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Frostie rarely pukes but in the last few weeks (let's say 8 ) he threw up four times. First time was a hairball. Second time was a little bit of undigested food. Last couple of times it was clear liquid. Whenever he's about to puke he lets out these weird and pathetic howls for a couple of minutes and then hurls. Those howls make me think that maybe he's in pain?Anyway, as you know, he takes Atopica every other day, and I make sure he eats plenty of food before I give it to him. He has been steadily losing weight (since he's on a diet) so maybe I should give him a small dose?Should we bring him in? I don't know if the puking is a fluke + symptoms of the Atopica, or if there's something wrong with him.Tommy wrote:Orally giving this cat meds is challenging. He foams, he pukes. It's torture.As I mentioned above, I give Frostie medicine orally every other day, but I finally found a way to give him his medicine without him foaming or spitting it out. The trick is to stand behind him, grab him by the scruff and pick him up so that he stands on his hind legs. Since I hold him by the scruff his mouth opens a little bit. Then I get the plastic syringe through the side of his mouth, aim it at his throat, and administer it in one quick squirt. This way it goes right in and it's impossible for him to spit it out or foam. If I just squirt it in his mouth he'll foam and spit it out. If I rub under his mouth he'll foam A LOT and spit it out. Try that and see if it helps.

My dog, Beefcake, chews on his claws a lot. It seems like he does it because he is bored, because he usually does it when we are trying to sleep, and he isn't tired. If you try to make him stop, he guards them like you are trying to take food away from him. What up with that?

eliya wrote:Tommy wrote:Orally giving this cat meds is challenging. He foams, he pukes. It's torture.As I mentioned above, I give Frostie medicine orally every other day, but I finally found a way to give him his medicine without him foaming or spitting it out. The trick is to stand behind him, grab him by the scruff and pick him up so that he stands on his hind legs. Since I hold him by the scruff his mouth opens a little bit. Then I get the plastic syringe through the side of his mouth, aim it at his throat, and administer it in one quick squirt. This way it goes right in and it's impossible for him to spit it out or foam. If I just squirt it in his mouth he'll foam and spit it out. If I rub under his mouth he'll foam A LOT and spit it out. Try that and see if it helps.Will do. And it's also Atopica I'm squirting. When I did it yesterday I managed to get the syringe back far enough that it went directly into his throat. Today he struggled too much. Luckily I only have to do it daily for a week and every other day for a week.Also, the vet told me Atopica can cause nausea...

japmn wrote:My dog, Beefcake, chews on his claws a lot. It seems like he does it because he is bored, because he usually does it when we are trying to sleep, and he isn't tired. If you try to make him stop, he guards them like you are trying to take food away from him. What up with that?I'm not a vet, but a friend's dog was akin to this:https://iheartdogs.com/ask-a-vet-why-does-my-dog-chew-her-nails-andor-lick-her-paws/Or could be they are growing long and bothering him.

My cat keeps crapping outside his litter box. He still pees in it, luckily, but he seems to prefer crapping on the mat that we put down in front of the box. Is there some way to make him start crapping in the box again?

wellbutrin wrote:Glad you took him in! This would've been my advice had I seen this in a more timely manner. Topicals can help a little, but rarely all the way and even more rarely address the underlying cause of cats munching their fur off. It can be (in order of most likely IMO) environmental allergies, food allergies, psychological, metabolic disease, arthritis, or something else). Atopica is great (I had Eliya's cat on it for awhile) for allergies but the #1 side effect is vomiting which is seen about 50% of the time in dogs and less frequently in cats. In dogs we freeze the capsules to delay their absorption which decreases the incidence of vomiting but in cats with the liquid this obviously can't be done. If it's just foaming from physically trying to reject the meds that's OK, it will mostly get absorbed still it's just unpleasant to see. There aren't a lot of non-oral options for cats that are safe or reliably effective, but they're out there. The antibiotic is just as important at first to get the infection under control, then it usually gets dropped out of the regimen and they just stay on the Atopica. Anyway, I assume the plan is to treat for several weeks, get the skin looking normal and see what happens?We've tried to address the mowing before via diet and antihistamines. Nothing seems to work. It comes and goes.The plan is to give him Atopica daily for a week. Every other day for a week. We're trying out some psych med for anxiety (can't remember the name, also starts with an A and has a mild antihistamine effect as well) for awhile. I've got him munching half of a teeny-tiny pill of that in pill pockets already.

