Afraid :(

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Moolercat
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Afraid :(

Post by Moolercat »

Hi all

I've posted in another section about a problem with my cat's paw, we noticed it this morning and I'm taking him to the vets today.

Anyway, where we live is kind of rural. It has a petrol station, farm shop and chip shop, couple of pubs; I'm sure you can imagine. Anyway, the rest of the local area is fields, farm land, grazing land etc.

My cat is allowed outside, and I am not going to change that. He has a cat flap that is operated on his chip and loves to be outside as well as with us.

We must take him to the vets once per month for something! Only last week we took him as he got stung by a bee or wasp on his face near his eye and now his poorly paw!

Other issues have been cat fight related (we now keep him in at night) so you can imagine, scratches etc, we've taken him as a precautionary measure to stop infection. As mentioned, it must be once a month, sometimes a couple, excessive maybe? But I adore him! And him being in any sort of pain or me putting him in danger of further infection or pain because I can't be bothered fills me with sadness.

I'm sorry for the rant, long story short, I'm scared that at some point the vets are going to question me bringing him in so often that they're going to take him away from us.

I hope this makes sense, just needed to get it off my chest.

Kind regards

Sarah and Moo
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fjm
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Re: Afraid :(

Post by fjm »

I think that it is very unlikely that any vet would consider you a bad owner for taking your cat in frequently - I am sure vets would far rather deal with too many visits than too few! It may be worth discussing things with your vet, though - a good first aid kit, with suitable antihistamines, antiseptic, etc, etc could help you deal with minor things at home, and if you have a prescribed bottle of metacam that can be safely used for a day or two to relieve short term pain. But I am with you - I am more than happy to pay the consultation fee for reassurance, if it saves me from wakeful nights fearing the worst!
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MarySkater
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Re: Afraid :(

Post by MarySkater »

I'm not an expert on what's the "normal" injury rate for a free-roaming cat, because mine are restricted to just the house and a garden enclosure. But I would have thought that your repeated vet visits were an indication of how well you care for your cat, not something to be interpreted as neglect or mistreatment. Keeping him in at night is probably a good idea, even though, being white (and beautiful!) means he's less likely to have a road accident in the dark.

(And, being cynical, your vet is not likely to want you to lose your cat, because you are obviously a good source of income for the surgery!)

Just as a matter of curiosity, is his hearing normal? I've heard that whiteness and deafness are sometimes genetically linked.

I live on a quiet cul-de-sac at the edge of a housing estate, with a golf course behind my garden. It wouldn't be a bad place to let a cat roam free, and many people do. I see quite a few pet cats up and down my street, including a three-legged one. But there has certainly been at least one cat road-killed since I've lived here. And I often read, on Facebook or elsewhere, of cats who simply vanish and are never seen again. That must be horrible for the owner. So I took the decision to my two contained. They seem quite happy.
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Moolercat
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Re: Afraid :(

Post by Moolercat »

Hi :)

Many thanks for your replies :)

Here's another picture of him. He, as you can see, has one blue eye and one green eye :)

His hearing is like any other cats. Cats Protection and the vets have told us it's a bit of a misconception that white cats have hearing problems, although I understand the science behind why they are more susceptible.

Moo does love getting into mischief and exploring, so I'm not totally surprised by the amount of scrapes and scuffs he gets into!

You'd think he would be better in the dark, but he did come back with a trauma to his head about six months ago which the vets think was a car clipping him. Poor baby!
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booktigger
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Re: Afraid :(

Post by booktigger »

What a stunning boy - can I ask if he is neutered?
Moolercat
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Re: Afraid :(

Post by Moolercat »

Many thanks :)

He is indeed neutered :)

We re-homed him from the Cats Protection (Bury St. Edmunds and Stowmarket) Branch, and as a rule they neuter regardless.
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Lilith
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Re: Afraid :(

Post by Lilith »

Aww he is a sweetie ...

I can relate to how you feel; over the years I've noticed phases of never being away from the vet's - and eventually being quite embarrassed, and then anxious - what do they think I'm DOING with my cats ??? :shock:

And then there have been peaceful periods when the cat carrier has gathered dust and the word 'vet' has been meaningless ... for a while ...

As other people have said, Moo's young and adventurous and gets into scrapes; you're doing your best for him and there's no way you can be criticised. I've heard of some dreadful cases where cats have been openly neglected and it's been down to a courageous rescue or individual to get help for them, and even then it's been a struggle. NO WAY can Moo be taken from you but I understand the anxiety.

Fusses to him and hope his poorly paw heals soon :)
alanc
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Re: Afraid :(

Post by alanc »

Far better to go to the vets than worry. I have done it quite a few times and on at least three occasions it was just as well. The vets have never said I should not have come. Mind you, I think I may have provided quite a bit of the finance for their new hospital!
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Ruth B
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Re: Afraid :(

Post by Ruth B »

Far better to visit a vet unnecessarily than not to visit one when needed.

I'm sure my vet must have me down as a hypochondriac by proxy, the things i have taken my cats to the vets for, though normally there was something wrong when the vet did the examination. The worst still has to be when I took a cat in because 'he smelt wrong', he did need some dental work doing, but that wasn't what I had picked up, the blood test showed he was in the early stages of kidney problems. I also ended up one evening ringing up to ask what was the best thing to wash oil off a cats paw, I didn't want to use anything that would be harmful to her, but couldn't leave it for her to clean off herself for the same reason.

I think asking about a basic first aid kit to make sure you can keep any small scratches clean is a good idea, some cat just seem prone to injury, the same as some children are.

Like the others say, any good vet would much rather a cat was brought in to be checked over than neglected, the only thing they might suggest would be to do some test to try and find out if there was any underlying problem that made him more injury prone. Like has been mentioned white cats are more likely to be deaf than others, particularly if they have blue eyes, it might be possible that his hearing isn't quite as good on the one side, but he can hear enough though the other ear so it is harder to diagnose. A White cat with a blue eye doesn't necessarily mean a deaf cat, but the possibility of limited hearing shouldn't be discounted.

I will also add that cats are very good at coping with out their full range of sensors as I have found out having adopted my mothers old cat. When she lived at her old home I never suspected anything was wrong, since she has moved in with me I have noticed that her eyesight isn't as good as it could be (she's 17 it's not exactly unexpected). She gets around fine most of the time it's just occasionally I'll see her almost walk into something, sometimes it's one of the other cats which is when an outburst of hissing occurs. She is also allowed out when she wants, but with except for one incident, she is happy to stay in our garden.

I'm sure Moo will be fine and as he gets older hopefully he will be a little less adventurous.
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Re: Afraid :(

Post by bobbys girl »

Ruth B wrote:Far better to visit a vet unnecessarily than not to visit one when needed.

The worst still has to be when I took a cat in because 'he smelt wrong', he did need some dental work doing, but that wasn't what I had picked up, the blood test showed he was in the early stages of kidney problems.
I agree with everything that has been said. You know your cat and you know when something is wrong - whatever the vet thinks. Many years ago our church had an outing to Chester Zoo. One of the attractions was a baby elephant - a surprise cross between an African and an Indian elephant (SO cute!) My mum, a nurse, said something is wrong it smells wrong. We said 'mum we are in an ELEPHANT house EVERYTHING smells!!!' She was right, three days later little Motty died of kidney failure.

Only a fool or an arrogant vet would ignore your fears.
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