What's Wrong With Scarlet?

I took Scarlet and her kittens to the vet today because Scarlet is just not gaining weight.  When I first got her, she weighed 4 pounds 8 ounces.  She got up to 6 pounds and I stopped weighing her, figuring she was well on her way to recovery.  Last week, my boyfriend noticed she was thinner after he had not seen her for a few days.  I weighed her and she had lost weight.  She weighed 5 pounds 6 ounces.  She should weigh 8 or 9 pounds, maybe more since she is still nursing a bit.

They took some blood and will have some results tomorrow and Thursday.  They are sending blood to two different places.  She did have Coccidia and Hookworms when I got her and I hope she doesn't have them still.  She finished the medicine but there is a possibility that it is still in her system.

Scarlet Vomited

Ugh.  I don't know what's wrong with Scarlet but she vomited twice today.  She hasn't eaten since 2 pm which is good I guess, if she is just going to vomit it back up.  She slept in the corner under my desk for awhile today.  If she isn't feeling better tomorrow, I will take her to the vet.

I hope she gets better.

Low Cost Declawing

You will actually not find any vet who will do "low cost" declawing.  There are a few reasons for this: 1. It is NOT medically necessary.  2. It does NOT better the health of your cat. 3. It is an amputation and many vets won't even perform the procedure because they feel it is unethical.

Declawing is uncommon outside the United States.  It is banned in England, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.  In the United Kingdom, it is actually illegal and under their law is considered animal cruelty!  Source: declawing.com

As you can see below, the incision goes beyond just the claw.  Not only is the bone removed, but so are ligaments, tendons and nerves. This is a painful surgery that requires recovery time. This human equivalent is to break your last knuckle and cut off the tips of your fingers.  Sounds like a good deal, huh?  Try living a normal life without the ends of your fingers.

Read more about the procedure by clicking here .

You can believe all of the nuts out there who defend declawing if you want-it's your cat.  My childhood cat was declawed when I was about 9.  Of course, I did not have the opinions I have now and I had no qualms about him getting declawed.  My mother made the decision and he actually had no problems with the procedure itself except for bloody bandages for a few days.  However, he did have one problem because of being declawed.  He was at my grandmother's house (in the country) while we were on vacation when I was about 11 and he was attacked by two feral cats when he slipped out of the door.  From that attack, he received about a 2 inch long, 1 inch deep gash on his back.  If he had claws, he probably would have felt confident enough to fight them back and could have done some damage to them.  Without his claws, it seems that he just tried to run away and they pounced on him.  

That is one of the biggest reasons people (like me) oppose declawing.  We are taking away one of the only defenses a cat has to protect itself!

If you want to declaw your cat, be prepared to deal with the consequences!  When people declaw their cat, they can have issues such as litter box aversion (going outside the litter box), they can lose the ability to climb, jump or keep their balance, their behavior and demeanor may change due to their perceived vulnerability.  Your cat may live in pain because as cat owners we know that cats often hide pain or illness.  Having no claws and no bone in their foot drastically changes the design of their foot.  They are designed to run, jump, climb and be very agile.  Without those bones, they might not be able to do those things as well as they should.  

There is no way to tell how a cat will react to a declawing procedure but why (if you love your cat) would you gamble with their health both mentally and physically?!?!  It may end up just fine, or you may bring your happy, friendly cat to the vet and live the rest of your life with a scared, unpredictable ball of fur in the corner who doesn't use the litter box!  What would you do then?  Bring it to the shelter to be killed-OF COURSE!!!!

I see it all the time.  People bring cats to the shelter (where we DO NOT KILL THEM but most of the time the people do not know that when they bring their cat in) and they say they have behavior problems and yes, they declawed them.  Hmm...and we ask, well when did the behavior problems start? (Usually after declawing, or made worse with declawing)  What can we do to help you with your cat?  Can we help correct the behavior so you can bring them back home with you?  Nope.  They want to leave the cat with us and get a new one.  At least they won't be killed with us.

People declaw cats for convenience.  Would you take your child to the doctor to have the last knuckle broken and the ends of their fingers cut off because they are being destructive?  OF COURSE NOT!  How would they live their lives normally?  They are supposed to have the ends of their fingers!!

