I am in need, again, of some cat advice. My 21 year old ancient kitty has been having eye problems since December, nothing horrible but nothing that was fully cured by antibiotics. Vet diagnosed her with Eosinophilic Keratitis (corneal inflammation) and the treatment held that in check, until the same treatment left her open to infection (steroid), related to the dormant herpes virus.
She saw a specialist last week, he concurred & noted a small corneal ulcer, and she’s on 3 different eye ointments now – antibiotic, immuno modulator, and anti-viral (starts tomorrow). BUT her eye doesn’t seem to be getting better. The third eyelid is constantly over the eye.
What experience do you all have with this? What can I do to make her more comfortable? I tried cool washcloths, and they do seem to help for a little while. I’ve called the specialist to see if we need to come in sooner than the 2 week checkup, but in the meantime I’m freaking out that she’ll need to lose the eye. She’s too old for surgery!
I don’t have any experience (or suggestions) for you, but hopefully someone out there does. Suggestions? Ideas? Y’all please share!
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Ok, so now I have to know who some of your “favorites” have been! Because I always have a favorite from your litters too…
I’llllllll never telllllll! 🙂
Also, reading your story about TRHP reminded me that I wanted to share something I learned a few weeks ago! When my foster, Momma/Freyja (whom you featured on L&H), was adopted, I was told by the adoption agency that I worked with that black cats are very easy to get adopted here in New York City since people wear a lot of black! Cats that have a lot of white on them are, on the other hand, very difficult to get adopted.
That is pretty interesting – it never occurred to me that it would be so, but it certainly makes sense that people who wear a lot of black would gravitate toward black cats!
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Hi, I’m a pretty quiet follower but just came across this video and had to share.
ADORABLE!
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When I saw that picture of Mariette with Ferdinand’s tail draped over her, at first glance it looked like a cat with a SUPER long tail had decided to walk through the room:
I totally did not notice that – and that picture is hilarious!
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Is Dennis as aloof as he appears to be?
I would call Dennis more shy than aloof. It takes him a while to decide that you’re okay, and even then, he slowly approaches you. Once he gets to the point where you’re petting him, he is a complete and utter love, and will roll around in your lap purring like crazy for a good long time while you pet him. But if he’s not in the mood for petting and snuggling, nothing will convince him otherwise!
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I’ve got two brand-new filters for a Petco Automatic Water Fountain. They are rectangular charcoal filters and might fit other fountains too… maybe? They were three to a pack and I only used one before the fountain itself malfunctioned. I’d love to give the two unused ones to someone…
If you’re interested in getting a couple of free filters for your Petco Automatic Water Fountain, give Charlene a shout and y’all can discuss the details!
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Does anyone have any ideas for a cat that will not leave any glass of fluid alone? She is a little over a year, and I cannot leave anything unattended without her dumping it. I am so used to having water with me everywhere, I try to remember to put up my water up, but any time I forget-she dumps it. I have never had a cat so interested in water before. I can’t even keep the automatic waterer on the table for our other cats-she would manage to dump that, even though it was full and had to be pretty heavy. We have a huge water bowl on the floor for the dogs and cats, it is a big thermos cooler, that is the one thing that has defeated her. Any ideas?
I have no suggestions here (I’m lucky in that I don’t have a water-dumping cat!), but I’m hoping that someone out there does! Please chime in, y’all. Maureen doesn’t want to have to drink her coffee from a baby bottle! 😉
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Angelo is mellllllting.
“Don’t need your pettin’, lady.”
Ignoring me.
Mariette was flopped down, minding her own business, when Angelo came over and had to rub up against her.
Then he gazed at her with lurve in his eyes.
Still ignoring me.
I started up the FroliCat Pounce, and Dennis decided he had other places to be.
“Stop camera-stalking me, lady.”
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Challenger’s House Cats.
