| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 3772.1 | | CIRCUS::KOLLING | Karen/Sweetie/Holly/Little Bit Ca. | Thu Jul 05 1990 14:39 | 5 |
| I would take her to the vet. It might be normal aging, but it
might also be something that needs attention, and the vet could treat
her to make her more comfortable/fix the problem. Please let us know
how things go for her.
|
| 3772.2 | | AIMHI::SJOHNSON | | Thu Jul 05 1990 16:41 | 8 |
| I would think that that would come w/ age. I'll read the old age
section in my cat book. Although it can't hurt to talk to a vet about
it.
You're so lucky to have a kitty that long! That's great. Is she an
indoor kitty?
Sonia
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| 3772.3 | to the vet, to the vet, to the vet, vet, vet | WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JO | set home/cat_max=infinity | Thu Jul 05 1990 17:17 | 10 |
| When you pick her up, it is the pressure under her tummy that makes
her bladder express, or do you pick her up without putting your
hands under her tummy.
She may be having incontinence that goes along with old age, or
she may be having some bladder or kidney trouble. The best idea
is to have her checked out by the vet. With older cats it is a
good idea not to waste too much time in getting them to the vet.
Jo
|
| 3772.4 | | CRUISE::NDC | Putiput Scottish Folds - DTN: 297-2313 | Fri Jul 06 1990 08:51 | 8 |
| I agree - get her to the vet.
I'm a firm believer in yearly visits to the vet. I know this has
alot to do with the culture in which I live. With older cats this
yearly checkup is even more important.
Let us know how she makes out.
Nancy DC
|
| 3772.5 | Better safe than sorry | MARX::BARLOW | | Mon Jul 09 1990 09:37 | 11 |
|
I also agree, take her to the vet. I grew up with a cat who lived to
be 22 years old. She grew to be incontinent and consequently had to be
put to sleep. She would be standing there, eating her food and
suddenly just start to pea. (She kept right on eating like she had no
idea that she was urinating.) Once we took her to the vet it was too
late. so, TAKE HER! it could be life or death!
Rachael
(my two, Spike & Lady, have yearly physicals, just like I do.)
|
| 3772.6 | Tail treatment | GENRAL::BALDRIDGE | It's downhill from here | Tue Jul 24 1990 17:13 | 33 |
| This is not related to the base note, but I thought I'd pass it on.
As some of you know, our Peaches, a DSH. is 15 years old and now it
seems that he has decided he doesn't need to wash his tail. Well, Jane
was combing all of the cats and when combing Peaches' tail she began
getting some grease-like stuff matted in his hair. Since he is indoor
only and didn't get loose in the garage, we began looking at the tail
closely and could see dark crud at the base of the hair. Sorta like the
residue you see in ears from ear mites. "The Book" said some cats can
get ear mites on their tail from sleeping with their tails curled
around their head. Peaches hardly ever sleeps that way, but better to
be save than sorry, off to the vet he went. Her diagnosis was that the
subaceous (sp?) glands at the base of the tail and along it's length
were doing their thing, but that he was not grooming enough. She gave
(sold) us some special shampoo and said we had to wash his tail every
day for two weeks.
Last night we wrapped him in a big bathtowel, hung his tail over
the kitchen sink and Jane tried to shampoo as I held him. Needless to
say, he found this an affront to his dignity and struggled to get free.
Just as Jane finished, he managed to twist his head around to where I
was holding him just under the chin and sunk his left upper and lower
canines into my thumb, to the bone. For an 11 lb cat he is amazing
strong! Now I have a raging infection in the thumb even though I
soaked thoroughly in hydrogen pyroxide and sprayed with Bactine. I
am off to see the Dr. in the next hour and am sure I'll be on
anti-biotics for awhile.
Maybe the experience will convince him that he will have to take
care of his own tail. (I ain't gonna mess with it!)
Chuck, Jane, Peaches(huffy), Cassandra(curious) and Purrkins(what are
you doing to my big brother?)
|
| 3772.7 | | WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JO | set home/cat_max=infinity | Tue Jul 24 1990 17:23 | 8 |
| Ouch!! Hope you are feeling better soon. It sounds like Peaches
has stud tail to me, and to the best of my knowledge, his cleaning
efforts won't get rid of it. You may have to have the vet keep
it clean for you. Or you can try another approach. Fuller's earth
powder can be sprinkled on the tail area and then brushed gently
out.
Jo
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| 3772.8 | More about stud tail? | GENRAL::BALDRIDGE | It's downhill from here | Wed Jul 25 1990 11:08 | 8 |
| Jo, could you explain stud tail? Peaches was neutered (I won't get
into semantics) when he was about 6-9 mos old, so that was a long-long
time ago. BTW, Dr. put me on 500mg Pen V K 4 times a day and he thinks
I should be better by tonight or tomorrow morning. If not, he'll have
to lance.
Chuck
|
| 3772.9 | Without seeing it, it is hard to say if it's S.T. | WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JO | set home/cat_max=infinity | Wed Jul 25 1990 13:07 | 25 |
| Chuck,
Stud tail doesn't occur just in stud cats, although they have the
largest percentage of the market! :^) Cats have glands at the base
of their tail that can secrete an oily or grease-like substance.
Usually, the tail hair will appear to be oily, and if you part the
fur and look at the skin below, you will see what appears to be
blackheads or pimples on the surface of the skin. In really nasty
cases, these black heads can form pustules that can get infected.
I combat stud tail in my boys by bathing them frequently and keeping
area as clean as possible. Some breeders have had good luck with
using the Fullers Earth to absorb the oil, and then brushing it
out. My cats are long haired, and the Fullers Earth is too drying
to their coat for me to use it all the time. I prefer to do the
bathing.
The best way that I have found to clean a stud tail is to saturate
the area with baby oil (yes, baby oil) first, rub it in well to
disolve the grease, and the shampoo it out using Dawn dishwashing
liquid or some other mild de-greasing shampoo. I have used the
House of Anju Stud Tail Shampoo that is made specifically for cats,
but I like the Dawn better.
Jo
|
| 3772.10 | Reason with your cat | GENRAL::BALDRIDGE | It's downhill from here | Wed Jul 25 1990 14:42 | 22 |
| Thanx, Jo. It certainly sounds like Peaches situation.
For those of you might possibly doubt the intelligence of a cat, let me
share with you the latest episode in "tail washing". After I got bit,
Jane decided she should "reason" with Peaches and spent a lot of time
yesterday talking with him about the necessity of the tail wash and how
he could help. He is a real conversationalist and enthusiastically
joined in the conversation. Jane explained that he could sit on the
counter in the half-bath we have off the family room and he could dip
his tail in the basin, she could wash it and rinse it. After dinner,
Jane told Peaches it was time to wash his tail, so he followed her into
the bathroom, jumped up on the counter and did, indeed, dip his tail
into the water. She proceeded to wash and rinse his tail, he allthe
time, muttering and complaining let her finish. She then carried him
into the breakfast room where she dried the tail with the hair drier.
You have to understand that Peaches is the sort of cat who does NOT
like to be held, EVER!
Enuff said.
Chuck
|