Indroducing Emmy! With pics.

[slvrwhispr]

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... Ahem. Emmy says hi.

Anyway, the incision site looks much better this morning. I VERY gently cleaned it last night with a soft cloth to get a better idea of what was going on. There's no open skin, no weeping. It still looks tender but she's not licking at it anymore so maybe there was just something from the vet that was on the skin that she wanted off.

I think my two goofballs are playing tag this morning. The game they're at will be one will lay down. The other will sneak up and bop them on the head, no claws out. The bopper will run, the other will chase. Then the first will lay down, and it repeats. It's still weirding me out to hear thundering footsteps all over the house, but they seem to be having fun.

Also, I've been keeping Emmy in bed with me at night. She's fine all night but when the sun first comes up, I get my head pounced. There's about an hour where she wants to play (or, more accurately, hunt) and then she lays back down. I find it very funny to have my head pounced by a three pound kitten, but I imagine this will be much less funny when she gets bigger.

[Traci]

Well, you still need to keep a close eye on her incision site.

Again, how old is she?

I think it's wonderful they are playing together!

[slvrwhispr]

They said she's about 5 months. I was really worried about the site yesterday because of how irritated it looked, but the *********** emergency vet would NOT work out a payment plan with me so there was nothing I could do but keep her off it and wait for morning. And like I said, it looks much better today. I'm keeping a hawk eye on it, and if it starts to look anything like it did yesterday again, I'll take her to the regular vet where they actually CARE about animals and won't go, "Can't pay? Okay, let your pet suffer." UGH, that makes me so angry.

But. She's bright-eyed, energetic, eating, using the litterbox, and playing. As long as she doesn't start going at it again, it looks like it'll be fine. You know I wouldn't take chances if it looked like it was a real problem. I've got the vet on call and can bring her right in if it looks bad again.

[slvrwhispr]

Hey, here's a question. Since Emmy had worms pretty bad, she should be de-wormed again in two weeks, right? And after that, should I keep doing it periodically? How often? And can the vet give me de-wormer to take home and give to her as directed, or should I take her in every time?

[Traci]

Either look on your receipt from the spay/neuter group for the type of dewormer they used or call them....ask them specifcally what they gave her. Then let your vet know.

Depending on the worms and type of dewormer she had/has will depend on if you should re-worm her.

For tapeworms, usually only one tablet of Droncit is sufficient. If overburdened with worms however, a second dose may be necessary, usually a month later.

For roundworms, one dose of Strongid-T, then another dose 14 days later.

Yes, the vet can give you the dewormer med to take home and administer yourself. The droncit is a tablet, the strongid is a paste in a syringe, both given orally.

No need to deworm periodically, since your cats are indoors-only.

If she had tapeworms for example, she might have a ravenous appetite, so allow her to eat as much as she wants. Once the worms are complete eradicated, her food consumption will decrease slightly and she'll probably gain a more appropriate weight. If the two cats are sharing the same litterbox, your vet may suggest deworming Izzy too, as a safegaurd/prevention.

[slvrwhispr]

Well, there are two litterboxes, but they're both using both of them. And I thought Emmy was done with the worms but she pooped a BIG one today and it was still wiggling (UGH). So I'm thinking she must have had a BAD case and will probably need another de-worming. They used Strongid, but they're definitely roundworms, not tapeworms. They're round, white, and stringy. And incredibly gross. I've only been using a little bit of litter and changing it daily, giving the litterbox a sterile wipedown in between. So. I think I mentioned before that I have to have Izzy to the vet before we can move on post, and that's in just a couple of weeks, so I'll have them de-worm her just to be safe when she goes in there. I'll schedule it for next week and then get a secondary dose of Strongid for Emmy; that'll be right around the 14 day mark.

Worms are seriously nasty...

[slvrwhispr]

Hello!



Biiiig yawn.



Catloaf!

[momPaws]

She is so beautiful...you got your little cuddlebum.

[Traci]

What a sweet little face!!

Talk to your vet about the deworming, she needs to be dewormed for tapeworm too (strongid doesn't target tapes, just roundworms). While most strongid deworming is effective in two doses, she could have been overburdened with roundworms and your vet may want an additional dose, but that's got to be his call. In the meantime, monitor her appetite, food consumption and evidence in the litterbox and let the vet know.

If you can, use only minimal litter in the boxes, and try to thoroughly clean and rinse them daily if possible, until you can get her dewormed again and Izzy dewormed too.

[slvrwhispr]

What a stinker... Izzy's food dish was empty, so I put more food in it. Izzy heard it and came running. Emmy trotted up behind her, head-butted her in the rear flank, and Izzy took off while Emmy buried her head in Izzy's food dish. No ma'am, I don't think so!

I pulled Emmy back, then grabbed Izzy and put her in front of the food dish. She started eating, and I stood between her and Emmy. Any time Emmy tried to get near Izzy, I blocked her. Just with my foot and my attitude. Eventually, she walked off and sat down in a corner, and then I put her in front of HER food dish, which is in the back part of the house where she sleeps with me. I came down to her level and praised her while she ate from HER food dish. I think she got the idea, but I'm sure it'll also take a few reminders.

I find it amusing and interesting that Emmy is trying to be the dominant cat, but I'm also not letting her get away with it if it's interfering with things like eating and using the litterbox. Little turd needs to know I'M the dominant one in the house, and if I say she leaves Izzy alone, she leaves Izzy alone. No bullying my other little girl out of her meals.

They're back to playing now, taking turns chasing one another around, so all is peaceful again. This whole multi-cat household is proving to be very interesting.