I rescued elderly cat... need advice

Hi,

Last summer my ex  found 'Lilly"  in a friends yard. She was crying and he picked her up, she was like a skeleton. He took her to the shelter but the night drop box was closed... brought her home... next day.. took her to the shelter  (No Kill) and they said "Today is put the cats down day"  WHAT!  Yes, apparantly it was ferrel cat season.

So, brought her home...  (I have two 3 and 4 lb house bunnies) so I put her on the patio.... would sit with her and we became friends.   she must have had a mom cuz she loved to 'help' me water the plants etc...

In the heat of the day I took frozen water bottles and rubbed her down.. eventually I brought her inside (too hot) and made her a room in the bathroom.

trip to the vet, she was bleeding.... they did anal gland expression? and she weighed 7 lbs. and said shw was  about 12 yrs old.

I also spent weeks looking for her 'mom' via driving around, vet s/ pet stores and online... I believe she belonged with an elderly person on the ex's friend's  street as there are a few empty houses due to passing away or going to a old folks home. anyway....

next I put her in my bedroom (I live in a one bdrm small apt) and slowly acclimated her to the entire apt..

finally,  I figured out what food she will eat...can hold down... she has gained weight but I can't afford a vet trip...also she seems to be younger ...  looks younger and playful. She is SO loving, and just hugs me when I hold her! She presses her face into my shoulder and grabs my arm with her paw.

When I get on my feet financially, they will all 3 be getting vet checkups.

So, she does have kinda bad breath (unless there is a 'cat breath' smell)...  sometimes her left eye waters but not regularly and they are both bright. no runny nose ... occasional sneeze...  ( 1 or 2 times a week maybe).

about 5 months ago she no longer had diarreah, or vomitingl.... she was obviously a house cat....  I have also learned to trim her nails - she doesn't mind....

she sleeps with me and likes to 'hold hands'

I wonder how much she should weigh?  Now I can pet her sides and not feel ribs....  but petting her directly on the back still feel spine but a little better.

I can brush her sides, tummy, tail and of course the chin!  At first it was kind of horrifying to do when she was so skeletal.

.

Any input?

Thanks.

Tam

Wow! what a story!  She did apparently a nice recovey thanks to your good care, and this lotsa of love from you both!

Had you her dewormed?  this diarrhea and vomits may be caused by worms...

I understand you have two cats more? Rescuers them too, or residents since long ago?

Tx for helping her!

Good luck!

Welcome to our Forums!

Hi!

No, I have two House- Rabbits Bunnies, one is 3 lbs (a dwarf Silver Martin= COCOA) and the other is a 4 lb mini Rex= Joey).

I will put up pics of them

No dewormer.....  Lilly bug has not had any diarreah or vomit in months....    seems to correlate with change in food...

I am now single and on fixed income....  or we would be straight to our vet.

I am more concerned with her still being skinny. But she has put on a lot of weight all things considered. and a wierd thing is I keep reading (elsewhere) about not giving her cheap cat food... but (lucky for us right now) the only thing she can stomache (and boy she pigs out) is Friskies chicken pate. Not anything else; ocean, tuna, expensive cat food.... =  throw up).

Also have some senior Iams hard food, she will nibble on..... and that is it. anyor change in diet=throw up

Oh, one more thing.... I do give her ONE treat: I eat plain yogurt and she likes to have a small dollup. I tried it last year to stimulate her appetite and it worked!

What do you all think about that? It does not bother her bowels.or tummy

I feel bad cuz I have no $ but....anyway,

I measured her with a tape measure (like I do for me lol)  she is about 17/18 "  long and 12 "   in the midsection.....

and thank you for reading all of this!

Tammy

NEW  QUESTION

She just did throw up a lil watery ... what will I do?    You really think worm? ick.    How can I get de-wormer?   she has been here about a year

This is very upsetting.    I live on only enough $ to pay rent.....waiting to hear if I can work part time.... 

crap.

Her weight and so on. Weight is individual. The trick is what you do: feel after the ribs and backbone...

As she has filled up, you were apparently succesful.

True, cheapest dry food is usually not good. Cheap wet food is better quality on it, so I guess these patés should be OK.

If you must use cheap dry food, try to get variations for Kittens or Active cats. They do contain a little more animal protein and fats...

Yes, Im sure she has worms if not properly dewormed when you found her. she may have both round worms and even tapeworms, from fleas for example. Even if he was dewormed, she can have worms, as usually the deworming should be done a couple or even three times. Many dewormers take just the adults, so you must repeat to kill off the eggs too when the hatch.

Cats living outside usually get worms and fleas in lesser or bigger degree.  Only pure inside cats are somewhat safe, if properly dewormed from the beginning.

My guess is much of her problems may be caused by worms. both this bad breath and possibly even this sensitive stomach.

Can you look see what dewormers they do have at your local pharmacy? Or a good pet shop. Write them up and we help each other to google.

Why write up and look up, is because many over the count sorts arent good, may be even dangerous.

So buy them only if vet directed, or googled on / given sure advice of someone knowleable.

The plain youghurt you give is not only OK, but may actually be good. Youghurt tends to stabilize the stomach and bad bacteria balance...  So continue with it.   Use a full fat variation, no point with any low fat variation. Not for her anyway.  

