Couple of questions: cat breathing a little hard, or so it seems to me & back rippling

hypatia · Feb 23, 2017

A little background. I am a first time cat mom so I don't know what I'm doing and every little thing that my baby, named Hypy, does raises concerns in me. I'm worried if he meows, I'm worried if he doesn't. I'm worried if he sleeps, I'm worried if he doesn't. You get the point. My father has a friend who is a vet and he thinks I worry too much, that as long as the cat's eating, playing and sleeping, I shouldn't be alarmed. So I just wanted to talk to someone who has practical experience with cats so I can avoid vet trips if necessary and spare my cat unnecessary distress. And also to know when to take a cat to a vet.

My cat is a rescue I adopted from an under managed 'shelter', more like a home for animals, but we won't get into that. So vet help from them is non-existent. He wasn't even in perfect health when we got him (I'll explain a bit more later). I don't know how old he is, but he is an adult. He is big, a tad bit overweight. He is active. Sleeps well. Eats enough, I think. He pees and poops twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. Has done so since he came here almost 3 months ago. Some times he goes once a day, but seems normal those days and resumes going twice the very next day. Everything seems normal for the most part, but as far as I can see he has 3 problems right now: ear mites and small infection, a bit of cold (he sneezes a lot some times), and needs to be dewormed. I am using drops from the ear stuff, but some days it's difficult because I can't give it to him when's he's awake, only when he's sleeping. I have tried to give him antibiotic medicine for the cold that the vet prescribed but he won't take it, but I'll try again tomorrow. Same with the deworming medicine, which I will administer to him with a syringe today. All this stuff he brought home from the shelter (they said he'd been dewormed but the vet suggested to give him some meds anyway). Like I said in my previous post on this site, taking medicine is the only time he is truly fussy. His symptoms include scratching at the ear and neck, sneezing, light discharge from the eyes. He also had fleas when he came but I administered a spot on and he seems rid of them. When he first came in he scratched and pulled out his hair a lot and I think it was partly because of the fleas and mites, but also because of stress. I've dealt with that and he doesn't excessively groom himself anymore. So all good. Only I have a couple of other questions and I don't know if they are serious problems:

1. He seems to be breathing a little hard. I don't know if I've never noticed it before or if it's a newer development. My mother says it's mainly because I play with him too much. As he got more comfortable with his new home and understood playing with toys he's been becoming more active. These days he jumps and twirls in the air to catch a feather on a pole. I play with him before every meal and I serve him 5-6 meals a day (if he sleeps through it, he might skip a meal). 4 of those last about 20-30 mins. 2 of them last 10-15 mins. Is that too much? I only play with him so he doesn't get bored and so that he won't wake me up in the night because he didn't get enough play during the day. I stop if seems tired and just doesn't want to come get the toy and waits for it to come to him so he can swat at it. At which point I give him his food. I noticed this hard breathing about 15 mins after a play session when he finished eating, a bit of licking and was lying down. His stomach was visibly rising and falling. I thought he was simply exhausted. But I've been noticing this almost all the time, since the first time I started looking for it. I am not sure if it's because he has long fur and it just seems that way. He isn't panting through his mouth or seem otherwise distressed. His breathing isn't audible either. But I feel warm puffs if I put my head very close to his. Is that normal? A few times it seems as if it is a little faster than normal. So my questions are, how much is too much play time and is that breathing something to be concerned about? What other signs should I look for to figure out if he needs medical attention? (My father talked to his vet friend about it and he said I was worrying to much. I haven't talked to Hypy's official vet yet. Should I? I assume he'll tell me the same thing and will charge for it).

2. His back ripples when I pet him. When we first got him he had scabs on his lower back. Don't know if it was fleas of if he bit himself (he used to bite his nipples and excessively lick himself to the point of pulling out fur when he got him). Now the fleas and excessive licking is gone and so are the scabs. But from the start his back rippled whenever I touched it or petted it. He doesn't seem usually bothered by it but I don't think he likes being petted with long strokes on the back (he isn't that big on petting anyway. Was a little more needy when he first came, but soon grew out of it). I avoided scratching him on the back so far, so as to not irritate his scabs further. I haven't tried to do that again. I know that is one of the symptoms of Feline Hyperesthesia but he doesn't seem to have the rest of the symptoms of scratching, biting, licking and self mutilating out of nowhere. He also doesn't suddenly up and run out of the room like the devil is on his heels. He does run around a bit sometimes after using the litter box, but he seems more in the mood to play and burn off energy than anything else. Is this something to be worried about or do some cats do that without any other disease?

I know I might sound a bit paranoid about everything, but I just want him to be comfortable, happy and healthy with me. Also, any advice on how to give him meds is appreciated. I tried the syringe method a couple of times but was never able to get the whole thing into him and he drooled a lot one time. He is not a happy cat when I do that. And since I adopted him as an adult I don't know how to handle him and don't have the same control over him I would if I were his mommy since he was kitten. I looked online for palatable tablets but I live in India and I can't find any that ship here. The only meds he takes are his vitamin tablets and it's driving me crazy!

1CatOverTheLine · Feb 23, 2017

1.) You do worry too much, but it's not the worst thing in the world.

2.) The rippling of ~~Schrody's~~ Hypatia's fur is perfectly normal.

