I hate to tell you this but you need to get her to a vet. She should have a
full blood panel, including checking thyroid values (T-4). This could be so
many things. You need blood work to be able to properly diagnose and treat
this.
I understand how hard it is to get a feral cat to the vet. It took me a year
to catch a semi-feral boy in my house and get him to the vet. (He had severe
stomatitis, just a horrible infection in his mouth. But he is so much better
now.)
1. Do you have a vet who is good with hard to handle cats? That's the first
thing you need.
2. Can you touch this cat at all? Will she let you pet her when you bring
food? If she is at all touchable you need to get her used to neck rubs. And
leave an open carrier in her living space, preferably with towels and blankets
inside. You want her to get used to all of this because there will come a day
when that neck rub turns into a scruff and stuff into the carrier. (If the ca
is absolutely unapproachable then you need to look into using a drop trap.)
This is a really difficult situation. I've been there. But for the sake of
the cat you need to figure it out. Her life may depend on it.
Oh, if you do the scruff and stuff, make sure you are fully committed. Don't
let go. It will make it so much harder the next time. Practice with a stuffed
animal or something so you get the motions down pat. Because when you have the
real cat by the scruff of the neck and are tring to dump her in the carrier,
you cannot let go till she is in the carrier.
When scruffing and stuffing a cat, you want the carrier up on end and the
carrier door open. You actually do a little flick of the wrist and let the
cat's body weight carry her to the bottom of the carrier. And you shut that
carrier door real fast and keep it closed till you are in a room at the vet's
office. The vet may want to be ready with a sedative too.
________________________________
From: MaiMaiPG <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 9:44 AM
Subject: [Felvtalk] Off Topic. Very Thin 8 year old cat
I realize this is not a FELV+ question but this group has such wide experience
and helped so much with Dixie, I just have to try.
I have a very thin 8 year old cat who is almost impossible to vet. She has
lived in Mom's garage since she was a day old. Recently she has gotten thin
and appears cold. I have heat lamps, a cat heating pad, Snuggle Safes and rice
bags for her on top of rubber maid totes. I can't be sure what she is eating
but there is always food available and I've added Pet Tinic to the mix. She has
two cats who hang out with her. They have all been neutered/spayed. Tommy has
had weight/cold issues for at least 8 weeks. She acts ok most of the time but
there have been days that she looked like she was ready to leave this world. I
am trying chcken livers and anything else I canthink of for iron. Any ideas
would be greatly appreciated.
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