I Have More Trust Issues Than This Feral..

walli

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I know most people don't like it and I haven't done it yet, but I considered doing it to Texy, he kind of stalks Sammy.
I have a water bottle that can shoot a long stream, If I have to I will squirt Texy so he doesn't know it's me.
I cannot have Texy stalking Sammy once they are enclosed in the back yard, actually I think Sammy makes it worst than it is
they never fight, so this is a last Resort thing, I think you have to make sure they don't see you do it.
It's like stalking Charlie would have a consequence.
I know I'm going to get yelled at, but when you have gone through a lot of extremes you start thinking of resolutions.
 

Buffster7

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Hey guys, back for more of your expertise. I took Charlie to emergency vet yesterday as he was projectile vomiting for a couple days and then refused his food. He has never once refused his food in the 8+ years I've had him. Over $600 in tests later, everything came back normal! He was running a fever, so they gave him sub-q fluids, antibiotic, and pain med by injection. They said it could be gastritis, to withhold food for 12 hours.

This is the first time I didn't take Finn with us to the vet. Big mistake. Although I put vanilla on them both when I got home so they'd smell the same, and allowed Charlie time to rest in my room where he hid under my bed for the remainder of the day. I put Finn in the guest bedroom (his safe place) for the night so Charlie could get some rest. Today when I brought the both out to feed, Finn is back to stalking Charlie so much that Charlie is back to hiding under my bed.

2 questions: Does anyone have experience with gastritis, what causes it, and can Finn's stalking aggravate it? I don't know if keeping them separated is going to just drive more of a wedge and set us further back, or if it's necessary for Charlie to recover. Right now Charlie is hiding under my bed and Finn is "guarding" him laying on top of the bed. Finn is obsessed with him and I'm not sure how to handle it.
 

Buffster7

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Update - Now Finn isn't eating and is vomiting. Wondering if they've been 'poisoned' by bad food, and if so, which food...Going to read about recalls now.
 

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Hey! I am so sorry to hear this. I have felt that with shortages, food recipes may be altered as needed by manufacturers. Long ago I did get some food that made every cat in the house sick but that is usually the exception. They all recovers and the manufacturers did something about the plant that processed the food. So, not saying it can’t be bad food but also wondering about viral issues. Lately I have seen bouts of some viruses here. Everyone is over it. There were some other symptoms with some of the cats, like sneezing. I also wonder about stress with those two. They are so in tune to each other and all that happens. A fever does seem to be indicative of something though. Does Finn have a fever now? Cats that over eat can get bouts of vomiting and gastritis can be too much acid which I have seen with Mackie if his meals are not on time. He has a sensitive tummy. My long haired cats sometimes don’t pass the hair well. The fever to me is the main clue here so if Finn gets a fever I would be keeping the food changed often and check the recalls. Do follow vet instructions on withholding food at first. Then water and a bland diet until the tummies are settled. This is actually a problem that happens in cats fairly often so hopefully it passes quickly and all will be well. Do keep us updated though!
 

Buffster7

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Hey! I am so sorry to hear this. I have felt that with shortages, food recipes may be altered as needed by manufacturers. Long ago I did get some food that made every cat in the house sick but that is usually the exception. They all recovers and the manufacturers did something about the plant that processed the food. So, not saying it can’t be bad food but also wondering about viral issues. Lately I have seen bouts of some viruses here. Everyone is over it. There were some other symptoms with some of the cats, like sneezing. I also wonder about stress with those two. They are so in tune to each other and all that happens. A fever does seem to be indicative of something though. Does Finn have a fever now? Cats that over eat can get bouts of vomiting and gastritis can be too much acid which I have seen with Mackie if his meals are not on time. He has a sensitive tummy. My long haired cats sometimes don’t pass the hair well. The fever to me is the main clue here so if Finn gets a fever I would be keeping the food changed often and check the recalls. Do follow vet instructions on withholding food at first. Then water and a bland diet until the tummies are settled. This is actually a problem that happens in cats fairly often so hopefully it passes quickly and all will be well. Do keep us updated though!
Interesting about the viruses going around, I didn't know how common/uncommon it was for indoor cats to get viruses. No other symptoms with these two other than the vomiting/lethargy/anorexia. I believe Charlie had some bloody stool (hard to tell as it was litter-coated, but I thought it had some blood in it). I was thinking maybe salmonella, but who knows, maybe a virus.

I wondered if I could've brought anything in on my shoes from the hospital. I usually slip my shoes off before I enter the house, but the other day I made it all the way to the kitchen with a load of groceries one day before remembering, so it does happen. What about all the patient rooms I enter who have conditions like C-diff and who-knows-what-else...can I infect my animals? I spent the afternoon mopping and disinfecting floors just in case.

