Poor Bobby!
I picked him up from the vet on Monday, hours after taking my beautiful calico foster to her new home
.
I knew I would be picking up a stray but I was not prepared for the sight which met me and the diagnosis: feline aids (FIV-positive).
Bobby was still somewhat sedated, the bites to his throat, head and one ear had become infected, so the vet had had to shave away a lot of fur before cleaning up his wounds. He still stank of pus. Blood was oozing out of his ear and the holes made by teeth in his neck. One eye was watering badly. In spite of this, he did his best to rub his head against my hand.
He was given antibiotics (long-term) and I was told to treat him for fleas the next day when his wounds had had a chance to dry.
When I got him home, I put him in an open dog carrier on plenty of cushions where he stayed for the next 4 hours until I put the light on to see how he was doing. He greeted me like an old friend, climbed up on the sofa where he has spent the past 3 days. He eats only when I am in the room, uses the litter tray and then climbs back onto the couch. I am petrified of a flea infestation so normally treat my foster cats immediately when there is the slightest indication that they have brought me a few extra guests in their fur. But, in Bobby's case I am worried that the insecticide would get into his wounds so I've been combing him with a flea comb. I have never had such a dirty cat! I found a lot of evidence that fleas had been living on his blood, two dead fleas but no living insect. I have been combing him regularly - apart from his paws he is now dirt free and I am reluctant to use Vectra spot-on on such a weak cat. 10 days after the flea-treatment he should be treated for worms.
For his sake, I am willing to take the risk that my cat-room once again becomes flea-infected, but I don't feel that the evidence is enough to warrant the treatment. Temperatures have been below freezing point - do fleas leave their hosts when it gets too cold?
What do you, more experienced cat lovers think? On the positive side, his wounds are drying. It will take some time before he fills out - he is just skin and bone. He's friendly to everyone and seems so content just to sit on the sofa in a heated room and doze.
The woman who found and trapped him comes to visit him; she would like to keep him but has other indoor-outdoor cats and no way of keeping him confined. We hope to get a nice picture of him so that an appropriate permanent home can be found for Bobby.
I picked him up from the vet on Monday, hours after taking my beautiful calico foster to her new home
I knew I would be picking up a stray but I was not prepared for the sight which met me and the diagnosis: feline aids (FIV-positive).
Bobby was still somewhat sedated, the bites to his throat, head and one ear had become infected, so the vet had had to shave away a lot of fur before cleaning up his wounds. He still stank of pus. Blood was oozing out of his ear and the holes made by teeth in his neck. One eye was watering badly. In spite of this, he did his best to rub his head against my hand.
He was given antibiotics (long-term) and I was told to treat him for fleas the next day when his wounds had had a chance to dry.
When I got him home, I put him in an open dog carrier on plenty of cushions where he stayed for the next 4 hours until I put the light on to see how he was doing. He greeted me like an old friend, climbed up on the sofa where he has spent the past 3 days. He eats only when I am in the room, uses the litter tray and then climbs back onto the couch. I am petrified of a flea infestation so normally treat my foster cats immediately when there is the slightest indication that they have brought me a few extra guests in their fur. But, in Bobby's case I am worried that the insecticide would get into his wounds so I've been combing him with a flea comb. I have never had such a dirty cat! I found a lot of evidence that fleas had been living on his blood, two dead fleas but no living insect. I have been combing him regularly - apart from his paws he is now dirt free and I am reluctant to use Vectra spot-on on such a weak cat. 10 days after the flea-treatment he should be treated for worms.
For his sake, I am willing to take the risk that my cat-room once again becomes flea-infected, but I don't feel that the evidence is enough to warrant the treatment. Temperatures have been below freezing point - do fleas leave their hosts when it gets too cold?
What do you, more experienced cat lovers think? On the positive side, his wounds are drying. It will take some time before he fills out - he is just skin and bone. He's friendly to everyone and seems so content just to sit on the sofa in a heated room and doze.
The woman who found and trapped him comes to visit him; she would like to keep him but has other indoor-outdoor cats and no way of keeping him confined. We hope to get a nice picture of him so that an appropriate permanent home can be found for Bobby.
