please help

[delaporte25]

My cat is 13. About 5 months ago I rescued 2 two week old kittens until they could be given away. My cat, Peanut is always the mother of every pet in the household. True to his nature, he cared for these kitties too and bathed them and such. A few weeks later he came down with a terrible case of ear mites. I took him to the vet for treatment. He began loosing weight, pulling out his hair and show signs that it was hard to swallow after eating. Sometimes he grinds his teeth too after eating. I took him back to the vet and they checked his mouth and nothing was visible. They charged $200 for blood work and the results came back that his kidneys, thyroid and all other areas were fine.  He has been on one cycle of steroids, two cycles of antibiotics and a food supplement. I am feeding him soft food mixed with baby formula and baby cereal and he is still loosing weight. Now I am having a really hard time treating him for fleas. He keeps re infesting. I have treated the yard, the house and used advantage, Pronyl, and Adams shampoo. Yes, believe it or not he will sit through a bath. Of course there are several weeks between these applications but within a day of a bath or treatment he is infested again. I am sure we all say this about our pets, but Peanut has never been a normal cat. He is very intelligent and loving and unusual and I love him as one of my children. I am at a loss and do not have more money to keep giving to the vet. Do you think it is possible he could have gotten a parasite from the kittens while bathing them and helping them use defecate? Please help! He is so very skinny and weak.

 

[StefanZ]

Welcome to the TCS site and Forums!

Aj, it is a great Pity about your Peanut... Such a friendly, nice cat and everything...

I myself suspect he did catched something bad. From the kittens or from somewhere else. Perhaps simply he is getting old (althoug 13 shouldnt be THAT old).

ps. BTW, how are the kittens doing? if they are alive and healthy it probably wasnt them.

And this contagion makes his immune system very weak, and thus - every infection, including mites and fleas are immediately getting foothold on him.

Peculiar the vet dont finds out what is really wrong.  I mean, it MUST be something. Mites and fleas arent nice, but a healthy, well fed cat doesnt loose weight and strengh so quickly just because of them.

So I would recommend here you try with another vet, to get a second opinion.

for the fleas you can try with diatomeus earth (called often DE - earth). make sure it is of food / human grade.  and of course, you can take the fleas by hand. It will be nice for him too you caring and being with him.  It is The Thing for monkeys and apes, it is surely so for your old cat too...

Tx a lot for caring of these small brethrens of ours,

Good luck and vibes to you and Peanut!    *vibes*

 

[ldg]

Oh how wonderful of you and Peanut - and how sad at the same time!

I have to agree with Stefan. If the kittens are OK, it's probably not something from them. :heart3:

That said... Obviously the fleas are still in your home if he keeps getting reinfested. What I'd do in addition to what you're already doing to treat HIM is purchase flea collars - NOT FOR THE CAT!!! - but to cut up and put in your vacuum bag. They do an excellent job of killing fleas and eggs, and I would vaccum every day, concentrating on edges (in addition to the floor and your furniture): where floor meets wall, where carpet ends, cracks in floor boards, that kind of thing. Getting aggressive about this is the only way to end the cycle. :nod:

I would also get a 2nd opinion. If he's still losing weight, I'm thinking either you're not getting enough calories into him, or there are internal parasites that haven't been treated. Giardia? Coccidia? Something that requires something he hasn't yet received.

I know it's all adding up, but I'd consider a 2nd opinion vet at a different practice... and I would get several stool samples to them so they can check (giardia/coccidia, that kind of thing can be hard to detect).

In the meantime, what is the VOLUME of food he's eating? If he SHOULD weigh around 12 pounds, you're going to want to get 4 - 6 ounces of food into him. You may have to supplement what he's eating with syringe feeding. :nod: Once ounce of food is 30ml.

And he was treated with Droncit for the tapeworm he'll definitely have as a result of the fleas? You may want to wait until you're SURE you've got the flea problem solved, and then treat him for the tapeworm. None of the topicals treat it.

Vibes for Peanut!

 

[mrblanche]

Is Peanut going outside?  If so, it's almost impossible to protect him from earmites, etc.  You may need to keep him indoors for his own protection. 

And just in passing...have you had these cats tested for Feline Leukemia and Feline AIDS?

 

[feralvr]

Your Peanut sounds like such a love :heart3: Poor little man.....

For the ear mite's AND the fleas - you can get Revolution from the vet - (you should not need to bring Peanut back in for this) Get three Revolution. It is a topical. Give it two week's apart for three treatment's. This has worked for me every time in the past for ear mite's, mange, and flea control on cat's. Just ask the vet about this - they should confirm this for you . Pick up some mineral oil. Put a couple of drops in Peanut's ear's and clean each day for a week. The Revolution will be kicking in by then and you should see a decrease in the dirty ears. :cross: I am SO sorry you are dealing with this, hang in there

You have some excellent suggestions above to rid the house of the flea's :bigthumb:. Here is a TCS article to help you rid your home of the fleas and give you a better understanding about them.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cat-fleas