New Here - Need Advice, *pics* of kitty...

Hi there, I'm new... :y_the_best:
I found this site whilst trying to get some info about what could be wrong with my Kitty (his name is Dusty, He is 3yrs old and male..). He and I just recently moved out of my Mum's house (where there was another cat, Tabatha - She's 2yrs old). We moved out about a month ago and since we left he has not been eating or drinking very much at all! :? He won't drink out of a bowl, just the tap - and he only drinks about 3 drops of water from the tap a week! I've not changed his diet at all (except just recently i tried to give him some dry food - he didn't want it). He won't even sniff at his food anymore, at least when we moved into our new home he would eat a few bites... nothing now! I have booked an appointment at the Vets for him tomorrow, but i was just hoping for some words of advice/encouragement - i am V. worried about him. :cry: He's been himself in behaviour - well, quite a bit clingyer than normal, but other than that he seems fine. He never went out much at my mum's house and if he did, he always stayed in the garden, never wandered - he's not been let out here yet (being a new house, i didnt want him getting lost - not with it being so cold out right now!) not sure if maybe he is depressed because he cant go out or misses my mum's cat?

I have been browsing the forum for a little while and noticed you all love to see pics of the kitties themselves - so here are a few of my Dusty. Just thought I'd add a little story regarding his name, when my Mum bought him for me a few years ago he was just a tiny baby, only 6weeks old! he was adorable!! however, the day we bought him - we had to go out for a few hours and we had to leave him alone - he was so cute, i didnt want to leave him!! but we did go... we had to leave him in our kitchen though with his kitty litter and food so he wouldnt chew on any wires elsewhere in the house! dont worry, we had a big kitchen! however, when we got back i could not find my baby anywhere and was very upset until i heard a rustling behind the cupboards - we pulled some things out (washing machine etc) of their places and there was my kitty - no longer black but a very amused, dust covered grey kitty!! he still loves to hide out in little nooks and crannies whenever he can! lol.
ok, here are the pictures -
Dusty Pictures
^That is a link to my picture trail account^

Love Breez.xx

 

Welcome to the forum! Dusty is beautiful.

My guess is that he might just be stressed from the move. Is he dehydrated? Has he lost weight?

 

:m23: and welcome. I love the name Dusty and he is beautiful! :m10: Some cats don't do well with new changes and get very stressed. When we moved to a new house, my Monty was so distressed that he escaped outside and ran around in circles around the house and hid in the bushes. We couldn't catch him and had to let Pumpkin out to locate him for us. He recovered after a couple of weeks. Good luck with the vet appointment and keep us updated with Dusty's progress!

 

Hi again, Thank you for your replies.
The trip to the Vets wasn't as painful as i had imagined, she checked him over and said he has a slight temperature and a possible tickle of some sort in his throat. She gave me some worming treatmentto give to him because she feared that the move may have triggered roundworm as well as this viral infection in his throat. she advised me to feed him little bits very often and not to let him out. Poor Dusty did have to have an injection though to try to bring his temperature down. i am just wondering about something the vet said though - she asked if Dusty could have eaten or smelt something he shouldn't have done and at the time i couldn't think of anything. but just a minute ago my bf complained the house smelt of cat (he really does not like cats, i just cant bear to give my baby away) and he told me to spray some air freshener around the house. Dusty hates the air freshener, im not sure if he is afraid of it or what, but he always runs away when i spray it about. im just wondering if a lot of air freshener can affect his health? if the smell of it or just having it in the air could be adding to him being ill..? if there is a chance of this being the case, are there any other ways that i can keep the house smelling "as if there isn't a cat living here"? i, honestly, do not know what my bf is complaining about - i mean, the kitty litter might smell a bit after he's used it - but that is it! earlier it just smelt like my bf's burnt toast, i couldn't smell my kitty, but we have had many arguments about my kitty - my bf hates him and wants me to give him to someone else, but im sure you all understand how hard this is for me - i love them both dearly and the only way i know Dusty will get treated really well is having him here with me.
i am so happy that there is nothing seriously wrong with my baby... i'm off to try to give him his worming treatment!! :lol: should be interesting..
Take care, Love Breez.x.