3.) It's been warm lately - and very warm if you're on India's western coast. If your house / apartment is warm (over 25º C), reducing playtime a bit might not be the worst idea. If ~~her~~ his breathing settles down once the cat is at rest, relax. Remember - this is a big kitty.

4.) All cats are slightly crazy; you'll never get them figured out completely. All new Cat Mothers are worriers too, but it's not the worst thing in the world.

.

.

stephenq · Feb 24, 2017

Hypatia said:

Hi

It's very sweet that you are this concerned but you are worrying too much and you will drive yourself crazy. You're over analyzing normal behaviors. If your cat is eating and drinking, peeing and pooping and otherwise "Bright, alert and responsive" and his poop is normal consistency, and there is no discharges from eyes, nose and he seems happy then basically disregard everything else.

You're giving him vitamins? Why? What kind of vitamins? Cats don't need vitamin supplements, they just need a balanced diet.

PushPurrCatPaws · Feb 24, 2017

If he has a URI (upper respiratory infection) or allergies, his nose is likely stuffy which would contribute to it being a little harder for him to breathe during playtime.

If your vet prescribed an antibiotic, it is important to learn how to give him that medicine consistently and for the full dosage. Maybe you could try contacting the vet again, and have the vet or a vet tech teach you how to give the medicine more successfully.

hypatia · Feb 25, 2017

Thanks for the advice and understanding. I am a bit paranoid, but he is my first baby and I honestly have no real help when it comes to raising cats, where I live. I've decreased his play time and he seems normal when he is asleep, so I guess I'll have to work on not worrying too much.

hypatia · Feb 25, 2017

StephenQ said:
Hi

It's very sweet that you are this concerned but you are worrying too much and you will drive yourself crazy. You're over analyzing normal behaviors. If your cat is eating and drinking, peeing and pooping and otherwise "Bright, alert and responsive" and his poop is normal consistency, and there is no discharges from eyes, nose and he seems happy then basically disregard everything else.

You're giving him vitamins? Why? What kind of vitamins? Cats don't need vitamin supplements, they just need a balanced diet.

There is light discharge from his eyes that gets crusted black, not too much, but it's there. Kinda like your eyes get crusty after a lot of sleep. And when he sneezes sometimes there is yellowish discharge. Not all the time, but sometimes.

I'm giving him vitamins because the vet recommended it. When he first came in he shed a lot. Like a lot, a lot. It was probably because of fleas and stress, but the vet said to give him vitamins too. The shedding has gone down a lot these days and I decided to finish the bottle of vitamins before asking the vet if I should continue it.

mingsmongols · Feb 25, 2017

He sounds like he's in pretty good shape considering the condition he was in when you got him other then the URI. He's got to take the full course if the antibiotics. Look up some YouTube videos on how to scruff a cat an apply meds. They sometimes fight and it can be hard to give it but it's for his own good.

hypatia · Feb 25, 2017

PushPurrCatPaws said:
If he has a URI (upper respiratory infection) or allergies, his nose is likely stuffy which would contribute to it being a little harder for him to breathe during playtime.

If your vet prescribed an antibiotic, it is important to learn how to give him that medicine consistently and for the full dosage. Maybe you could try contacting the vet again, and have the vet or a vet tech teach you how to give the medicine more successfully.

The vet basically told me to administer it with a syringe. He didn't provide a demonstration and said if that doesn't work, try feeding it to him by food, but Hypy rejects any food with medicine in it. He figures it out pretty fast and doesn't eat it. The vet just told me to get the medicine in, in any way I can. There is no vet technician. You have to understand that where I live veterinary science is not that big. There is no emergency vet clinic anywhere in my city or outside it. The vet didn't even physically hold my cat or provide a proper examination. I later properly looked for the symptoms which could explain my cat's behavior, like scratching a lot, pulling out his fur, and stuff like that and talked to him. He didn't know my cat had fleas or that he had ear mites the first time he examined him. I had to clue him in later. He even told me to ignore my cat's feline acne and said there is nothing that can be done for it even though the acne seems mild and possibly treatable (he didn't even look at my cat's chin, only answered my question). I talked to him about giving my cat a microchip with my information but he said that it is dangerous for cats. He says that injections cannot be administered to cats because they are so small. And there is no point changing the doctors because all the doctors here are like that. They are not that interested and almost exclusively only treat dogs because cats as pets here is practically unheard of.

stephenq · Feb 25, 2017

Hypatia said:
The vet basically told me to administer it with a syringe. He didn't provide a demonstration and said if that doesn't work, try feeding it to him by food, but Hypy rejects any food with medicine in it. He figures it out pretty fast and doesn't eat it. The vet just told me to get the medicine in, in any way I can. There is no vet technician. You have to understand that where I live veterinary science is not that big. There is no emergency vet clinic anywhere in my city or outside it. The vet didn't even physically hold my cat or provide a proper examination. I later properly looked for the symptoms which could explain my cat's behavior, like scratching a lot, pulling out his fur, and stuff like that and talked to him. He didn't know my cat had fleas or that he had ear mites the first time he examined him. I had to clue him in later. He even told me to ignore my cat's feline acne and said there is nothing that can be done for it even though the acne seems mild and possibly treatable (he didn't even look at my cat's chin, only answered my question). I talked to him about giving my cat a microchip with my information but he said that it is dangerous for cats. He says that injections cannot be administered to cats because they are so small. And there is no point changing the doctors because all the doctors here are like that. They are not that interested and almost exclusively only treat dogs because cats as pets here is practically unheard of.

