Text 25166, 96 rader
Skriven 2012-02-08 09:21:30 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 25159 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
Ärende: Cats
============
Janis Kracht wrote to Robert Bashe on Tuesday February 07 2012 at 15:00:

RB>> Juelchen went absolutely crazy - it was the first and only time I've
RB>> ever been bitten by a cat - and I literally _ran_ out of the office
RB>> with her. Called back later for private appointment, and that went
RB>> well.

JK> Nice that he would do that for you, for sure.

Actually, that's not really that unusual here - I just hadn't done it before.
The vets here operate like the human doctors - they have their regular hours
when anyone can come and wait their turn in the waiting room, or you can make
an appointment by phone and usually only have to wait 10-20 minutes. If you
make an appointment, the waiting room isn't packed - sometimes you're alone,
sometimes there are 1-2 others there - and the stress on the animal (and you)
is less. I tend to do that for anything but routine vaccinations nowadays.

JK> When we can afford it, we have the vet come here.. it's not cheap to
JK> do it that way but he does give you group rates if he's going to do a
JK> passle of animals in one visit :)

I don't know if that's done here, just no experience. Even the two emergencies
I had with Effie last summer (fluid in his lungs, he could hardly breathe), I
packed him into the carrier and went to the vet. Both times were during the
day, but on the weekend, and I was able to take him to the office immediately.
The vet arrived a few minutes later and treated him. The first time was very
serious indeed, and she asked me to call every two hours and let her know how
things were progressing. Luckily, he improved very quickly.

JK> The main problem with that whole idea is rounding up the 4 cats before
JK> he arrives <grin>  Sometimes, they just will NOT cooperate.

This is also my problem when I want to take a cat to the vet. My nightmare has
always been that the appointment time will come and I can't locate the cat. But
luckily that hasn't happened yet. I take special care to keep the outside doors
shut on such days.

JK> Luckily, with these 4 being so young I haven't had to deal with pills
JK> for them but have had to do so with our previous Maine Coon cat - he
JK> was about 17 or 18 and had to have pills every day.. he was eating
JK> canned cat food at the time so slipping the pill in a small abount of
JK> food seemed the obvious thing to do..  I don't remember seeing the
JK> meat sticks you're talking about though.. that would definitely have
JK> been easier I think.

If you have an Aldi store in the area, check with them and ask for something
like "cat stick treats". I don't know what they're called in English, but they
come in four different flavors here and are called "Edel Cat Lux feine
Knabberroellchen". I see they're made by an outfit called Deuerer GmbH with a
website www.edel-cat.de. They're soft round sticks around 14 cm long and are
individually packed in metal/plastic foil, 10 sticks to a package (a line of
sticks with perforations between the individual sticks).

There's a picture of them (but in another package) at

http://www.edel-cat.de/praes.php?Sprache=d&was=katzennahrungdet&wer=3

But if you do buy these and try them out, be forewarned: they're addictive, and
your cats will pester you for them ever after ;-)

[Pills]
RB>> It's also no problem with Effie, our old (15-16) male, who has a
RB>> serious and chronic mouth disease that cost him all but two teeth
RB>> (both canines are gone) and heart trouble as well (leading to fluid
RB>> in the lungs).

JK> Aw...  He sounds like a tough guy though.

He is, and a big one - weight around 15 pounds and hard to carry without
gasping for breath ;-)

JK> Running sure sounds like my 4 kitties when they see me coming with the
JK> flea medicine.. it's the type you place between the shoulderblades
JK> (frontline is the company name here).. All they have to see are the
JK> blue plastic vials in my hands, and they take off either for heights
JK> where I can't reach them, or out the door :)  I don't understand why
JK> they care about this flea medication so badly.. I'd expect they can't
JK> really feel much when it's put on them...

Well, for one it's cold. And for another, I've read it gives them a bitter
taste in their mouths after it gets into the circulation. At any rate, I use
the same stuff on our cats. Some don't like it and fight, some submit without
problems. It's very individual.

JK> Yes, with Pete, it certainly was.  The poor boy eventually died of
JK> cancer in the end.. he was a great cat though.. more of a dog than cat
JK> in some ways.. he actually used to play fetch with q-tips :)

Even as an adult? Wendy and Peter used to fetch short pencils when I'd throw
them, but that was when they were kittens and were simply bursting with energy.
Nowadays they've given up the habit.

Cheers, Bob

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