I meant to mention yesterday (and then completely forgot until Sherry reminded me in the comments) that some of the Challenger’s House cats I’ve been sharing pictures of live with Richard. He lives in a mobile home behind the shelter, and fosters some of the scaredy cats, and also cares for some special needs and older kitties. Pumpkinhead, Gucci, Shadow, Roswell, AJ, and Capone from yesterday’s post are Richard’s fosters. They’re spoiled rotten, although Richard occasionally tortures them with opera music. Hey, nobody’s perfect, right? (JUST TEASING!)
Marvin is one of Richard’s fosters. Isn’t he a gorgeous boy?
This was in another room inside the shelter. I’d tell you who this is, staring at me all judgmental-like, but I have no idea.
No idea who this is, either, but s/he was super sweet and friendly.
Hallo, gorgeous (whose name I also don’t know!)
A case of the smugs going on, here.
Such a sweetie pie.
This is Granger (who you saw in Monday’s post). He had to be locked in kitty jail because there were men working on the bathroom, and Rambler likes to run right out any open door he sees. To pay Susan back for locking him up, he reached through the bars and knocked over her coffee. SUCH a brat. That pouty little face kills me dead.
Tomato! When she was a kitten, she had two siblings named Bacon and Lettuce, how cute is that? She was adopted in 2008, and returned earlier this year due to personal issues. She’s a really sweet girl.
Those are all my Challenger’s House cats pictures for now. I hope y’all enjoyed seeing them; I certainly enjoyed taking them!
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The imperiously beautiful Corbie.
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Previously
2013: “My goodness! These claws are appalling! I need a pedicure, stat!”
2012: Then Joe Bob is like “STOP SNIFFING ME ::HISSSSSSS!!!!::”
2011: Polite interest and a bit of surprise, all “You want what? Babies? Don’t believe I’ve ever heard of those, sorry I can’t help you. BUH-bye!”
2010: No entry.
2009: Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Re. the corneal ulcers after steroids, you may find AMAZING improvement if you’re patient with the anti-viral. I had to treat my kitty Maggie for the same issue and she failed to respond until she had the anti-viral. It can be stressful on the kitty (Maggie had drops every 4 hours for 2 months) but the ulcers completely disappeared and her eye was saved. 🙂
My vet actually has a note in Maggie’s chart now that I’m to automatically be given another script should she develop an eye issue again. No visit needed, just my word that she’s having a problem. That’s how well the treatment worked.
Oh my gosh I hope that works! The anti viral didn’t arrive until Wednesday so that has only just started. Crossing my fingers, thank you!
Thank you so much for posting my dilemma!!
The vet prescribed her a morphine-like med for the pain, but I didn’t see a difference in her third eyelid. That whole eye area is just so inflamed! He sai call on Monday if no improvement.
(The specialist is also rather attractive, but don’t tell my husband!!)
My cat had an ulcer on her eye a couple of years ago. The vet “threw” about six different ointments at it, in the hope that something would work because it can be very difficult to treat. In the end Optimmune seemed to do the job (I’m UK so I don’t know if you can get this). It was expensive and in the end it took 9 weeks of treatment to get rid of the ulcer. I now use Viscotears (for dry eyes) to prevent a recurrence. And so far it is working! Twice a day with the gel is so much better than the ulcer, or trying different stuff 17 times a day at one point 🙂
Yeah, I hear you about a billion different ointments! the cat looks at me like Nooooo every time I approach! It is for eye drops, ointment, washcloth, morphine, or normal meds –so I have started to just pet her by surprise now.
It helps to know that it will take time for it to heal! Thank you! I hope the specialist knows what will work and perhaps she will need the drops.
For what it’s worth I had the same thing on MY eye. It was incredibly light sensitive, to the point that I was wearing sunglasses at night (cue the earworm…) with window shades pulled and every light in the house off, just in case light crept in somewhere. I don’t know if you can put her somewhere dark, or get a kitty eyepatch, but maybe that would help. It took almost 12 weeks before I felt like it was back to normal, but it was misdiagnosed to begin with, so not having the right medication added to the recovery time.
She also apparently has a progressive condition that makes it harder to see at night, but I didn’t think about sensitivity due to the ailment! We will shuffle some lights so she can get relief thanks!
