Topic: Meet Rhona :) (Read 3897 times)

racammann · « **Reply #33 on:** November 23, 2011, 18:22:31 PM »

Thanks, very helpful and consise advice.

I have ordered 2 x cans of Indorex from Amazon as I was placing a largish order from there anyway for various xmas presents. Not sure if it will be here by the weekend though.. Hopefully it will.
As yet I haven't seen anything, no black dots, no crawling things, or jumping/hopping things.

sheilarose · « **Reply #32 on:** November 23, 2011, 16:29:01 PM »

Frontline is dosed every four weeks. Once the infestation has gone, you will probably be able to reduce this to six weeks, but keep an eye on her scratching - the minute she starts, once the four weeks are up, squirt her again.

Not sure about steam cleaning killing flea eggs. I doubt it actually. I like Indorex because its the one product you only need to use once a year - reducing your chemical footprint considerably over other household flea sprays.

Good idea to do this over a weekend. The longer you can leave the first spray down between vacuums the better. And I would lay off steam cleaning for a while afterwards as it may wash away the active chemical that keeps the fleas at bay.

If you notice any teeny tiny maggot like creatures, they are flea larvae and need to be sprayed. This will be the source area of your outbreak, and likely to have been Rhonas favourite spot until recently, so concentrate your efforts accordingly.

Here's my fave suppliers site

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&zenid=jnou4gq662gr2haaveh835pve7&keyword=indorex

racammann · « **Reply #31 on:** November 23, 2011, 16:02:31 PM »

Oh, that's useful to know, thank you. I have never dealt with a flea infestation before.

I vacuum the entire house through every weekend, and steam clean the carpets around once every 2 months.
I will get some indorex and attack the house with a vengeance this weekend!

Would steam cleaning kill flea eggs? I don't like to use too many chemicals in case Rhona reacts to them but I'm thinking of the sofa, It's quite an old sofa and I can't take the cushion covers off.

How often can Frontline be used? She was frontlined last week - Sunday or Monday night I think.... so the 13th or 14th.

Thank you all for your advice, you've been most helpful

sheilarose · « **Reply #30 on:** November 23, 2011, 15:28:27 PM »

Ouch, as you are being bitten round the ankles there is likely to be quite an infestation in your home that Frontline alone won't resolve

I use a household flea killer if I get outbreaks that also kills eggs and larvae for 12 months so is very cost effective as well as being reliable.

"Indorex" has the appropriate ingredient. Get it on-line - honestly much better than throwing cash at supermarket brands which only kill the live flea, not the eggs or larvae, so you have to repeat every two weeks.

Start by hoovering everywhere, then chuck the hoover bag out (side), spray indorex and leave for an hour or so then hoover again. Finally give another spray and this should resolve your flea problems overnight.

Concentrate on areas that are warm (under radiators, on pet beds and climbing trees and of course your fireside and bedroom rugs).

Once you have the home cleared, the Frontline will assist Rhona in keeping the household free of fleas for good so long as you keep up the treatments.

Dawn F · « **Reply #29 on:** November 23, 2011, 12:57:18 PM »

I would try whiskas supermeat cans they are grain free

racammann · « **Reply #28 on:** November 23, 2011, 12:26:15 PM »

She saw the vet again last night about her poor sore paws. She has infected nail beds on a few of her claws on various feet. The feet that BF has been cleaning have all but cleared up, but another one flaired up the other day. Vet cleaned them out again, gave her another injection, and gave BF an antiseptic spray to use on them. She doesn't seem to be overly bothered by them, she's not limping or favouring any feet in any way, and she still charges around the house like a loon and plays football with her ball, little nutter!

I suspect she still hay have fleas, or we've had a recurrance of fleas since last week. She's still licking like crazy and scratching a bit... and I have several flea bites all over me, mostly round my ankles. She's never had fleas before though, she's an indoor cat so they must be coming in on us or anyone else who comes round to the house.

So I think the licking has 2 causes - fleas AND food intolerance.