I regret to offer the opinion that your "vet" isn't practicing anything close to good medicine. I'm not sure he is practicing medicine at all. I question forcing vitamins into your cat, there is no reason for it and its hurting your cat's quality of life. Good nutrition will help his fur as much as anything. Feline acne is easily treatable, as are ear mites and fleas with proper medications.

hypatia · Feb 26, 2017

MingsMongols said:
He sounds like he's in pretty good shape considering the condition he was in when you got him other then the URI. He's got to take the full course if the antibiotics. Look up some YouTube videos on how to scruff a cat an apply meds. They sometimes fight and it can be hard to give it but it's for his own good.

I looked them up and I tried it about three times now, but most of the time it ends up on the floor or her chin. He wouldn't have gotten the required dosage, but I'm wary of trying again because I might give him more than necessary. I get the technique, but practically, I just don't get how to give him the whole medicine when he is struggling. I tried catnip to get him mellow, but catnip doesn't really work on him. And I usually try when he is sleepy, but even then not much goes into his mouth. Then, there is that feeling that he hates me and the disappointed look he gives me, with medicine on his chin and his fur, looking at me like, "I trusted you, and look what you did to me." That look kills me.

hypatia · Feb 26, 2017

StephenQ said:
I regret to offer the opinion that your "vet" isn't practicing anything close to good medicine. I'm not sure he is practicing medicine at all. I question forcing vitamins into your cat, there is no reason for it and its hurting your cat's quality of life. Good nutrition will help his fur as much as anything. Feline acne is easily treatable, as are ear mites and fleas with proper medications.

I know that he is not a good vet and I've been looking for replacements, but it's not easy because all vets are like this here. It's not the doctor, but the fact that most of them almost exclusively treat dogs. Almost no one has a cat for a house pet so they don't know how to handle a cat or treat smaller stuff like feline acne that dogs don't have. The cats they do treat are street cats with serious injuries or shelter cats for spaying and neutering so never would bother with smaller problems like acne, ear mites, fleas and stuff like that. You know, when I told him about the fleas he said that animals just have some fleas and there is nothing you can do about it because cats don't like being bathed and neither is it something to worry about. He only prescribed a spot on after I insisted on getting rid of the fleas.

Once again he mostly treats strays and they don't bother getting rid of the animals' fleas before sending them back out onto the streets so he thinks it's not something worth treating. Or he treats pet dogs which can usually be bathed to get rid of the fleas. I know he is not the right vet for my cat, but I don't have much of a choice. He is already the third vet and he was willing to do house calls. So what I do is research every little thing, get paranoid and look up everything he prescribes me. That is one of the main reasons I am on this website so I can talk to people and find out the right questions to ask my vet and know when something is not right.

There is also the attitude of people here. Insurance to cover vet bills or an emergency clinic are out of the question. Even the pet stores don't house many brands and stuff like water fountains or other 'accessories'. The pet stores near me have a pretty small section for cats, actually and I am probably their only customer for that section other than the shelters or people who feed strays. I had order Royal Canin food online because it wasn't available. Same with the toys because the couple that the pet store here offers don't interest my cat. I am having a lot of trouble finding a cat tree for my cat because I can't find one in the local stores, the ones online that ship from India are not big and sturdy enough for my big cat. The stuff that ships from USA is too damn costly just because of the shipping and taxes.

You can understand how difficult having a pet cat is for me and why I am so paranoid.

stephenq · Feb 26, 2017

Hypatia said:
I looked them up and I tried it about three times now, but most of the time it ends up on the floor or her chin. He wouldn't have gotten the required dosage, but I'm wary of trying again because I might give him more than necessary. I get the technique, but practically, I just don't get how to give him the whole medicine when he is struggling. I tried catnip to get him mellow, but catnip doesn't really work on him. And I usually try when he is sleepy, but even then not much goes into his mouth. Then, there is that feeling that he hates me and the disappointed look he gives me, with medicine on his chin and his fur, looking at me like, "I trusted you, and look what you did to me." That look kills me.

Tell us again what you're giving him and why. Antibiotics? For a URI? What are his symptoms? A mild URI can resolve on its own often without treatment, and i'm concerned that you are damaging your relationship with him. Have you tried giving it in food? Are you still forcing vitamins in him?

Here is a link on how to deal with the acne: http://www.cat-world.com.au/feline-acne

You are not the first person who has complained about terrible vet care in india, it's almost like its non-existent. I feel like someone should start a thread to help coordinate vet care in your country and discuss the challenges, including by region. Perhaps you could do this?

And yes i understand your paranoia, if your cat was seriously ill what could you do? We had a member with a dying cat eppealing for help from India and the vets couldn't help. Is there no way to search for a quality vet?

hypatia · Feb 26, 2017

StephenQ said:
Tell us again what you're giving him and why. Antibiotics? For a URI? What are his symptoms? A mild URI can resolve on its own often without treatment, and i'm concerned that you are damaging your relationship with him. Have you tried giving it in food? Are you still forcing vitamins in him?

Here is a link on how to deal with the acne: http://www.cat-world.com.au/feline-acne

You are not the first person who has complained about terrible vet care in india, it's almost like its non-existent. I feel like someone should start a thread to help coordinate vet care in your country and discuss the challenges, including by region. Perhaps you could do this? And yes i understand your paranoia, if your cat was seriously ill what could you do? We had a member with a dying cat eppealing for help from India and the vets couldn't help. Is there no way to search for a quality vet?