Wondering how quickly a cat becomes dehydrated and how long I have to get him to a vet. Cannot afford another $600 emergency vet bill, but poor Finn looks miserable now. :paranoid:
 

Jcatbird

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To test for dehydration you can do a couple of things. One is to lift a fold of skin and watch to see if it is elastic enough to go right back in place. With old cats this might not be as accurate but it is a good test overall. The other is to lift the upper lip and touch the gum. If it feels moist and maybe a little slimy, it’s probably okay. If it feels dry and tacky, dehydration could become a problem.
I know you have medical skills. If needed, you may be able to give sub q fluids at home. I have done this for a couple of kitties. It is cheaper than a vet IV if the vet feels it is appropriate.
Transmitting C. Diff. Actually I think the chances of you bringing it in are not huge. Usually a patient with C.Diff is quarantined and hospital protocol would be that you area wearing gloves and protective gear yourself. Shoe covers too? I have had that and I was isolated, however, they did allow a therapy dog in to see me. He was wearing paw covers and I could not really snuggle him but he visited. Animals do carry that in their system and nothing is impossible but most things are not shared between us. That said, I always change clothes when going between cats I have in isolation. Err on the side of caution.
Gastritis can be viral it can be bacterial and is basically very similar to human stomach issues. A virus can come to inside cats. All of mine had been inside only when the virus happened here. As you know, parasites can carry some things too. Worms can certainly cause intestinal problems. A flea can transmit parasites and a flea can hitchhike at any time. Food that got a little too warm can go bad quickly. Most cats won’t eat bad food and many are fairly resistant but.... they can be affected, just like us. Are the kitties drinking at all? Can they keep anything down? Adding water to wet food, if they can eat, may help. Are they eating at all?
 
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Buffster7

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Good morning! It's so interesting about your cats getting viruses when indoor! Where on earth would the virus come from, I wonder? Us, can we transmit to them? Finn didn't sleep with us last night, I checked on him via the camera til I fell asleep. He still won't eat this morning, but he did drink water, so that's a relief. Quite a bit of water, actually, so am watching to see if he keeps it down.

Last night when he was vomiting he had nothing on his stomach, so he was vomiting clear liquid. This morning I found a little spot on the floor of clear liquid and it was pink -when I cleaned it up I could see that it was definitely blood-tinged. I've got to work today but will see if someone can come check on him, and if he's still listless will need to get him to vet. Thank you so much for your input, Jcatbird Jcatbird , your knowledge is invaluable!
 

rubysmama

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Just seeing this now. How stressful with both Charlie and Finn sick. :alright:

Sending vibes they both feel better soon. :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:

About the pinkish vomit, that happened to Ruby one time when she had a couple days of vomiting every time she ate. The vet gave her a Cerenia shot for the nausea, and after waiting the required 2 hours, I gave her some food, and she was fine. Never did figure out what caused the vomiting, but Ruby does have a sensitive digestive system, so it might have been a variation of her usual issues.
 

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I have 7 indoor cats and we just had a terrible round of illness. We were out of town for one night and I had a cat sitter. When I got home one of the cats wouldn't eat and then had diarrhea. A few hours later another cat with diarrhea. The next day another cat with vomiting and diarrhea. It went through all of the cats but one ( the young one!). It was a nightmare. Two of the cats were sick enough to need the vet. I was able to take in a stool sample. It was clostridium. We suspect maybe the cat sitter brought it into the house, but not sure. It could have been bad food. Who knows. The cats needed fluids and medication. Both received Cerenia injections and some cerenia for take home. Also the two that were very sick are now on some prescription gastro food.

I do home Charlie and Finn will both recover. I would definitely get a Cerenia injection and ask for a box to have on hand at home.
 

walli

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My Blacky went through something in December, throwing up and diarrhea it was a fiasco at the vet, they did not heed my
warning that he was a feral and they let him out of the crate without sedation, poor guy he was so sick.
he let me pick him up and put him in the crate. anyway we had to take him to emergency as the vet was closing.
it cost a LOT of money!! they never told me what was wrong with him he had to stay there 2 days.
His poo is still soft, Sammy is fine they eat the same food and share a litter box.
I give him fortiflora and changed his dry food to Blue for stomach issues.
This is so strange.
Oh and my opinion about Charlie (before Finn got sick) is to leave him by himself to recover.
nobody needs a stalker when their sick! :)
 

Buffster7

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Thank you guys for your replies. It is so interesting to hear about cats passing bugs to each other! Well, the clostridium isn't a bug - now that would have been awful!

The boys are acting better today. My neighbor went to check on them while I was at work, and she found one pile of vomit but they weren't acting lethargic. Finn drank a whole lot of water this morning which made me feel a whole lot better! Neither of them will eat anything today, though - they've turned their nose up at everything I've offered except kibble. They both ate some kibble, but kibble is what they vomit back up. And I'm concerned about the dry kibble and dehydration (I haven't seen Charlie drinking water). If it doesn't improve by tomorrow it looks like another vet visit will be in order. As long a I know it's not life-threatening. The scans and bloodwork they did on Charlie at the emergency vet all came back normal, so I guess I just need to watch the dehydration?
 

