Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
She had her big "3" for distemper, rabies & Fel. Leuk. but not sure why she went from 9.6 to 8.6 lbs in 4 months? Vet said keep eye on her lbs. She vomits wetfood (her daily only food, & it is Wellness canned chicken grain-free) once in awhile but not more than 1x per wk, maybe not even that much. I think she's ok but will monitor her. She's a 3 yr old (about, as we 're unsure as we got her last yr as a stray) & a small Tuxedo w/ med-hair. Thanks all for any advice.
I have so much to say, I don't know where to begin.
First, please, in the future, if you stay with your decision to vaccinate, please I say again, vaccinate with only ONE vaccine at a time. Your cat's little body cannot handle any more then that. It makes me so darn angry that vets are doing the two-in one, or the three-in-one vaccines strictly for convenience sake (theirs, not yours and your cat's). If your cat had a reaction to one of the vaccines, you would never know which one.
Secondly, I would in a hurry, educate myself about the best cat nutrition out there and start feeding this to your cat. I also recommend supplements to help boost your cat's immune system. The one I would give my cat is by Earth Animal. The link is below.
I recommend starting your cat on a raw chicken diet as well, and if you are feeding any dry, get rid of it. If you cannot do raw, feed only Weruva and Nature's Variety.
In closing, it is not a good sign that your cat has lost so much weight. If I were you, I wouldn't waste one more minute. If I were you I would be doing my very best to help my cat. In light of what you have written here, it sounds like your cat's body is struggling with the vaccines, and trying to bounce back. You must help him before it is too late.
Ok, Garden, I'm sorry I wrote this sounding distressed. She was weighed during the vaccinations night -- & was lighter even before getting the vaccines (not yet due to them that night).
She is now about 9 lbs today (up from 8.6 lbs last Wed.) & eating well. I admit I should've listened better re: the vaccines. But I kept feeling that I should get them done asap (as it was over a yr since last time she had them) & my roommate has an indoor/outdoor cat that is unvaccinated since '05. I worry that his will transmit something from the outdoor trips.
So I was actually meaning that she lost 1 lb since her last visit of 9.6 lbs (months ago for her vet checkup) & was then just vaccinated last Wed. night (the very same night I found out she lost 1lb down to 8.6 lbs) but I unfortunately made them sound like one was a result of the other. I need to think better when making these threads. lol
I need a journalist to write my press releases/blogs too.
Glad to hear this is all just a writing misunderstanding. Thank goodness your baby is eating well now.
In the future, don't vaccinate your cat with the combos vaccinations. One at a time is enough for his little body to handle.
If there is ever going to be a change for the better in both our health care systems and our cats' heath care systems as well, it starts with you and me, making informed decisions. That means, stop relying on the "health professionals" totally to tell you what to do. We all have brains, and we are all capable of making our own decisions. We all just need education. YOU are responsible for your cat's welfare and happiness, not a vet.
I would consider holding off the vaccinations (except for rabies which is required by law if you wish) as cats are more likely to have issues after them. We get all of our foster cats vaccinated initially and complete their series and then never again and have never had any other issues. We follow Dr. Jean Dodd's vaccination protocol for our dogs and the same principles apply to cats. The wellness formula appears to have changed because our fosters were starting to have upset stomachs on it. So, we switched to Weruva and have not had one problem since. We also feed the Orijen Dry Cat food (but add water) for those that aren't nearly as fond of canned food.
I WILL NOT get ANY further vaccines & if I could I'd remove these. I'm so back & forth w/ 10,000 opinions, including like every vet I spoke with, thus I was miffed as to what is the reality. It just concerns me that so many liberally vaccinate yearly yet have no idea the safety/efficacy.
It has become a ridiculous business in which myth outweighs sensibilty, I think. I really do wish the vet community would awaken to what was in the BEST interest of the pets not in their interests.
Ok, I'm off the soapbox but I need to be more prudent, I guess, in all decisions I make. It is MY responsibilty not anyone else, that bears the decision-making process.
I WILL NOT get ANY further vaccines & if I could I'd remove these. I'm so back & forth w/ 10,000 opinions, including like every vet I spoke with, thus I was miffed as to what is the reality. It just concerns me that so many liberally vaccinate yearly yet have no idea the safety/efficacy.
It has become a ridiculous business in which myth outweighs sensibilty, I think. I really do wish the vet community would awaken to what was in the BEST interest of the pets not in their interests.
Ok, I'm off the soapbox but I need to be more prudent, I guess, in all decisions I make. It is MY responsibilty not anyone else, that bears the decision-making process.
I agree with you, a one size fits all shot for all animals (weather they weigh 150lbs or 3lbs does not make sense. Your animals will live a much longer and healthier life without vaccines
I have four cats, strictly indoor cats, and none are vaccinated anymore. I used to be the good doobee and have them regularly innoculated, but one of the cats had a reaction which progressively got worse each year, and so I stopped with him. Because he got multiple shots at one time, we never knew which one he was allergic to. And that's when it hit me to question why was I doing that for the others?
It's a law here where I live that all cats, indoors or outdoors, must get a rabies vaccine. But I'm thinking my vets are believers in shots only when really necessary because they just say "next time you come in he needs his vaccinations", but they purposely never push it. (yahoo to that)
As for weight loss, one of my cats dropped a pound in two weeks' time, and obviously I freaked. However, it must have been a fluke and a matter of timing because he had "gained" back most of the weight when I weighed him again the following day.
I started weighing all four of my cats daily, at the same exact time each day, and I found that all of them can have weights that vary as much as half a pound from the previous day. Such an oddity that I can only conclude one of two things or both, that the scale's precision has its tiny idiosyncracies and/or the cats have or haven't been to the litter box and either made a deposit (thus leaving some "weight" there) or haven't and their bladders or intestines are still full. The vets' scale must have flukes as well -- one of the cats weighed in at 12 lbs and by the next weigh-in a week later he was 11.3 lbs.
Even my own weight varies -- how could I possibly gain three pounds between yesterday morning and this morning? I can't. So, it must be that the scale is not perfectly precise to the ounce and/or last night's supper is still with me.
So, with the cats, I'm watching other things besides the scale. First, I watch behavior. Second, I monitor the amount of water consumed and appetite. Third, when I'm scooping the litter box I observe the pee and poop left there (more maturely stated, the size of the urine clumps and the condition of the feces).
The other thing I do know is that two of my cats were carrying around extra weight. Neither was obese, but both were overweight. For the past two months they've all been on a proper diet (deep-sixed the dry stuff and they all eat grainless Fancy Feast). Everything looks good: normal food and water consumption, normal deposits in the litter box (well, less feces now since their bodies are using more of their food rather than just passing it through the pipes), shiny soft coats, playful, etc.
Long story short, weight loss is something that should send up a flag, but not necessarily a red flag.
Small fluctuations in weight are normal. Any living creature - human, cat, dog, horse, cow, chicken...... Weight even varies throughout the day based on the contents of the bladder, intestine, and stomach. So, if the first weigh in was done with a full bladder and a full stomach and the second weigh in is done with an empty bladder and an empty stomach there will be a difference.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
