Nervous about treating elderly and ill cat(s) for fleas

crystal dawn

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Xena is our oldest cat she's elderly (24-25) We used frontline and now pet action pro for cats. She tolerated both well in the past. The last time she needed to be treated for fleas was around this time last year. However, this year she seems to be having more health issues which we are dealing with. She lost quite a bit of weight, is going blind(her eyes are changing from green to brown). She is eating, drinking and using the litter box well and over all seems to be doing pretty good. We talked to our vet about treating her, but they seemed clueless and didn't seem to have any real information or even common sense in doing it properly, leaving us with more questions than anything and worried she'll have a bad reaction to the flea treatment. She seems to be slightly anemic, so it's important we treat the fleas with as little stress to her as possible.

Once again in between a rock and a hard place.

We would also be treating our other two cats. Emrys(8) who recently had some stomach issues which he went to the vet for on Monday and is now doing great and Lil Bit(9) who seems like she's not feeling well. She's eating, drinking and using the litter box well but she seems to be low on energy and sleeping more than she usually does.
 
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crystal dawn

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Okay, I talked with my mom, and we have a plan to treat with pet action pro for cats on Monday morning and observe them for the day to ensure there's no bad reactions. Hopefully it works, and the fleas bit the dust.
 

Kflowers

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crystal dawn crystal dawn I wish I could help, but your cat has reached an age few achieve. That's probably why you didn't get much imput. You might treat everyone else and just gently flea comb her and hope the fleas die off on the others. Wishing you and cats well.
 
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crystal dawn

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crystal dawn crystal dawn I wish I could help, but your cat has reached an age few achieve. That's probably why you didn't get much impute. You might treat everyone else and just gently flea comb her and hope the fleas die off on the others. Wishing you and cats well.
I understand. Thank you.
 

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Let's hope that since Xena has made it this long with those flea treatments, that this time will be no different. Logically, it seems as if nothing should be that different, but you are doing the right thing to let the vet observe her. You certainly have taken good care of Xena for the last quarter century.
 
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crystal dawn

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Let's hope that since Xena has made it this long with those flea treatments, that this time will be no different. Logically, it seems as if nothing should be that different, but you are doing the right thing to let the vet observe her. You certainly have taken good care of Xena for the last quarter century.
True. Just worried as the older she is the more risk there is for her and I basicly grew up with her.
 
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crystal dawn

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True. Just worried as the older she is the more risk there is for her and I basically grew up with her.
My mom is who Xena belongs too, and she tends to blame a lot of her issues on old age and I honestly feel bad because I have .50 cents in my bank account, so I can't really get anything to help and talking my mom into getting her seen by a vet that can help her is basically impossible as we're worried about the stress killing her. If we could find a good vet that wouldn't charge a ton that was willing to make a house call for her, then that might work. But otherwise she's not going to be seen by a vet unless she's in a lot of pain, and then it'll be to put her to sleep. So I sit in anxiety all the time and I really don't know what to do.
 

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Does she have a regular vet that she no longer goes to, that the other cats go to? Could you explain to the situation to them? Some vets who have buildings and clinics actually make house calls. I went to one for 20 years and didn't realize they did that. No one ever mentioned it to me. Where I am now, one vet makes reasonably, in you can afford it, priced house calls and the other is delusional about price, but will come. So ask about the price too.
 
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crystal dawn

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Yes, we have that but they throw a fit about emergencies and argue with you over the phone and then eventually come in to the OFFICE to help your pet after hours. I was also told straight out by one of the vets even though our dog had a high chance of passing away that night and we(My mom and I) couldn't easily move her, he wasn't coming out to the house. I'm starting to think these vets are only in it for the money and couldn't care less if the pet lives or dies as long as they're not inconvinced and get paid. They really tick me off, but they're the best ones in my small town, the other clinic really doesn't give a crap.
 

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Have you actually SEEN fleas on her? If not I would flea comb her and forget the medication. Usually, only outdoor cats get fleas. Do the cats go out? I would really only let her outside with supervision at her age. I have had MANY cats for over 50 years, and have only treated for fleas once.
 
