Cat, should I take her to a vet???

[Annpan]

Anyone who has seen me about the site in the last few weeks will know that I am moving house from a small Glasgow flat out to a cottage in the country

But I have a cat who might not be so happy about the move, she was taken on by us as a mouser when we moved here (the flat we are in was infested with the buggers) She was a kitten and had come straight from a farm, we had her neutered and wormed at the time (4 years ago) but since then have had nothing done to her - well we tried to get her to eat worming stuff, but she won't touch it and only eats dry food, (or mice) so there is no way of hiding it in there - anyway no jabs.

We had a baby recently and cat lost alot of fur and was a bit off for a while (I guess it is stress) anyway she is back to normal, though still baldy in parts. Do we need to get her sorted out by a vet? We will be living near sheep and horses. I know that there are various health risks to her but, and this seems harsh, I don't want to spend ££££s getting her jabbed and wormed if the stress of that plus the move is going to kill her anyway

Please don't take this the wrong way but she is a mouser first and a pet second.

Any suggestions as to what I should or should not do would be appreciated

Ann Pan

[Jarmara]

we live in the country and we see alot of feral cats al our cats have a yearly booster jab (cat flu etc) i would recomend it though as hard as you try you cant protect them against everything we lost a cat to F.I.V (feline aids) due to him being bitten buy an infected cat, for peace of mind o would get your cat an MOT then you can be sure that its just stress and nothing else.

[Boots]

Well, not being a cat person at all... but being the mother of a cat lover, I wouldn't fuss.

Country cats are very different, I reckon. They feed on more natural diets, and they live more naturally... as in, they are more likely to meet their own needs from their environments.

The problems that city cats have (Kitty cough, eye probs, mites, fleas, rashes) can pretty much all be linked to confinement and confined environments. That's not to say nothing is going to happen to a country cat, but they definately, in my experience, are much more resilient and better able to meet their own needs in a country environment.

The only shot a farmer would give a cat out here, would be from a .22. But I don't recommend that. Much easier to just feed them. Hunting/Hungry cats are not great in the country... they are one of the worst killers of wildlife, in that they will kill as a play behaviour. If you have a mouser and you have no mice, best thing you can do is bung a noisy bell around its neck. It will soon learn how to silence it, but at least it gives the wildlife a bit of a chance.

[red]

If the fur loss is bad i would consider taking her to the vet - as it could be ring worm and that can be picked up by humans - so even if you dont see the cat as a member of the family its worth doing it for the other members! it shuldn't cost a lot to get a diagnosis.

I haven't really bothered about injections.. and frankly suspect there is more risk in urban areas.. where there are more cats than rural areas

as for worming..well we do from time to time but it is fairly hopeless if they catch and eat vermin, they just reinfect themselves. but again.. with a baby in the house, you might want to consider a regular worming program. I agree - putting it their food never works - best thing is to chuck it down their throats.. its not that difficult.

[Annpan]

Thanks Red... I never knew that loss of hair could be a sign of ring worm It is patchy and mostly on her belly but as soon as we noticed it we started paying more attention to her and we stopped finding clumps of fur around the house so I just put it down to stress... she had stopped sleeping in her usual place and didn't like going outside either, but thats all back to normal too.

Thanks to everyone for the advice, cat is defo going to the vet for a check up, and we will consider the jags.

As for worming, I used to do the "chuck it down their throats" with the 2 cats I was brought up with, but I hated it so much and always got scratched to bits. The first time we did it with cat it was a powder in her tinned meat, but she has sinced gone off tinned food, so it is tough to get her to take it. Do you know if the vet can give a different treatment?

Ann Pan

[Jarmara]

a pill plunger is a really great way to get a cat to take a pill with out you loosing your fingers we have a retired mouser called pyewackett and she has to have a pill every day due to thyrod problesm and she will take her pill as long as it is wrapped in what i call plastic cheese (you know that square sheet of processed stuff that they shove in cheese burgers etc)

http://www.petcaretips.net/giving_medications_cat.html

[Dendrobium]

There isn't a easy way with cats and pills, some are good and 'take their medicine' and others involve a large blood loss from everyone in immediate area! Usually one person to hold cat, another to hold jaws open and pop in pill, then close it and rub throat to encourange swallowing, while still holding on for a minute or two, then trundling after them to retreve a soggy spat out pill!

I remember a few years ago getting a funny email about 'how to give a cat a pill' it had about 30 steps which started with the above, every other step involved bandaging each other between increasingly extreme measures! Follwing that was 'how to give a dog a pill' which had one step, 1/wrap in bacon

[Shirley]

we have a retired mouser called pyewackett and

That's the nickname for our cat too ;)

[Shirley]

Our cat - and our dog, both love the panacur favourites - they are squishy tablets that they just eat - no persuasion needed.

I recently tried a panacur paste which comes in a loaded 'syringe' - you just open cats mouth and squirt it in... really easy!

[Annpan]

Cheers Shirlz

where do you get that panacur?? just in a regular petshop?


AnnPan

[glenniedragon]

I like the worming cream syringe too- even if your not a great shot as long as its around their mouth it goes in as they clean up after!

good luck
Kind thoughts
Deb

[Shirley]

Cheers Shirlz

where do you get that panacur?? just in a regular petshop?


AnnPan

We got ours from the vet but you can buy it online -

http://www.petvetcare.co.uk/

www.wormers.co.uk

www.vetuk.co.uk

Please note that I've not used any of the above companies so can't say how good they are etc. They do appear to be cheaper than the vet though.

[Millymollymandy]

The fur loss is almost definitely due to stress. I've come across this a lot when a cat has either someone (or thing) new in their environment, or someone or thing leaves their environment. From my own experience it has been a cat losing it's sibling, or new kittens being brought into the house, or in the case of my mum's cat, it is because her husband died recently.

My own cat is bald on his belly because he has a form of cat flu, and that is despite the fact that he is vaccinated against it.

Please please please vaccinate your cat. Even mild forms of cat flu are distressing for the cat. It was ghastly listening to the poor thing trying to breath, and not surprising he licked his own fur off.

[Annpan]

Thanks M3

I am making an appointment with the vet today.

Ann Pan

[Millymollymandy]

Goodo! Ask the vet about wormers - mum gets her cat jabbed against worms as it is easier than getting a pill down its throat. Obviously it's more expensive than pills though.

My cat takes pills really easily but even with difficult cats I manage single-handedly. Wrap cat in a towel if it is likely to scratch you and get someone else to help if necessary!