Dear Tracie,
I saw you on the Martha Stewart Show and was so interested in what you had to say. We have four rescued cats we dearly love. A family of domestic shorthairs, Dad Putchie, Mom Pooh and offspring daughter, Skittles.
We also have a lilac seal point Siamese I found in a hospital parking lot, “Snickers, the Wild.” Putchie is sick right now with some kind of sneezing respiratory (cold? do cats get colds?)
The reason I am writing is Skittles. She has extremely painful defecation and eliminates in our family room or in my bedroom. At first it seemed like constipation and, of course they all eat “kitty crack” (until today). I took her to our vet and after x-rays and examination; I was given some kind of anti-inflammatory and painkiller to give her. I did give it to her a couple times but honestly, it made no sense to me. Skittles stools are still lumps but not hard as they were at first. I feel so bad for her I end up crying while she is trying to go. She has urinated inappropriately also and frankly it is getting annoying but I realize she is having a problem I am not able to address, other than the food issue.
Our vet’s practice was recently sold and I have little confidence in this new doctor. The other vet was a woman and she had cats…she seemed more attuned to our group. I have looked on the Internet at different sites and I have ordered your book but I am at a loss.
I am also considering the pet insurance because our male butterscotch calico, Putchie, has had bite abscesses and surgeries that cost us thousands.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the website and the blogs. We don’t have Sirius radio and I wish I could hear your Cat Chat® but maybe at some point in the future when we get a new car, we will. I am so grateful to have a place to go when I have an issue. It is so wonderful to read all the stories. We love our cats and promised them a better life and with your help I think we will achieve that goal.
Without the “kitty crack”!
I am sincerely grateful.
Carol
Dear Carol – My what a cornucopia of problems you have! And I truly grateful that you have come to me with them because they really need addressing, maybe even more than you are already doing.
The first thing I will BEG you to do is sign up your entire crew for pet insurance. As you have already found out, the cost can go sky-high for even ordinary medical problems, and in a heartbeat you can find a cat in a medical emergency costing even more. You will get a multi-pet discount from Pets Best and more discount as a Cat Chat® listener (don’t worry, they don’t check whether you really have it!). Most importantly, they have a more generous reimbursement than any other insurance company – after a deductible per incident, they pay 80% of 100% of all bills for that event, regardless of the total charges. I only wish I had medical insurance that good for myself!
Secondly, you must get Putchie to the vet ASAP because that upper respiratory infection (yes, a kitty cold) is extremely contagious to the other cats and can turn into a more complicated illness. So while you’re writing about Skittles, Putchie really needs a vet’s help too. (Keep in mind that there is a two-week waiting period with pet insurance before you can make a claim- so that people don’t sign up right before getting an expensive procedure – so the sooner you sign up, the sooner this sort of visit will be covered).
The next thing is Skittles’ painful bowel movements and out-of-litter-box peeing. As you yourself surmised, the likelihood that this is diet-related is huge. Switching to all wet food immediately is the first step to a lifetime of health, and the resolution of this digestive problem. However, another essential addition to the diets of all the kitties is omega-3 fish oil, which will aid in digestion while nourishing every cell in their bodies.
And since you’ve ordered THE CAT BIBLE, I can send you an autographed bookplate to put in it, inscribed to your wonderful kitty cats – but I’ll need your mailing address. Along with it I’ll send some samples of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 fish oil (by far the freshest and purest one out there), a sample of Platinum Performance joint supplement if any of them are getting older and achy along with a card for Pets Best insurance so you have the phone number to call (better than using the website) and so you can share my discount with friends and family.
I’d say that about covers it! Oh – except my thanks for your very kind words. And I am going to sign you up for the pod cast of DOG TALK® which is often about cats, too, so you can hear more about the topics that matter to you and your pets every week, as a gift from me.
Tracie
