Basic cat care question

jordata

Since we moved to where we now live, about 18 months ago, we've been adopted by a female cat. She even produced 5 lovely kittens. I managed to rehome one but all others were unfortunatly killed on the road outside our house. Anyway, we are on the move again next week and the children would love to bring her with us. The owner of our current house hates cats and her daughter is allergic so they would be delighted if we took her with us. I would however like to make sure she has the correct vaccines, etc before we take her to another home. She sneezes sometimes so I don't know if that's a sign of something or normal for cats? I have had her with the vet twice - once to get neutered after kittens and once when she broke her pelvis having been hit by a car. Could do without the expense of a vet right now on top of moving if I could administer necessary medicines myself? Thanks.

dee o gee

Vaccines have to be administered by vets, they cannot be given out for home use. Any chance you could keep her as an indoor cat, if you've already lost 4 kittens on the road and one with a broken pelvis then it would save a lot of heartbreak and money if you kept them inside.

Sneezing can be normal, my cat does it when shes eating plants and grass, so does my dog if he's around dust or if somebody sprays something, excessive sneezing though could be a sign of something like maybe cat flu?

If you can't bring her with you then please don't just leave her there, make sure you find a home for her or bring her to a shelter.

ziggy23

jordata wrote: »

Since we moved to where we now live, about 18 months ago, we've been adopted by a female cat. She even produced 5 lovely kittens. I managed to rehome one but all others were unfortunatly killed on the road outside our house. Anyway, we are on the move again next week and the children would love to bring her with us. The owner of our current house hates cats and her daughter is allergic so they would be delighted if we took her with us. I would however like to make sure she has the correct vaccines, etc before we take her to another home. She sneezes sometimes so I don't know if that's a sign of something or normal for cats? I have had her with the vet twice - once to get neutered after kittens and once when she broke her pelvis having been hit by a car. Could do without the expense of a vet right now on top of moving if I could administer necessary medicines myself? Thanks.

Fair play to you for taking her in and getting her neutered. And I agree with the above poster about the sneezing. I wouldnt worry about it unless she started getting runny eyes etc

jordata

Oh she's definitly coming with us. If I leave her I'd have to leave the children also. They love her to bits. I'll ring the vet about getting her vaccinated. I presume that will not require her staying in?

dee o gee

I think vaccinations are usually about 25-30ish euro, i think thats what it was last time anyways. You might need to keep her in for maybe 12 hours after if its her first vaccination, sometimes cats have reactions to them, majority of the time they don't but the odd one does.
If shes never been vaccinated before she'l have to get like a starter vac and then a booster a few weeks later, and then again annually, i presume its still the same as when I got my last kitten a few years ago maybe things have changed since.


Edited to say: If you meant keep her in the vets then no its just in and out, but id keep her inside the house for 12-24 hours after.

The Sweeper

If she's never been vaccinated she may need three rounds - a starter and two boosters, administered a month apart. As you say yourself, ask the vet.

The sneezing - she may be a feline herpes virus carrier (cannot be transmitted to humans). If she ever gets a watery eye and a sneezy day chances could be she has it. It's not curable, but manifests in times of stress (so for instance, if she had a bit of a watery eye and a sneeze while recovering from her broken pelvis, that would be a good indication). You can reduce the flare ups of the virus by feeding her L-Lysine, an amino acid usually available in pure 500mg tablets at health food stores or in the health food section of the supermarket. People take it to ward off cold sores.

Split a 500mg tablet into thirds and stir a crushed third into some wet food and give it to her every day if she's going through a sneezy, wheezy, eye watery phase. Also look at administering it for a week before a stressful event - like when you guys are going to move house, because that's when the virus flares up - when the cat's immune system is low, which it can be in a stressful time.

When you move house you will need to keep her indoors for a few weeks because if you don't she'll become disorientated and may run off, trying to find her way back to her original home. (And they can cover some distance - last year I tried to rehome a stray who came back 15kms, across a railway line and a motorway, twice, before being rehomed with someone that has a secure outdoor cat enclosure where he's now blissfully happy, so yes, it happens.) Guidelines for how long to keep the cat indoors for range anywhere from two weeks to eight weeks, but honestly it depends on the individual cat. I certainly wouldn't be giving her outdoor access unsupervised for any length of time, or let her outdoors overnight in the first four weeks - she just may not come back.

Fair play for taking her on and having her neutered and hopefully you'll have a long and happy life with her.

Eyeore

I'd like to second what the last poster said about keeping her in for a few weeks when you first move. Its very important as cats can get scared and run off.

I've moved 4 times over the last few years since I got my cat and she has gone missing twice on me, first time she was gone for 8 weeks, second time over 2 weeks, I had to search high and low until I found her but luckly I got her back. She gets so scared she just legs it first chance she gets.

Best of luck, she's a lucky cat to have been adopted by someone who cares so much about her.

lorebringer

Firstly, well done on getting her neutered!

She'll need to be vaxed, full primary course and boosters. Initially a bit pricey but the best for your pet in the long run.

Also, maybe getting her microchipped, and registered, would be a good idea (if she is generally an outdoor cat). If she gets lost and someone finds her it's a quick scan and you'll be reunited.

When you move, you will need to keep her indoors 24/7 for the first few weeks (maybe 4), then let her out gradually. She needs to readjust to her new home and it's surroundings. If you let her out the first day you get to the new home she will get lost very easily trying to find her way "home". She needs to realise that the new place is where her home is.

Good luck!

Trax

I adopted a lovely cat in March or maybe she found me. She had been dumped by her owner at 6 months old as she was in season and needed to be neutered. The poor wee thing was half starved when I found her. We took her to the vet and we got the works down on her. It cost 25 euro for the chip, 125euro to Neuter, and 50 euro for all her injections. We now have a catflap that reads her chip and opens only for her. Brilliant, no cat guests.

Sigma Force

Good on you for getting her spayed.

Would suggest in new home to keep her indoors she might not be as lucky next time if she gets a run in with a car. Cats can live happily indoors and it will save on vet bills no more car accidents, no cat fights to get into etc.