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firecatOtherwise I might be a lot more freaked out about having had to spend New Year's Eve at the emergency vet with Angus.
He refused food and was straining and producing a couple of drops of urine each time. I know urinary tract blockage is a serious condition for male cats so I took him to the emergency vet. But they couldn't find a blockage, so they took an X-ray. It turned out the problem was with the other sort of elimination - he was chronically constipated.
They gave him an enema. Then they had to wash him. Then when I got him home, I had to wash him some more. Poor guy. I also have to switch him to high fiber food now, or add pumpkin or metamucil to his food.
I had no idea how lucky I was with my cat Selkie, who never had a single health problem until the last couple years of her 12 years with me. Both of my cats have chronic problems now. At least Biscuit's vomiting episodes seem to be staying under control with application of allergy pills.
He refused food and was straining and producing a couple of drops of urine each time. I know urinary tract blockage is a serious condition for male cats so I took him to the emergency vet. But they couldn't find a blockage, so they took an X-ray. It turned out the problem was with the other sort of elimination - he was chronically constipated.
They gave him an enema. Then they had to wash him. Then when I got him home, I had to wash him some more. Poor guy. I also have to switch him to high fiber food now, or add pumpkin or metamucil to his food.
I had no idea how lucky I was with my cat Selkie, who never had a single health problem until the last couple years of her 12 years with me. Both of my cats have chronic problems now. At least Biscuit's vomiting episodes seem to be staying under control with application of allergy pills.
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Date: 4 Jan 2006 07:24 pm (UTC)I do actually think I was lucky with Selkie, because I've noticed since working at the shelter that shelter animals, especially the ones that were stray for a significant amount of time, are quite likely to have health problems. I doubt that this is evolutionary pressure per se. Other shelters have fewer resources and might euthanize a larger percentage of their older animals or animals that got sick in their care.
I think animals bred by responsible breeders are less likely to have health problems but that's at the expense of euthanizing the ones that test as carrying genetic problems of the breed.
I'm sure some people overtreat their animals. I don't think it's unreasonable to take a cat to the vet if it has a cold or an insulin overdose though.
I'm not going to have them on different foods if I can help it. I haven't tried high fiber food yet; I am switching them to more wet food and less dry food, and giving angus hairball remedy. It seems to be loosening things up a bit.