A cat needs your help!

I was on my other favorite cat website, burnerkitty, when I saw that the new owner of a grossly obese cat has made a plea for help with the cat, named Grey-See (or Gracie). The cat's owner of 8 years recently moved and couldn't take the cat with them, and the new mother doesn't know how to help the cat overcome her depression. The cat weighs over 18 kgs, and just sleeps 24 hours a day. She is very unhappy-- before, she lived in a one bedroom apt. with her owner, just the 2 of them.
If you have any advice, please help! The new owner is a wonderful woman, who already has 2 one-eyed rescue cats, and a number of others. Here is the link:
http://pets.burnerkitty.com/2738

------------------
Personal servant for Pesto

Actually, I think that the owner's priority is to try to help the cat. She is very depressed because she feels abandoned. She was this heavy when the new owner got her (less than a week ago I believe). The old owner fed her too many treats.


------------------
Personal servant for Pesto

God love little, er, big GraySee. It would seem from her bio she can't even exercise because she is too overweight to stand up. If anyone has any experience in morbidly obese cats, I hope they send along some advice! I fear the obesity and depression combined my bring about her demise! I gave her a link to Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine - I hope this helps if she has no other ideas.

[This message has been edited by 4 feline house (edited February 28, 2001).]

Quote:

---

Originally posted by pam_pesto:
...http://pets.burnerkitty.com/2738

---

I have checked this page, and it has a guestbook. There are several entries in the book suggesting a talk with a vet about her helping her get healthier, and even having her thyroid checked. I hope all goes well.

even though i do not like cats when my neighbors cat was over weight she her self exercised the cat she would roll it around on its back and strewtch tis legs out and move the joints and stuff and soon the cat was a healthy little cat. Im not sure if this would work as well on the cat as it did on my neighbors but its worth a try!!!!

Spencer, you said it! That cat was so big! Poor thing. This does sound a little odd (and I never have tried this, so I'm not sure how effective it is)but, there are actual pet psychiatrists out there that may be able to help with the depression.

Although my Marius wasn't grossly obese, he was overweight to a point where it was difficult to groom his hind end area (not as bad as your current white rescue Spencer, I'm sure!!! Yikes...let us know how that progresses). Anyhow, I took him into the vet and he prescribed a low cal high fiber diet. It was Science Diet LD or something like that. It worked too! Last time I brought him into the vet (aside from the scary experience of the reaction to boosters) he was pleased to see how good my cat looked! He said a lot of owners come into the vet asking about their cat's weight, but he really doesn't see many results about weight loss. I was please with Marius! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif He's my white boy! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

Anywho...the pet psychiatrist might be worth a consideration by the new owner of poor GraySee!!

I am not a pet psychiatrist, but pehaps she just needs some time and a whole lot of love and patient understanding, just like a person going through a particularly difficult grieving period. And it sounds like "diet" food, and any exercise she'll tolerate will help, too. Does catnip interest her at all?

I have heard stories about big cats, as in Tigers, being cured of depression by using herbs and perfumed plants. I know that some plants are toxic to cats so you should be a little careful but it is okay to try them with cat-mint, rosemary, thyme, cat-grass, and one of most cats favourite - lavender.

I was speaking to a tiger keeper at one of our regional zoos who was telling me the depressing story of a pair of Bengal tigers that were kept in a cage with just enough room to pace to one end, turn around a pace back - all concrete. The tigers were confiscated and sent to this zoo. When they recieved the two tigers they were both so used to small enclosures they refused to come out of their pen and into the large grassy pen that had a stream, plants, logs etc. After months of depression and frustration the tigers were finally lured out using a varitey of fragrant plants, and in particular lavender. Aparently it turned the tigers around within weeks - thank goodness as I have seen them and they are both such magnificent creatures.

I think the benefits from this are twofold, in one way they stimulate the felines mind with such an attractive(?) aroma, secondly they encourage the feline to be frisky which of course gets them moving around.

I hope that Grey-See gets through her depression - but as with people these things can take a bit of time and patience...

Hi Everyone, I am Gracie's new Mom. Thanks for all the suggestions for helping her. She will be going to my vet as soon as I am able to approach her and get her in a carrier (I honestly don't have one big enough to hold her right now but I am getting a larger one today). She has allowed me to scratch her ear and she is using her litter and eating her light food. I am hoping she can get over her grief and become healthy again. Besides the obvious weight problem she is in urgent need of dentistry (from too many treats I would guess because for an 8 year old her teeth are really bad). I am confident that she will be a wonderfull cat once she is feeling better.

Mom to Ebby, Miss Kitty, Darcy, Maymee-kay, Mandy and now Gracie!

Thanks to Pesto's Mom for bringing Gracie's problem to this site.

[This message has been edited by CatLady (edited March 02, 2001).]

Thanks for posting and letting us know of her progress, and please keep us updated.