Advice needed re: my sick cat - Big Big Forums

Blackberry · 09-06-2002, 12:41 PM

We're just not sure what to do about our cat George. My husband and I got him from the Humane Society in spring of '97. When we went to the H.S. we looked at all of the cats in their cages & my husband chose George so they took us, our 2 kids and the cat into a room for some "quality time". We should have ended it right there...George was totaly freaked out & wanted nothing to do with us. The woman who worked there asked us if we wanted to chose a different cat but dh said No, he wanted this one.

So fast forward to now........George is still a very skittish cat. We rarely entertain here but if someone does come over George panic's and runs & hides & won't come out for hours. We got a kitten 2 years ago & they used to play together all of the time but now George wants nothing to do with Oliver. George is very crabby. And physicaly he also has had problems almost from the start. He is covered with scabs & sores and he pukes alot, all over the house. And in the past few monthes he has taken to pooping anywhere he pleases. We've taken him to the vet a couple of times & they can't figure out what is wrong with him, no remedy works. We have to try our best to keep him out of the kids room because for some reason it is his favorite room but he will just poop or pee on their desk, papers, toys..whatever. It used to be he just pooped right outside of his litter box but now...

Our family just loves cats. But we are at our wit's end here. Should we take him back to the humane society? If we do I'm sure he will get put to sleep & I'm not sure we could deal with that. He has been part of our family for over 5 years. But then he does not play at all anymore & I wonder what quality of life he has, being sick & being covered & sores.

I need opinions here...we are just not sure what would be the right thing to do. And I am so sick of cleaning up his messes, it's gross.

TheLtsLady · 09-06-2002, 12:52 PM

Quick! Find another vet asap.

I don't have a medical background but I have
"hairy babies" galore

His problem could very
well be FOOD ALLERGIES ! What kind of diet is he
on? Have you tried a strict diet of only quality
brand lamb and rice food? I really think you need
to find another vet

Kitty is sick and needs a
diagnosis

Good luck

2manykids · 09-06-2002, 12:59 PM

No advice really,just hope all works out.

Blackberry · 09-06-2002, 01:07 PM

The only problem with finding another vet is that we have NO money at all right now. When or if I get any extra money in the future I need to buy my son some jeans, he has only a couple of pairs of pants right now. Also there are school supplies I still haven't been able to get yet.

George has been to 2 differnt vets & has been given medicine for worms & other ailments but nothing makes much difference.

tiffany21 · 09-06-2002, 01:09 PM

my cat has the same problem but I know guy kittey problems comes from his first owner the abosed him so bad. did you ask the HS if he was aboused. and If he has it is going to take a long time to get him to trust you. my baby guy kitty will let the family pet him but no one else. he will hide when someone comes into the house. and I have had him now for 8 years. but he was badley abused. I give himm alot of extra love. and with your kitty hold him and talk to him and show him you love him and be positive and when you pass him give him a little scratch behind the ear. I am sure he will come around it will take a while.

good luck

Wimzik · 09-06-2002, 01:11 PM

My oldest female cat is very skittish she always hides when people come over, and she will seldom let anyone touch her besides me, It is just her personality.
Several years ago she began to go potty on the floor, and stopped using the litter box, and began throwing up alot, I thought she was just acting up because we had gone on vacation(she hates it when we go anywhere)and it all started when we got back, it went on for awhile and finally I took her to the vet and it turned out she had really bad infection from a cyst in her uterus, anyway we almost lost her.
I know your cat is a male, but it could be some kind of infection, I would try another vet.

Widgetsx3 · 09-06-2002, 01:22 PM

My cat Merlin had alot of what you are describing. He was diagnosed with low Taurine. This is something that is not found in high quantities in inexpensive dry foods. We had to switch to a lamb/rice combo, and mix it with canned 3x a week.

At one point he had scabs and sore around his neck, and had the conehead thing going on. $1500.00 in vet bills later, a simple switch of food made all the difference.

~MK~ · 09-06-2002, 03:04 PM

Do you have his food and litterbox close to each other?? Cats will stop going in the litter box and stop eating if they're next to each other.

TheLtsLady · 09-06-2002, 07:18 PM

I emailed you 13ducks

movie nut · 09-07-2002, 12:28 AM

Could your cat possibly be allergic to the litter you use in his box?? I second Ravenlost's advice---you can do a lot of research on the Net. From your description, I'd guess it's more than one problem. Best of luck in solving things.

Blackberry · 09-07-2002, 01:38 AM

Thanks so much everyone. It would kill us to let George go as frustrating as he is.

I don't think it is the cat litter that he is allergic to...I buy whatever one is on sale between about 3 or 4 brands.

But for those of you who suggested food allergies...Widgetsx3, maybe we can benefit from your experience. We've been giving the cats Meow Mix and ones like that because I didn't realize there was so much difference between the high priced ones & the cheaper ones. I'm going to put the cats on a lamb/rice cat food diet & see if that helps before I do anything more drastic.

I bought a flea comb & George loves it when I use it on him. It gets all of the scabs & loose hair out of his coat. And then he is more likely to get better pettings when we can actualy pet him without getting grossed out.

In case anyone else is having some of these problems with their cats I'll update this thread after giving George the new cat food for a couple of weeks & we'll see how he is doing.

Oh yeah, we didn't ask at the humane society if George had been abused. We don't know anything about his life before the humane society, but I suspect he did not have any easy life. But he is loved very much in our home...pooping problems and all!