Re: Introducing Patches, and me :-)

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 13:50:15 -0700

Welcome to the group. I'm a bit behind on email, so I know this is a late reply.
 
Mats, if left to fester on a cat (or dog, for that matter), even once removed, cause excessive skin irritation, because all the hair that formed the mat was pulling the skin under it into it's center. Sometimes even sores develop under severe mats, and I've even heard of those mat sores developing into maggot infested infected sores. So, yes, mats are severe health issues. It's likely that even though the mats are removed now, he still has residual irritation to his skin, which all the pulling of grooming could have made even worse. I ALWAYS do full body shaves on cats with mats, it's inhumane do just trying to comb them out, plus, if you do a full close shave (really short, but not bald), you can better see the skin, to treat any sores or irritated patches. At this point, I'd highly recommend a good BATH, using a mild shampoo designed for skin irritations. Any oatmeal cat shampoo would be good. It's likely he's never been bathed before, so I advise a long sleeved thick flannel shirt, good fitting suede gloves, and thick sturdy jeans. The ideal thing is an enclosed shower with a sliding door, then you can just take yourself AND the cat into the shower is you can rig up a hose somehow from the faucet. If he freaks out, just let him go, and wait for him to calm down (or give up), he can't go anywhere because the shower door is shut. Otherwise, I'd use the kitchen sick. Use a sturdy dog collar (not a safety cat collar), and tie a section of string from the sink strainer (the one built into the drain hole), and make it about 1 foot long. Tie the other end to his collar. This way he cannot escape the sink. It needs to be short enough that he can't get his body out over the edge and hang himself. Clear all items from the counter or anywhere within 3 feet of the sink (that includes hanging spoons, pots, pans, etc that he might pull down from above). If your sink has a hand sprayer, that's better, just use the sprayer, starting from his front feet, and working your way up, and then back, but if not, just fill the sink up about 4 inches and use a plastic cup to pour the water over the cat. If you do it that way, you'll need to drain and refill the sink at least twice with clean rinse water to be sure he's well rinsed. Cats repell water, so you'll need to wet him down, then put a bit of shampoo on him, rub it in, and then wet down more, the shampoo allows the water to get past the cat's natural water repellant coat. Scratches are expected, just DON'T get bitten, cat bites are dangerous, so wear the gloves and long shirt, and be aware of where his teeth are at all times. yes, the gloves will be wet, and soggy and hard to deal with, but better than being bitten. If he's being good, and you are sure he's calm enough, you can remove them once you get going good. A helper helps a lot, if the cat tries to throw himself out of the sink, your helper can help get him back in, or hold him down. Trust me, any way you do it at home will be much gentler than if he had it done at the vet's or a groomer's shop. Groomers are very rough with the pets, never trust one. If you decide to go that route, INSIST that you be in the back and watching the entire time, if they wont allow it, then don't use that shop.
 
Now, on to the supplements. Missing Link is a good general supplement. If you mix it in with some very tasty canned cat food, he should eat it. Mine never seem to notice it when mixed in with a can of fancy feast. You might also want to consider extra vitamin C, and possibly Interferon-A, which you would have to get through your vet, or online, with your vet's prescription. There's more info about the many experimental supplements and treatments for FELV on the list webpage too, be sure to check them out. Here's that webpage:
If he's skinny, Nutri-Cal (or Vita-Cal, the generic equalivant) is a good high calorie supplement, most cats will lick it from the tube:
There are also several liquid diets for supplementing for skinny cats:
 A good cat food is the best place to start though. Read the ingredients, there should not be ANY corn in the ingredients, and the first ingredient should always be some kind of meat or fish (not by-products, it should say "chicken" or "mackrel" or "lamb", NOT "meat by-products". It's even better if the first two ingredinets are meat or meat products (like fish meal, or chicken fat, etc). A good rule of thumb, if it costs less than $25.00 for a 15-17 pound bag, it's not any good. This rule is general though, many expensive foods are also junk, that's why you have to read labels. A really good source for supplements is http://drsfostersmith.com and a really good resource/source for foods (to research ingredients, or to even mail order food) is Pet Food Direct, the link to their cat food page is: http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/brands4dept.asp?dept_id=5&dept_two=6&parent_id=420 

Phaewryn
 
PLEASE Adopt a cat from Little Cheetah Cat Rescue!!!
http://ucat.us/adopt.html
 
DONATE: We could really use a power saw (for construction), a digital camera (for pictures) and HOMES for CATS! 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.3/395 - Release Date: 7/21/2006

Reply via email to