So, why would you even consider it with an animal that uses those "fingers" for protection!?

Before you have a cat declawed, consider how painful the procedure is and try alternatives. There are several: (1) Learn to clip your cat's nails  , (2) give Soft Paws a try, (3) supply lots of tall and STURDY scratching posts and encourage their usage and discourage scratching anywhere else. Cats want their scratching posts to be sturdy and not move when they scratch on them.  I find that most cats prefer sisal rope scratching posts (click here for one I have personally that my cats love and does not move when they scratch on it) and the cardboard ones that lay on the floor (click here for an example) but definitely shop around for one that your cat likes most.

References:
http://www.askthecatdoctor.com/declawingcats.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onychectomy#United_Kingdom
http://www.catscratching.com/ 
http://www.softpaws.com/

Our newest foster kittens...one was hit by a car.

We have two new foster kittens:

Gracie, is 3 months old, weighs a little over 2 pounds and is a little shy.  She is black with a little white patch on her chest.  She was in another foster home with her sister but we decided to separate them because they were not making progress.  They were both trapped outside with their two brothers.  (There is a 4 in the litter, 1 black male, 1 black female, 1 grey male, 1 grey female)  Because they are a little feral, we need to tame them so they can be adopted.  Sometimes when litter mates are together, they do not bond with humans as well as they do when they are alone.  The other two of the litter are doing well together but Gracie and her sister were not.  So, we separated them.  All 4 of them are available for adoption.



Karma is 6 months old and weighs 4 pounds 3 ounces.  She is slightly emaciated.  She was hit by a car two weeks ago and a woman who has been feeding her decided to call our shelter to get her help.

I am not sure why this woman waited 2 weeks to get Karma medical attention but we have her now and she is getting the help she needs.  She went to the vet yesterday and today.  Yesterday, she had x-rays taken and was given a powerful painkiller.

Today, she was examined and another vet looked at her x-rays to determine what surgeries she needs.  She has 3 fractures in her pelvis, one through her hip socket and one in her femur.

She is scheduled to have surgery on her femur on Tuesday.  Surprisingly, she is able to walk.  I am not sure how she can physically stand but she gets around fairly well.  She is confined to a cage to prevent her from running and jumping which may cause her more damage.  I do let her out periodically because she likes laying next to me and getting some pets behind the ears.  When she is out, I have to constantly supervise her to make sure none of the other kittens try to play with her, which could hurt her.

After she heals from this first surgery, she will have another surgery to fix her pelvis and hip.

As you can see in the picture to the right, sometimes, she doesn't want to use her legs.  Here she is eating some wet food. She does not appear to be in any pain because she is on pain medication.  I am watching her very closely for any changes.

She is such a sweet, loving kitty.  I am surprised that even in her condition, she is so loving. She wants to lay next to us and purr.  She is such a sweet girl.

After she heals from all of her surgeries, she will be available for adoption.

Off to the vet!

I just got back from taking Ramses and Isabella to the vet.  Isabella has had a chronic problem with her ears and had started scratching at her ears in the last week or so.  Before Isabella came to us, she lived with someone else.  That person or those people did not take very good care of her.  At some point, she had ear mites and they never took her to the vet so her ears just got worse and worse.  Then her owners moved out of their house and left her and Jackson in the house with no food and only toilet water to drink-and she still had ear mites!

She has been to the vet many times, today makes the 4th time since June.  Her ears are not too bad today but there is enough bacteria in there to bother her.  She doesn't have that much bacteria but the vet said she just must be sensitive.  I clean her ears once a week with a cleaning product then I use a Bur-Otic solution every 3 days.  So, now she is on medicated drops for 2 weeks.

How to clean a cat's ears
Chronic ear problems in cats
Middle and inner ear infections in cats
Ear infections in cats
Pictures of healthy and infected ear canal of cat














Ramses went to the vet because he had pretty loose stools.  I tried using something called Diar-eze , which usually solves the problem, but this time it didn't.  They did a fecal test and found no parasites.  The vet thinks that it might be stress related, or due to a parasite that they did not see.  This was not as "fresh" as it could have been but this was from the last time he went, so that is what I had to bring.  Stress makes sense since Scratchy passed away only a little over 2 weeks ago.  They were friends.  :(

Ramses was put on medication for the diarrhea, even if it is stress related, this medication will help him feel better.