I have voiced all of your theories and food intolerance information and experiences to BF and I think he has taken it on board. Will have to wait and see now if he changes her food again. Unfortunately Whiskas was on offer in Tesco so he stocked up! He can always pass it on to his mum though, she has a houseful of cats as she's a breeder, so she can always use it.
I don't think he was too impressed with the fishy cat sick on the bed the other day either, she was shut of out the bedroom yesterday.
We have also established that every time she ate Whiskas tinned sardine and trout in jelly, she vomited spectacularly soon after. And she does NOT like Whiskas tinned chicken in gravy - she left it untouched all day and all night.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #27 on:** November 22, 2011, 11:27:07 AM »

She looks fabulous ................havent got any smilies

Pouches and tins not the same

racammann · « **Reply #26 on:** November 22, 2011, 09:25:16 AM »

Hahaha, you're probably right!
Gonna persuade BF to change her food AGAIN... she drove me crazy all night long with her constant licking. I don't mind her sleeping on the bed with us, but last night she just would not keep still all night long and kept waking me up. Grumpy today.

He's made a vet appointment because another nail bed has flaired up.

BF switched from pouches to tins of Whiskars in jelly variety packs - supposedly the same stuff, but 2 weeks of pouches, she vomited twice - 4 days of tins and she's vomited 5 times - not good. I wonder if it's the 'sardine & trout' one that caused this.... came home from work yesterday to find fishy cat sick on the bed... delightful!

sheilarose · « **Reply #25 on:** November 21, 2011, 20:04:29 PM »

Cheaper to buy every type of food available and check for yourself. By the time you've paid the vet for the consultation, the lab tests, the vet again only to be told it's inconclusive, you could have adopted eight new cats and bought a small car.

Seriously, I don't know,

sorry.

racammann · « **Reply #24 on:** November 21, 2011, 15:53:17 PM »

Thanks

Does anyone know if the vet can confirm a food intolerance with blood tests?

I'm interested since I know they can do this with humans, my sister is wheat intolerant, and when she went to the GP with food intolerance symptoms they tested her for full-blown celiac disease, then intolerance to just wheat alone, not other grains and cereals, although she is slightly sensitive to rye.
I have also had blood tests for wheat intolerance and celiac disease (negative thankfully).

I imagine that this would be quite expensive though... vets are far from cheap.

Sue P (Paddysmum) · « **Reply #23 on:** November 21, 2011, 07:01:46 AM »

Beautiful photos of Rhona.

Ambi · « **Reply #22 on:** November 20, 2011, 22:12:03 PM »

Our Tim has a sensitivity and can only tolerate Hills Sensitive kibble - they do get wet food in the form of
Felix Sensations. If changing foods please do it slowly over course of a few days. Pro Plan also doma sensitive range

racammann · « **Reply #21 on:** November 20, 2011, 19:51:51 PM »

Cool. It's weird, she hardly ever sneezes at any other time. Only when she wakes up. It must be from vibrations when she snores, I can't think of any other reason.

The frontline was put in the correct place, and we didn't touch her for 24 hours to allow it to do it's job. I think BF meant the flea bites healing, scabs, and the residual fleas that had died on her, or infertile eggs or old egg cases or whatever... she was cleaning them out of her fur so that was why she was still licking more than usual. I haven't been around today to monitor her behaviour so not sure yet if she's still licking a lot.

She was basking in the sun today so I took some photos of her. Her coat is looking pretty healthy now, better than it was.

sheilarose · « **Reply #20 on:** November 20, 2011, 13:02:08 PM »

Sneezing as nother thing that could have numerous causes. The obvious one is a physical irritant up her nose, maybe pollips or a foreign object (one cat I heard of had sneezed a piece of grass up from her mouth and it had lodged in her nasal cavity, causing sneezing for months until the vet finally had a good look up her nose!).

The allergies you suspect are a firm favourite here, though, so the more scientific you can make your feeding experiments, noting the subtle changes in her health and behaviour, the quicker you'll find your solution.

