Mishka is sick

[aguu]

When I got Mishka 3 weeks ago he developed an upper respiratory infection within a day or so.
It turned out that this virus going around in Toronto and that most of the cats at the rescue place where I got him from ended up having it as well. He ended up on an antibiotic (Clamavox) for a week. Within a day of being on the antibiotic he ended up having diarrhea. I heard this was an usual side affect and since he was otherwise active I did not worry too much. Well, he has been off the antibiotic since Thursday but his diarrhea persists and I am worried.
Last night I heard him in his litterbox and OMG! It would have been funny if I wasn't so concerned. He was so loud...(I will not get into more detail)
He is otherwise a typical healthy young cat - very active, curious and he has a HUGE appetite (he does eat at the speed of lightining, I'm pretty sure he doesn't chew..)
I will take him to the vet this week but does anyone have any thoughts, pleease? should I be worried?

[Barbara]

I think as long as he's got appetite and is active it might not be too problematic.
On the other hand if he has diarrhea you should see that he gets enough water otherwise he could be dehydrated.

[emily_the_spoiled]

The diarrhea is probably a left-over side effect from the antibiotics. Give him unflavoured cultured yogurt for a couple of days and that will probably help the diarrhea. You want to try and build up the bacteria in his system. If he is still eating and drinking okay, then I wouldn't be too worried about it.

[jenluckenbach]

1) make sure he doesn't have worms
2) My Amber had really bad diarrhea like that after her dose of antibiotics, and it went on after I stopped the medicine also, so it could be that
3) ask you vet about koapectate (that is what they gave Amber) or they also have anti-diarrheal medicines availale as well.
Best of luck, and as stated above, make sue he's drinking.

[aguu]

Great.. he absolutely loves yogurt!
How much do I give him though?
I mean what would be TOO much???

[emily_the_spoiled]

If you give him a tablespoon full a couple of times a day that should the trick. If he loves it that is even better. Make sure that you get the unflavoured kind. Good luck:)

[NoahsMommy]

Aww, poor thing. Micah has diarrhea right now too and was given Katopectate in the shelter as well.

Good luck at the vet, give Mishka some lovin' from me! :)

[AmberLee]

Oh, poor baby. I've forgotten, how old is Mishka? He's still in the kitten months, right? 8 months or so?? They tend to be voracious eaters... Fingers crossed that the diarrhea is just due to the medicine. Do keep us informed as to what the vet says.

[luckies4me]

I'd take him to the vet and get a stool sample, he could have tapes. Does he have fleas? If so h most likely has tapeworms. Does he have his shots?



Great job for rescuing him! :D

[krazyaboutkatz]

I sure hope that Mishka gets better soon and that his diarrhea isn't caused by anything serious. All paws and fingers are crossed for a full and speedy recovery. Good luck and please keep us updated on his condition.

[aguu]

Thanks for your advice everyone!
Well Mishka's problem seems better today.
I fed him some yogurt last night - he was VERY happy about that.
He does have all his shots and he does not have fleas but I'm still going to take him to the vet this week just in case.
(Oh, and he is 10 months old)
So I have another question;
Does anyone else have a cat that ALWAYS seems to be hungry?
Every time I step foot in the kitchen day or night, Mishka follows me in, runs over to his food bowl and starts to meow at the top of his lungs as if he was starving to death.
I have never had a cat that was THAT dramatic.
He is however much more vocal (and loud!) than any of the other kitties I've had...
:confused:

[emily_the_spoiled]

I am glad that Mishka is doing so much better (and the yogurt was a hit :D :D )

Tanner (my 5 month old kitten) does exactly the same thing as Mishka. I leave dry food out all day (and there is plenty of it), but everytime I set foot in the kitchen he is there asking for food. When I have supper I have to fight him off so that I can actually eat my meal. I had his shot series completed a couple of weeks ago and the vet said that he was doing just fine (weight wise), so I know that he is not starving. I think that he is just trying to see how strong my will is...;)

[aguu]

Hmmmmm, the difference is Mishka inhales his food right away (both wet AND especially dry!) and then starts to "scream" for more! I don't think it will be possible to leave food out all day with this one - I think whatever I put in front of him, he'll just gobble up! :rolleyes:

I'm know giving him enough, so maybe (I hope) he's also just testing my will. We'll see what the vet says.