That happened to me too, but that was due to my eyeballs bleeding (inside on the retina wall). Along with diminished sight and a big blurry spot in the center of my vision, it was fun.
Apparently having blood prssure of 270/170 is a health risk.
I have a cat with that same ocular herpes virus, and she has eye flareups from time to time. I crush L-Lysine pills and put about half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of the L-Lysine in wet food (it’s an amino acid, and you can buy it anywhere vitamins are sold). Anyway, the L-Lysine always clears up viral infections in my kittens and cats pretty quickly, and because it’s an amino acid, it’s safe and easy to use. I started doing it because the shelter I foster for always keeps all their cats on L-Lysine to prevent herpes and upper respiratory infection (URI) outbreaks. Added bonus: no vet trip, about $3-4.
The specialist said lysine was ok to try but no guarantee. That said, we have some and I ought to give it a try! We will have to put it in capsules as she is a picky, picky, picky eater. Thanks for the reminder!!!
“That is pretty interesting – it never occurred to me that it would be so, but it certainly makes sense that people who wear a lot of black would gravitate toward black cats!”
Hmm, well, my solution to pet hair of all colors is to hardly ever buy black, dark blues, etc. That way the pet hair doesn’t show as much. Hah!
Also, I love that pet room at Challenger’s House – the bright yellow and painted sun in the corner looks so cheerful.
To Maureen with the water bowl issue-I have heard that some cats have trouble seeing the water in the bowl and need it moving. So they bump the bowl to set the water moving so they can see to drink it. Have you noticed the cat doing this or is she just a brat? Maybe get a fountain to see if movement is the issue. Maybe she needs that and is just overzealous with her bumps.
Our younger cat had a spell of water attacking as a 1 yr old, but recently she’s been attacking the darn fountain! We thought it was leaking (empty twice), then I caught the brat systemically splashing the water out!
I wonder if the pump is dying and she wanted more movement??
My boy cat Stupidpants has a combative relationship with our gravity fed water dish; he will stalk it whenever it makes a glug noise from refilling and when it’s low enough on water he smacks it around something fierce. Fortunately he has no issues with the regular water dish so we just keep “The Glugulator” full enough that he can’t move it and slosh water everywhere.
Holly-she dumps anything with water or fluid in it-honestly I feel like she is just being a brat. Thank goodness she is so cute!
To the one with the cat who dumps water – I feel your (soggy) pain! One of our cats – Rupert – LOVES to tip over water glasses. If it’s any sort of cold drink, he will come up, and DELIBERATELY hook one paw on the edge and pull it over, dousing everything (and everyone) around it with what was inside (and sometimes breaking the glass). Luckily he leaves hot drinks alone, but no uncovered cold drink is safe.
We have a number of covered mugs and water bottles that we refer to as Rupert-safe mugs, and so if I’m going to have water, I have to use one of those. Also, all our friends know that if they bring any drinks with them, they have to bring them in cups with lids, or else you have to keep an eagle eye on them because Rupert is super sneaky and will find any way possible to dump the cup.
I have a water-dumping cat as well, and using cups with lids is the only thing that has worked. I either drink everything from a travel coffee mug, or I use the Tervis tumblers with lids. Bella does not bother any cups with lids – I guess it is not much fun to knock over a cup if the contents don’t go flying everywhere! 🙂
I wish I could take Sushi! I’ve LONGED for a Torti forever, and I’d love my very own lap cat (my two prefer my husband’s lap).
The picture of Marvin makes me chuckle because you caught him with a o_0 face. 🙂
Alice, there is nothing like a Torti … and Sushi is one of the most beautiful I’ve seen. And with such a lovely personality too! Must admit I am sorely tempted…but my 20 year old kitty has another point of view 😉
I have two girls who are naughty with liquid containers. My eldest, 19 years old, will knock over glasses, bowls, and anything else open with stuff in it. Not because she can’t see to drink, but because it amuses her to watch it drip (and possibly to watch the humans race around to clean up the mess before it spreads too far). She has done it all of her 19 years, and we’ve never been able to stop her. Instead, we accommodate her insanity by drinking out of containers that have secure lids, like water bottles, travel coffee cups, etc.