As for the vomiting, it could be she has a hairball that is preventing her digestive tract from moving the food through. There are several tasty pastes available that will help shift an obstruction of this kind - here's one

http://www.petmeds.co.uk/p-3164-defurr-um-plus-cat-hairball-paste.aspx

Try her on some cereal/grain free foods for a couple of weeks, it may sort the whole lot of her problems out.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #19 on:** November 20, 2011, 00:28:23 AM »

If the frontline is put in the right place...........at back of neck..............cats cant reach it, so there will be no excess for her to lick!

If they lick it causes excess drooling or foaming at mouth, so you would know.

Yes Ducha does but he caught cat flu about this time last year and when he gets a bit stressed it happens.

racammann · « **Reply #18 on:** November 19, 2011, 18:20:01 PM »

No it's a small tin. And she never eats it all in one sitting. She probably does eat about a mouse sizes portion, then goes back for more later. She has this ridiculous habit of charging about the house like a total loon shortly after being fed (supporting the hyperactivity due to a food intolerace theory) and then vomits from the exersion on a full stomach. She had always done this, on all the foods we have tried. She never vomited once in the crate because she couldn't run around. However, on numerous occasions to try and stop the vomiting, I have tried feeding her in the small box bedroom which is too full of junk to run around in, and shutting her in for the hour after being fed, and quite often there was still a pile of vomit on the floor. This was mostly when she was on dry food. She has done it once since being on Whiskers, but on that occasion she had missed the previous feed because we'd had to dash to A&E and were there for hours.. so I put it down to her being sooo hungry that anything that entered her stomach would have been a shock to the system and it came straight back up.
She still seems to be licking a lot.. not as much as a week ago, but more than she used to. She's less restless so I think that was due to fleas. BF reckon she's only licking a lot now since the frontline is doing it's job and she's getting rid of what's left on her skin/in her fur, and that she'll stop licking so much soon. I'll have to keep an eye on that.

Does anyone else have a cat who has a sneezing fit every time they wake up from a long, deep snooze? This is another of Rhona's quirks. I think it may be because she snores a lot, and quote loud too, so there's mucus and whatever rattling around inside her nasal cavities which tickle and trigger a sneezing fit once she's awake.

sheilarose · « **Reply #17 on:** November 19, 2011, 11:29:07 AM »

Quote from: Gill (sneakiefeline) on November 18, 2011, 23:25:41 PM

Is that a big tin?

I would think that is a bit too much in one go and maybe thats why she is vommitting. Try making it 4 smaller meals rather than two big ones?

Don't remember where I heard this but it fits your situation:

A cat in the wild only eats one mouse at a time. Their stomachs are designed to process small meals often. Meals should therefore be mouse-sized.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #16 on:** November 18, 2011, 23:25:41 PM »

Is that a big tin?

I would think that is a bit too much in one go and maybe thats why she is vommitting. Try making it 4 smaller meals rather than two big ones?

Like Sheila says we are learing along with you

sheilarose · « **Reply #15 on:** November 18, 2011, 20:20:07 PM »

Do please come back and let us know what the vet says, we're learning along with you.

racammann · « **Reply #14 on:** November 18, 2011, 20:00:26 PM »

Thank you

We'll see how it goes. I still suspect a slight food intolerance but it wasn't causing the constant scratching and excessive licking, as Frontline seems to have dealt with that.
She has vomited up all her breakfast today in several delightful piles all over the house, and has barely touched her dinner. Todays Whiskas is Sardine and Trout in jelly. She normally goes nuts for fish, she loves it.
She's now getting a tin split into two feeds per day. We still have the issue of the infected nail beds. Perhaps another vet visit might be in order. And then eliminating different potential causes to try and figure out why it's happening.
We'll have to wait and see how it goes

Thank you for all your input guys, you've been a great help

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #13 on:** November 18, 2011, 16:58:31 PM »

Sometimes old hands with cats are blinkered to new remedies or suggestions from experienced cat owners and a newbie like yourself is more receptive and can see things less blinkered but very hard to change ingrained ways and thoughts.

