So, I adopted my little love bug Ms Friskers from the parking lot about 5 months ago (geez has it really been so long) -- she was pregnant at the time, gave birth to 3 healthy kittens, fostered 2 more, and was a generally splendid mom.
She had some trouble learning to get along with our current 2 cats, both a little under a year old, but they have come to a peaceful settlement of some kind during the past week.
However, the past week has also involved a move to a new apartment. Ms Friskers was terrified of the entire process, start to finish, only reinforcing my belief that she was abandoned by someone when they left town. She was a little ball of love from day one.
Point at the moment, though, is that she is covered in little sores/scratches/bug bites (except I can't fathom how it could be bugs -- we don't have fleas, she stays indoors only, and nothing has been biting myself or my roommate or any of the other cats/kittens). They started around the bases of her ears, but now they're all over most of her upper torso.
Does anyone have any idea what this might be? I'm not going to lie, I am a graduate student, and money is always tight. If these are likely a stress reaction that will abate, or the last remnants of the tussling with our other cats, well, good.
But if they could be indicative of something more serious, or if stress that has gotten to this level is something that should be treated (kitty valium I suppose?) then please let me know and it's to the vet immediately for her!
(And before the traditional 800 "If you can't afford a cat, don't have one" crowd jumps on - I can afford her, and if it came to it, my parents would help me with vet bills, as they are cat people themselves. I just know that I'm a hypochondriac and tend to subject my cats to that tendency sometimes when nothing is really wrong.)
She had some trouble learning to get along with our current 2 cats, both a little under a year old, but they have come to a peaceful settlement of some kind during the past week.
However, the past week has also involved a move to a new apartment. Ms Friskers was terrified of the entire process, start to finish, only reinforcing my belief that she was abandoned by someone when they left town. She was a little ball of love from day one.
Point at the moment, though, is that she is covered in little sores/scratches/bug bites (except I can't fathom how it could be bugs -- we don't have fleas, she stays indoors only, and nothing has been biting myself or my roommate or any of the other cats/kittens). They started around the bases of her ears, but now they're all over most of her upper torso.
Does anyone have any idea what this might be? I'm not going to lie, I am a graduate student, and money is always tight. If these are likely a stress reaction that will abate, or the last remnants of the tussling with our other cats, well, good.
But if they could be indicative of something more serious, or if stress that has gotten to this level is something that should be treated (kitty valium I suppose?) then please let me know and it's to the vet immediately for her!
(And before the traditional 800 "If you can't afford a cat, don't have one" crowd jumps on - I can afford her, and if it came to it, my parents would help me with vet bills, as they are cat people themselves. I just know that I'm a hypochondriac and tend to subject my cats to that tendency sometimes when nothing is really wrong.)