I haven't started giving him antibiotics yet. I tried to once, after the previous vet told me to give it to him. But most of it ended up on the floor, the rest he drooled out. I looked online and saw that most of the time the cold resolves itself and I've waited and waited. He's had the symptoms for about 2 months now and they don't show signs of letting up. That was the reason I decided to start him on the antibiotics course. The vet prescribed an "Amoxycillin & Potassium Clavulanate Oral Suspension IP" It's a dry syrup. The brand is Moxipet.

His symptoms are sneezing, discharge from the eyes and occasionally watery eyes. Runny nose that I clean up as often as I can and sometimes when he sneezes yellowish snot comes out. Not all the time though. And his sneezing occurs in spells. Like at once, out of nowhere, he'll put his nose to the air and end up sneezing 10 or more times. He is not lethargic but some days he is a little less active. He seems pretty normal and has a good enough appetite. In the beginning he had a congested nose and it still does congest sometimes. And another symptom I noticed recently was the one I described in the original post - breathing hard. The kind humans do when they have a pretty bad cold. His tummy seems to raise and fall a lot as if he just ran around a lot.

I have tried giving the medicine in food but he figures it out instantly and won't accept it. At first I was scared of the syringe method and tried giving it to him in wet food. He didn't eat any wet food, even the food without medicine in it, for a month or so. He's eating wet food again now and I wonder if I should try again?

I am not 'forcing' vitamins in him, as in giving it to him forcibly. He quite likes the vitamin tabs and thinks of them as a treat, almost. I am continuing it right now because there are like 10 left in the bottle and he loves taking them. When the vet prescribed it I decided it would be a good idea because he was from the shelter and they didn't feel commercial cat food to the cats. The manager told me herself that they don't have the means to give the cats cat food everyday and when they do, they give them dry food. Other times they feed them fish bought from local market, although I'm not sure if they prepare the recipes to be a full and complete meal. They also fed the cats curd rice (like they fed the dogs). The manager even told me I should feed Hypy the same type of food after I adopt him and that there was no need to go out of my way to splurge on cat food but I was absolutely determined to give my cat the best food possible. I researched and figured out that giving my cat rice everyday is very bad for him. So I never did. But he did not get all the nutrients he needed when he was at the shelter so I thought multivitamin supplements with a good meal for a while won't hurt. And I think it might have helped too because his coat is smoother and the shedding has gone down a lot. I'll stop the tablets as soon as I finish the bottle because it couldn't hurt since my cat likes them, right? Right?

Thanks for the link. I actually checked it out already and I even asked my vet for any lotion I can buy that has benzoyl peroxide but he only prescribed a lotion that he had prescribed before and didn't work - Kiskin skin lotion. I looked around to see if I could order OxyDex (the product suggested in that page) online but I couldn't find one in India or one that ships to India

Can I ask you a small question about ear mites? I started administering the ear drops my vet prescribed about a month ago but I can only give it to my cat when he is sleeping on his side. Otherwise he won't let me do it. The scratching decreased a lot and then I stopped administering the drops when I stopped seeing the coffee ground residue in his ear. But now the scratching and residue has returned again. I never cleaned his ear before but after researching I decided to gently clean his ears once everyday before administering the drops. I started doing this friday and there's improvement in the scratching again. I'll try this for a week to 10 days and see if he is well. Am I doing it right or should I be doing something more for the ear mites? The ear drops the vet prescribed are "Ofloxacin clotrimazole betamethasone and lignocaine drops". He added some injection to it and said the whole thing would act as antibacterial and antifungal (at one point he even said to apply that solution to Hypy's chin as a cure for the feline acne. It wasn't the ear drops part but the injection part that he said would work. I didn't do it because I was afraid of her ingesting it).

There really is no way to find a better vet because there is no such service available here. People don't think it's a necessity. Some of my family members (not mom, dad or brother) saw the cat bed I bought for my cat and were like, "is that necessary?" and the cat bed doesn't even cost that much. They look at me grooming my cat and are like "you are giving your cat deluxe spa treatments now?" not realizing or even wanting to accept that she is a long haired cat and needs regular grooming just like I comb my hair everyday. One of my relatives was pressuring me to go out with them after I brought the cat home and I didn't want to leave because we hadn't cat proofed our balconies completely* and with them closed he'd be completely locked inside and might be very bored and restless without anyone in the house. And I didn't want to leave him alone for a long stretch at once. I wanted to ease him into being alone in the house sometimes. But my relatives indirectly said I was putting my cat above humans. They don't understand that I can't lug Hypy around like he is luggage, in his carrier, because that would be traumatizing to the cat, because cats, animals for that matter, don't get traumatized and don't have feelings. One of my father's office appointed drivers once tried to flick Hypy's ears lightly in way of petting him. I stopped him before he could, of course, but that gives you an idea what people here are like. It's more of an attitude problem, really.

I like your suggestion of people from India getting together to create some veterinary support but I don't know if I can do it. I'm pretty new to this website, I'm still figuring it out, and I don't know anyone here. But I'll surely consider it.