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crystal dawn

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Have you actually SEEN fleas on her? If not, I would flea comb her and forget the medication. Usually, only outdoor cats get fleas. Do the cats go out? I would really only let her outside with supervision at her age. I have had MANY cats for over 50 years, and have only treated for fleas once.
She's VERY hard to handle and tries to take chunks out of us so I'm not sure how flea combing her specifically would work. I did see a flea on her a few days ago while I was petting her. Xena our senior doesn't go outside at all. My two were being let outside supervised for some fresh air and exploration. I made sure they stayed in the backyard where I could see them. Xena occasionally walked to the door looked out then walked back in.

If I can find our flea comb, I can try combing her in place being very gentle and see how it goes. I'm not expecting it to go well, though. However, I can flea comb our two younger ones to double-check on the fleas without too much fuss.

We lost a previous senior cat due to severe fleas. She was so anemic and so old that she couldn't recover and had to be put to sleep. Since we live in a house they've been more rare though, and we don't deal with them nearly as often, but due to our area and stuff we end up with them once year around the same time every year. We treat for them vaccum for a bit, and they kick the bucket pretty quick usually.
 

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Yes, I almost lost one to fleas. We got rid of the fleas, then the vet said to give him liver, cooked or raw several times a week, to help build him up. We had 8 cats at the time so everyone had to have liver. It was expensive and smelled awful. After I complained the vet finally admitted there was an iron tonic he could take. Eye dropper squirt in the mouth, half went down half didn't, but he got enough of it. I'm not saying look for it or use, I'm telling this might help and you might be able to get it from your vet without taking her in.

I'm sorry about your vets, I think you are a very good and patient person. I know you'll say you have no choice, but that doesn't make it any easier. I, also, know you are staying calm to help kit.
 
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crystal dawn

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Yes, I almost lost one to fleas. We got rid of the fleas, then the vet said to give him liver, cooked or raw several times a week, to help build him up. We had 8 cats at the time so everyone had to have liver. It was expensive and smelled awful. After I complained the vet finally admitted there was an iron tonic he could take. Eye dropper squirt in the mouth, half went down half didn't, but he got enough of it. I'm not saying look for it or use, I'm telling this might help, and you might be able to get it from your vet without taking her in.

I'm sorry about your vets, I think you are a very good and patient person. I know you'll say you have no choice, but that doesn't make it any easier. I, also, know you are staying calm to help kit.
Thank you. Yes, I do my best. I've been trying to think of things I can get/give her that's safe for an elderly cat to help her. Right now, the best I can do is make sure there's complete nutrition canned food down, so she can eat whenever she's hungry. That seems to be helping some. Hopefully she'll put on a little weight having food available whenever she wants it.

We're going to treat for fleas Monday morning, so the vet is open all day just in case there's a bad reaction we can get them seen quickly without so much of a fight. I hate that they waste time arguing and throwing out theories about what's up instead of accepting that they need to work after hours to save a life.
 

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yes, what you're doing is good. If you want to give it a try we bought beef liver in the grocery meat dept. You can freeze part of it, you get a lot with each purchase. Then I cut up a small part into bite size pieces and ran them under the broiler, or maybe baked them, until they turned gray. It's a matter of seconds. Use a cookie sheet. For your elderly kitty I'd make the pieces tiny. Warning, liver is slippery and hard to cut.

I'm totally with you on not putting the flea medicine on her unless the vet is open. That's what we've always done with ours regardless of their age. Same with the dogs' heartworm medicine. (the stuff is a strong pesticide, so I want to know I can get them in if it goes wrong right then at least.)

The pandemic is proving the true nature of many that they had kept well hidden behind their business personas. Mostly it's sad. The vets, like yours, are heartbreaking. Many have taken the opportunity to raise their prices. Humanity tends to disappoint.
 
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crystal dawn

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yes, what you're doing is good. If you want to give it a try we bought beef liver in the grocery meat dept. You can freeze part of it, you get a lot with each purchase. Then I cut up a small part into bite size pieces and ran them under the broiler, or maybe baked them, until they turned gray. It's a matter of seconds. Use a cookie sheet. For your elderly kitty I'd make the pieces tiny. Warning, liver is slippery and hard to cut.

I'm totally with you on not putting the flea medicine on her unless the vet is open. That's what we've always done with ours regardless of their age. Same with the dogs' heartworm medicine. (the stuff is a strong pesticide, so I want to know I can get them in if it goes wrong right then at least.)