Kennel Owners Killed 80 Dogs Instead of Taking Them to the Vet.

HARRISBURG - Two Berks County kennel operators killed nearly their entire kennel population - 80 dogs - after wardens ordered veterinary exams on dozens of their animals.

After receiving a poor inspection report on July 24, Elmer Zimmerman of Kutztown shot his 70 small-breed dogs and threw them onto a compost pile on his property, according to officials with the state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement. His brother, Ammon Zimmerman, who operated A & J Kennel next door, shot 10 dogs about the same time, they said.

It is legal for dog owners in the state to put a dog down by shooting it. Gov. Rendell, as part of his effort to improve kennel conditions, is seeking legislation to allow only veterinarians to euthanize commercial kennel dogs.

Elmer Zimmerman, owner of E & A Kennel, said in an interview yesterday that he feared the Department of Agriculture was trying to close him down and that he destroyed the dogs on his veterinarian's recommendation.

"They were old, and we were hearing that they don't want kennels anymore," said Zimmerman, who has held a commercial kennel license since at least 2003. "The best thing to do was get rid of them."

Ammon Zimmerman, reached yesterday by phone, told a reporter his decision to destroy his dogs was "none of your business."

Aguirre, who had cited Zimmerman for multiple dog-law violations and ordered vet checks on 39 dogs for flea and fly bites, told him he didn't believe he had shot the dogs. Zimmerman then got out the backhoe and uncovered the bodies of dogs - among them poodles, shih tzus and cocker spaniels - that had been thrown onto the compost pile, she said.

More...

I am thinking about buying pet insurance, any ideas?

When my cats were younger, I had pet insurance. After a year or two of never using it, I figured I could have spent that money better. I have two that I want to insure. My cats are getting older, 10 and 11, so I think it might be a good idea. I never want to be in a situation where they need some kind of emergency surgery or something and I don't have the money. I did have a situation where my cat, Gaby, needed some emergency care and it cost over $500. Thankfully, I had the help of my grandparents to pay for it. I don't anymore. (Gaby was a victim of animal cruelty and needed lifesaving care-for Gaby's story, click here)

I am a student and I am perpetually broke. I would rather pay $20 or $30 a month if it helps me pay for a surgery later.

Does anyone have ideas on Pet Insurance companies? Do you have pet insurance? Are you satisfied?

Medicine In Small Dose Deadly To Thousands Of Pets

Vets sometimes treat pets with people medications, but those drugs can kill four-legged consumers.

Last year, 89,000 of the 130,000 animal poisoning emergencies handled by the ASPCA's national poison control center were related to pets eating human medications.

"One of the most common misconceptions is that human medications are as helpful to pets as they can be to humans," explains Dana Farbman, senior manager of the poison control center at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "In fact, human drugs can be quite harmful, even deadly, to pets depending on the circumstance of exposure."

Just one extra-strength acetaminophen tablet (found in brands such as Tylenol) can kill an average-sized cat.

Recently, the poison control center released a top 10 list of the most common dangers based on the frequency of calls. Human painkillers, cold medications, antidepressants and dietary supplements topped the list.

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PetVet:Diagnose problems with your cat or dog with PetVet Condition Finder

I came upon this site while doing my own personal research about possible causes for my cat, Ashtyn's, vomiting. My cat ended up having a very serious illness. I found this site after I had already taken her to the vet and was waiting for my vet to interpret test results to diagnose her. If I had solely relied on this site and delayed taking her to the vet, my cat could have died. She requires prescription medications to keep her stable and healthy. She has Lymphoid HyperPlasia.

This site is incredibly detailed and is for both cats and dogs. The condition finder includes physical symptoms, mood and temperament and behavior and as you add more information the list of possible causes changes.

If your pet is displaying troubling symptoms-please take them to a vet. DO NOT rely on this site to diagnose and treat your pet.

Click here to visit the site:
PetVet disease and condition finder

Do you like sweet cats who love being scratched behind the ears? This is Yasmine and she is currently living at the Parkville Animal Shelter. Click here for more info.