Jcatbird

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Yes. Watch the dehydration. As for how they get things…. One thing about cats is that sometimes they have something that is dormant in their system until there is a stress factor or food issue or it can be age related. Bacteria can be introduced too but hopefully this passes quickly. Please do keep us updated.
It seems that many of us have had things run through our kitty populations lately. I am so sorry that any of the kitties have been sick! Sending purrs to them all!
 

pearl99

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Oh my feel better Charlie and Finn!!
I wonder about a batch of bad food. I'm not sure where they would have gotten a bug, cdiff is really contagious but you would have PPE on at the hospital but maybe a longshot????
With both happening at the same time maybe food related. Anyway I don't know.
I gave sub-q fluids twice daily recently to a foster I had and it was easy to do and really helped him, except when he decided he didn't like it and I had to do a burrito with a towel on him- which was successful! So if it comes to that, it is doable.
Gastritis could cause a bit of bleeding (the pink spot) from the irritation of stomach or even throat from throwing up.
There's things like tuna water, chicken water from canned chicken to see if that will get them to drink some.
Hope to hear a good update!
 

Buffster7

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Thank you guys so much! They're still not really eating today. A couple licks then they walk away. They did eat some kibble but they won't touch their wet food, and I'm rotating through their usual favorites. This morning Charlie was hiding but I watched him walking around the house during the day while I was at work via cameras. He's sitting with me now in the living room. I have a call in to my vet. Will keep you posted.

Surprisingly, we do not wear any PPE on feet in C-diff patient rooms. We wear gown/gloves/masks but no foot coverings. So it's conceivable that I could have tracked something in, but it would have had to have traveled a long way.

All of your input and sharing your own experiences has been helpful and surprisingly soothing! shadowsrescue shadowsrescue I cannot imagine having SEVEN sick kitties!! You are amazing! And W walli I had to chuckle at letting your feral out of his cage at vet - they got lucky. Can you imagine trying to catch him if he had felt well? :runaround:
 

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Hi ladies! Does anyone have experience with using Prozac for their cat? We have had a couple incidents of redirected aggression from Finn and I have exhausted all conservative means. There has been a feral cat who's been frequenting my backyard quite a bit. Last week a neighbor's cat got into a fight with him in my backyard and Finn turned and attacked Charlie, and it was bad. Obviously we all know not to get in the middle of that, but those protective reflexes kick in and I reached down and plucked Charlie out of Finn's grasp when I saw the opening. Finn launched himself and came flying at us - I turned my back and Finn bit my leg so badly that it got infected in spite of the antibiotics I got that very day. This was the second time in 6 weeks it's happened - my leg still has scars from the first time.

The boys have been kept separate since then while Charlie's wounds and trauma heal and Finn calms down. I'm going to have to do a re-introduction. So I've got the compounded Prozac to put on his ears and my vet called through Gabapentin as well. My question is timing of the reintroductions - how long does it take the Prozac to reach therapeutic levels in his system? How long do I wait to start to re-integrate them? Pics of the worst bite (he got both legs) to show that I do not take medicating him lightly, but this cannot keep happening. Second pic shows how cellulitis set in in spite of the antibiotics. It's traumatic for all of us.


Bite2.JPG
Bite3.jpg
Bite0.JPG
 

Buffster7

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Buffster7 Buffster7 : Just thinking about you and the boys. How are things going with all of you?
rubysmama rubysmama I did not see your post until just now! We have been doing pretty well until the last couple months (see above)! I've checked in here a few times but haven't posted just to check up on you precious people. How have you been??
 

shadowsrescue

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Oh no. That looks just awful. I have had experience with both Prozac and Gabapentin. Prozac takes a good 6 weeks to work. At first the cat is often lethargic. I was so sad as my cat was not himself at all. After 6 weeks things were a bit better yet the Prozac kitty was very dumbed down. It does help, but when aggression is involved I found it didn't do much to help. I have had 2 cats on Prozac. One was for inappropriate peeing and the other was for aggression towards other cats. Prozac worked great for peeing but not great for aggression. My cat with aggression ended up having urinary retention from the Prozac and ultimately blocking. It was awful.

Since then my aggressive kitty is now on gapapentin. He is also separated from most of my other cats. The gaba helps him to remain more calm, but it doesn't completely stop the aggression. He is on 75 mg 2x a day. We started low (25 mg) and it did nothing. 50 mg 2x a day helped for awhile, but after 6 months, he needed more.

