New to board!! Please read!!!!!!

[elsa & minnie]

Hi! I am new and have two questions. First, let me tell you about my two kitties. The mom (Minnie) was a feral cat for about 8 months and was rescued by a nice lady who takes in kittes all the time. It turned out she was pregnant! After talking to her, I adopted the mommy and the remaining kitten (the rest had already found homes). When I got them, the mom was about 1 year old and the kitten (Elsa) was about 3.5 months old (This was mid september). They have both been tested for all the kitty diseases, are up to date on shots, and the mommy has beeen "fixed." While they were feral cats (in Washington, DC) I think they are Burmese. Not only do they physically match the breed, but their behavior is consistent with everything I have read. They are VERY talkative, VERY curious, and in most ways, act like dogs. The mom is tortoise shell and kitten is all black, and they both have golden eyes and very long tails. Anyway, let me ask my questions:

1. Elsa, the kitten, seems to have a constant runny nose. She also sometimes sneezes. She loves to have me throw her mouse, which she then returns back to me with, for me to throw again. After a few times of this, she is usually panting. When she sleeps, it also sounds as if she snores or wheezes. She has a healthy appetite and loves to play..is she sick?

2. Elsa has very strange litter box behavior. Whenever I clean the box, she acts as if it is a game and tries swat the scoop, and also seems to try to scoop the litter out of the box, almost like she is 'helping.' she also sometimes sits down in it! is this weird??

thank you!!

 

[melissa]

Regarding the litterbox behaviour...my kitties Gypsy and Missy (both 10 weeks old) always inspect my litterbox cleaning skills, by sitting in the box to watch. I have to move them aside to finish scooping! Of course, this comes from two kittens who always go to the box at the same time, each one in her own corner

. Maybe Elsa has taken on 'littermaid' duties and is just making sure you do a good job :LOL:

Regarding the sneezing and runny nose, it sounds like a trip to the Vet is in order. Elsa may have a respiratory infection and may need medication. I'm no expert, but those seem to be fairly obvious signs that something is wrong. I'd get her to a Vet asap.

Good luck

 

[Anne]

I agree.. get her to see the vet. It could be something that would be easy to solve and improve her quality of life. The panting after a light play session should be mentioned as the vet may not see it in the clinic. It can be related to a heart problem (though more probably has to do with the runny nose).

As for the litter box behavior - cats can be funny sometimes

I don't think there's anything wrong with her

They both look adorable and sound like it too! Welcome to the forums!

 

[vjoy]

Welcome!!

As far as the litter box problems, When I am in the middle of cleaning out her box, she sometimes comes and stands right in the middle of the box, and sniffs where her poop was. :LOL: :LOL: LOL:
The little beastie :LOL: :LOL:

 

[shawna]

Sophie used to do a high-diving competition into her litter box until I got her one with a cover on it! She still comes running whenever I go to clean it out and gets right in there to inspect things; I think it's because they are very territorial about their boxes. Also, I got her from a shelter and she had had an upper respiratory infection; apparently it's quite common and spreads from cat to cat quickly. She's got the sniffles again so I'm wondering if it's come back; anyway we're off to the vet tomorrow for her kitty manicure (trim and a set of "soft paws"), so I'll be asking them about it.

 

[jojo]

I just love this forum!!! I'm a new cat owner and wondered about Dani... she always comes and sits close to watch me clean out her litter box. When I'm done, she'll come over and give it a once-over sniff... then most times she uses it.

Glad to know I'm not alone.

 

[krissie]

Shawna, what happened at the vet? My new kitty also got a nasty upper respiratory infection while she was at the shelter. She's been out for about 5 months (she was in foster homes before she came to me, and I've had her about a month) but I noticed that she's been having sneezing fits the past few days. She seems fine otherwise--eating, pottying, playing normally. We went to the vet a couple of weeks ago and she had a clean bill of health. I'm going to keep watching her over the next few days--but I'm wondering what your vet said.

 

[krissie]

And Arizona also feels it's her personal duty to watch me clean out her box, inspect it to make sure I did it correctly, and then christen it.

 

[sfell]

I would get her to the vet, especially because of the panting. My patches has "seasonal" allergies. Her eyes are almost always watery, (more so at certain times of the year) and she snores. She also sneezes more often than the other cats. The only time my cats pant are when they are severly stressed (this happens with trips to the vet)! The panting of Elsa worries me. It almost makes me think she might have asthma? Anybody out there now if cats can get asthma or is it just a human problem?

 

[sandie]

Cats do get asthma. It's not quite as common but it does happen. The best way to find out is to get an xray.

 

[donna]

My cats (I have 6) all have sneezing now. They've been on everything from Ammoxicillin to Clavamox. Nothing has helped. I finally got some doxicycline and all 6 are on it for 2 weeks. I'm also having my carpeting steam cleaned and my heater ducts cleaned as well. If that doesn't do it, the I give up. I guess there is alot of that kind of stuff going around. My oldest cat Mollie Rose has asthma and once in a while has a wheezing fit, but is healthy otherwise.

As far as cleaning the litterbox, 2 of my cats wait for me to clean them out and then have to "christen" them again. Go figure.

 

[shawna]

Krissie, thanks so much for asking about Sophie

I'm having trouble getting my TCS notifications through my e-mail filters, so sorry for taking a while to get back to you. She doesn't have a cold, but the vet thinks she might have allergies!

I think part of her wheazing problems too have been trying to bring up her first hairball (poor sweetie

) I bought some of that Felaxin which I'm giving her once a day. I don't know how the suff works, but it seems to be helping

:LOL:

I'm keeping an eye on things though because of that respiratory infection she had back at the shelter (apparently they spread like wildfire through those places). I figure it's better to be a too nervous mom than not worry enough

aranoid2

 

[krissie]

Thanks, Shawna.
I guess I'll just watch her a little longer--she's not getting any worse. I think the sneezing bothers me more than it bothers her (although I admit it is pretty cute to watch her rub her nose after).
I also thought about allergies--but she never had this problem before, and she's been with me for a month! And I'm sure I haven't changed anything. Oh well.

 

[hell603]

About the litter box thing. Loki used to also play with his peeclump after he done peeing - then (thank God) he got tired of it. Since the clump is still quite soft right after peeing I used to have to sift out millions (ok it felt like millions) of pieces

from his box instead of just one big one. When I now clean his box he jumps from the vanity directly into the box to inspect.

No complaints so far!!

 

[misstoviah]

Sounds like Emma! She's so particular about her litter box and likes to get in it while I'm scooping or make sure she "christens" it immediately after fresh litter has been put down.

Good luck on your trip to the vet! Hope the sniffles get better!