Hey Rachel,
I had wondered where you were! I think so far so good really. You can get advantage for the fleas from your vet. You'll probably only have to use it a month or two to totally rid them of the fleas since they shouldn't be exposed to them anymore. I've done this when I brought in a new guy or a friend came over with a dog, whatever, and 'we' got fleas.
it's very common for them to come from the shelter with the fleas. if they have fleas, they do probably have tapeworms which could cause scrawniness. the vet can give med. for that as well, and it's usually no big deal. I don't know about the shelter these cats came from, but I know my shelter advertises that they were 'seen by a vet, have all shots and tests, etc...' but i know it's a bunch of bull in our case. i always go straight to the vet for shots and tests given by a 'real' vet who will administer them properly. (only thing i WOULDN'T worry about here is if they happened to have given rabies already..... ) like at my shelter they say they gave them shots. but i KNOW how often they screw up and either don't give them at all, give 1st, but never the booster, or give booster so far apart from original that it's basically useless. also, shelter personnel do NOT know how to give the tests. do not know what age to test for aids, mix blood samples to save money, i could g! o on and on and on.
i actually wish my shelter wouldn't bother testing for leukemia they're so awful about it. I'm sure many negative cats are euthanized, and many people (such as myself) end up with positive cats that they 'tested' as negative because they can't remember which side of a combo test means positive for leuk/aids/control/ or whatever.
it will certainly take time for everyone to become comfortable in the new environment with new people, new cats, etc.... just give it time.
The diarrea 'could' be caused by the tapeworms if they're bad enough, change in food, stress, or just something else going on. you won't know till you see vet. however, if you' ve ever had it before you know it will cause soreness and redness. i wouldn't get overly concerned about that tonight. you'll know what you're dealing with tomorrow.
all i can say to watch for is kind of like with people......... if mittens normally uses the litterbox say 3 times a day, and she's still going 3 times a day, but now it's diarrea, it's probably nothing too serious. if she keeps going, and going, and going till it gets to the point it's watery, she's got something going on. coccidia, for one, can cause that, and is common in shelters and contagious to those sharing boxes. again, it's typically easily treatable. sounds bad, but some vaseline to the area might soothe it! same as for a baby.
good luck. let us know what happens.
tonya
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I know I've been a bit scarce on the list lately - while I haven't been talking much, I have been reading as many of the posts as possible.
My condolences to all who have lost a little one. My prayers are with those who are experiencing problems.
I am having a problem with all of the cats - in particular Mittens.
It has been slow going of the 2 new boys warming up to me - - Butch still runs away about half the time I walk into the room he is in.
Well, it has just come to my attention that they all have fleas!
It was funny how I bought them flea collars & a nice new brush on Friday and find that they have fleas on Saturday. There is only one way they could have gotten fleas - - the boys must have had them when they were still at the shelter! Not being entirely familiar with fleas I am taking the brush and fle! a collar approach until I call my vet tomorrow (I'll get to that in a minute). I was educating myself on fleas and I found that they can lead to or be an indicator of internal parasites. That has led me to start worrying about mittens. He has been scrawny from the day I got him. I believe he has some form of birth defects (or the cat equivalent of it). Butch is a big healthy cat and Cruizer is a little on the chubby side, I'm not too worried yet.
Mittens has had diarhea off and on since he got here. I've watched to make sure that he is eating and drinking plenty of fluids and so I would witness it come & go. He's had it now for about 5 or 6 days. Tonight I came home from work and went nuts. He was a mess.
Forgive me for being graphic here, but his whole rear end and back legs were covered. I guessed that he must have missed the litter box and although I know he wouldn't be crazy about it I attempted to w! ash him off. I am happy to report that I survived with only cuts to my hands!
I got his legs cleaned off but when I went to wash his rear and the base of his tail he let out such a cry that I knew he was in pain and I stopped. I toweled and dried his paws and in the process got a look at him. His rear end is bright red and looks to be swollen! Obviously I'm calling the vet in the morning - - I'm waiting until morning because in all other respects he seems fine. He is sitting comfortably, he ate dinner, he drank fluids, he played even.
The only thing I did do was go out and get some pedialyte. A vet had suggested I give some to Cruizer for her diarhea to ensure that she didn't dehydrate so I wanted to make sure I got some into Mittens. He drank a good amount of it - - I'd say at least a cup and he has gone back to the bowl a couple more times to take a small sip.
First, I ask that you all please keep him in prayers. ! I just adore the little guy - at night - about once a week - he comes into my bed and likes to sleep under the blanket with me. He is certainly the more outgoing of the two boys.
I'm really kicking myself for not immediately taking him to my vet. I figured that the shelter I got him at was run by vets and that they must have been taking good care of him because he was leukemia positive. Am I an absolute idiot and now I'm jeopardizing mittens' health???
I'm sorry to be so long, but I'm just so upset about this. There must have been warning signs that I just didn't pick up on.
If anyone has any experience with any of this, I would appreciate some advice. I feel like such a rotten mom right now.
Rachel & Miss Cruizer & Mittens & Butch
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