I would suggest eliminating the feral cat issue. Is there a way to trap the cats and get them neutered? What about devices to deter them? There are motion activated sprinklers or sprays. You need to get rid of the stressors. Otherwise you need to keep the cats completely separated forever.

My cat who is on gaba lives in 2 bedrooms joined with a bathroom. He is allowed out for 5 hours per day when I put the other cats away. We visit him in his room 2x during the day. He is happy in his own space and the gaba keeps him under control. Yet he cannot be with my other cats. He will tear them apart. I have had him to the vet over and over. My vet thinks it is a chemical imbalance. He can go from 0 to 100 in a nano second.

I can understand your major concern. I think that eliminating the source of the problem will greatly help. You need to do whatever you can to get help the feral or stray cats. Can you keep blinds or curtains closed? Finn is so triggered by them.

I am so sorry this has happened. Please know we are here to help.
 

Buffster7

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Oh no. That looks just awful. I have had experience with both Prozac and Gabapentin. Prozac takes a good 6 weeks to work. At first the cat is often lethargic. I was so sad as my cat was not himself at all. After 6 weeks things were a bit better yet the Prozac kitty was very dumbed down. It does help, but when aggression is involved I found it didn't do much to help. I have had 2 cats on Prozac. One was for inappropriate peeing and the other was for aggression towards other cats. Prozac worked great for peeing but not great for aggression. My cat with aggression ended up having urinary retention from the Prozac and ultimately blocking. It was awful.

Since then my aggressive kitty is now on gapapentin. He is also separated from most of my other cats. The gaba helps him to remain more calm, but it doesn't completely stop the aggression. He is on 75 mg 2x a day. We started low (25 mg) and it did nothing. 50 mg 2x a day helped for awhile, but after 6 months, he needed more.

I would suggest eliminating the feral cat issue. Is there a way to trap the cats and get them neutered? What about devices to deter them? There are motion activated sprinklers or sprays. You need to get rid of the stressors. Otherwise you need to keep the cats completely separated forever.

My cat who is on gaba lives in 2 bedrooms joined with a bathroom. He is allowed out for 5 hours per day when I put the other cats away. We visit him in his room 2x during the day. He is happy in his own space and the gaba keeps him under control. Yet he cannot be with my other cats. He will tear them apart. I have had him to the vet over and over. My vet thinks it is a chemical imbalance. He can go from 0 to 100 in a nano second.

I can understand your major concern. I think that eliminating the source of the problem will greatly help. You need to do whatever you can to get help the feral or stray cats. Can you keep blinds or curtains closed? Finn is so triggered by them.

I am so sorry this has happened. Please know we are here to help.
Thanks so much for your response, shadowsrescue shadowsrescue . It's concerning that Prozac can cause urinary retention as that's been an issue with Finn with the FLUTD. I need to do some reading on that. I am hopeful that I can reintegrate them as they were getting along fine (well, as fine as these two ever did) until the neighbor's cat started hanging around my backyard (the feral doesn't seem to bother them as much as the neighbor's cat who is very vocal). I am working with a local rescue to TNR the feral, though. Once that's done, I'll need to get the spray deterrent to keep them both out of my yard.

One thing this separation has shown me is that Charlie has been much "lighter" and relaxed since the separation. Will have to see if the Prozac and Gabapentin chill Finn out enough that Charlie can relax again. I'm wondering about rebound effect from Prozac, and definitely concerned about the urinary issue. Unfortunately, my house setup only has one large open floor plan with no doors, and then the bedrooms. So when I separate them, one is confined to a bedroom all day and the other has run of the house. They rotate days. Still, it's hard to relax when one is always calling to be let out. Trying to spend enough time with each of them separately is like a second job when I get home from work.:rolleyes:

But I hear what you say about the 0-60 in a nanosecond. It's startling how instantly he just went berserk. And he was vicious-he meant business. Was it a one-off reaction to the cat fight outside? I can't be sure. I'm taking my mother to Santa Fe in September, so Ive got 3 months to figure this out, otherwise I do not know what I'm going to do about them when I'm gone for a week. I'd originally arranged for someone to come sit with them a couple hours each day and to feed them. Now...:think:
 

DreamerRose

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My two cats get very aggressive when they see a strange cat outside the kitchen sliders. It's like some primordial instinct gets triggered, and they turn on each other. This seems to have happened to you, and you were in the mix. I've seen mine in a hissing, growling ball, fur literally flying, rolling through the kitchen, the dining room, into the living room. I wouldn't dare step in to separate them or I would end up like you. It's like they've lost all their senses. The only thing I've done is to shout at them - KITTIES! - but anything you say would do it. That seems to bring them around, and they stop fighting, looking around like they've recovered from a bad dream.

They get along just fine at other times, and soon recover to their normal companionship. I don't think you need to separate yours. Now that the feral cat is gone, they shouldn't get triggered. You might consider getting an Ssscat to put outside to keep the feral away.
 
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