Postings by Scooter

Food & Nutrition > Best cheap food for stray cats

Scooter 1131755     Purred: Thu Oct 18, '12 10:21pm PST  I seem to have adopted some neighborhood stray cats. My cats get the expensive grain free type food, but I can't afford to continue to give that food to the stray cats. What is a less expensive food that is still decent? I don't want the super low quality food that is just fillers, but I'm hoping to find something a step above that. Thanks for any suggestions!! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Scooter 1131755     Purred: Sun Nov 13, '11 7:27pm PST  I just stumbled on this thread and it reminded me of Scooter. She has been having "hacking" fits. It looks and sounds like she wants to cough up a hair ball, but she never does. She takes a deep breath in and then forces it out about every 3-5 seconds. This can go on for 3-5 minutes. She recently had an x-ray done, but the vet was looking at her heart not her lungs. She did not mention anything abnormal about the lungs in the x-ray. Maybe they weren't that visible? I've also had two different vets listen to Scooter's lungs and they both said they sounded good. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Cat Health > Does your vet declaw cats?

Scooter 1131755     Purred: Fri Nov 11, '11 8:07pm PST  Pandora - That's another really good point. This vet took excellent care of both Cheyenne and Scooter. A very wounded cat showed up at my work about a month ago. It had been hit by a car or mauled by another animal and was very close to death. One of my co-workers rushed it to the closest vet to be put out of its misery. He said the vet told him in a snotty voice that most people wouldn't even bother bringing in a cat like that. I don't know if he meant we should have just let it die or put it out of our misery ourselves, but either way I was blown away that he would say something like that. That vet will never get my business. Sylvia - My friend also has a cat that was declawed before she got it. I guess I just see it as a totally unnecessary evil. One of my friend's father was a veterinarian who refused to declaw. She did say she thinks some vets do it because they would rather see the cat stay in its home rather than be put outside or up for adoption due to scratching destruction. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Cat Health > Some questions about herpes?

Scooter 1131755     Purred: Wed Aug 10, '11 3:17pm PST  Scooter has feline herpes. She was on L-Lysine for over a year and eventually her symptoms went away. I used to have to put damp cloths on her eyes every morning because they would be sealed shut with goop. I found Cheyenne a couple years later and got her vaccinated before introducing her to Scooter. As far as I know Cheyenne hasn't contracted the virus from Scooter. She's never shown any symptoms. She seems to have a very healthy immune system though. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Cat Health > Severe Periodontal Disease

Scooter 1131755     Purred: Tue May 17, '11 2:58pm PST  Just an update that the specialist said Scooter's heart looked okay and not to worry She got her steroid shot today and will be going back to the vet in about 3 weeks for a check-up. Thank you for all the purrs!!!! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Scooter 1131755     Purred: Wed May 11, '11 7:09pm PST  Well the vet visit did not go in the direction I thought it would. The vet took Scooter's temperature and said it was high at 103.5. She said this is likely due to an infection in the gums. Then she listened to Scooter's heart and said she has developed a significant heart murmur since the last time she saw her. No heart murmur was detected at the last visit. She told me that between Scooter's coughing and heart murmur, it's possible that her heart is failing. She did an x-ray to see if she could see anything. She said that Scooter's Aorta appeared quite large and that she will show it to the radiology specialist tomorrow and then call me. She said that she would recommend holding off on the steroid shot until we are sure what's going on with Scooter's heart. She did send me home with oral antibiotics for her gums though. I did ask who would be performing the dental extraction if I were to have it done and was told that a "licensed tech" who has been doing it for years would do it. I feel like if I'm going to spend $1000 I'd rather go to a specialist though. Especially from the mention of fractured jaws and other issues I wasn't previously aware of. Anyway, I'm kind of in shock that Scooter is having yet another problem added to her list. It seems like she can never just catch a break in life. I will keep you updated when I hear back from the vet. Please cross your fingers and paws that the radiologist says the enlarged Aorta is nothing significant. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Cat Health > Severe Periodontal Disease

Scooter 1131755     Purred: Tue May 10, '11 9:48pm PST  Scooter already had severe dental disease by the time I adopted her at 7 months old. She was already unable to chew her food due to inflamed gums. I had a dental done and they cleaned most of her teeth and extracted a few. At about 1 1/2 years old I had another dental done and they extracted all her teeth except her 4 canines and 2 small front teeth. Scooter is now around 3 1/2 years old and her canines are looking terrible. They are very inflamed and the gums have receded very far. Her gums continue to be inflamed even where there are no teeth, but it is worse around the teeth. The vet told me that she would like to extract all the remaining teeth but quoted me $1000! That is in sharp contrast to the $200-$300 I paid for previous extraction dentals. I honestly just can't afford that right now. We have been doing periodic cordisone shots which really help with the inflammation. Scooter was a very troubled young cat. When I adopted her she was near death. She was full of tape worms and Coccidia. Her diarrhea was almost all blood. She had Feline Herpes..the URI I think? That caused her eyes to be goopy to the point of being stuck together and constant runny noses for about a year. We got it under control with L Lysine and she has no issues with it now even after discontinue L Lysine. The vet was actually surprised she has lived this long. She seems to be doing relatively well now besides the obvious tooth problems. Anyway, my question is...what can I be doing for her horrible dental disease? I've read that it can lead to more serious internal organ damage. My vet hasn't mentioned much about it. I booked an appointment for her tomorrow afternoon. Are there any questions I should ask? Are there any supplements that might help? Like I said, she is acting healthy but I'm worried that unseen damage might be occuring. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

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