We have a very sassy beautiful 12 year old orange female tabby named Nala. She has been perfectly healthy until about a year ago when she started to sneeze a lot (that rapid-fire sneezing that cats do) and she started to make a snoring sound when she breathes. We initially thought it was just allergies but it didn’t get any better after several months. We took her to the vet and he diagnosed her with herpes and prescribed Chlorpheniramine 4mg crushed in her food. I’ve been giving her this for at least 6 months now and she has not improved. The sneezing has decreased, but the “snoring” has not improved at all. Searching online, we found a video of Dr. Magnifico performing surgery on a cat that had a nasal polyp and we are wondering if this may be what she has. The symptoms all seem to be the same as what she has been dealing with. So we’ve been searching for a vet in our area that performs this type of exam and surgery, and we have found this to be very expensive ($2000-$5000). She is otherwise a very healthy girl, she eats, drinks, uses litterbox and plays and snuggles all like normal. She has lost weight, but now seems to be putting it back on slowly. Dr. Magnifico’s office is only about an hour away and we would absolutely drive down to be able to have her exam Nala and if it is a reasonable price, have her remove the polyp if this was the diagnosis.

I have an 11-year old female domestic shorthair cat (Nala) who has been very healthy until around springtime last year when she started to develop a snorty sound when breathing and rapid sneezing fits. We figured it was maybe allergies at the time, as ours were really bad too. But it kept lingering and we finally asked our vet and he was reluctant to do a full exam on her because of the expense, and he also diagnosed her as having herpes, and prescribed Chlorpheniramine 4mg and Duralactin paste 2.5ml for her. I give her a 1/4 of the pill crushed in her canned food once a day, but the paste makes her sick. I have been giving her the pill for about 3 months now with zero improvement. I have been doing a lot of research, and the closest thing I could find that matches what she is dealing with is a video I found of Dr. Magnifico performing surgery on a cat for a nasal polyp. The description she gave completely matches what Nala sounds like with the snoring sounds when breathing and the constant sounds of trying to clear her throat. She has lost a lot of weight because I think it’s difficult for her to eat a lot but otherwise she acts like nothing is wrong, she is very playful, and also eats (best she can) and drinks normally, and litterbox habits are still great. My question is if this diagnosis sound like it could be correct, and if so, is this something that could possibly be fixed without breaking budget?

My cat is 12 years old. We noticed she had lost some weight over a short period of time and booked a visit to see our vet on Monday. Then she stopped eating over the weekend and became lethargic so we took her to the ER vet. They diagnosed her with CKD and it is very advanced. Her values were so high they needed to dilute their sample to get a reading. We were told it would not be inappropriate to euthanize her right then and there or we could hospitalize her but she might not handle the treatment well because of her heart murmur. It was such a shock I had no idea she was so unwell, but I couldn’t put her down without trying anything. She was admitted for 2 days and hydrated and while she did perk up and start eating, her numbers did not go down significantly. She came home and was perky for roughly 45 minutes, then laid down to sleep on our sofa and has been using that spot as home base for the last 2 days. She’ll get up to drink and use the litterbox and greet us but then promptly returns to her spot. She is grooming herself. These are some good signs. What worries me is she has already gone off eating. She didn’t have much the first day but today she licked some gravy off some wet food and has had a few treats. She is less perky already. The vet sent us home with mirtazpine ointment and subQ fluids… but nothing for nausea. My question is: should I force feed her? Should I have a tube put in? Should I let her go? I don’t want her to suffer if it’s her time but I also want to give her a chance if she can still lead a good life. She’s an agreable cat and tolérâtes the sub Q fluids well, though I don’t think she would like to be force fed. I won’t give up on her but I don’t want her to suffer either by putting in a tube or force feeding if it will only keep her with me another week.