If you can get goat milk, try with it too.

Occasional throwing up dont need to be serious, look up if it is often.  Now with the winter over, they lick off winter fur, so be sure you brush off them more then otherwise.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for the useful information. Guess the next big thing is dewormer...I hope the bunnies can't get it... she did have bad fleas and I put flea stuff on her and the buns last year... worked.... bleh.

Yes, the first few months were very ifffy with her. I had to fee her a tablespoon of soft food about every 2-3 hours for months... then gradually more normal. Now she eats about 1/3 can lunch, breakfast and dinner...

Thank you again for reply.

Tammy

New Question about Food

I bought a bag of dried food: Nutro Health for Senior cats ...   she loves it.    Does anyone know if it is okay?  I didn't have much $ and it looked to be the best at the pet store for the price..

Thank you

Canned is better for her. She really shouldn't be on any dry food at all. The failure to gain weight may be hyperthyroid disease or kidney failure. Both of which can also cause bad breath (as can dental disease). Since you can't have blood work done right now, the best thing you can do for her is to keep her on a wet diet, lots of meat protein, stay away from fish flavors.

Even if you can't have diagnostics done she is certainly better off with you than abandoned. In fact you saved her life.

Thank you,

She does not like the fish flavors, interesting you mention that. She loves chicken. 

Thank you again for your reply!

Okay,

She didn't finish her wet meal (she chowed the hard stuff)....    is it ok to keep the wet food on her dish for awhile? Sorry for so many questions, but I haven't had a cat in 10 yrs....

She actually played 'string' last nigh!  she is a love bug!

I would give her both wet and dry, but limit her dry intake and don't free feed her (leave dry food down all the time).  Get her on a feeding schedule.  I had an older kitty that I gave wet food to 2X a day, then spaced out her dry food in several small servings throughout the day/evening.  She probably doesn't need much more than 1/4 dry food a day (probably even less if you're also giving her canned.)

Thank you for rescuing this girl and giving her a loving home.  The best food for her is what she'll eat.  If you're concerned about vet care, you might look into seeing if you qualify for Care Credit.  

I disagree about the dry food. A senior cat with possible health issues should not eat dry food. Dry food causes dehydration, and digestive issues to name just two things.

People mistakenly think that because dry food can cause obesity in healthy cats, it will help a sick cat gain weight. This is not correct. A cat with health issues needs the best nutrition and as much moisture as she can get. Dry food does not offer any of that. She's been on wet for a year, there isn't any reason to change that.

Thank you both,

Well, my ex had bought Iams dry for seniors and she liked to nibble that but I ran out. I was giving her the Whiska's wet about 3 times a day. She was doing great. Happy, slowly gaining weight, playing, still helping me in the garden.

Then the about a month an 1/2 ago, domestic violence happened (I know too much info, but I want to say why I am in my $ situation).  

I called 911 and the mean cop took me too jail for a week. (wrong arrest) No charges on me!  Still going to court and the court, etc is upset about this mistake!  I proved I have been abused and am in treatment for results of a broken neck he gave me last year. (many ER and PD reports and Dr. letters to back me up). That bad cop said the ex had scratches and blood on hm and they took pics of me, and my hands/nails etc looked for a weapon! You know what I think now?  I THINK Lilly got him!  She used to hiss at him when he was mean to me.

The jerk also broke my bunny Joeys toe (or sprained it) about 4 months ago, I don't know how but I heard him chasing him and our Vet said toe sprain.... a few weeks to heal and it did. 

Back to the cat:

So, apparantly the Detective and cops had 'talked' with this ex and let him know they knew the true story, so he told the detective he would be out before I was out of jail. (Thank God they kept me, it turned into a blessing).

I had to take the cops with me to come home and he left the doors locked (no keys as I went to jail a week then to a friends house for a few days to recover) The cops and my friend heard crying (The cops kept saying Do you have children in there?"  I am hard of hearing so couldn't hear....  and when I finally got inside 2 days later (My Pastor had to tell him to leave the keys at Church!  (I didn't know he told him till later)  --none of the fur babies had food OR water!!

They were scared shaking!  the poor poor bunnies and kitty.  There was food in the cupboards at the time.... so my friend and I (she is a pet sitter and my babies love her!  She and I I loved them all up.

The Buns took right to their food, but it seems with Lilly Bug I have to start over with the 'delicate'  finding her 'food groove' -  about the first month we all were jumpy and stayed together in the living room..... now we all are finding our peace.  Lilly is precious. Once te neighbor (a sweet kid about 25) was coming into his apt and boy, she growled - I Never heard that sound before and can't believe that came out of such a tiny body!

So all in all, we are all three stilll healing....   and I have 'Bunny people'  friends so I am glad to have found you all. I feel like crying now.... and I don't know why.

Thank you all so so much for your replies.

~T

Many warm vibes to you and yours!

As far as cat food, I agree with feeding wet and high protein. I'm a student living on student loans so I can appreciate the low income situation. When I fed canned, I shopped for sales and used www.catinfo.org for a food list. Check out the grocery store versions of fancy feast and such, that helps save money too!

Also google petfood stamps.