 

Welcome to the forums. Dusty is a cutie! I hope the medication goes well and he gets back to eating normal again soon.

I know my cats don't like spray bottles. Have you tried those plugin-type air fresheners instead? It might make your boyfriend less cranky about the "cat smell" and won't scare Dusty.

 

Cats don't really smell. Their litter may smell. What type of litter do you use? I recommend the clumping Arm & Hammer. Or just add some regular arm and hammer to your litter to freshen it. I don't believe in air freshners because I think it only masks odors and not remove them and I'm usually allergic to most air freshners. Vacuum and clean your house often (not saying that you don't). Some of us here use air purifiers- Lynnhaz and EternalFlame and it really freshens the air. You can open windows occassionally to ventilate even in the winter. Fresh air is good for everyone. Ok, enough of me babbling. Goodluck. I'll take my cats over my hubby anyday. :mrgreen:

 

thank you Halaroo, that's a great idea! i will have to suggest it to my bf later - no doubt he will say "no" to the idea, any reason for me to not keep my kitty living here! i suggest Dusty goes outside during the day/night (not sure which is better for the cat) - but that's a bad idea cos my bf doesnt want Dusty "trapsing dirt all over the house from outside". he can find a problem with everything! my bf is used to getting his own way (only-child syndrome) :wink: he's just not used to having to compromise and it is his house that Dusty and i have moved into!
edited to add - the house is hoovered every day and cleaned comstantly by me in order to keeo the "cat smell" under control...
Love Breez.x.

 

Gottcha. Makes sense now. Must do everything to please the "only child syndrome." :mrgreen: Is your neighborhood safe for your cat? Are there predators or other kitties lurking around or even heavy car traffic or neighbors that don't like cats and have lots of kids? If you have no choice and must leave Dusty outside, I recommend the day time so when he comes home at night, you'll have a peace of mind knowing he's safe. I used to let Milo out all the time and I constantly worry about him eating poisoness plants, getting hit by a car, taken in by strangers or trapped somewhere. He recently lost all his siblings. Hubby just informed me his brother Sunny who lives at a friend's farm went out 2 weeks ago and didn't come home. :shock:

 

there aren't any kitties that come near my house, but there are some lower down the street, its a dead end so there arent many cars, but there is a main road nearby. im a little worried about letting him out in case he gets lost trying to go back to our old house - dont want him out, alone, in the cold as long as he stays near to our new house he should be safe - regarding the large family of people that dislike cats, there is a very large family near the end of the road i live on, the older kids and parents are drug addicts and the younger kids are very destructive - i certainly dont trust my kitty near them!!
i am very sorry to hear about Sunny going missing, it must be really hard for your husbands friend. i would go out of my mind with worry if Dusty did that
just an added note - i am now the meanest person in the world..lol, Dusty is ignoring me after giving him his worming treatment - boy am i cruel or what?! :roll: the vet gave me a little syringe with paste in to give him - so im sure u can imagine the fun i had! lol, good job the bf wasnt here then as Dusty decided if he had to have some, so did everything else in the room! :mrgreen:
Love Breez.x.

 

Hiya Breez and Dusty! Welcome to the forum! I see we house trained you well...pics on the first post! Yeaaa! :y_the_best:

I think Dusty will be fine after he get's his own scent around the house...but it's pheremones, not a smell that humans can detect.

As to the oder problem, I think it must be the litterbox too. But instread of a strong spray try little bags of potpurre about the house.

Your boyfriend situation reminded me of something I found on a page that Vene posted the other day...you should consider this:

http://www.riverheightsvet.com/h_goes.htm

:mrgreen:

 

Cassie, I totally forgot about that ad. LMAO.