*(I let him out onto the balconies but he is supervised and someone is always very near in case he misbehaves. Here misbehaving means putting his head out the steel grill railings that cover the balcony. There is no danger of him jumping out of them because he has to squeeze himself in very hard and he has never tried it. But I am paranoid and I'm putting up a little more fencing so that the space is too little for him to put his head through it. You'll understand what I mean if you see the pictures of the balconies and they are uploaded on the other post I made on this website, asking which breed my cat was.)

stephenq · Feb 26, 2017

Hypatia said:
I haven't started giving him antibiotics yet. I tried to once, after the previous vet told me to give it to him. But most of it ended up on the floor, the rest he drooled out. I looked online and saw that most of the time the cold resolves itself and I've waited and waited. He's had the symptoms for about 2 months now and they don't show signs of letting up. That was the reason I decided to start him on the antibiotics course. The vet prescribed an "Amoxycillin & Potassium Clavulanate Oral Suspension IP" It's a dry syrup. The brand is Moxipet. You're describing a twice a day antibiotic called Clavamox here in the USA. It's good. 2 months is a VERY long time to have a URI, and chronic URI's with lots of sneezing are often a specific URI called Feline Herpes that is chronic, not curable but usually goes away and sometimes returns especially when the cat is stressed. 2 good links are http://pets.webmd.com/feline-herpes-symptoms-treatment and https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/feline-herpesvirus-infection-or-feline-viral-rhinotracheitis - other ways to support your cat is to give him steam showers for 15-20 minutes at a time in the bathroom to help loosen congestion in the nose, and if you can buy non-medicated saline drops (salt water drops, no medicine, often for babies) and get a couple of squirts in each nostril twice a day this can also help.

His symptoms are sneezing, discharge from the eyes and occasionally watery eyes. Runny nose that I clean up as often as I can and sometimes when he sneezes yellowish snot comes out. Not all the time though. And his sneezing occurs in spells. Like at once, out of nowhere, he'll put his nose to the air and end up sneezing 10 or more times. Watery eye discharge and sneezing attacks are both symptoms of feline herpes, see above. He is not lethargic but some days he is a little less active. He seems pretty normal and has a good enough appetite. In the beginning he had a congested nose and it still does congest sometimes. And another symptom I noticed recently was the one I described in the original post - breathing hard. The kind humans do when they have a pretty bad cold. His tummy seems to raise and fall a lot as if he just ran around a lot. Is the heavy breathing due to congestion? If he is breathing through his mouth that would explain it, but if he is heavy breathing with his mouth closed congestion would NOT explain it and that would actually be worrisome. Can you explain more about the circumstances of his breathing, and can you time the breaths per minute?

I have tried giving the medicine in food but he figures it out instantly and won't accept it. At first I was scared of the syringe method and tried giving it to him in wet food. He didn't eat any wet food, even the food without medicine in it, for a month or so. He's eating wet food again now and I wonder if I should try again? Given that he went off wet food for a month i'd say putting it in his food is hopeless.

I am not 'forcing' vitamins in him, as in giving it to him forcibly. He quite likes the vitamin tabs and thinks of them as a treat, almost. Ah excellent, this sounds good. I am continuing it right now because there are like 10 left in the bottle and he loves taking them. When the vet prescribed it I decided it would be a good idea because he was from the shelter and they didn't feel commercial cat food to the cats. The manager told me herself that they don't have the means to give the cats cat food everyday and when they do, they give them dry food. Other times they feed them fish bought from local market, although I'm not sure if they prepare the recipes to be a full and complete meal. They also fed the cats curd rice (like they fed the dogs). The manager even told me I should feed Hypy the same type of food after I adopt him and that there was no need to go out of my way to splurge on cat food but I was absolutely determined to give my cat the best food possible. I researched and figured out that giving my cat rice everyday is very bad for him. So I never did. But he did not get all the nutrients he needed when he was at the shelter so I thought multivitamin supplements with a good meal for a while won't hurt. And I think it might have helped too because his coat is smoother and the shedding has gone down a lot. I'll stop the tablets as soon as I finish the bottle because it couldn't hurt since my cat likes them, right? Right? Assuming they are really vitamins and not coded language for something else they sound fine, and he is better so it sounds good. And yes cats shouldn't be eating all rice, they need mostly meat and some fat. Cats in nature also eat the bones of the animals they eat so calcium is also important, so a meat only diet isn't enough.

Thanks for the link. I actually checked it out already and I even asked my vet for any lotion I can buy that has benzoyl peroxide but he only prescribed a lotion that he had prescribed before and didn't work - Kiskin skin lotion. I looked around to see if I could order OxyDex (the product suggested in that page) online but I couldn't find one in India or one that ships to India . You don't need benzoyl peroxide in a lotion, the pure form is fine and is very common i would think even in india , but you can also use medicated pads for human acne, or just clean the area well with mild soap and water.