The pandemic is proving the true nature of many that they had kept well hidden behind their business personas. Mostly it's sad. The vets, like yours, are heartbreaking. Many have taken the opportunity to raise their prices. Humanity tends to disappoint.
Okay, everyone seems to be having some tummy problems. Nothing major, but all 3 of my cats are acting like they're not feeling well, so I'm not sure about giving them anything new right now. I'm worried about triggering vomiting that doesn't stop. I'm exhausted as well, as it's been one thing after another since last Thursday, so I haven't been able to sleep well or anything. Throw in my own minor health problems and ugh. I feel like I'm not doing nearly enough since emrys threw up hairballs Monday and then again this morning and I don't know what to do about that as I'm nervous about giving him anything, so I'm sitting here in tears, writing here a bit trying to be helpful while being completely drained and on the verge of yet another full-blown panic attack my chest hurts so bad from them and I have horrific heart burn and I have no idea what to do as my mom's next to no help. She just says they'll be fine and goes and sits in her room on her phone and acts upset if I bother her because I'm worried about something the cat's doing that I don't see them do. I can't continue like this, but I don't know how to change anything as most if not all of my concerns are dismissed as my anxiety running away with me or whatever.
 

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I'm so sorry. My suggestions are for any time, not necessarily right now, just something to remember. I'm sorry your mom isn't more help. Perhaps she's dealing with her own panic attacks and not letting you know. Perhaps not, but it doesn't sound as though this is something she can help with.

For now, focus on doing what you do to move through panic attacks. I find that not fighting them, just riding them out helps, but everyone is different. Once the panic attack has passed, relax a little, then and only then, think about one problem at a time.

best of energies to you and your kits.
 
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crystal dawn

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I'm so sorry. My suggestions are for any time, not necessarily right now, just something to remember. I'm sorry your mom isn't more help. Perhaps she's dealing with her own panic attacks and not letting you know. Perhaps not, but it doesn't sound as though this is something she can help with.

For now, focus on doing what you do to move through panic attacks. I find that not fighting them, just riding them out helps, but everyone is different. Once the panic attack has passed, relax a little, then and only then, think about one problem at a time.

best of energies to you and your kits.
Thank you. I know. Nothing seems to be life-threatening right now, so there's time to sort it out. I'm still anxious about every little thing and it's frustrating and overwhelming. You nor anyone else providing suggestions is doing anything wrong. I welcome them though at the same time I'm not sure how to put them into action.
 

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I'm so sorry you are going through this, I know the feeling, I'm stressing out terribly knowing I have 6 feral cats to spay and don't even know if I can catch them. I keep telling myself uti breathe, get one at a time if you have to. Now there's rain forecasted on the day to bring them in, ( the ones I can catch anyway in my live traps ). Just try to remember one thing I have learned in my old age, 99% of what you worry about DOES NOT COME TRUE! Use it like a chant like I am doing! LOL
 
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crystal dawn

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I'm so sorry you are going through this, I know the feeling, I'm stressing out terribly knowing I have 6 feral cats to spay and don't even know if I can catch them. I keep telling myself uti breathe, get one at a time if you have to. Now there's rain forecasted on the day to bring them in, ( the ones I can catch anyway in my live traps ). Just try to remember one thing I have learned in my old age, 99% of what you worry about DOES NOT COME TRUE! Use it like a chant like I am doing! LOL
Thank you. I'm concerned about our old lady(Xena 24-25) as she's been pretty lethargic for a few days now. I'm hoping treating for fleas on Monday will help perk her up. She's eating some, drinking some and peeing in the litter box. I haven't seen a poop I can confirm is for sure hers in about 3 days. So constipation could be an issue as well. I'm trying to stay calm for the time being and give her some time as there's been some stress in the house as well and mom said she coughed up a difficult hairball and that took a lot out of her. But I also know she's pretty much at the end of her life and could cross the bridge any day now. I'm 34 myself, so I grew up with Xena like a sister. So I'm doing the best I can to care for her. Doing lots of research and praying that when it's time, she goes peacefully and doesn't suffer. My mom and I will of course do everything we can for her, and if she takes a turn for the worst, we'll put her to sleep to minimize her suffering. Right now she seems like she's okay, so I'm trying to focus on that. I do wish I had someone who was experienced with a cat around Xena's age to talk to, so I can get more ideas on how to better help her, so her last days are as good as they can possibly be.
 

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All you can do is to be there so she can feel your love. To die at home surrounded by your loved ones is something we all want, but it rarely happens. She carries your love in her heart so she will never be alone.....
 
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