Can Kidney Failure Appear in Just A Year?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: Last year, one of my cats did from chronic renal failure at age 14. Because we were concerned about our other cat, Gizzy, we had the vet give him all the appropriate tests. All the results seemed good, and we were relieved. But then last week Gizzy wasn’t acting like himself and his breath smelled bad. We took him to the vet, who said he was fine — no fever, his chest sounded good, and he wasn’t... Read More
My Cat Has Herpesvirus. How Can I Help Him?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: I adopted a five-month-old kitten back in February. His shelter “rap sheet” showed that he had battled a few colds, so I knew he came with this history — but he was too cute to resist. Since then, he has had some pretty crummy colds, but right now he’s battling a very bad eye infection. My vet gave me Terramycin, which I gave him for a week as instructed, and the eye... Read More
Do My Cats and I Have a Fungal Infection?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: My three cats which are the love of my life are coughing, wheezing, gaging on mucus, vomiting without any warning, and lethargic. Two of the three cats have scabbing which I am certain is not ringworm as I do not have it. Not only that, but I’m having the same symptoms. The cats and I are also very dehydrated and lethargic. I have been to a doctor four times in the last year and he just... Read More
Why is my cat always vomiting?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: We took in a Siamese mix cat, Merryl, about 10 years ago, when he was six months old. About 5 years ago he started vomiting a white foamy substance. We took him to the vet, who ran a battery of tests — blood work, x-rays, you name it — that revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Back then Merryl, was doing this once or twice a week and would eat little or nothing for a day each... Read More
How can I get my FeLV-positive cat to eat?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: I have a 1-year-old male cat who has feline leukemia. He is on antibiotics, vitamins with iron, and he has also been given a shot of steroids. But he does not seem to be improving. Although I give him water through a syringe and he drinks it, he is not eating and is lethargic. He lies in my arms and meows. Does it take a long time for any of these measures to work? He seems to be getting worse... Read More
My cat’s back legs went limp and he died suddenly. What happened?
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: Two years ago, we had a group of feral cats that camped out under our house. One of them, a small black cat, adopted us. We took him to my vet and had him treated him for a respiratory infection. We nursed him back to health and he began growing. We fell in love with him and gave him the name Lil Bit. One night about a year later, we found him laying on the floor, and when we tried to play... Read More
Of Pale Noses and Bleeding Sores: Two questions from two readers
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties: My cat’s nose has been white/pale for a while, usually her nose is pink and her mouth too. She is not as active as she used to be. She is only 8 years old — I know 8 isn’t young, but it isn’t old either. Can you tell me what’s going on with my cat? ~Agnes Siouxsie: We can’t tell you for sure what’s going on with your cat, but it sounds like she may be... Read More