Kitten with completely atonic colon, possible causes? (Long text ahead)
So Nov. 3th in the evening we got 2 kittens, estimated 6 weeks old, thin. However due to being cold outside they already had very thick fur, so it wasn’t visible how thin they were. Weight was 550 & 650gr.
The finder said they have been more active before and only now they were able to get those two. They borrowed to live traps to get the mother and another kitten.
Both were seen eating. They were treated against worms (Milbemycinoxim/Praziquantel) and fleas (Lotilaner)
Nov 4th: Overnight everything was eaten, poo was solid. Kittens were responsive and alert. To the evening only half was eaten. Poo was still solid.
Nov 5th: Nothing was eaten over night, the little one seemed a bit weaker. I started to feed them with a syringe. They started with diarrhea, but that sometimes happens when feeding with a syringe.
Nov. 6th: They still don’t eat by themselves. The smaller one still seemed weaker, but otherwise it seemed fine. A bit diarrhea. In the evening I found it the litter box, not being able to stand, barely reacting. It hat vomited (at least it looked like it), and still had poo stuck on it. It was immediately brought to a vet. It received glucose solution s.c., something against vomiting, pain and an antibiotics. Lung sounded free, heart (ultrasound) was fine, too. A test of parvovirosis came back negative. I took both of them home that night, so I could feed it smaller portions more often and to give more fluids. 2 hours later to was able to stand again. I fed them every 3-4 hours, fluids every 6 (only small amounts obviously). It was lying on a warmth mat. The bigger one was fine, but avoided it’s litter mate.
Nov. 7th: No further improvement. None of them was eating on their own. The smaller one was still lying down most of the time, sleeping, but would react when I came to feed them. It would stand up and walk to the litterbox between the feedings, but the poo had a weird consistency. Not really diarrhea, but veeeery sticky, so it always carried it back to it’s sleeping place. So I had to clean it before every feeding. A test on giardia was positive, treatment started with Carnidazol. Continue to feed them with a Syringe and fluids for the smaller one. Fluids were always absorbed to the next feeding, but it still was a bit dehydrated (skin fold test). The bigger one would play in between and seemed fine otherwise.
Nov. 8th: No changes in the smaller one during the day, still weaker, able to walk, sit and stand, but sleeping most of the time. Today there was rarely poo in the toilet. I assumed that the treatment started working and it was a good sign (although I already had the feeling that something was wrong… wish I would have trusted that feeling). In the evening it seemed weaker, but would still accept being fed with a syringe. It felt different, less body tension, but would still walk away/go to the t. 10pm feeding. More calm, didn’t want to eat that much, peed on me. Meowed louder during giving the fluids than usual and tried to get away. 2am clock, the fluids weren’t absorbed completely, it’s abdomen felt like a sponge. I only fed a tiny amount. 6am weaker, would lie down immediately, breathing was shallow and faster, meowing, I didn’t feed it, fluids still not absorbed. Rushed to the vet.
-> Heart had a low frequency, breathing fast and shallow
-> X-Ray lungs were free, only a tiny amount of fluids in the abdomen, however the complete colon and stomach were filled with food. There was no visible blockage or air.
-> Ultrasound: Absolutely no movement in the colon/stomach, no blockage or air seen either. Kidneys and liver seemed fine
-> Punctation of the abdomen: ca. 3-4ml of fluids, lots of proteins, a bit of blood. Didn’t look like FIP. Possible that the fluids came out of the colon.
It was given something against vomiting, pain, antibiotics, something to help the cardiovascular system and something to get the colon moving again. To help with its breathing got a mask with additional oxygen. However in the next hour it got worse, so we decided to let it go. After it was gone food came back out of it’s mouth. And it didn’t even smell like it had started to digest.
It’s littermate is still with me and fine. It started to eat on its own yesterday.
Now I obviously ask myself what i could have done better/different. By now I think I should have started with additional syringe feeding earlier – at least with the smaller one. And I should have reacted when my feeling told me that something was wrong, even when there were no obvious changes yet. I somehow have the feeling that I sis something wrong and killed it. Did I give too much fluids (but lungs were free and only a bit fluid in the abdomen)? Did I feed too much? Other kittens eat even more without problems – and the other one is fine.
And what can be the causes for the complete stop of movement in the colon/stomach?
I know that FIP can cause this and an ileus (but there were no visible blockage, everything was filled with food), are there other causes? Can giardia do this?

