Oreo and the bat (and Lily's weight problem)

[Davis Family]

Ok, somehow a bat got into our house around 3 AM this morning. Our dad either knocked it out or killed it with a tennis racket, but anyway, it was on the ground and it sounds like all 3 of our cats were watching. Oreo picked it up in her mouth and brought it upstairs. Eventually our dad got her to drop it, and it was told that she spent some time afterwards cleaning herself. We're not sure if we should be worried about her having a bat in her mouth, they don't usually carry diseases, do they? They do eat a lot of mosquitoes...one of those skeeters could have an illness...Anyone here have any comments?

Another problem we've had for a while is Lily's weight. When we feed them, she's the only one usually who finishes all her food in one sitting. Zelda and Oreo eat some and then leave. Lily decides to go eat their bowls, too. Sometimes we can't stop her because we're not there, or we don't wanna take away the other bowls in case Zelda or Oreo want to come back and finish it. Our mom says all (I don't know why all) the cats are on a special diet food, but it's obviously not helping Lily...We have already gone to the vet once, I guess they were the ones who told us to put them on the diet food. Any ideas on how to help with her weight problem?

[K & L]

Originally posted by Davis Family
We're not sure if we should be worried about her having a bat in her mouth, they don't usually carry diseases, do they?

They do carry rabies. I would check with your vet to see if you need to do anything for prevention!

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I would suggest a call to vet also, at the minimum, because bats are known for carrying nasty diseases - one of which is rabies....ick!

If Lily is not responding to the diet food, the other thing that might help is more exercise. Get her to play more. Someone here once mentioned that when they gave their cats treats, they put them on the edge of an end table so the cat had to reach up on the table and paw at the treats to get them - thus giving the cat exercise.

My only other suggestion would be to always pick up the bowls of food when they are done. If the other two are still hungry, you can feed them at alternate times, without Lily knowing about it - if possible. And, when you do feed them, maybe give Lily just a little bit less than the others. Just like people, reduced intake and more exercise should do the trick!

[Davis Family]

Our dad is calling the vet right now, I think. That's a good idea....Now he's gonna take the bat in a plastic bag to the vet to have it examined. If the bat was infected, we'll take Oreo there too. There we go.

Yeah, I think we should play with Lily more often. Just a second ago we tried placing a few pebbles of food on a chair seat. We let her sniff it first, she followed the pieces, but didn't try to get them off the chair. We're not sure if that'll work or not, it could, she might react differently when she's more hungry. We'll try the good-ol' drag the stringed item across the floor, maybe. Or the sparkly balls, she likes those.

[Davis Family]

Oreo went to the vet and got a couple of shots for rabies and (dis?)temper. She didn't cause any problems at all, though she did growl a bit.

We tied a scrunched up piece of paper to a ruler and we're swinging it around for all the cats (except for Oreo, who's just relaxing). Lily got a pretty good workout , and Zelda showed off her acrobatics. Then we snapped it off the string and Lily's carrying it around, pawing at it, and basically keeping it away from the other cats. We scrunched up a piece of paper for Zelda, too, though I don't know if she likes to carry 'em in her mouth.

[K & L]

Oh good! Did they find out anything on the bat?

[Davis Family]

They said they'd call us later and tell us the results.

[Smilla]

Erg, as a bat "enthusiast", I was a little sorry to hear about the bat's outcome. Bats have a reputation as being rabies-ridden but they usually don't get it any more than other mammals (though bats who drink blood might be more susceptible, but we don't have those in the U.S.).

The bat that got in your house was probably more frightened than you were. There are ways to get a bat out of your house without killing it. Please see sites like batcon.org or batworld.org. There's also a lot of information on here that debunks a lot of misperceptions about bats.

[Smilla]

Pardon me, I forgot to say that I do hope all of your cats are in good health, though!

[ScantyNebula]

Originally posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom
Someone here once mentioned that when they gave their cats treats, they put them on the edge of an end table so the cat had to reach up on the table and paw at the treats to get them - thus giving the cat exercise.

LOL! I tried that one with Toby, but he was not fooled. Up he jumped onto the coffee table and dug into the treats! Exercise = Evil in Toby's book.

[Denyce]

I too felt as Smilla about the bat...bats are good...bats are great...ok that was starting to sound like a cheer. Actually without bats we wouldn't be able to go outside in the summer for all the mosquitos.

Also on the other hand....so glad your cats are ok. Usually for rabies to be transmitted it has to be through a bite or the saliva. Since the bat was already dead this probably wouldn't have happened. Just for future reference.

We have bat boxes on our property just trying to convince bats that they want to live here. Bats are our friends.

Denyce