Ok Ill give some back story on this to help make her story clear, and since Im new here. I have a 10 year old mainne coon named Cocoa. Ive picked him out of my friends litter the day he was born and had him since he was weaned, we are a great team and very close.
Cocoa and I have an unofficial arrangement. He is allowed outside whenever he wants (hes large and healthy and smart). He will sometimes find a stray he is in bad shape. He brings these strays home, sometimes meowing for them to follow, sometimes outright carrying them. I get them fixed up, and together we get them used to contact, then we find them another home. Usually Cocoa limits our outreach to one stray at a time.
He brought home Nala, a feral female tabby, and she had just about every parasite possible. She had torn herself up and was pregnant at a very young age. I didnt know she was pregnant and started taking care of her parasites immediatly. Sadly, she miscarried. I think this would have happened anyway, she was way to small and unhealthy to carry.
Anyway, got her all better, no parasites or health issues, and we decided to keep her. She no longer goes outside, and it seems as long as Cocoa is on advantage, no fleas come in the house to worry about. The only thing is, she continued to scratch her neck and back of her head open once in a while.
She has never got infected from them. Ive sometimes just kept an eye on her, sometimes vets have put her on antibiotics, we've changed her food, litter, and Ive tried grooming her and trimming her nails. Nothing helps.
She stopped doing it for a while after the sneaky devil ran outside and got knocked up while I was worrying about other health issues for her before getting her fixed (didnt want her sedated, couldnt put Ecollar on with open neck wounds, ect) once she had her kitten (only 1 lived, the rest stillborn) she spent all her time lovin on him and stopped tearing herself up for a while. She completely healed.
We still have her baby (Yandros), and they are still lovey, but for some reason she has started the scratching again. I cant see anything stressing her or any changes since she healed. I tried softpaws but she just pushes harder and since shes already got open wounds, just tears them worse. All the vet can suggest is antibiotics and worry if theres infection.
I really hate the idea of declawing, but at this point, I think removing her back claws may be the only option I have left. Does anyone have any suggestions before I get that desperate? Thanks in advance!
(by the way baby pics of Yandros, as well as some of Cocoa and Nala can be seen on myspace under "yandrosthekitten"
Cocoa and I have an unofficial arrangement. He is allowed outside whenever he wants (hes large and healthy and smart). He will sometimes find a stray he is in bad shape. He brings these strays home, sometimes meowing for them to follow, sometimes outright carrying them. I get them fixed up, and together we get them used to contact, then we find them another home. Usually Cocoa limits our outreach to one stray at a time.
He brought home Nala, a feral female tabby, and she had just about every parasite possible. She had torn herself up and was pregnant at a very young age. I didnt know she was pregnant and started taking care of her parasites immediatly. Sadly, she miscarried. I think this would have happened anyway, she was way to small and unhealthy to carry.
Anyway, got her all better, no parasites or health issues, and we decided to keep her. She no longer goes outside, and it seems as long as Cocoa is on advantage, no fleas come in the house to worry about. The only thing is, she continued to scratch her neck and back of her head open once in a while.
She has never got infected from them. Ive sometimes just kept an eye on her, sometimes vets have put her on antibiotics, we've changed her food, litter, and Ive tried grooming her and trimming her nails. Nothing helps.
She stopped doing it for a while after the sneaky devil ran outside and got knocked up while I was worrying about other health issues for her before getting her fixed (didnt want her sedated, couldnt put Ecollar on with open neck wounds, ect) once she had her kitten (only 1 lived, the rest stillborn) she spent all her time lovin on him and stopped tearing herself up for a while. She completely healed.
We still have her baby (Yandros), and they are still lovey, but for some reason she has started the scratching again. I cant see anything stressing her or any changes since she healed. I tried softpaws but she just pushes harder and since shes already got open wounds, just tears them worse. All the vet can suggest is antibiotics and worry if theres infection.
I really hate the idea of declawing, but at this point, I think removing her back claws may be the only option I have left. Does anyone have any suggestions before I get that desperate? Thanks in advance!
(by the way baby pics of Yandros, as well as some of Cocoa and Nala can be seen on myspace under "yandrosthekitten"