Here she is, bright-eyed and bushy tailed. It truly is a sight to behold considering how bad she was a few weeks ago! All her air trapped under her skin is now gone- the vets can’t explain it. I can, it’s called the power of prayer! 🙂
Feral Cat Behavior
Blogging about feral cats and life in general
You are lucky that you at least can help your cats and touch them. I have 5 cats now (down from 6). All are over 10 years old, in good health and all indoor except one feral. She is an outside, total feral named Sugar. I have been feeding her twice daily for 10 years! She still just barely lets me give her a quick pet when her head is in the bowl. She has an insulated house with a heat bed in it for winter. I give her dewormer usually twice a year but it is harder and harder to get her to somehow eat what the vet gives me. I can’t put the liquid on the back of the neck, no way. She has recently had a round of dewormer, but is still eating like crazy and I noticed today she seems to be getting fat (or bloated?). Does anyone have any other ideas why she might be eating so much in old age and getting heavier? I don’t feed dry food so it’s not from carbs. They get good quality canned food or good quality feline raw diet from the Healthfood Store. Have had cats with hyperthyroid and they eat but get thinner. I don’t see any signs of worms near her anus, but it’s also difficult to get a stool sample from her because I don’t see or know where she “goes”….unfortunately taking her to the vet is pretty much out of the question. There is no alternative except the Have a Heart trap and vets aren’t crazy about dealing with her so they charge me a ton of $$$. She was on antibiotics 3 times this summer because of another stray tom that kept trying to mate with her (she’s been fixed) and the vet charged me hundreds for a house call when he couldn’t even examine her. I showed him a video of her limping and a zoomed photo of the injuries when they happened and he gave me antibiotics, so they have all healed up. But I am concerned about this sudden weight game and appetite. Any ideas / suggestions would be appreciated.
MsTY, I am not smart enough about cats to try to give advice about them. That is why I read this blog. But, as an old farm boy, I can sure tell you about those so-called “Vets” you have been using. Dump them–now!!! Those white-gloved, money-machines are as worthless on the farm as in town. Find a vet who has a little more of the Country-Boy, (or Girl) left him (her). You will get better medical advise and it will be a whale of a lot cheaper.
Rocky’s right, MsTY. If you have a choice of veterinarians in your area, look around.
And as for Pumpkin, she looks beautiful! Well done!
Hi Msty,
I have a good friend who rescues in Juneau. She swears by giving her feral colonies ( she has three) organic catnip in their food that the worms are pushed out at a fast rate and don’t do much damage. Do I know if this works? No I don’t, but I know that Angie’s colonies were some of the healthiest outdoor kitties around.
Now remember that Alaska has 4 months of good weather and then the bad comes in so parasite control might be controlled by the ice and cold instead of the catnip. BUT if you can’t put your hands on these cats, and there is no good-tasting feed-through worm control available for cats (that I know of)- you might try it. I will tell you a good friend has been in front of a major pharmaceutical company recently that caters to cats and asked a few of us to list our want list to them. A good-tasting worm control powder and de-flea-er was top on my list! Crossing my fingers that the presentation went over well and maybe down the road this problem will no longer be a factor for those of us who care for the strays.
And on the vet note- some vets are just not smart enough to deal with the feral cats or even want to bother. I am fortunate, not only do we have a local vet with a passion for strays, but we also have one of the best feline specialists in the country who gives her advice, time and effort toward the cats who end up here.
You want to find a local vet who is passionate about cats? Make a few phone calls and ask the clinic if they declaw cats. The clinic that tries to talk you out of this horrible surgery- is the one I would invest my time and money into. Good luck!