Jump to content

FlowerPot87

Members
  • Content Count

    70
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Community Reputation

10 Neutral

About FlowerPot87

  • Rank
    Registered User

Personal Information

  • Location
    Barnsley
  1. Thanks Tezza & Medusa, Seen as they are emerging from the same spot, you may be right - they could be strays grouped together or all from the same owner. Although, if they do have a home Iā€™d be extremely concerned for their well-being (i.e. matted fur, fleas etc). Itā€™s a relief that she isnā€™t pregnant and Medusaā€™s ā€˜snuggleā€™ technique worked very well for checking this!! Iā€™ll try and do the same with the visiting grey and black one too, just to make sure. Hopefully can get something sorted out for them asap. Iā€™ll try and follow them past the garage tomorrow and make a note of local shelters too. Will keep you updated
  2. Hi Tezza & Gina, Thank you for asking! The little Calico cat has started visiting around the same time every morning now (and most evenings, although not tonight as it has been raining quite heavily where I am). I went out with some food again and as usual she was just very, very hungry. Iā€™ve even seen her eating white teacakes some of the neighbours leave out for the birds, so sheā€™s obviously trying to eat everything she manages to find Sheā€™s started to trust me much more now and even feels comfortable eating with her back to me, although she is still absolutely petrified of all sounds (cars, dogs barking etc). When she becomes frightened, she runs to one corner of the garden and freezes until the noise stops. If she is a stray, she has definitely had a home in the past. I have never known a cat so timid, yet so affectionate. She will tightly press her body against my lap and sit there for as long as I will. Since she is ā€˜on edgeā€™ whenever I see her, I get the impression she just wants to ā€˜take a breakā€™ to be held and feel protected. I even managed to have a good feel of her tummy today and she stood there patiently while I did. Her stomach was warm and very soft and I could hardly feel her teats, which makes me think that she isnā€™t pregnant or keeping a litter. Seen as she has been someoneā€™s cat, Iā€™m wondering if she has been spayed. She is by no means in the best of health though. While I was feeling her chest and stomach this morning, I also felt clumps of matted hair the size of cotton wool balls and her back legs are very knotted up too, which have got to be uncomfortable to say the least. She also keeps shaking her head and itching. Iā€™m planning on getting a collar for her and writing: ā€œI am concerned that this cat is a stray and needs a home. If you are her owner, please call (my number).ā€ If I donā€™t receive a response in 48 - 72 hours, I think Iā€™ll get in touch with a cat shelter for some advice. What does concern me is that she is hanging around a particular garage. Most of the time she will just sit and stare at it, but two other cats have emerged from behind it the last few days ā€“ a grey long-haired one (which was also very itchy and matted) and a black short-haired one, which seems to be scared of absolutely everything. These cats have also started coming in my garden looking for food (managed to feed the grey one today), so Iā€™m pretty sure Iā€™m dealing with a number of ā€˜straysā€™ here!
  3. Hi Jojo-boo Unfortunately Iā€™m not in the S5 area and this cat is a Calico (black, white and ginger markings). Really hope you find your girl soon . Have you had a look on http://www.nationalpetregister.org? x
  4. Thank you again ā€“ thatā€™s really helpful and I feel much more confident in knowing what Iā€™m looking / feeling for now. Iā€™ll do this the very next time I see her and do my best to find out if sheā€™s keeping a litter nearby, as theyā€™ll definitely need attention as soon as possible. Will keep you updated
  5. Thank you Medusa ā€“ thatā€™s really great advice. Youā€™re quite right I would imagine a collar with a bell on would be frightening, especially if she hasnā€™t worn one before. Iā€™ll also choose a smooth plain one so that she canā€™t get her paws caught. Considering what you said about her fur, I think youā€™re right againā€“ the top part seems to be smooth, but underneath near her skin and around her tail is more matted. If sheā€™s had kittens will her teats just be enlarged or will there be any hardness to feel for aswell? She usually visits on an evening, so will keep a special look out for her and get a pale, plain collar as soon as I can. I hate the idea of her having fleas / worms and her kittens too (if she has them). Iā€™ll do all I can to help
  6. Thank you so much for the advice guys She came early this morning to nibble at the birdseed again, bless her. I slowly approached with a little bowl of kibble ā€“ she was quite frightened of me but after a few moments gratefully accepted it ā€“ she even broke off to come and rub her face up my knee, so it seems she has started to trust me a little more. Her backend and legs were much cleaner today, so I think she must have cleaned herself since yesterday. She is a long-haired cat ā€“ underneath her tale and back legs are quite matted in places, but the rest of her fur is surprisingly tidy ā€“ this is why I canā€™t feel 100% sure that she is a stray. I watched her this morning again and she is spending an awful lot of time near a certain garage, so Iā€™m definitely going to try and find out whose garage it is and if sheā€™s keeping kittens there. Due to her long hair (and with her being quite frightened) I couldnā€™t see if her teats were red / swollen, but will persevere until she feels comfortable enough to let me. Thankfully she isnā€™t injured anywhere though. I think I might try the collar with my number on in the next few days, just to make sure she doesnā€™t have an owner and itā€™s no trouble at all to feed her a few times a day and keep fresh water out. Will keep you posted and thanks again for the advice!!