Can I ask you a small question about ear mites? I started administering the ear drops my vet prescribed about a month ago but I can only give it to my cat when he is sleeping on his side. Otherwise he won't let me do it. The scratching decreased a lot and then I stopped administering the drops when I stopped seeing the coffee ground residue in his ear. But now the scratching and residue has returned again. I never cleaned his ear before but after researching I decided to gently clean his ears once everyday before administering the drops. I started doing this friday and there's improvement in the scratching again. I'll try this for a week to 10 days and see if he is well. Am I doing it right or should I be doing something more for the ear mites? The ear drops the vet prescribed are "Ofloxacin clotrimazole betamethasone and lignocaine drops". He added some injection to it and said the whole thing would act as antibacterial and antifungal (at one point he even said to apply that solution to Hypy's chin as a cure for the feline acne. It wasn't the ear drops part but the injection part that he said would work. I didn't do it because I was afraid of her ingesting it). When the coffee grounds come back that means he still has mites. You are correct to clean his ears before treating. My research suggests the medicine in the ear drops is used for mites. You can also use baby oil over time to smother them, see this good link. http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/earmites.cfm

There really is no way to find a better vet because there is no such service available here. People don't think it's a necessity. Some of my family members (not mom, dad or brother) saw the cat bed I bought for my cat and were like, "is that necessary?" and the cat bed doesn't even cost that much. They look at me grooming my cat and are like "you are giving your cat deluxe spa treatments now?" not realizing or even wanting to accept that she is a long haired cat and needs regular grooming just like I comb my hair everyday. One of my relatives was pressuring me to go out with them after I brought the cat home and I didn't want to leave because we hadn't cat proofed our balconies completely* and with them closed he'd be completely locked inside and might be very bored and restless without anyone in the house. And I didn't want to leave him alone for a long stretch at once. I wanted to ease him into being alone in the house sometimes. But my relatives indirectly said I was putting my cat above humans. They don't understand that I can't lug Hypy around like he is luggage, in his carrier, because that would be traumatizing to the cat, because cats, animals for that matter, don't get traumatized and don't have feelings. One of my father's office appointed drivers once tried to flick Hypy's ears lightly in way of petting him. I stopped him before he could, of course, but that gives you an idea what people here are like. It's more of an attitude problem, really.

I like your suggestion of people from India getting together to create some veterinary support but I don't know if I can do it. I'm pretty new to this website, I'm still figuring it out, and I don't know anyone here. But I'll surely consider it. Can i ask what city you are in? Perhaps there is a way to get together with other cat people and your shelter in your town to talk about vet care, perhaps someone knows someone who is good. This forum may not be the best place for that, but i am going to start a thread on your behalf - vet care in India comes up over and over again. I will "tag" you on the thread so you will be notified that it has been started.

*(I let him out onto the balconies but he is supervised and someone is always very near in case he misbehaves. Here misbehaving means putting his head out the steel grill railings that cover the balcony. There is no danger of him jumping out of them because he has to squeeze himself in very hard and he has never tried it. But I am paranoid and I'm putting up a little more fencing so that the space is too little for him to put his head through it. You'll understand what I mean if you see the pictures of the balconies and they are uploaded on the other post I made on this website, asking which breed my cat was.) I found the thread, Hypy is beautiful!

Best,

Stephen

hypatia · Feb 27, 2017

Yeah, I suspected it was feline herpes and I think the stress of moving to a new location caused it to flare up. He even mowed his fur back then. So I'll start the antibiotics course and see how he does in a week. I'll try to give it to him with the syringe because the dose is just 1 ml morning and evening so I am hoping I can get it into him. I tried to give him nasal drops and take him into the bathroom with a steamy shower running, but he won't accept the nasal drops and cries to be let out when I close the bathroom door. Other times, i.e., when I'm doing my business, he is content to come in and stare at me creepily but the moment I turn on the shower he acts like it's Psycho. I bought a humidifier but it is not producing enough steam and I can't get him to sit near it even with treats. He simply pulls the treats out of my hand and moves away from the humidifier to eat it. I think the steam scares him. I'll try everything again though.

About the heavy breathing, I'm not sure if he is breathing heavily or I'm just worrying. It's the raise and fall of his sides when he is lying down that made me think he was breathing heavily. It's seems like his sides are moving a lot, but I don't know if it's just the fur. I also only observed it recently and my mother was saying it was because he was playing a lot. And we do play a lot. He runs around, jumps and twirls in the air for almost 20 mins. After one of the posters on this thread suggested it I limited his playtime and now I'm only observing it for about 30-40 mins after playtime (during which he does some impressive yoga moves to clean himself). He looks normal when he is resting or sleeping, just deep breaths.

I just counted his breaths without using a stopwatch about 15 mins after an intense playtime and it was about 45 per min, but about 40 mins after playtime, when he'd eaten and lied down for the night, it was 29-30 per min. I saw that cats have a resting breathing rate of 20-30 per min so that's normal, right? I'll count his breathing rate at different times during the day, all day tomorrow and share the results. And if possible I'll ask my father to see if he can measure his heart rate with a stethoscope. You said that heavy breathing with closed mouth might be more worrisome. If there is indeed anything wrong with Hypy, are there any other symptoms other than the breathing that I need to watch out for, in the meantime?

I feed him egg at least once a week, or whenever we have eggs at home. Is that enough for calcium or should I do more? I'm feeding him commercial cat food (currently it's Whiskas but I'll make the switch to Royal Canin Fit as soon as this packet is up. I also feed him canned food once a day, about two to three tablespoons).

I'll try to get my hands on normal benzoyl peroxide, which might not be that hard since both my father and brother are doctors, so maybe they'll get me some. In the meantime I'll do what you said and clean the area with mild soap water (a tiny drop of liquid handwash mixed in water). Is once a day good enough or should I do it twice a day? And how should I do it, with cotton or just my fingers?