I love CSI well NCIS best lol.

I hope that everything works out for Rhona soon

racammann · « **Reply #12 on:** November 18, 2011, 11:33:04 AM »

Well it's been a few days now since she was frontlined earlier in the week, and the itching seems to have reduced, so perhaps it was fleas and it was just coincidence that they appeared at the same time as the food switch. Not sure where they came from as she's an indoor cat. It's either that or she has recovered from the shock of the sudden food change.
Dunno, I'm stumped. I will keep an eye on her behaviour, I still think she's a bit restless since being on Whiskers.. but it's hard to tell. It's doing good in other respects in that she doesn't vomit, barely coughs and her coat is looking much softer and fluffy, whereas she looked greasy on Iams.

racammann · « **Reply #11 on:** November 17, 2011, 23:28:58 PM »

Hmmmm... interesting. That makes a lot of sense. However, she was only in the crate for a week both times and they were a few months apart.
The vet squeezed the pus out of her nail beds and gave them a good clean. We've been washing them for weeks now and they just won't clear up so clearly the root cause is still present. So maybe she is doing it to herself. Good detective skills. Clearly she doesn't like the daily ritual of getting her feet wet so that may be an added stress factor.
The ear and nose blisters are gone now, the fuciderm did the trick. Ears are now all re-furred and back to normal. As I understand it, fuciderm treats allergic reactions in the skin, so as it worked as effectively as it did, I'm inclined to believe the blisters were a result of an allergic reaction. We just don't know what to.

sheilarose · « **Reply #10 on:** November 17, 2011, 17:11:25 PM »

I see the difference in Sammy (my grain intolerant cat) within days. Get the grain off him and he relaxes and becomes loving and friendly within a couple of days, by the end of the week he's gaining weight and sleeping better.

In fact he reacts like a kid on blue smarties if he gets his nose in Sylvesters Go-Cat. It's that quick.

I wonder, your bf seems very keen to sin bin Rhona to the crate.
She may perceive this as punishment and be self harming as a result. Think about it, she may not be outwardly violent on high-grain food but may be inwardly screwed up on it. The damage to her paws started AFTER she was crated for a few days, right?

So, a scenario for you (like CSI this, lovin it)

She has a food intolerance that affects her behaviour, causes her to stress out and this presents as self harm - she bites her own nails or claws the cage to the point where her claw beds are bruised, then becoming infected.
Vet sees her in isolation, doesn't know the domestic circumstances (cat stress factors are almost impossible to identify and isolate unless you live with the cat) so cannot diagnose stress as her problem. Treats symptomatically (antibiotics for the infection in her nail beds).

I wonder if your vet would be happy to start her on a course of mild anti-depressants. Try the grain free diet for a couple of weeks, but continuous use of the sin bin may be adding to her woes. If the diet hasn't made any impact in 14 days, take her back to the vet and suggest treating her psychological symptoms.

Try Canestan cream on those scabs. We've all got a tube lurking in a cupboard somewhere, and it really does work on most skin problems that are likely to be fungus related (I think those ear scabs are fungal). I treated Theo's (identical) ear scabs with Canestan cream when he first came here - total success within two weeks.

racammann · « **Reply #9 on:** November 17, 2011, 16:42:28 PM »

Thanks for your advice.
So do you think that the problems with her feet could also be linked to her diet?
All this started when she was still on Iams dry food.

Any food we have tried with her so far we have fed over several months to get a definite idea of how it affects her. In our opinion a few weeks isn't long enough to know as she might be reacting to the change in diet, and after a month or longer might adapt and settle down and her body get used to it. Clearly this isn't the case with the Whiskers though, I am keen to get her off it as the itching is driving me crazy at night! But BF might want to give it a few more weeks and see if it settles down by itself as she gets used to it.
At the end of the day, she's not my cat, I can only suggest to my BF what I think and then it's up to him to make a decision, but I have to approach this carefully so it doesn't sound like I'm telling him how he should look after his cat, when he's been around cats all his life and I'm just a cat newbie!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #8 on:** November 17, 2011, 16:16:53 PM »

I would get her off Whiskers immediately if you havent already.

