| Storm is sick |
[Jan. 26th, 2008|11:50 pm] |
I mentioned earlier I went to the vet. Ahfu was due his shots, and Storm has started to have some discharge from one nostril. She doesn't act sick, per se, other then the sneezing. But no fever, no change in behavior. Crabby as always. The vet was not optimistic that antibiotics would do the trick, given no other cat has gotten sick, and it's only from one nostril. Could be... well... I won't say it.
Ahfu also has a heart murmur. Both Ahfu and Storm are roughly the same age; Ahfu is only a little younger, but both are around 9. When I was growing up, I was led to believe that cats had a long lifespan. My family's cat Daisy lived to be 16, and Shasta lived to be 21. But my record isn't as good:
Pookie: 10 - Heart attack
Mikey: 4 - Kidney infection
Oreo: 6 - Total intestine and bowel failure
Artoo: 13 - Kidney failure (mostly old age, though)
I am not sure why cats don't live as long with me. I feed them right, clean the cat box, give them plenty of water... and they never die to to neglect. I just feel unlucky. |
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| Comments: |
not sure what to say. ask vet acout golden seal. is a natural antibotic/antyiviral
Just a wild-assed guess based on personal experience but - have you always had multi-cat households? and do those cats go outside?
see, when I was growing up we had the herds. excuse the PRIDES of cats. (I suspect that's where I got the toxicoplasmosis but that's another story)
when the number was high, they died faster. when the number was lower, they lasted longer. Fights, hunting, not having shots - these all contributed. I could do a whole sad but true routine on the "Great Distemper Plagues" and how one got to tell who was a good mommy-kitty & who wasn't out of our batch of mother cats.
but as I said, the fewer the cats, the less competition for resources and the less need for Toms to prove themselves so they lasted longer. Neutered/spayed cats ALSO are likely to live way longer lives than whole ones - less strain on their systems.
and, I'm sorry to say, I've also seen absolutely beautiful cats who were just plain constructed wrong somehow genetically. they do fine until some environmental thing kicks them over and then they go down quick. If you have picked up fostered kittens who came from Feral stock, there's a chance for that as well.
Trust me - ferals can inbreed really badly.
I'm sorry that Storm is sick. another possibility that could be causing the discharge is allergies - especially in view of the sneezing & not other cat is sick. I know you've been doing a lot of cleaning recently. (speaking of which we need to get back to you about that door now that the holidays are over.
Sorry for the stream of conscious ramble - I just woke up.
From: (Anonymous)
2008-01-28 07:05 pm (UTC)
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13 to 14 has been the norm for me. One friend here had one that went 23 years. Our current cat. "Rosco" has been with up since the end of '93. He is getting up there in age now, but he still does not take any crap from either of my german sheperds anbd his health is pretty good.
Tyndale Mike | |
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