Thanks for the link on ear mites. Currently I'm cleaning Hypy's ears and the area near her temples once a day (I'll do it more times if necessary. Should I clean his ears twice a day?) with the ear drop solution the vet gave me and putting the drops directly into the ears when he is asleep (sometimes I can't put drops in both the ears on the same day). I try to give him the drops when he is awake but he shakes his ears and the liquid goes flying away. I don't know if any reaches inside. Small question, how deep should I go when cleaning his ears? Just the outer flap or a bit deeper? I wouldn't put my finger in deep, of course, but maybe the cotton? And for how long should I continue cleaning his ears? The link you suggested said one should do it for about a month when using baby oil.

I live in Visakhapatnam city, Andhra Pradesh (state). I have to thank you for this conversation, because talking to you has made me feel like I have some support in taking care of my baby, that there is someone I can turn to for help when I have a question. So thank you so much. Talking to you has reduced my anxiety about Hypy's health a lot. I am so glad I joined this forum, because it seems like you and everyone here are wonderful, supportive people who want to help. I would be so happy if you could start that thread, and hopefully I'll find someone close by who has a cat and knows a good vet. In the meantime, I'll keep looking too.

stephenq · Feb 28, 2017

Hypatia said:
Yeah, I suspected it was feline herpes and I think the stress of moving to a new location caused it to flare up. He even mowed his fur back then. So I'll start the antibiotics course and see how he does in a week. I'll try to give it to him with the syringe because the dose is just 1 ml morning and evening so I am hoping I can get it into him. I tried to give him nasal drops and take him into the bathroom with a steamy shower running, but he won't accept the nasal drops and cries to be let out when I close the bathroom door. Other times, i.e., when I'm doing my business, he is content to come in and stare at me creepily but the moment I turn on the shower he acts like it's Psycho. I bought a humidifier but it is not producing enough steam and I can't get him to sit near it even with treats. He simply pulls the treats out of my hand and moves away from the humidifier to eat it. I think the steam scares him. I'll try everything again though.

About the heavy breathing, I'm not sure if he is breathing heavily or I'm just worrying. It's the raise and fall of his sides when he is lying down that made me think he was breathing heavily. It's seems like his sides are moving a lot, but I don't know if it's just the fur. I also only observed it recently and my mother was saying it was because he was playing a lot. And we do play a lot. He runs around, jumps and twirls in the air for almost 20 mins. After one of the posters on this thread suggested it I limited his playtime and now I'm only observing it for about 30-40 mins after playtime (during which he does some impressive yoga moves to clean himself). He looks normal when he is resting or sleeping, just deep breaths. A playful cat is feeling well, so this is a good thing. Don't pay attention to his breathing after play. Only at full rest or asleep and from what you describe he sounds fine.

I just counted his breaths without using a stopwatch about 15 mins after an intense playtime and it was about 45 per min, but about 40 mins after playtime, when he'd eaten and lied down for the night, it was 29-30 per min. I saw that cats have a resting breathing rate of 20-30 per min so that's normal, right? I'll count his breathing rate at different times during the day, all day tomorrow and share the results. And if possible I'll ask my father to see if he can measure his heart rate with a stethoscope. You said that heavy breathing with closed mouth might be more worrisome. If there is indeed anything wrong with Hypy, are there any other symptoms other than the breathing that I need to watch out for, in the meantime? Again his breathing sounds fine. I would ignore this issue right now. As to mouth open/mouth closed it all depends. A very congested cat will open mouth breathe so get air in, and this is a sign of congestion. A cat who is oever heated may open mouth breathe as well. Cats with asthma will display other symptoms (hypy is fine) and older cats with heart conditions may have labored or rapid breathing. Hypy is fine.

I feed him egg at least once a week, or whenever we have eggs at home. Is that enough for calcium or should I do more? I'm feeding him commercial cat food (currently it's Whiskas but I'll make the switch to Royal Canin Fit as soon as this packet is up. I also feed him canned food once a day, about two to three tablespoons). A cat who is getting food made for cats with the AAFCO label are getting enough of everything. We generally prefer wet over dry (see food forum) but both is fine. When changing wet foods go slow, like a week to avoid diarrhea.

I'll try to get my hands on normal benzoyl peroxide, which might not be that hard since both my father and brother are doctors, so maybe they'll get me some. In the meantime I'll do what you said and clean the area with mild soap water (a tiny drop of liquid handwash mixed in water). Is once a day good enough or should I do it twice a day? And how should I do it, with cotton or just my fingers? Since they're doctors they may have access to chlorhexadine a good and safe disinfectant,i think a 10/1 ratio of water to chlorhex is standard, but they could also have access to standard anti-acne wipes or peroxide. Once a day is probably fine, the main idea is to start cleaning off the blackheads and avoid a situation where they become red, puss filled and infected.

