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Good to know that panting is most likely
normal. I guess I just worry.... a lot. My other 3 adult cats are
definitely lounge lizards compared to Cotton. He just always feels
so much warmer than the other cats do, so the panting made me think he might be
overheating.
Sandy
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 10:12
AM
Subject: Re: was intro now is health
issues
Smoky used to play so hard he'd pant. His favorite game was with an
interactive toy and he would do backflips etc trying to catch the ball on the
end of the string. And I could get him doing those tight pivot
circles:) And more than once, during a break for him to pant, he would
be so ticked off at the toy that he'd punctuate his panting with hissing!!!
"pant pant pant HISSSS pant pant HISSSSS" It was sooooooo funny!
My sister's old kitty Tessa had some post-playing panting/wheezing, but
she also had asthma.
I would just monitor it and if it changes from simple panting after hard
exercise to wheezing or out of breath when just doing quiet stuff then I would
have a vet check him out.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
Hi
Sandy! Keep asking away! That's what this group is for! :)
I can try
to give you a little advice about #2 and #3 (and #4, if I
remember!)...As for diet, try to stick with foods made with human
grade ingredients with meat being listed as the first ingredient (alot
of commercial foods have corn meal listed as the first ingredient
because it's cheap...not only can animals be allergic to corn meal,
but, generally speaking, they just can't digest corn meal
properly--
plus, the carbohydrates contribute to obesity)...Most of these
ultra-
premium foods aren't found at the grocery store or Petsmart
(although
Nutro isn't a bad option)...I go to a local kennel to pick up
my dry
food (Innova Evo) and drive all the way down to a vet in
Galveston to
pick up their canned food (Wellness)...here are their
websites if you
want to do more research: www.naturapet.com and
www.omhpet.com.
Their are others out their, as well...Eagle Pack,
Wysong...If you go
to www.petfooddirect.com and check out their food
section, they've got
several, high-quality foods...you just have to
check out the labels
closely! Personally, I've chosen foods that contain
no grains at
all...just meat, veggies and fruit...and my guys are doing
great! Raw
food diets are also another option...you can cook them
yourself (I
don't have much experience with this one) or, some places
carry
frozed, prepared raw food diets. I've tried Nature's Variety
frozen
raw food patties...most of my guys like it (one in particular),
but
they get bored with it after awhile...so I just switch around a bit!
Just do a google search with something like "bad commercial pet food"
and you'll get several articles pertaining to what's actually in
common commercial pet foods...ick! ;)
And as for his
mouth...sounds like stomatitis! It's another disease
that with take
advantage of an FeLV+ cat's weakened immune
system...our Pips had it
pretty bad...he was finally, successfully
treated with Zithromax (and
antibiotic). But depending on the
severity and whether or not it
responds to medications at all,
sometimes, the only option is to pull
teeth (our vet actually pulled
several of Pips' teeth while she was
cleaning them). Just keep an eye
on them, stomatitis can make eating
painful!
And as for the panting after playing, that sounds fairly
normal to
me...I've got a couple of cats (both + and -) who play so hard
that
they just wear themselves out and start gasping for air
(panting)! ;) But, of course, when you're dealing with FeLV, you'll
want to keep an eye on that...it's when he's having trouble breathing
while just resting when you need to worry. It just sounds like he's
an aggressive player (like most kittens)! :)
Hope some of this
helps! You'll get plenty of more advice from
others!!
Jen
****************************************************
"But
if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be
unique
in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world;
You become
responsible, forever, for what you have tamed..." --Antoine
de
Saint-Exupéry
"If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and
you will know
each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know
them, and
what you do not know you will fear. What one fears one
destroys." --
Chief Dan George
----- Original Message
-----
From: Dudes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wednesday, November 2,
2005 10:48 pm
Subject: was intro now is health issues
> I sure
hope you all don't get tired of my newbie questions. If
> anyone
would rather email me to discuss off list, I would welcome
> it, at
least point me in the right direction so I can read up on
> them to
help educate myself. I feel like there is much to know,
> and I am a
sponge. So (deep breathe) here I go....
>
> My questions are
about my little guy Cotton, the + orange kitten
> who's about 8
months old.
>
> 1. I was telling Jen off list that he has some
really awful
> smelling....litterbox deposits, which are much like
diarrhea.
> When we go to the NEW vet, we will check him for
parasites, and
> anything else that might cause this, like a
bacteria. Jen clued
> me in to a few other things that might be
causing this, and what
> might help. I will definitely mention these
things to the vet as
> well. Right now we are just adding yogurt to
his canned food,
> which seems to be helping.
>
> 2.
I'd love to talk to someone who has time to go into detail
> about a
really good diet for Cotton, because I believe Cotton may
> have some
deficiencies. But how does one determine that? He seems
> to eat
strange things, and he steals people food. He could go
>
trick-or-treating disguised as a Hoover vacuum cleaner, because
>
he's that indiscriminate. And he constantly begs for food. He
> never
seems to ever get enough. I partly suspect it's because
> when my
stepdaughter had him, she didn't feed him enough or
> consistently,
and I'm wondering if it could just be bad manners
> which could
otherwise be lovingly corrected. But I don't want to
> miss anything.
>
> 3. Cotton has dragon breath. I don't remember any of my
cats'
> mouths smelling the way his does, especially as kittens. When
> mine were little, they almost had no mouth odor. Young Mr. Cotton
> will open his mouth to say something, and what comes wafting out
> smells like old cat food, and his little gums look rather red
> around the teeth when he opens his mouth really big. And his
> teeth seem really small, but maybe because HE is small. Or maybe
> I'm used to looking at bigger teeth in bigger mouths. I'm
>
guessing that he must have some gingivitis going on, and probably
>
as a result of his FeLV. Not sure what to do about that.
>
> 4.
Bloodwork. I may have to deal with a few things at a time in
> order
to get him feeling better, so want to determine what's most
>
important things to get the most out of our vet visits. I
>
definitely know that he needs bloodwork, so while they are
> drawing,
he probably needs a CBC to begin with, to determine if
> he's anemic
or has infection, that sort of thing. I have never
> seen a cat pant,
but when he is tired (of jumping and playing), he
> does. And it
could just be me worrying about him, but sometimes
> it seems like he
is laying down a little sooner while playing.
>
> 5. Anything
else I could be missing that I should be watching for?
>
>
Sponge-Bob Sandy
>
>
>
>
>
Barb+Smoky the House Puma+El Bandito
Malito
"My cat the clown: paying no mind to whom he should impress.
Merely living his life, doing what pleases him, and making me smile."
-
Anonymous
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