Can I do more for my Puss? Please help.

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mylove4512
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Can I do more for my Puss? Please help.

Post by mylove4512 »

Ok, I rescued my most recent cat (Puss) from one of my patients at work shortly after he died as his family could not have her and all the rescue centres were to full capacity.
She was living as a house cat in a 1 bed terrace with just the owner and the family led me to believe that she was happy to eat anything and was very affectionate.
This was about 5 months ago but despite trying everything she is not really settling. She has tried 5 different diet regimes, however continues to vomit shortly after eating frequent meals and has numerous scabs over her body from scratching/itching. Currently she is on symply senior/sensitive as the Hills I/d was unsuccessful as was Royal Canin gastrointestinal and Royal Canin sensitivity her original diet of whiskas pouches and biscuits. My other cats ( who all get on well) are very uncomfortable with her still despite having used feliway friends plug ins upstairs and downstairs throughout her time here. We live in a large 4 bedroom house where they have access to all areas, so space I was hoping having 4 cats would not be an issue but maybe I was being unrealistic. I took her to the vet shortly after adopting her where they said that medically she is fine, but since she is continuing and appears to be gradually decline I am taking her again this afternoon.
She is very affectionate with me but there must have been some abuse in the past as one minute she is wonderful then the next she will without warning attack me ( usually when I take my hand away to stop ).
It would break my heart to rehome her but I feel that she deserves to be happy and that maybe this is not the right place for her.
Can you recommend trying something that I haven’t thought of or would you advise I find her a new home as the only cat.
If you recommend that she is to be rehomed then I am happy to keep her here and have potential new owners visit here as I appreciate that interim housing is limited.
Thank you
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Ruth B
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Re: Can I do more for my Puss? Please help.

Post by Ruth B »

The first suggestion I would make is what you are already doing and get her to the vets to get her checked over to see if they can find a medical reason for the itching as well as the stomach problems.

Secondly is there a room you could give her to be by herself and almost go back to stage one of integrating her into your household. See if being by herself will improve matters, even if she knows that there are other cats in the house if she isn't actually interacting with them it might reduce her stress levels a little which might help solve the immediate problems.

Is there any chance she could be allergic to something you use in the house, a cleaning product or such that doesn't bother your other cats but irritates her. Are you sure the scabs are from her scratching and not from one of the others giving her a quick swipe when you aren't looking.

I will also add a congratulations for trying to give her a new home, if isn't easy adding a cat to a full household as I have found out recently myself having taken in my Mothers elderly cat when she had to move into a nursing home, I already have three of my own in a two bedroom semi, but fortunately, while there might still be a bit of hissing, they do seem to be settling down together.

I will also add that just because the family thing she was fine before and would eat anything doesn't mean she actually was or did, it could be that they saw what they wanted to see and it isn't until you actually own them you find out what the real problems are.

Good luck with her and I do hope she settles down.
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fjm
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Re: Can I do more for my Puss? Please help.

Post by fjm »

I would second the vet visit, if only to rule out as many possible causes as you can. I do wonder if she is simply severely stressed, though. How old is she? If she spent most of her ife as an only cat, with an elderly owner and a fixed routine, she may well struggle to adapt to a busier household. I would certainly try limiting her to a small, safe place, and very slowly giving her more space (it worked very well for a cat of mine who suffered from stress), but perhaps it is time to look around for a home more like the one she came from if that doesn't work.
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Janey
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Re: Can I do more for my Puss? Please help.

Post by Janey »

fjm wrote:I would second the vet visit, if only to rule out as many possible causes as you can. I do wonder if she is simply severely stressed, though. How old is she? If she spent most of her ife as an only cat, with an elderly owner and a fixed routine, she may well struggle to adapt to a busier household. I would certainly try limiting her to a small, safe place, and very slowly giving her more space (it worked very well for a cat of mine who suffered from stress), but perhaps it is time to look around for a home more like the one she came from if that doesn't work.
Totally agree with all the above. It’s a really lovely thing you’ve done for her, but she may not be able to cope with such a different environment to what she’s been used to. If she can’t settle and it’s making her ill may be best to rehome for her sake, and go through a rescue if that’s the case. Best of luck!
mylove4512
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Re: Can I do more for my Puss? Please help.

Post by mylove4512 »

UPDATE: took Puss to the vets Thursday afternoon and the took a full blood workup and gave an ant sickness injection and some antacid liquid for the next few days. So far we’ve had no more episodes of vomiting thankfully and she seems ok. Will get the results on tomorrow.
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Red wine lady
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Re: Can I do more for my Puss? Please help.

Post by Red wine lady »

mylove4512 wrote:UPDATE: took Puss to the vets Thursday afternoon and the took a full blood workup and gave an ant sickness injection and some antacid liquid for the next few days. So far we’ve had no more episodes of vomiting thankfully and she seems ok. Will get the results on tomorrow.
Good luck x
mylove4512
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Re: Can I do more for my Puss? Please help.

Post by mylove4512 »

UPDATE: Results show that Puss is medically fine so the vet feels that her sickness is most likely to be related to stress. Thankfully there have been no more episodes of vomiting which brings her to a total of 4 days now so really pleased. The vet advised to continue with the Symply light/senior diet and monitor.
Thank you you your comments and advice so far.
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