Thanks for the link on ear mites. Currently I'm cleaning Hypy's ears and the area near her temples once a day (I'll do it more times if necessary. Should I clean his ears twice a day?) with the ear drop solution the vet gave me and putting the drops directly into the ears when he is asleep (sometimes I can't put drops in both the ears on the same day). I try to give him the drops when he is awake but he shakes his ears and the liquid goes flying away. I don't know if any reaches inside. Small question, how deep should I go when cleaning his ears? Just the outer flap or a bit deeper? I wouldn't put my finger in deep, of course, but maybe the cotton? And for how long should I continue cleaning his ears? The link you suggested said one should do it for about a month when using baby oil. The medicine should be used as directed AFTER cleaning, not as the cleaning agent itself. Your doc relatives may also have a gentle ear wash solution. A gentle dribbling of solution, massaging the ear at the base, wiping with a cotton ball or pad, then let her fling it out by shaking her head. They will always do this and its ok. With very dirty ears you can also use Q-tips, but it is important to get as much of the visible black gunk out where ever you see it. This video is good but with ears mites, more cleaning is needed. Clean before medicating whenever you see debris.
I live in Visakhapatnam city, Andhra Pradesh (state). I have to thank you for this conversation, because talking to you has made me feel like I have some support in taking care of my baby, that there is someone I can turn to for help when I have a question. So thank you so much. Talking to you has reduced my anxiety about Hypy's health a lot. I am so glad I joined this forum, because it seems like you and everyone here are wonderful, supportive people who want to help. I would be so happy if you could start that thread, and hopefully I'll find someone close by who has a cat and knows a good vet. In the meantime, I'll keep looking too. You can find techniques for almost anything on youtube, consider it a great resource. Also i don't know if these vets are good but this is what i found in your city. https://www.justdial.com/Visakhapatnam/Veterinary-Clinics/nct-10519261 and http://vspca.org/programs/abc_cats.php

I'm glad to help and i'm glad your are less anxious!

hypatia · Feb 28, 2017

Thanks for all the links and the advice. That clears up most of my doubts. Yesterday morning and evening I administer Hypy's first dosage of antibiotics. It was much easier this time around and I was able to get almost the whole thing into him. He wasn't too angry with me either after I gave him a couple of treats. Hopefully the URI will clear up and then I can give her deworming medicine (I am deworming her because she recently had a flea infestation and I'm not completely confident in the shelter's ability to protect the animals from worms and fleas and such. So it's a precaution). I'll also work on the ear mites and see if I can get my hands on that peroxide solution.

About watching videos on youtube to figure out how to do them, I have a small confession. I always feel like the cats they demonstrate the techniques are more docile or they are well practiced in handling those cats. But since I adopted Hypy as an adult it's harder for me to physically handle her. But no bother. I guess I'll learn as I go. Being able to give her the antibiotics was a big boost in confidence.

As for the vets, I tried two of the vets on JustDial. And I'll probably try more before I find the right one, if there is one. Like I said, it's the whole system that's faulty, not the doctors. The VSPCA is not a help because that's where I adopted Hypy from. They are grossly understaffed and underfunded and very poorly managed. The website hasn't been updated in years and the phone numbers they give also don't work anymore. Trust me, they are not the people to help for smaller stuff like this. They do help and treat the animals injured in road accidents, spay and neuter them and provide them with shelter and food, but that's about it.

Thanks for your help, though. It has been a great relief to talk to someone.

P.S., I administered a flea spot on about a month ago and it seems that Hypy has been free of fleas. But should I administer it again this month as a precautionary method because some of the eggs might have survived or should I wait until and if I see fleas again?

stephenq · Mar 1, 2017

Hypatia said:
Thanks for all the links and the advice. That clears up most of my doubts. Yesterday morning and evening I administer Hypy's first dosage of antibiotics. It was much easier this time around and I was able to get almost the whole thing into him. He wasn't too angry with me either after I gave him a couple of treats. Hopefully the URI will clear up and then I can give her deworming medicine (I am deworming her because she recently had a flea infestation and I'm not completely confident in the shelter's ability to protect the animals from worms and fleas and such. So it's a precaution). I'll also work on the ear mites and see if I can get my hands on that peroxide solution.

About watching videos on youtube to figure out how to do them, I have a small confession. I always feel like the cats they demonstrate the techniques are more docile or they are well practiced in handling those cats. But since I adopted Hypy as an adult it's harder for me to physically handle her. But no bother. I guess I'll learn as I go. Being able to give her the antibiotics was a big boost in confidence.

As for the vets, I tried two of the vets on JustDial. And I'll probably try more before I find the right one, if there is one. Like I said, it's the whole system that's faulty, not the doctors. The VSPCA is not a help because that's where I adopted Hypy from. They are grossly understaffed and underfunded and very poorly managed. The website hasn't been updated in years and the phone numbers they give also don't work anymore. Trust me, they are not the people to help for smaller stuff like this. They do help and treat the animals injured in road accidents, spay and neuter them and provide them with shelter and food, but that's about it.

Thanks for your help, though. It has been a great relief to talk to someone.

P.S., I administered a flea spot on about a month ago and it seems that Hypy has been free of fleas. But should I administer it again this month as a precautionary method because some of the eggs might have survived or should I wait until and if I see fleas again?

Thanks for the info and feedback, you're doing well! As to the flea medication, if he's basically an indoor cat or only goes out on a balcony then its probably fine to skip it, and just watch for fleas and use it again if they come back, but generally speaking, a good spot on treatment like advantage, frontline or revolution should kill everything in 24 hours. What is the brand you are using?

Stay in touch!

stephenq · Mar 2, 2017

@Hypatia this was posted about vets in india....

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/335007/finding-good-vet-care-in-india#post_4221112

crunchie · Mar 2, 2017

I don't know if anyone has suggested this yet, or if you are already doing it, but have you tried to "burrito" wrap your cat? My cat can be difficult when I need to give her meds or even just to trim her claws and have found that it is much easier when I wrap her. If you haven't already I think you should try it you might find it easier to administer the meds.

Couple of questions: cat breathing a little hard, or so it seems to me & back rippling

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