• gmtom@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    I hate to take my cat the emergency vet a couple months ago, he would sleep then was complaining very loudly abd was clearly in pain and something was wrong.

    So got him in an Uber, rushed him to the very expensive emergency out of hours very at 2am, turns out he was just constipated and the stress from the car ride had already made him shit.

    • Taleya@aussie.zone
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      4 hours ago

      Hi i have his brother, the tiny ginger shit who ate an entire packet of freeze dried chicken, could not stop vomiting, emergency vet run where there was a rush on, he was hooked up to monitoring and fell asleep while we waited, two hours later woke up, let out a HUGE fart and was fine.

    • leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      17 hours ago

      Depends on the dog. Boxers for instance reach a certain (relatively young, for most dogs) age and just… break down, at a genetic level. Cancer everywhere.

      • Mike D@piefed.social
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        11 hours ago

        My sister is on her third boxer. I don’t know how she does it considering they rarely make it past ten years.

        • leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          5 hours ago

          Ten years is fantastic for a boxer (and probably a fortune in vet visits); if I recall correctly they start breaking down at around 6 or 7 years old.

          It’s tragic, because they’re great dogs for children.

  • QamarKb@reddthat.com
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    22 hours ago

    This rings so true. With cats it is almost always the tiny change that gives it away, like eating a little less or sleeping in a different spot, while a dog will usually make it pretty obvious something is wrong. I think that is why cat owners end up watching every little habit so closely.

  • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I had to rush my cat to the emergency vet because he ate a small dried starfish and it got stuck in his throat.

    Don’t discount the stupidity of cats.

  • Leigh Weigh@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I’ve been home for the last few months so I see my cats a lot more. My vet was very impressed at my last appointment when she was concerned my cat lost weight. I’m like yeah, this bitch has been spitting out her thyroid pills when my bf gives them to her. I noticed because she was going pee more, screaming for food more, sleeping more, and her fur wasn’t soft like normal.

    Vet was shocked I was that observant. She’s going to be shocked in a few weeks at the other one’s appointment because I think he’s ready for some Kitty drugs now too. No one else has noticed but I’ve seen the up tick in stretching, the longer calculations before a jump, the occasionally avoiding the litter box, and him occasionally tripping over his back feet. I’m about to have 2 cats costing me $80/m in arthritis shots 🙃

    A shorter sided litter box is on my to do list today.

    • RebekahWSD@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      My mother’s cat had hyperthyroidism and she gave her the medicine in her ears. Rubbed it in, absorbed through the skin was much easier than pills. Usually.

    • Queen___Bee@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      I know what you mean with the arthritis shots. Mine started his a few years ago at 3.5 years old, and developed a couple of chronic digestive issues that led to $ at the vet and pet store. The fucker is expensive, but worth every penny.

      • Leigh Weigh@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        One of mine is 20 the other nearly 18. I can’t complain too much because they were very cheap cats until about 3 years ago when they both had to get on medications. Even then, they’re fairly cheap meds until this monthly shot lol.

    • Soggy@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      Hyperthyroidism? If you haven’t looked into it, ask your vet about radioactive iodine therapy. I’ve put two cats through it with great success. If her thyroid is broken the hypo direction I have nothing to offer but condolences, getting cats to take their meds can be a real pill.

    • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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      24 hours ago

      I feel like it’s just harder to observe the cats generally, at least mine. He’s asleep somewhere from like 8am to 4pm. He’ll change positions throughout the day and then nap somewhere else. Then he relaxss from 4-9pm, with a break for dinner, of course. Around 1-5am is when he thrives.

    • Zorg@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 day ago

      Have you tried cosequin treats/supplements? Our 15 year old fussbucket started not wanting to jump up on things a year ago. Vet recommended giving them a try for starters, and we have seen a significant improvement in her.

  • Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus
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    1 day ago

    Cats are masterful in concealing when they are in a bad shape. If you do not know the intricacies of your cats behavior, finding out that something is wrong means that things are already escalating.