  7. Sorry itā€™s a long one, but here goesā€¦ I get a lot of neighbourā€™s cats in our garden, but have recently noticed a very timid / jumpy female Calico cat visiting morning and evening nibbling at the birdseed and frequently having drinks from the water bowl in the garden. I slowly approached her yesterday to check if she was wearing a collar, and she is extremely, extremely timid of any human contact ā€“ she scurries to the nearest corner of the garden and lets out high pitched vocalisations in fear if you go too near (although no aggression whatsoever). She has visited again today a couple of times trying to eat bird seed. I approached her this time very slowly and crouched down to her level with a few pieces of cat kibble and she ate the lot ā€“ she was very hungry. Although between every mouthful she was constantly looking around and jumping even at the slightest sound. She seemed to trust me more today and even allowed me to gently stroke her back, although her body remained very tense whilst I did. I managed to see that she was not wearing a collar, her backend and legs were soiled with her own waste and when she ate I could see that her teeth were quite brown. I also think I saw a flea crawling in her fur near her neck ā€“ so Iā€™ve come to the conclusion that she is either not receiving very good care if she does have an owner, or she is a stray / lost. Also, when she does leave the garden, she always runs through a gap between a particular set of garages (whether sheā€™s staying in an actual garage ā€“ Iā€™m not sure). Iā€™d appreciate any suggestions as to what I should do next ā€“ if she is a stray she so deserves a chance to find a loving home, or if sheā€™s lost, to be returned to her owners. Iā€™ve already looked on the national pet register website under ā€˜lost catsā€™ and havenā€™t found any matching her description. Is there anywhere else I could look? One website Iā€™ve looked at suggests attaching a paper collar around the catā€™s neck saying ā€œif this is your cat, please call this number (my home telephone no) ā€ and if a response is not received in 24 hours, then the cat is likely to be a stray or lost. The only problem is, I think she is far too timid for me to attach a collar, and if itā€™s paper, couldnā€™t she easily scratch it off? ā€“ is there any other method I could use to find out if she has an owner? Thanks!!
  8. Aww I really hope that the lump turns out to be innocent and unconnected to the renal problem - it's such a worry and doesn't it always seem to be more than one thing to deal with at once?! Really hope that the diet makes a difference too - if not, i would suggest you discuss fluid therapy with the vet as it can improve kidney function dramatically (as in my dogs case). My dog was given the low protein diet too and we found that feeding several small meals per day rather than just one helped the kidneys a lot. Is she taking medications for her heart murmur at all?
  9. Forgot to say that Burns do some low phosphorus / low protein diets suitable for dogs with kidney problems, and the ingredients are really high quality. I've always been recommended to opt for the moist foods too when dealing with kidney issues (rather than kibbles)
  10. My dog was diagnosed (aged 11) with renal failure last year (she too had a grade 6 heart murmur at the time). Her BUN level were off the scale when we took her to the vets, but after treatment with IV fluids and stopping arthritic medication her levels came down from 66.9 to 16 and she was like a puppy again Did your vet recommend treatment with IV fluids to help reduce her levels? x
  11. Aww hope your cat feels better soon! Whenever my dog used to get diarrhoea we used to cook a bland chicken and rice meal which is very gentle on an upset stomach and helps the stools to form. Rather than feed one big meal, we used to split it into smaller feeds again to aid digestion so maybe this could work? x x
  12. Hi Berkana! I'd be really interested in looking at this but the link just takes me to the DirectGov search box - do you remember the job title or the name of the cat shelter by any chance? Thanks
  13. Aww Iā€™m so very sorry to hear about little Garfield he sounded like such a lovely character. Itā€™s such a difficult time and I hope that the happy memories heā€™s left you with will help you through - my thoughts are with you all at this sad time x x x
  14. Aww what a terrible time for all of you My dog went into Kidney Failure last year as a result of toxicity to her arthritis medication. Her urea levels were 'off the scale', but after a few days on IV fluids, her levels were down by half and kept reducing after this. While I appreciate anti-freeze poisoning is a very different situation Iā€™ve seen firsthand the difference fluids can make and only hope the same for Garfield - Do let us know how he gets on x x
Ɨ
Ɨ
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.