It's Caturday so there's no excuse for me not to spam cute kitten pictures
Wookie has settled in incredibly well: he's still a little nervous when I come into the room for the first time but otherwise is cuddly and friendly and purring up a storm. His favourite thing is climbing a mattress I stored against the wall: a 2 m vertical climb, which he manages easily both up and down and then he perches up there and surveys the world. Otherwise, he runs all over my bed playing little hunting games.
He's growing by the day and I'm teaching him to get used to being brushed. Long-haired cats are usually well groomed but it's better to brush them regularly in spring when they are shedding, to reduce the huge hairballs that they can get. Brushing him also turned up a fairly common problem:
This massive amount of dandruff is caused by Cheyletiella, aka walking dandruff mites. These mites live in the hair and feed on dead skin, causing dandruff, but they don't burrow into the skin so they aren't itchy. They are fairly easy to get rid of: standard flea treatments will kill them and they are known to infest humans so I'm fairly keen to clear them out. They are highly contagious to other cats but my cats have all been flea-treated so it's only him and me to worry about. Today I went off to get Selamectin, which is effective and will also double as a dewormer. He arrived with bad breath and a distended belly and his poops are not solid. I give him probiotic powder in his food and his breath improved but his stools haven't firmed so perhaps he needs a second round of deworming. It's also possible that he's just eating too much although the bad breath he had suggests that there's a problem, I have been feeding the same food he got at the shelter so his digestion is not disturbed because the food has changed.
Other than that, Wookie is doing incredibly well and it's hard to believe this is the same terrified kitten of a week ago, or the little hissing bag of bones creature that I first saw 3 weeks ago. His fur is still quite red but I think this is mostly because he was in such poor condition. His undercoat is turning darker and I think he might be a little silver once he outgrows his scraggly fur
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My long haired cat Dexter I fostered when he was a month old.. He was full of fleas.. They had given him flea bath at the shelter where I got him but they missed quite a few.
Bathing doesn't cut it for fleas. Only expensive flea products like Selamectin (Revolution) and luckily, the days of bathing tiny kittens are over
I found that out after giving Dexter two baths.. had to get the revolution ..At the time they said (shelter) he was too young to use chemicals.. Took him to my vet for revolution..she had a different opinion Didn't want to have fleas in my house..
Yeah, fleas are hell. It's expensive keeping a large tribe like yours covered though
I have been lucky...
That's good. I just spent the equivalent of $100 on treatment for the next 3 months
I'm the one with the problem.. Can't enjoy being in my yard without getting ticks.. Very bad here.. We have 3 kinds of ticks . to worry about.. The Lonestar, ones that seek out warm bodies are now worse than the deer ticks..
Wookie is a beautiful kittie... The pictures are heartwarming.
Thank you. He is gorgeous
He’s quite a brave and cheeky kitten! Looking very good!
Thank you! He's very cheeky and playful
Awwwwwwwwwwwww! ::melts::
Wookie is so adorable. I actually didn't know that about a dandruff mite! Maggie used to have bad dandruff when she was younger but the vet just said it was dry skin kind of dandruff (Denver is high desert, after all). It did finally resolve but she had it for years.
I assume Wookie's been checked for an infection? Yuan came to me from the shelter with a giardia infection that they didn't seem to know about. It took FOUR ROUNDS of antibiotics to clear it up, and eventually daily cleaning of his butt because he apparently kept reinfecting himself when he cleaned. He still poops chemical warfare, infection or no. 😂 I haven't found a digestive supplement that he isn't allergic to yet. I've tried a few.
I haven't had a kitten for about 20 years (Yuan and Maggie were both adopted as adults). Deidre was a kitten when we found her, and started off more silver colored and only developed her browns as she got older. Kittens are such an adventure. I'm sure Wookie will give you lots of purrs and laughs. <3
Wookie is lovely, he's the most normal kitten I've had in 20 years 🙈 He hasn't been taken to the vet yet, she's closed because they got Covid exposure: either a client or a staff member tested positive but at this stage, I'll wait and see with him, the diarrhoea isn't severe and we'll do deworming and probiotics first.
Giardiasis is a pita to get rid of but I don't think Wookie has that. A few years ago I had a young shelter cat that pooped chemical warfare too. Vet couldn't find anything in the stool so we put him on Hills intestinal diet. He was supposed to show an improvement within 1 week to 10 days but didn't. I kept feeding it to him, since the bag was there and after a month, his poops finally became normal. Royal Canin Sensible is also pretty good. I assume you've ruled out IBD food allergies as a possibility?
Oh, he has food allergies. We know for sure fish, which causes him to have the poops and the barfs. But there is something else which causes watery eyes/sneezing/itching that I haven't narrowed down yet but is definitely plant-based since a vegetarian digestive supplement (because I was trying to avoid one with fish) caused that. So it could be that once I figure that out, it will have something to do with his chemical warfare poop as well. But most of the digestion-friendly foods have fish in them (MOST cat food has fish in them), so no, he eats whatever food is allergy-safe, at least as far as fish goes.
Fish is a terrible allergen for many cats and shouldn't be added to foods but yes, it's in there because it's a cheaper protein source. Maybe try a hypoallergenic prescription diet? It's expensive but worth it
I struggle to buy food as it is. But he's doing good on the current diet. Just stinky poops.
I'm sorry to hear that. I struggle with the cat bills too but my first cats taught me that cheaper foods brought problems too and the vet bills then cost even more... I had a cat with a urinary blockage
The foods aren't cheap. I spend over $150 per month just on wet food. They're eating quality food.
I've been through the crystal urinary blockages with my first cat, and he was on prescription food for allergies at the time (there was no such thing as crystal-specific prescription food back then).
Happy Belated Caturday, Wookie!!
Every day is Caturday in Wookie's world and he thanks you 😻
What a beautiful cat I love them
I just found a lost cat in my environment for the past 2days and I have been feeding and Cheeking on him I don't no what to do may be I can adopt him I have also walk around the naiborhood to inform them but none of tham came to claim him
I love him so much
I hope you can
Awwww :3
That first photo melts my heart! I had two long haired black cats who both lived for more than twenty years, and hated to be brushed. It wasn't pretty, those hair mats. I had to have them shaved now and then, and they looked like skinned rats afterwards. But they were so loving. I miss them.
They have a way of doing that, this isn't my first long-haired black cat either. My first girl loved being brushed and I think we'll manage with this little guy
Pretty kid :-)
Thanks :) I think he will start looking better once the red hair is gone
I like his "red" color :-)