[ChrisH]

Glad Mishka is a little better today. Fingers & paws crossed he will be fully better soon.

[emily_the_spoiled]

Tanner is the same way, he inhales his wet food immediately. I can even hear him slurping the food. I leave dry food out to allow my cats to free feed. Even then I can the "poor poor pitiful" meow the minute I walk in the door at night...;)

[NoahsMommy]

His obsession for food may be because of his past. Was he a stray?

Poor little thing. :(

Let us know how the vet visit goes. :)

[aguu]

Well, I don't think he was a stray. He was found outside but he could not have been there very long (it was -40C that week) The rescue place put up posters but no one claimed him for a week. So it looks like he was abandoned or at least ran away and they didn't care enough to get him back :mad:
The weird thing is that it looks like he was very very spoiled before he ran away. He is the most trusting and affectionate cat I have EVER met, he was surely fed all kinds of human food (he still begs for it) and allowed to jump everywhere he pleased!
People are weird! I guess they played with and spoiled him when he was cute and tiny and the when he got bigger - lost interest. Well it's their loss and my gain for sure... he is SO special
AND he will keep getting spoiled by me for the rest of his life!

[jenluckenbach]

Do you know Mishka's past? If you have had him only 3 weeks and he is 10 months old where was he during that time? If he was a stray. maybe he is just fearful that he will not have food on a regular basis.....a couple of mine ( when they first got here )always seemed worried that this might be their last meal. So they ate a lot more than average. They do tend to level off after a while, but some are just more vocal than others. Add on top of that the fact that it is a kitten probably in the same stage as a teen-age boy (and you KNOW how they can eat!)

[aguu]

I tried to find out Mishka's past from Abbey Cats but all they could tell me was that he was found outside on a cold, cold night. He was desperately trying to get inside this lady's house so she took him in and fed him. She was not able to keep him and so she called the local pound. The pound took him, put up "found" signs but no one claimed him. That pound was overcrowded and after a week of no one claiming him was was actually supposed to be euthanized!!!! :( :( :(
So Abbey Cats came and rescued him and he was at home with me just a few days later. :p :p :p.
That is all I know of his past but I'm pretty sure he was a happy kitten for a while at least...

[NoahsMommy]

I know it may not sound long to us, but to kittens/cats that have been used to having their needs met, its traumatizing to not have that happen.

I think his past may be why he's so interested in food.

It will get better over time, our Basie was like this. And while, he still LOVES people food and begs for it all the time, he eats his food slowly now.

How is Mishka doing?

[aguu]

I think you're right Noah's Mommy!!
He seemed fine when I left for work this morning, cackling away at the birds in the window.
I think the yogurt might have helped ...no diarrhea (knock on wood!)
And how's sweet Micah?

[NoahsMommy]

Originally posted by aguu
I think you're right Noah's Mommy!!
He seemed fine when I left for work this morning, cackling away at the birds in the window.
I think the yogurt might have helped ...no diarrhea (knock on wood!)
And how's sweet Micah?
Don't you love when they talk to the birds?? I love that noise! :)

I'm glad the yogurt worked, that was a great idea! I'm sure he enjoyed that remedy. ;)

Micah is doing well, thanks for asking. Today was his first full day on his new food, so I'm eager to go home and see if its working. Poor thing, when I cleaned the litter box last night, there was a whole lot of stuff in there, just for one day. :(

[aguu]

Oh, you will LOVE this link.
I hope you have speakers. You should look at them all, they're adorable but especially "bi-lingual".
(the descriptions below are hilarious too!)
I posted this link before but didn't get much of a response. Maybe I should try it again with a different name?
I hope you enjoy;
http://www.zefrank.com/annie/navigation.html

[carole]

what an awesome site, thanks for posting it, i really enjoyed it will take another look now, cheers carole