthy tummy flap of skin that my vet has approved. One I know for sure is down to 12.2 lbs, which works for her body type. The other, just has the extra skin hanging around, hasn't weighed in a bit, but she didn't have it before I went to a good food.

Right now I'm using Orijen, a no grain, no carb dry food they all love.

My problem is that my under weight 2 yr male, since I switched from IAMS to Taste of the Wild, has gotten a "Buddha Belly" as I like to call it.

He hasn't had enough time on the Orijen, since I just switched this week (not fully, they are still on the blend of the 2), but I've been using Taste of the Wild for a few months now, and my fat kitties are down to a healthy weight. Why did my thin kitty get fat?

I know you can't diagnose, dear god I do, just looking for ideas. I will bring this up with his vet, and for Ken S. I will not stop using dry food, nor will I stop free feeding, since my 2 others have lost weight and made their vet VERY happy, so don't bother responding unless you have something useful to say, I know the risks already.

Just want opinions on this odd phenomenon.

Okay, so stray kitty that showed up at my house has been taken home by his original owner! YAY!!!!

My Question: Without using bleach, unless there is no other way, how to sanitize the room he was kept in so my own 4 kitties can go back in. I'm willing to use bleach, but I'm hoping someone has a safer, kitty friendly way to clean the room. Thank you!

Okay, if you've been following the post the last couple of days, you've seen that I am fostering a stray until either his owners can be found or we find him a good home.

I can't just keep calling him "big kitty", so I'm looking for ideas.

He's a HUGE black and white long hair, with a black smudge across his nose that kind of reminds me of Hitler's mustache. Sounds bad, but that's the best description I can come up with for it. He's got a great personality, cuddly, loving, lets me touch him all over, even his tummy and his injured paw. Very well behaved, but he does like to hop up on my kitchen counter to get to the window.

Any ideas? We're considering just actually calling him Hitler or Mein Fuher, but I don't really like the man at all, so I don't want to name a cat after him. Help me come up with something better to call him please.

No pics, sorry.

Okay, sorry to post about him again, but there is a question here too.

Found Black and white male cat outside my house this morning. If you live in the Brooks Ave area of Rochester NY and know anything about him , please help me find his mommy and daddy.

I was incorrect in my earlier posts about him being declawed, turns out my husband just couldn't see his claws :/ He has been to the groomer recently, as he shows signs of his coat growing out from a lion cut, and his nails were very recently trimmed.

Now for my question: He hasn't used the litter box since we brought him in. Do you guys think he's one of those outside business doing cats? How would I go about taking him out without loosing him again?

He is going to the vet on Monday if his owners don't show up, the appt. is made. Will stimulating work on an adult. I've never tried.

Thanks!

Okay, so I was preparing my kittens food and heard a very sad meow from outside my kitchen window. My husband and i went outside, and found the most sweetest cat ever. He's black and white, very large, probably belongs to someone. If you live in the Brooks Ave area of Rochester NY, and lost your cat, answer this.

It appears to be a male, but has a lot of hair there, so it was hard to see, as well as palpate. He is declawed., why on earth would you allow a declawed cat outside!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?! And he does seem to be an outside cat, he has been meowing around my house all day,

Oh yeah, and he's limping!

For tonight, we have him in our house, since he is injured we didn't want to leave him outside for the night. We will try to take him to vets in the morning, owner, if found, will be responsible for the bill, we will not have him neutered on you, if you haven't done it yet.

I'm gonna post on craigs list too.

Okay, so I was preparing my kittens food and heard a very sad meow from outside my kitchen window. My husband and i went outside, and found the most sweetest cat ever. He's black and white, very large, probably belongs to someone. If you live in the Brooks Ave area of Rochester NY, and lost your cat, answer this.

It appears to be a male, but has a lot of hair there, so it was hard to see, as well as palpate. He is declawed., why on earth would you allow a declawed cat outside!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?! And he does seem to be an outside cat, he has been meowing around my house all day, but we were just able to find him now, 3:30 am. Oh yeah, and he's limping!

For tonight, we have him in our house, since he is injured we didn't want to leave him outside for the night. We will try to take him to vets in the morning, owner, if found, will be responsible for the bill, we will not have him neutered on you, if you haven't done it yet.

I'm gonna post on craigs list too.

the deworming came from the vet. I was sent home with enough for 2 more treatments. She'll be getting the last one this week.

I asked yesterday and didn't get any good results, so I'll try again.

My kitten may have the wet from of FIP.

I need to know how to tell if her stomach bloating is from the FIP or if it's from worms (she has been dewormed twice, and will be again this thursday). Her abdomen was not barely swollen 2 nights ago, and when I got up yesterday it was twice the size of the rest of her.

What should her abdomen feel like if it is filled with fluids? Squishy, firm, or hard. It is currently firm, kind of like when she had worms, so I'm not sure if I should worry or not.