Sick Cat Options

[Maggie56]

Hello. I have a cat who has been vigorously biting her back and peeing for a few seconds at a time. This usually happens either once a day or every two days. I don't know what's wrong with her and I really want to help her. Unfortunately, I'm only 18 and my parents are unwilling to take her to the vets because the only thing left to do is get blood tests, which is more than we can afford to do. I'm hoping that if I can tell them what's wrong with her they will be a little more willing to get her healed. They currently want to euthanize her, but I am really trying to get them to not. I am going away to college in a week and I'm worried that they may euthanize her right when I leave. My cat is about 10 years old, overweight, and has a few bald patches left on her back. She has been given flea medication and antibiotics and we believe she may have an allergy to fleas. Please help me! I don't want to see her euthanized for something that can easily be cured.

[feloo]

Hi Please speak to your parents .. there is no need to euthanse your pussy cat.. she is probably peeing as a reaction to her biting her back. The quick fix is to use steroids..like prednesalone to stop the itching but this is like a band aid over a problem and not a cure. She should not be put to sleep for a skin problem..Euthanasia is for a terminally ill animal. Shame on your parents. Tell your parents having an animal is a responsiblity and not something that gets thrown away because it is inconvenient. Noen of us have lots of money these days, but treating your animal is an expense that you need to cover. I ma sure they can find the money from somewhere.



hope this helps

[stephm1188]

No need to shame the parents, everything is circumstantial! Whilst I agree euthanasia should be the laaaaast last option, they might not be animal people, and for a lot of generations, cultures and even individuals that's just the way it is!
Education beats scolding in terms of effectiveness, I'd say!

Good on you for taking the cats side though, you should be proud of yourself and it sounds like you adore each other!

I take it she hasn't seen a vet at all so far? You say 'the only thing left is to get her blood tests'
Might not be the case at all, a good vet will have a look and be able to suggest some things, often vets will understand if you're in a fragile financial situation and be pretty understanding. It might be as simple as a food allergy (could well be the case if she's a little chunky, maybe she isn't processing her current food so well!) flea or pollen allergy or some kind of stress, has anything changed? Perhaps you packing to go to college has her in a flap if it's a recent thing?
Try calling up and talking to a few vets, see if you can find one who would be willing to take your situation into account, maybe pay any bills off as you go, and you never know, it may well be something as easy fixed as a change of food or something, which would be ideal!

Maybe ring around a few shelters and the like to see if they can recommend someone reliable and reasonably priced, god knows I don't often have a few hundred dollars stashed away exclusively for kitty emergencies! We've all been caught short before and our vet has been lovely with these things.

Would she tolerate a little dip in the tub with some medicated shampoo, I don't know where you're from, the US perhaps? But you could try some Malaseb shampoo, or anything with oatmeal in it, it's lovely and calming for inflamed skin. In the mean time, pre-vet, you can probably try cleaning the area with some warm salt water, then dabbing on some baby oil or olive oil to the sore area, which will suffocate any nasties that might have burrowed in or anything like that, as well as stopping the skin from drying out. Also might be worth adding half a teaspoon of olive oil to her dinner or some sardines etc, that helps the coat and skin in any case!
Also a good idea to brush her once a day, being careful of the bare skin, but that'll get rid of any loose fur and skin flakes, as well as redistributing good oils in the fur.

Also, I suppose it's pretty warm and lovely where you are, but maybe try keep her inside a few days and see if that helps, she might have developed an allergy to the grass, or a weed that's cropped up.

Sounds like you adore her though, and I'm sure she is a darling, good luck convincing your parents, I'm sure if you can get her to the vet, with your parents the vet can provide them with a bit of insight, and advice.

I have a cat who gets skin allergies and hayfever, it's hard to watch, but blissfully an easy fix, fingers crossed for you all!

[Maggie56]

Thank you both! I do feel that it is extremely unnecessary because they don't even know what's wrong with her. It could be a very simple fix that the vet is just overlooking. They could probably get the money to pay for her to get better. She isn't the sweetest cat at times so it makes them a little less willing to treat her. I've tried everything to convince them not to do it but nothing is changing their mind.

They do care for the cat, but they have been in a situation before where they've spent throusands of dollars to treat a cat and it died within a month. And when our cat does have these outbursts of biting and peeing, it's often happened on our laundry. So we've had to throw out numerous things and it's been very frustrating for my parents. While I understand to an extent the problem, I still think it can be fixed. She has been to a vet once for this problem where they saw she had a fever, fleas, and what they believed to be a bladder infection. We gave her antibiotics which worked for about a week and then stopped working. She is still taking flea medication. I volunteer at an animal shelter where another volunteer told me what they thought it was and recommended a cheap vet. I gave her a bath a few weeks ago with a special flea shampoo and a regular one and I regularly brush her. We aslo keep her inside all the time. She doesn't like to go outside so it's not an issue. Thanks for the help! I hope we can get her better soon without euthanasia. If they refuse to take her, I'll try to get her to a nearby animal shelter where they'll give her a good home.

[stephm1188]

That sounds lovely! I am sure she will be fiiiine, maybe even keep a little notepad and see if you can work out when she does it etc, the more info you can give the vet the better!

Keep us posted! It'd be interesting to know what it is!