I could use some advice to keep my dog from eating cat poop. We have 1 dog and 2 cats. On our first floor there is a mudroom with a pet gate with a cat door. The cats have their litter boxes on one side of the mudroom and food on the other side. This arrangement has worked for 8 years. My daughter’s young cat has had digestive issues for her entire life and would poop on the floor outside the box once a week. We tried all different kinds of boxes and litter and probiotics and food but no changes. She also hates the feel of litter. We tried all kinds and newspaper and towels and pee pads…you name it.
For a month she decided to poop on my daughter’s bed twice a week…which of course was a cleaning nightmare. Sometimes she pooped on the bed while my daughter was sleeping in it.
Finally we found a limited ingredient food that worked along side of a probiotic and her poops are now more manageable for her, less painful I’m guessing and pretty regular. We added a litterbox upstairs to my daughter’s bedroom but she would never use it. We moved it to the large hallway outside my daughter’s room where it was darker and more private and she still didn’t use it. Purchased cat attraction litter and after 1 week she finally used the upstairs box to poop. I held my excitement but it’s been 3 weeks now and no more pooping on the bed. Her poops are also a lot less messy and stinky. Now my problem is if she goes at night the dog jumps right up and eats it. I caught her doing this twice but she was too fast to stop. Other times you can smell that she must have pooped but it’s gone. She’s only going upstairs so I don’t want to take the box away. She’s so picky with boxes and how she sits in the box and how it smells a covered litter box won’t work. There isn’t way to put a gate up in that hallway as it’s a super old house and shaped weird. I’m afraid any change to the box will stop all the good progress. My dog probably gets to the litter box before us about half the time–so it’s not every time. My dog is healthy, eats well, is up to date on everything and is well taken care of. Thanks for your patience with the long explanation.

Hi- I just read your blog about Minnie. I am an American cat owner living in Thailand, so communicating with the vets is difficult. I’m on the verge on having my cat euthanized (tomorrow), and i just can’t make a decision. I hoping you will provide information to help me make a decision. Sammy is a ten year old male. Here is his history:
Dec 7-28- hiding under bed with dilated pupils but eating normally (history of spraying and hiding- not a happy cat so I wasn’t overly concerned, I palpated him and he didn’t seem to have any pain and I figured he got spooked)
Dec 29- I noticed he was a little lame so I brought him to local vet who couldn’t find anything wrong but spinal bone spurs and prescribed him Tramadol. It tasted bitter, he foamed at the mouth and started eating much less. I believe his feeding aversion started here.
Dec 31- I found a neurologist who gave him an MRI and he had surgery for a herniated disc Jan 2, 2019 and was diagnosed with a spinal infarction. He had a hard time clearing the anesthesia drugs bc of his kidney function but it is now normal.
Month of January- Slowly improving in ability to walk but losing interest in food more and more, (doctor says attributable to drowsiness caused by Pregabalin for neuropathic pain) losing weight. (Also, had ataxia from reaction to anti depressant used as appetite stimulant.) He had to be hand fed strips of ham, I believe he developed a further food aversion from me trying to syringe feed him pureed roasted chicken at around Jan 31.
Feb 1- I asked the vet to put an E tube in him because of his refusal to eat on his own. He was doing ok and walking better until his tube fell out and he had to have a new surgery mid-February to replace it. Surgery and clearing anesthesia drugs is really hard on him. Since then, his walking was getting better but then it suddenly got worse and the doctor found that his potassium was low – it got better once he changed to renal diet and Renavast. He has also been on Pregabalin for neuropathic pain, Apolet and Kasavan.

March- His walking got worse again, and I saw him endure one small stroke but the vet was not too concerned. Vet said he has reduced blood flow to his back left leg. He had replaced Kasavan with Apolet, but then added Kasavan back into his medication regimen. He is not improving in the last two weeks with the addition of the Kasavan, he drags himself to the litterbox to poop but pees in his bed. He still grooms himself and responds to me but he has a low growl when I touch him- probably bc he is so sick of all the poking and prodding. He has NO INTEREST in eating. I withheld food for 18 hours this week and withheld Pregabalin (bc the doctor said it makes him sleepy and not eat) and still NO INTEREST.

About 4 times along this journey I’ve decided it’s time to euthanize him but then he perks up and I decide not to. He is normal other than not eating, lying in bed all day (bc he can barely walk) and peeing on himself. He grooms himself and poops in litter box. I don’t think he is in acute pain but his pupils are often dilated, which just may be from stress of being incapacitated. I have varied amount of PG I give him to test his pain, and he doesn’t to be in pain but I’m not sure. I haven’t been able to get him to purr for a week or so, usually he will purr at night if I bring him into bed with me.

