A cat showed up at our house a little over a month ago. It was wandering around, so we fed him. Basically, he lives right outside our door now. We recently took him to the vet (a little over a week ago) and got his vaccinations and stuff.
I'm 16 and have never had a pet other than a few fish before. I love this cat and constantly worry about him. Any little thing that happens, I freak out.
I dont know if Im over analyzing, but I have noticed that Burley, my cat, has had a runny nose for the past few days now.
He's quite lazy now compared to when we first "adopted" him.
Also recently, his appetite hasnt been so healthy. I dont know if its because I dont give him wet food as often or what, but it worries me.
My main concern, however, is that hes been quite aggressive lately. A few days ago, he was lying down and i tried to pet him and he lashed out and tried to bite and scratch me.
He was always some what of a pushover in a way. I have 2 younger siblings and we all pick him up a lot. But he put up with it before. Now, when its more night time and he's chilling, he'll try to attack you if you try to touch him.
It's really freaking us out. I'm worried the most because I'm afraid that he might have some kind of illness.
Any illness i look at and review its symptoms, I'm like "Yup, Burley's got that. And that. Oh that too." lol. The vet did a stool sample test, a blood test, and vaccinations.
Would that have covered everything to see if Burley's healthy?
Also, I think its worth noting that Burley stays outside most of the time. He'll come in once or twice a day and just hang out, but he always ends up out again. Because he spends his time outside, there's this stray cat that always comes by and harasses him. 2 nights ago, I heard screaming and by the time I got outside, I couldn't find Burley anywhere. He showed up the next morning however.
Could he be feeling more territorial because of the intruder cat that always comes by and harasses him? Maybe he's scared and angry and is taking it out on me?
Im so confused. He's never been like this before. I've heard him sneeze a few times. Im not sure how often that goes on because I'm usually at school and hes outside the house. But he was inside the other day and I could tell his nose was stuffed while he was trying to sleep. He's black and white and one eyes happens to have black around it. The other has just white fur and is therefore easier to look at for changes. His right eyes (with white fur around it) gets puffy and watery at night. Before we took him to the vet, he has gotten cat pink eye twice. Both times, it came and went on its own.
The vet said the cat is quite healthy and doing well. I dont know if Im just acting like a crazy mom or there's something wrong here. I used to mix half a can of wet food and some dry food and feed him that twice a day and he loved it. Someone told me to give him dry food, so I do that now. He hasnt been eating properly, as I mentioned before. Could this be a result of change in diet? Maybe we've been handling too much? I admit and we hold him way too often, even against his will. Could he be hurt?
Thank you.
I'm 16 and have never had a pet other than a few fish before. I love this cat and constantly worry about him. Any little thing that happens, I freak out.
I dont know if Im over analyzing, but I have noticed that Burley, my cat, has had a runny nose for the past few days now.
He's quite lazy now compared to when we first "adopted" him.
Also recently, his appetite hasnt been so healthy. I dont know if its because I dont give him wet food as often or what, but it worries me.
My main concern, however, is that hes been quite aggressive lately. A few days ago, he was lying down and i tried to pet him and he lashed out and tried to bite and scratch me.
He was always some what of a pushover in a way. I have 2 younger siblings and we all pick him up a lot. But he put up with it before. Now, when its more night time and he's chilling, he'll try to attack you if you try to touch him.
It's really freaking us out. I'm worried the most because I'm afraid that he might have some kind of illness.
Any illness i look at and review its symptoms, I'm like "Yup, Burley's got that. And that. Oh that too." lol. The vet did a stool sample test, a blood test, and vaccinations.
Would that have covered everything to see if Burley's healthy?
Also, I think its worth noting that Burley stays outside most of the time. He'll come in once or twice a day and just hang out, but he always ends up out again. Because he spends his time outside, there's this stray cat that always comes by and harasses him. 2 nights ago, I heard screaming and by the time I got outside, I couldn't find Burley anywhere. He showed up the next morning however.
Could he be feeling more territorial because of the intruder cat that always comes by and harasses him? Maybe he's scared and angry and is taking it out on me?
Im so confused. He's never been like this before. I've heard him sneeze a few times. Im not sure how often that goes on because I'm usually at school and hes outside the house. But he was inside the other day and I could tell his nose was stuffed while he was trying to sleep. He's black and white and one eyes happens to have black around it. The other has just white fur and is therefore easier to look at for changes. His right eyes (with white fur around it) gets puffy and watery at night. Before we took him to the vet, he has gotten cat pink eye twice. Both times, it came and went on its own.
The vet said the cat is quite healthy and doing well. I dont know if Im just acting like a crazy mom or there's something wrong here. I used to mix half a can of wet food and some dry food and feed him that twice a day and he loved it. Someone told me to give him dry food, so I do that now. He hasnt been eating properly, as I mentioned before. Could this be a result of change in diet? Maybe we've been handling too much? I admit and we hold him way too often, even against his will. Could he be hurt?
Thank you.
It will also prevent more unwanted kittens from being born and adding to the terrible problem of cat overpopulation.
