Ahhhhh, Chooo,  I see my last post was when my cat was sneezing and coughing.  I did find out what the sneezing/coughing meant.  It is a hyperthyroid condition that affected Rory's heart.   This is common with hyperthyroid.  One of the symptoms of a heart condition is for the cat to cough/sneeze.  

Who knew?  I certainly had no clue.  The good news is that Rory is doing well on the medicine for hyperthyroid and as the hyperthyroid condition improves so will be heart murmur.

Felix Fidelis

On Cats and Sneezing

Sneezing and Coughing Cats




Cats, like dogs, need cold noses. Cold noses means (hopefully) everything is working well inside the cat. On cold nose days, cats run, play, jump, pounce and poke that cold nose into their owners. On hot nose days, you can expect the cat to sleep a lot more (and they sleep a lot anyway), not want to eat, and sneeze. Now sneezes in cats are not always serious. Sometimes cats get dust up their nose and sneeze to clear it out. Sometimes they get a hair or pollen up their nose and sneeze as well. And sneezes are hilarious to watch in cats. Perhaps sneezes are just hilarious no matter when the sneezer is a human, ape, dog or cat. I can’t speak to whether snails are cute when they sneeze but I am sure there is a grant out there for an enterprising and hard working snail-o-logist.



But call the vet when the sneezes turn into coughs and the breathing becomes heavy. Don’t play around with guessing what the sneeze could mean unless you have been down the sneeze/cough route before. Call the vet even when you have been down the sneeze/cough route because this sneeze could mean something different than it did before.



For instance, two years ago my cat started sneezing. I hauled him to the vet so many times for so many tests that he grew to hate being stuffed into the cat carrier. It turned out the he was allergic to something in the crawlspace where he loves to hide. This year, the same cat started sneezing again and I noticed that the crawlspace that I’d blocked up from before was now open for business and the cat would run in there to hide. So I called the vet and she prescribed the same pills from two years ago. And the cat started to do much better. So far, so good. Less stress for both the cat and my wallet. But now that a week has gone by, I can tell that the cat still isn’t well. His breathing is heaving and he still sneezes and coughs even though not every few minutes. So tomorrow we go back to the vet for her to check on how the cat is doing.

I'll keep you posted

Felix Fidelis

Rescue

I realized I was a cat lady when last year's trick-or-treaters got to my front door on Halloween and pounded on it for treats.  Of course, I didn't open the door because I didn't want the cats to get out.  As I sat in the quiet behind the door, I heard the kids comment to one another "How come she doesn't have treats for us?  She has food out here for the cats!!"  They were indignant.  So here is a lesson for next year.  Come Halloween, I will pick up the food bowl and put it out the next day. 

Otherwise, I will be sending a mixed message.  Sigh. 

Oh, Tigger

Animals leave more than footprints on your heart.  They leave holes when they go upstairs to watch over us.  Tigger died of cancer in late February of 2009.  The hole he left in my heart is still there.  It always will be.  I have other holes in my heart from other animal companions.  A tale of the swiss cheese heart.

Until then, peace

When Cats Choose

Oreo lives at FOHA in the feral colony.Today, though, Oreo decided to walk on the tame side and came into the isolation unit to be given a rabies shot and brought into the unit with the other cats who are there. I am pretty hopeful that Oreo will make it. She is a sweet cat but scared..... I will post pictures later