The vet says 90% of the time cats recover from spinal infarction. He told me start physical therapy with him but I tried and he hates it and it just upsets him more. I can’t figure out if there is any hope of him getting better. Like I said, he has always been a grumpy, hiding cat and often would growl if you approach him to pet him so that is not new. I was hoping to give him a few last years of his life. I think he is depressed and I don’t know of any way to get him out of his funk, and I still don’t know if he will ever recover use of his legs or will just get worse.

ANY INSIGHT??????????????? THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have 3 cats and have some litter box issues. I used to have the covered boxes, but noticed that one of the cats was peeing outside the box. So I removed all of the lids. The problem seemed to stop, but then started again on occasion. I bought larger boxes, (I have three of them) and the issue still occurs. I finally discovered it was my cat with colitis. She does pee in the box, but gets so close to the edge or stands instead of squats that it goes outside the box. Is she doing this because of the colitis or a behavior issue? perhaps higher sided boxes would help? I keep the areas lined with pee pads, but they are no match for cat urine. Suggestions?

One week ago, I adopted a 1.5 year old male cat. He was neutered the day before I brought him home. The cat had been living outside and being fed by someone before being trapped at a private residence so he could be adopted.

I currently have a 5-year-old neutered male cat, a 13-year-old spayed female cat, and a 5-year-old spayed lab mix. I have been doing a careful introduction of the new cat to our household.

The new cat would initially run and hide in his tunnel when hearing someone approaching. But he would let us pet him at any time. He is extremely affectionate. Over the last week, he will now come out and stay out of his tunnel when I talk to him. He occasionally gets a little scared and will go back in the tunnel if someone comes upstairs too noisily.

He has been in our bedroom only. I’ve taken him out several times, put him in his carrier, and let the other cats sniff the room. After a day, I hung a screen door at the bedroom so pets could see each other. I’ve fed all 3 cats on either sides of the screen door, and then allowed my other male cat in the room for increasing lengths of time for the two to get to know each other. Then they spent the night in the room the last two nights and are playing and chirping at each other (which is so fun to hear, though after two hours I said ok boys, party’s over, and took my older male back out of the room). I’m working more on introducing the female cat now, who mostly stays downstairs.

My question regards spraying. The first night, I put the litterbox in the adjoining bathroom, and showed him where it was. I believe he was too scared to venture to use it and he peed on the carpet in the bedroom. I cleaned using Nature’s Miracle and moved box to the bedroom, and added a second litter box. Since then, he has used one of his two boxes every single time.

I noticed during the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th days, the room would periodically smell terrible, worse than cat pee. I bought a black light and discovered he had sprayed the walls and doors on two sides of the room. I washed the markings with Rocco & Roxie and he hasn’t sprayed since. This also was the same day my other male cat spent the night in the room and they seemed to become friends.

It is my understanding that cats can spray from stress and habit. He has certainly been under enormous stress. Because he was not neutered until 1.5 years of age, I am concerned he might spray once allowed to explore the rest of the house, which I feel he is nearly ready for. I know I need to work more to transition him carefully to our dog because he seems stressed when she is on the other side of the screen door.

Will cats spray the same areas repeatedly or move on to other areas? Could he spray again out of habit (though he has stopped so far)? If he feels happy and safe might he stop spraying? I understand that they can continue to spray even after neutering for several weeks to months.

Any suggestions for how to keep up the no spraying would be appreciated. He has gone from 0 to 90 in adjusting in just 7 days; I want him to go the other 10 percent as comfortably for him as possible. He is an awesome cat. Thank you!!

Hello, I’m having a problem with my kitten, he’s almost 6 months old but has a really big problem whenever he uses the litter box. Every time he goes to pee he seems to not know how to stand properly, therefore, gets pee all over is fur and private areas and I’m forced to clean him with wipes everytime he goes to the toilet. I’ve tried to go to the vet and he said that he’ll learn to stand once he’s older but it’s been so long I’m afraid he’ll stay like this. Please if you know what I can do I’d really appreciate it.

My cat has been getting frequent erections for the past 3 weeks, every time he gets them he yells and screams, He has also started to stay in his litterbox longer than usual. without going. Should i be worried?