Tommy wrote:Tommy wrote:Okay, so my cat dude is a fur mower. Sometimes it's not so bad, other times it is worse. He's currently really gone to town on an area of his lower belly nearing his business. It's raw and red and starting to look blistery. I feel like if I had some sort of soothing salve/ointment to put on him that would maybe speed the healing process and also deter him from licking -- then he'd be on the mend. Is there anything like that existing over the counter, or is a vet visit the only solution? I probably can't get him in tomorrow, otherwise time-wise we're talking next Friday before I can really do it.Never mind. Took him to the vet. Got an antibiotic shot and some liquid that I have to squirt in his mouth for two weeks, that I think is a skin anti-inflammatory. He puked up his breakfast after the squirt today. Orally giving this cat meds is challenging. He foams, he pukes. It's torture.Still need to address the mowing.Glad you took him in! This would've been my advice had I seen this in a more timely manner. Topicals can help a little, but rarely all the way and even more rarely address the underlying cause of cats munching their fur off. It can be (in order of most likely IMO) environmental allergies, food allergies, psychological, metabolic disease, arthritis, or something else). Atopica is great (I had Eliya's cat on it for awhile) for allergies but the #1 side effect is vomiting which is seen about 50% of the time in dogs and less frequently in cats. In dogs we freeze the capsules to delay their absorption which decreases the incidence of vomiting but in cats with the liquid this obviously can't be done. If it's just foaming from physically trying to reject the meds that's OK, it will mostly get absorbed still it's just unpleasant to see. There aren't a lot of non-oral options for cats that are safe or reliably effective, but they're out there. The antibiotic is just as important at first to get the infection under control, then it usually gets dropped out of the regimen and they just stay on the Atopica. Anyway, I assume the plan is to treat for several weeks, get the skin looking normal and see what happens?

japmn wrote:My dog, Beefcake, chews on his claws a lot. It seems like he does it because he is bored, because he usually does it when we are trying to sleep, and he isn't tired. If you try to make him stop, he guards them like you are trying to take food away from him. What up with that?This is usually due to, you guessed it, allergies with a likely secondary skin/nailbed infection. It's *possible* if the nails are super abnormally long like, freakishly long, he could be trying to barber them but it's doubtful. It could also be a compulsive-type behavior as well but this is also really rare in my experience. How to attack it kind of depends on how the paws look. All these things are pretty treatable, luckily.

Tommy wrote:wellbutrin wrote:Glad you took him in! This would've been my advice had I seen this in a more timely manner. Topicals can help a little, but rarely all the way and even more rarely address the underlying cause of cats munching their fur off. It can be (in order of most likely IMO) environmental allergies, food allergies, psychological, metabolic disease, arthritis, or something else). Atopica is great (I had Eliya's cat on it for awhile) for allergies but the #1 side effect is vomiting which is seen about 50% of the time in dogs and less frequently in cats. In dogs we freeze the capsules to delay their absorption which decreases the incidence of vomiting but in cats with the liquid this obviously can't be done. If it's just foaming from physically trying to reject the meds that's OK, it will mostly get absorbed still it's just unpleasant to see. There aren't a lot of non-oral options for cats that are safe or reliably effective, but they're out there. The antibiotic is just as important at first to get the infection under control, then it usually gets dropped out of the regimen and they just stay on the Atopica. Anyway, I assume the plan is to treat for several weeks, get the skin looking normal and see what happens?We've tried to address the mowing before via diet and antihistamines. Nothing seems to work. It comes and goes.The plan is to give him Atopica daily for a week. Every other day for a week. We're trying out some psych med for anxiety (can't remember the name, also starts with an A and has a mild antihistamine effect as well) for awhile. I've got him munching half of a teeny-tiny pill of that in pill pockets already.That's a good plan! I'd bet it works.

jimmy two hands wrote:My cat keeps crapping outside his litter box. He still pees in it, luckily, but he seems to prefer crapping on the mat that we put down in front of the box. Is there some way to make him start crapping in the box again?If it's unscented litter, an uncovered box, you scoop frequently frequently (daily at least) and the poop looks normal this can be tricky. If all 4 of those things are true I would try changing it up by moving the box, removing the mat etc. If all of those things in the first sentence aren't true then make them true. You could also try pulling the shades down and showing him how it's done.