Problem with a cat. Can anyone help?

[Daftmare]

Id be tempted to look into something hypoallergenic like burns cat food or james well beloved, I had a similar cat once a rescue also. Also worm her they will have done at RSPCA but I would again and not with a shop bought one (rubbish imo) a milbemax from vet is prob best. Obviously cats and dogs were not designed to eat the food we feed them in all honesty so raw meat is more natural for them. I knew a bloke who reared all his dogs on chicken heads, gross to look at but I dont think I have ever seen such lovely fat litters of pups in my life.
Good for you though taking on an older cat and personally I cant bear kittens!!

[jec248]

I took Jess back to the vets today, and we saw a different vet. She told me
The cat is old.
Her teeth are rotten and her gums are infected so the teeth need to be removed.
She's got a bad skin which is why she's got no hair under her 'arms'
She's got sore feet, which is why she doesn't like to go outside.
She gave her two injections, 1 x antibiotics and 1 x antiinflammatory. She also gave me some food to try her on,which is moist chicken and rice in a packet, to save me making it myself. If she can get some weight on and her general health improves the next thing is to get her teeth out. If she doesn't get any better I feel the kindest thing is to put her to sleep.

[harveydales]

Oh poor puss. It sounds like she's had a tough life. She must feel as though she's died and gone to heaven now she's found herself with you. Taking on an old cat like this is so rewarding and I would do the same if it weren't for Ben.

Ginge, our last cat was also an old rescue cat who'd been living rough. He had a permanent skin problem from years of fleas and he also had to have several teeth out but he had a very happy few years with us before he sadly died. I still miss him.....

[leannwithconnie]

Poor little thing....I hope you manage to build her up so she can have her mouth / teeth treated. I wonder why her little feet are sore?? Did the vet say at all?

[Debbie]

Can you get ahold of xylitol at all? Its a natural sweetner, you should be able to find it in the natural/health food stores, or possibly in the bulk foods section of a larger grocery store.

We have an ancient coatimunde, and there's no way she could withstand the anesthetic needed to clean her teeth. However, she was getting severe gingivitis and becoming reluctant to eat at all. I added xylitol to one of her water bottles, and offered a second water bottle that was just plain water so she could decide. It tastes sweet like sugar, so once she decided I wasn't giving her a 'medicine', she drank it like there was no tomorrow.

The xylitol cleared up her gingivitis, so we continue to give it in her water bottle. It may help your puss to regain some health so the vets can get in there to get the teeth removed.

[harveydales]

You can get Xylitol over here. I ordered some on Debbie's advice for my old pony Winnie when he had tooth trouble. He is fine now. Don't remember where I got it from though but I just googled Xylitol.

[zeldalithgow]

www.healthy.co.uk/products/xylitol.html

[harveydales]

Thanks Zelda! This is amazing timing - I had Ben to the vet yesterday for his annual booster. They always give him a general check up which is not an easy task with Ben ridling about and roling onto his back.

The vet found one molar tooth where the gum has receded and looks red, probably due to all the extra Christmas bone chewing. We've got to keep an eye on this tooth and it may need removing but I'm going to try the Xylitol treatment first!

[jec248]

Since her visit the vet on Thursday morning, Jess the cat has been very quiet and spends most of her time asleep in the kitchen.
On Thursday when I cleaned her litter tray out I put a litter tray liner in before putting the litter in.
This must of confused her and she used the floor instead! I removed the liner and have showed her that I have but she is still refusing to use her litter tray. ( I seem to spend all my time mopping the floor) She doesn't want to join us in the lounge tonight, so I have to keeping going through to check her.When she wakes up I am going to be cruel and put her out for half an hour.
She is eating and drinking loads. I will look into getting some xylitol.

[harveydales]

Glad to hear she is eating and drinking well. Old cats do seem to sleep an awful lot and I guess she finds your kitchen quiet and cozy. The medication from the vet cold also be making her feel a bit tired and drained. Fingers crossed she starts to pcik up soon. I hope you can get the litter tray problem sorted - not very pleasant for you clearing up the mess!

[greydales]

Aww poor little thing . If it's any consolation my old rescue cat had ALL her teeth removed and it wasn't a problem at all, she was perfectly able to 'gum' away at her food and was definitely more comfortable for it.

It must be very frustrating re. the soiling though, I hope things do improve for you!

[Debbie]

Sometimes if they're new to you and your house, if you clean the box too well, they'll refuse to use it. They don't understand its where you need them to do their business.

Poor thing, I bet she's finally getting some rest now between the antibiotics and anti inflamatory shots. I bet she'll sleep a lot.

LOL...has Ben been sneaking on here for his DFs fix and spotted the xylitol treatment? ;D I daresay its from too much enthusiastic bone chewing as well.

[jec248]

She is still not using her litter tray. I let her out for half an hour, although she spent that time crying to come back in, and when she came in she squatted down over a shoe, which was in the utility room near to her litter tray, and went to the toilet in it!!!( it was my shoe)
Later she scratched off a bit more wall paper. She appears not to like the scratching post we have left out for her.
I have had two weeks off work over the xmas period and I feel that this time's been spent shoveling s--t!!!!!
ANIMALS why do we have them??

[harveydales]

Oh dear! Looks like she's almost got the idea but not quite......... Can you soak some of her pee with litter granules and put the soiled litter in her box? Our old rescue cat, Ginge, got the hang of litter boxes from the word go and even when he went out, he would come back in to to pee and poo, much to Andy's annoyance. Unfortunately, even though Ginge would always squat in his tray, he tended either to miss or be over-vigerous in his covering up routine so that soiled litter would end up everywhere. I did get fed up cleaning up after him so know how you feel..........

I've never had a cat who would use the scratching posts I've provided! It's usually bed bases that get shredded in our house! Have you tried Feliway - a feline hormone spray you can get from your vet? You are supposed to spray it where you want them to scratch and rub and helps new cats settle in. It didn't work for us but does for many people.

[SuzieP]

This may sound rather cruel - but it's worked for me in the past and it has worked for Jasper (although he's a kitten so it might be different). Working on the principle that cats hate to soil their own bedding I shut them in a large dog cage with a bed, water and a litter tray. They quite quickly get the idea. Jasper wet his bed several times, but then twigged that the litter tray would be a good place to go (with very satisfying covering-up properties) and he hasn't looked back. If you got your puss from the RSPCA they might lend you a cage if you explain the problems you're having.

I take my hat off to you - you're being very patient with this little mog.

Those litter trays with a domed lid are great to keep vigorously scratched litter in its place.