    • limelight79@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Yeah, I noticed one of our cats using the litter box a bit more than usual, and sometimes he’d use it a second time pretty quickly after the first. Turned out he had a urinary problem.

      We have another cat that is in stage 4 kidney disease. Other than how thin he is, you wouldn’t know there was anything wrong.

      • Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus
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        22 hours ago

        Yeah, regular kidney screening is a must in my opinion, because it’s an awful way to go for them. Got a rescue once, only about 3 months old which was kept in awful conditions before. Turned out that her kidneys were already badly damaged when we got her, but we noticed it only a month in and she didn’t get older than 7 months, and it was awful seeing her suffer regardless of what we tried :-(

        • limelight79@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          Awww I’m sorry. In our case he’s an older cat - we’ve had him 12 years, but he was already at least a year old when we adopted him.

          For now he’s doing reasonably well - still grooming himself, still purring, still happy (though he spends practically all day nestled in a corner of my wife’s office). We’re giving him medicine and fluids via injection every day. The vet has warned us that it’s likely his situation will take a nose dive at some point.

          • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            12 hours ago

            I had a CKD cat, if you start struggling with his food, weruva intentionally keeps phosphorus low in their foods, which make them very friendly to ckd cats.

            Mine was given 6 mths left after his diagnosis and tests were done, and that’s with rx food and stuff. It was expensive and he wouldn’t eat it, so I did a deep dive into literature about ckd and it turns out unlike dogs and humans for whom limited protein is good, cats need protein or they will die much sooner, so the rx diets being low protein are actually not great. You really just need limited phosphorus.

            The levels on the core lines and slide and serve lines are good, you can probably find full breakdowns on their website, and certainly by contacting them, though, if those specific ones don’t do so well.

            I had him eating those and I got another 6 years out of him instead of 6 months. My vet asked my secret, cuz we got him back up from his skinny boy weight to a slightly chubby 8 lbs! (Very small cat, 6lbs when I got him)

            I can’t guarantee it’ll help, but it might be worth trying.

            • limelight79@lemmy.world
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              4 hours ago

              Interesting, I’ll look into that. He’s not on a limited protein diet, or at least I don’t think so. He’s been on a renal support diet for years, and he still eats most of what we give him.

    • Squirrelsdrivemenuts@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Dogs can be like that too. We have learned to pick up microchanges in our dogs walking pattern to find out when he hurt his paw. Like dude, just tell us so we can take care of the sharp rock between your toe pads that is causing you to bleed. Wouldn’t find out he was sick unless it starts affecting his digestion.

  • VGpunx@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    This was at the top of my subscribed when we were just at the emergency vet with our cat. She’s doing ok now, but damn we were scared af. It was like a seizure but they only found her heart is enlarged. :/

    • bcgm3@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Had to have out cat put down yesterday, after weeks of vet visits. I’d say the joke is accurate only in certain circumstances. Glad your baby is doing okay now. Hug 'em tight.

      • VGpunx@lemmy.world
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        16 hours ago

        I’m so sorry for your loss. They are with us for a short time, but their impact on our lives is truly immeasurable.

      • VGpunx@lemmy.world
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        16 hours ago

        Knowing her, it was more an attempt to get a warm blanket and mom to hold her for several hours

    • VGpunx@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      It was a strange coincidence for sure. I’m just glad she’s back home now. Eating and all

      • Drusas@fedia.io
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        10 hours ago

        As a both cat and dog lover:

        The cat part mostly is right. But for dogs…

        Well, thinking about it, it’s honestly mostly the same. You pay them a lot of attention, so you notice when something is off, often before you can even recognize what is off.

        It’s not about the pet–it’s about the pet owner.

        Cats are usually better about hiding shit, though.

      • Drusas@fedia.io
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        10 hours ago

        I used to have a dog who would eat anything. Except chili pepper, as she eventually learned.

        Scissors, though? Totally food.