Have her paws cleared cos there is paw problem that is very serious?

The first picture looked like ringworm.......sigh

I also would be tempted to seek a second opinion vetwise, is she insured? cos a referral to a specialist sounds like a good idea.

I have read on Purrs that food problems are very hard to resolve and trials over a long period need to be done, so that the main food ingredient without grains and stuff is only used, if that proves a problem, the you start with the next. its very long and complicated.

I bought some new chicken biscuitys for Lupin yesterday and when I got home found they had bloomin fish oil in them grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

racammann · « **Reply #7 on:** November 17, 2011, 16:01:01 PM »

Back in May this year, Rhona had a little red mark on her forehead, in front of her right ear. BF immediately suspected ringworm and confined her to a crate, washed all fabrics in the house, steam cleaned all carpets, sofa, beds etc, took her to the vets, they did a skin scraping, and lightbox test. Both came back negative, so Rhona was free to roam about the house again.
A few weeks later we noticed a lump on her shoulder, which on closer inspection turned out to be a scab in the skin, but no deeper than the skin.

Shortly after than she developed a small scab on the lobe of her right ear, which went away by itself.
Then she got a scab on the end of her nose, which spread rapidly upwards, being noticably bigger each day. It got to about 5mm across and then shrank and almost disappeared.
Then she developed scabs on her left ear, all up the edge, to the tip.
Then it reappeared on her nose but lower down than before and not quote as bad.

At this point we were thinking something fungal or even staph related, so again, she went back into the crate, and we cleaned the house again.

Nose

Within days of being in the crate she developed really sore feet, which were bleeding and oozing pus from around the sheaths where the claws emerge.

She wasn't at all bothered by the ear and nose blisters, no scratching or pawing at them, but she was licking her poor sore paws a lot.
The vet was stumped and advised fuciderm corticosteroid gel on the ears and nose, and to wash the feet with salt water twice a day. She was prescribed a course of antibiotics - a 7 day course of Noroclav 50mg tablets. When this didn't work, she was then given a 2 week course of Baytril tablets.

The corticosteroid gel sucessfully cleared up the ear and nose blisters, but we're still having problems with her feet now. Her claws have been trimmed so they can't catch on things.

She went back to the vets on Friday and he gave her an injection to help her fight this and heal - can't remember what BF told me it was - either an antibiotic or a steroid....
She still has the scab on her shoulder but it has shrunk now so is hopefully disappearing.
However, the other day we found another scab, about the size of a 5p on the base of her tail, on the top side, again, I've never noticed her scratching, biting or licking this area so think it's just 'appeared'.

Up until 2 weeks ago we hadn't considered a food intolerance, we were just trying to find a food that didn't make her vomit. 2 weeks ago we switched her to wet food for the first time - whiskers variety pouches, but I noticed a marked change in her behavior - she started scratching and licking incessantly - (which my BF decided was fleas, and frontlined her) but also took much longer to settle down to go to sleep and seems restless and miaowing a lot (probably because she's so itchy it's driving her mad!) She has only vomited twice since being on Whiskers which is a vast improvement on any of the dry foods she's had, but it's obviously affecting her in other ways.

I will urge BF to try and find a food that doesn't contain any cereals or grains, just as an experiment to see if it helps with the itching.

racammann · « **Reply #6 on:** November 16, 2011, 15:13:32 PM »

Thanks everyone, any advice is welcome

Starting to suspect a food intolerance or allergy where cereals are concerned.