Our youngest, 6 years old, likes to lay her entire body over the water bowl to drink out or of it. It’s hilarious to watch, but she always wants to be loved on immediately after drinking. She is a long-haired, solid black cat, and has quite an extensive mane that gts absolutely SOAKED when she goes “swimming” for a drink. You pet her at your own peril, because you’re likely to be soaked as well once she’s decided you’re done petting her. She also is quite amused by hooking a paw over the edge of the huge and very heavy water bowl which is sitting on a placemat made out of that non-skid, Rubbermaid-esque stuff people use to line their cabinet shelves with. Somehow, through possible Herculean strength or some hidden super power, she will hook that paw over the edge of the bowl and drag the damned thing OFF the non-skid placemat, and halfway across the kitchen floor. And, she makes sure to jerk it several times, to maximize spillage. She often does this after we’ve all gone to bed, ensuring hilarious sailor-like language and a dancing routine from Mommy when she gets up in the morning to get her cup of coffee. I’ll turn around to see her sitting in the living room, tail wrapped neatly around her paws, watching the show. I swear she’s laughing.
Mine fortunately leave glasses alone – usually a sniff and that’s it. Water dishes are another issue and I ended up buying large heavy ceramic dog dishes to keep a certain cat (Maestro) from dragging them all over the kitchen.
Love the extra long tail. Guess it makes up for the super short ones. 🙂
I have a similar problem with my male cat. He will tip over any unattended container with water and he drags his water dishes around the kitchen.
Also, very recently, my long-haired female has taken to dipping her paws into the water dish (the vet thinks to see where the level is) but then when she uses the litterbox, the litter clumps like concrete onto her feet (just had to have the vet remove it yesterday).
The vet recommended I get them an extra large water bottle, the kind used in rabbit cages. I am unsure if this would be cruel or not as those bottles dispense very little in one go, and it would take forever for a cat to get its fill.
Any advice on this, dear readers?
Cats and water … yep, that’s familiar. TK the Terrorist Kitten and Stinkerbellie the Bratty Calico love to knock all of my glasses over. Solution: Capped water bottles. Sigh. Tio Tyger likes to move the feline water bowls over in the kitchen. I was getting discouraged that I’d ever be able to put a different floor in the kitchen, given the ever-present puddle. Solution: A 4-inch food dish stand that holds the water bowl very securely.
Has anyone thought of simply leaving a bit of water standing in a clean bathtub? If you put a non-skid mat or decals on the bottom, so the kitties can get out as they please, and some towels on the bathroom floor for drips, then the kitties can indulge their hydrophilia without mucking up places that shouldn’t have puddles everywhere.
I definitely miss having a black cat to match most of my wardrobe!
it won’t stop kitty from playing in the water glasses but I switched from regular water glasses to using heavy beer steins for my water. They don’t get knocked over nearly so often.
The gray and white kitty with green eyes is stunning!
Maybe I just have a horribly wrong mind … but the idea of naming a litter of kittens Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato conjures images I’d rather not think too hard about.
Regarding the water cat issue – I recommend those cups with lids & straws or a sports bottle type container – if it’s just a drink you’re having around the house and not at the dinner table.
Dennis’ little face is starting to remind me of Corbie.
Wow, thanks for all the comments on the aqua kitty. Jennifer brought up something I never thought about-she loves to watch things drip. So it isn’t just that she likes to knock over everything, but she enjoys the end result of that. We have 3 cats and 2 dogs, so we have a huge thermos container that we use for all the animals, it is the only container she can’t dump. She has almost super kitty strength when it comes to fluids. I use a ball jar with a cuppow lid on it for my “bedtime” water-it looks like a sippy cup. She usually leaves that alone during the night, but I have to move it as soon as I get up, or she will have it over, soaking all my books.
I like the idea of the heavy beer stein-I think we have one around here. Somehow knowing I am not the only one with a cat like this, eases my pain 🙂