Breezay, I'd do everything I can to keep Dusty indoors. Even if you let him out, he won't get lost. Cats have terrific scent markers. Maybe you guys can build a cat enclosure. Chessmind was going to do that for his cats sooner or later. I think Dolly and some others here have cat enclosures as well. Personally, I have a sun room where my kitties "hang out" most of the time. Good luck training your bf to accept Dusty! :mrgreen:

 

unfortunately, i cant get the link to work
for the litter i put a powder in it that hides the smell, you just sprinkle it over the litter and it makes it smell a lot nicer!
i'm glad you all liked the pictures, Dusty is now sleeping near the enemy (that's me :wink: ) he is right behind my laptop, sound asleep!
i hope you're all ok, thank you for all of your fantastic replies!!
Love Breez.x.

 

I dont know why the link isn't working for you. But here's the pic:

 

that is so funny! :lol: i really love that add!
just a couple questions about keeping Dusty inside... do you think it is cruel to keep a cat indoors all the time? will he get sad because he can't go out? and.. what can i do about his claws? if i keep him in then its not necessary that he needs them so would it be ok to clip his claws regularly? im not sure how to do it though, the last time i went to the vets for it to be done... i read earlier in a post on here about little claw covers *soft claws/paws*, do you think they are cruel? i am tempted to get them, but dont know how i'd feel sticking little plastic things onto my kitty :? would certainly shut my bf up about Dusty clawing at things (he doesnt ruin anything, just does the little paw thing on the chairs, i dont know what its called), but if he doesnt go out then it would be ok to use them..? i live in the uk, are they available here?
Love Breez.x.

 

I thought you'd get a kick out of that ad hehehe. No, it's not cruel to keep a cat indoors. My baby is an indoor kitty and she's just fine with it. I think it's just too dangerous to let her run free outside.

I take Booger to the vet about once a month to have her claws clipped. It only costs about $10 UDS here. But my vet said that she would instruct me on how to do it myself and assurred me that it is simple especially because Booger has white claws so I can see the pink quick easily. Although I recently read an article about how clipping claws interrupts the natural way a cats claw grows and sheads. It said that clipping will lead to a build up of husks at the base of the nail and cause cuticle problems. So I guess I'm going to stop clipping her. I'm sure you can buy those claw caps online if you can't find there there in the UK but I think you'll probably find them at any big pet store. I may end up going that route myself.

 

Here's a post on those soft claw/paw things, from a while ago

http://www.auspet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7083

There are some links there that might be usefull. I don't have any excperience with them myself, not on the indoor cat issue either. I know alot of people here have indoor cats, so it's definitly not a cruel thing. But I don't know the situation is if he used to be an outdoor cat... Maybe he can get adjusted to an indoor life if you don't feel it's safe for him outside. I'm sure you will get tons of replys on that, lol

 

I've never heard of clipping a cat's claws being a problem. I clip Vianne's claws regularly myself. She's an indoor cat and she doesn't need them. When I worked at the animal shelter there were several instances of both dogs and cats that came in who had been neglected and their claws never clipped. Their nails and gotten so long that they had begun to curl around and grow into the padding of their feet. It was very painful for them and even after the claws had been clipped and removed the their foot pads, the poor things could barely walk without falling over from the pain in their feet. Something to think about also. If you don't clip their claws at least provide a rough scratching surface and check them regularly for excessive length.

 

Yes, my vet said when cats reach 8 years or so, the nails will curl and hurt their soft pads, so it's good to clip their nails. Pumpkin's nails have curled and I really have to try to cut them.

 

just a quick update on Dusty... He seems a lot more cheerful today, joined me this morning in bed for a cuddle and a nap so he's forgotten about the injection and worming - i'm no longer mean! heehee. as for his eating, i have been feeding him little bits - topping up his food bowl when it gets a little emptier (he's not eating any more than he would normally, im just spreading it out more across the day), he has eaten bits... only eats if he has me sitting by his side, giving him a fuss and some "well done's", he actually checked twice when i stopped just to make sure i was still with him, as soon as he saw me there he went back to eating! he's still not eating as much as he should be - but it is good to see him eating something at least. thank you for all your support so far!
Love Breez.x.

 

Yeah, I'm glad he's eating. He sound like one happy, spoiled baby! As for the drinking problem, have you tried water fountains like Drinkwell? Might encourage him to drink more.