When he had Monkey and she was on Royal Canin Siamese she was overgrooming too - licked her tummy bald.
Neither of them have ever been agressive or violent though, they are both the sweetest natured cats ever - although Monkey was pretty hyperactive.
Rhona is a soppy little lap cat - anything for warmth and attention. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body. She's never tried to bite, scratch, hiss or growl, it's just not in her nature. She has the best temperament ever. You can manhandle her, poke and prod etc and she'll just sit there purring and let you do it.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #5 on:** November 16, 2011, 14:07:16 PM »

love rhona

i have a 14 month old birman with a sensitive tummy and cant eat felix or whiskers, only tesco chicken pouches!

was told he had iams as a kitten and the go cat and kitekat at his first home but would not eat them here.

today to try and find some chicken biscuits cos any fish upsets him. i dont know where you can get applaws ?

Sue P (Paddysmum) · « **Reply #4 on:** November 16, 2011, 13:36:00 PM »

Ooooooo Rhona is gorgeous

sheilarose · « **Reply #3 on:** November 16, 2011, 13:31:24 PM »

I have one who is sensitive to cereal/grain, he overgroomed all his fur off his back end before he came to me as his intolerance had not been identified and he was being fed exclusively on Iams.

He comes over pretty violent too when he's on th grain, no wonder his previous owners wanted rid, but they just never asked anyone why he might be behaving like that so just offloaded the cat instead (grrr).

I swapped him to Applaws (chicken) dry with occasional pouches of whatever's on offer (usually felix based), but he still likes to indulge in a little go-cat from time to time that makes him hyper.

He's almost never sick these days, he does suffer from furballs in the summer so he needs to be groomed weekly, even though he's short haired. This helps a great deal.

Bet its not long before you get another cat...

Dawn F · « **Reply #2 on:** November 16, 2011, 12:42:56 PM »

very cute, I like orientals

one of mine developed itchy skin from whiskas as well - she is currently on supermeat tins as they seem to be cereal free and is doing well

racammann · « **Reply #1 on:** November 16, 2011, 12:37:50 PM »

Hello there, I'm new to cats and new to this forum.
My boyfriend's mum has been breeding oriental cats since the 1970's and is a reputable and well established breeder, so naturally, since my bf has grown up surrounded by cats, it was inevitable that he would be near obsessed by them. He has a beautiful burmese called Rhona, who he loves more than me (lol, jk). I moved in with him and his Rhona a few months ago and have totally fallen in love with her as if she was my own. I have never owned a cat before so mostly I'm here to learn more about them.
Before I was living with him he also had a Siamese called Monkey, who had a litter of kittens last August (see pics in my intro thread).

Anyway - meet Rhona:

Rhona is a pretty special cat. Her litter was line-bred as part of a breeding plan to isolate a particular trait, so her father also sired her mothers litter. So she is *slightly* inbred, but you understand this is occasionally necessary in the world of breeding and genetics.
She was born with a deformed sternum (or something) you can feel a lump sticking out of her ribs at the front between her front legs.
She's a little on the small side (I'm not sure if she was the runt or not), she weighs little more then 3kg but is quite tubby around the middle and certainly not underweight for her size, she just has a small, petite little frame.
She was spayed before she came to live with my bf.
She has never been outdoors (except in a cat-carrier when being trasported to and from the vets etc).
She is very sensitive to a lot of things and has numerous allergies.
She coughs a lot - more so on different foods.
She sneezes every time she wakes up from a long, deep sleep.
She has a sensitive stomach, and vomits a fair amount (again, more so on different foods).

We are still in the process of finding a food that is right for her.
So far we have tried:
Royal Canin - Sensitivity - dry kibble - still vomited a lot.
Iams Proactive - kitten dry kibble - coughed more and vomited a lot, and developed skin scabs, although no itching.
Iams proactive - adult dry kibble - coughed a ridiculous amount continuously and vomited even more - really bad!
Royal Canin - Siamese (when Monkey was around) - Coughed less but still vomited.
Whiskers wet pouches - the jelly variety boxes - much better, barely any coughing and only vomited around once a week, but developed itchy skin and compulsive licking.

So that's the story of Rhona

Author Topic: Meet Rhona :) (Read 3897 times)