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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2011 20:52:51 GMT -5
Ok so I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this before but I am paranoid and as my boyfriend says I have OCD. So this is a problem with pets. My OCD makes be read everything I can get my hands of about they types of pets I have, which is good and bad. My paranoia made me thing all my pets are sick all the time.
Right now I am worried about Zeus, He's losing hair. The boys both seem to be shedding. I used my hair brush on them last night and boy did I get a lot of under fluff, soft downy stuff, off of both. Nyx isn't doing this but she is only 7 months old.
Zeus also seems to be having trouble pooping. He stands there for a moment and his sides kind heave, and sometimes he'll fart then walk out of the box and there is this short skinny poop left behind.
And he is scratching like a mad man. He'll be sleeping then all of a sudden he is up and scratching all over and running around the cage, into the bars and the litter box as well as Nyx and Hades.
I am going to make a vet appointment next week, the vet I got to isn't open till Monday but I'm worried and wanted to see what people with more knowledge though of the situation.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2011 20:57:25 GMT -5
How old is Zeus?
The shedding is normal for this time of year. I'd make sure you brush him often to prevent hairballs. Does he have any bald spots?
The straining to poop concerns me. He could have a blockage. I'd feed some lax/olive oil/pumpkin ASAP. Is he eating/drinking/peeing?
For the itchiness, check for fleas. You could also feed olive oil/salmon oil to help with that. The itchiness could be a symptom of other things, but it could just be itchiness from shedding.
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Post by taratee on Feb 19, 2011 21:03:21 GMT -5
shedding causes itchiness i think jackie, now the pooping could be a problem are you converting to raw?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2011 21:06:01 GMT -5
Yeah, forgot to add that  |
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Post by taratee on Feb 19, 2011 21:07:48 GMT -5
my guys sometimes have little poops like that but its a mix between having small raw poops and not wanting to stay in the box, they usually dont like to wait to finish
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2011 22:38:14 GMT -5
It sounds like he's shedding and most likely has a hairball that he's trying to pass... some Lax or pumpkin should help
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Post by Sherry on Feb 20, 2011 11:41:14 GMT -5
Get some lax, pumpkin, vaseline, whatever into him. He sounds like he's developing a hairball from the shedding.
The amount he is shedding is perfectly normal, by the way. But- he is also ingesting it.
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Post by Heather on Feb 20, 2011 12:17:09 GMT -5
For those of you who are experiencing major shed issues, start brushing. It's really easy, takes maybe a minute or two and cuts down huge amounts on fur ingestion and saves a lot of tense moments and aggravation  ciao |
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Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 20, 2011 12:57:04 GMT -5
brush him daily and give him pumpkin and tomlyns cat lax is good too. they make one that has no petroleum jelly in it and no sugar/no carbs. it is on casey's hidden pantry. it works very well. is he urinating ok? when he urinates does he leave very large puddles? is he adrenal or is he just losing hair because he is shedding? reason that i ask this is because sometimes males that are adrenal will have enlarged prostates and then they have a hard time passing urine. they will stand there and try to urinate and nothing comes out. they push and push and nothing happens. that is dangerous. so make sure that he is urinating. sometimes if they are passing a stone the same thing happens. and they push SO hard that a little bit of poop comes out. but just a tiny bit. is his bladder full? does he squirm when you feel his bladder?
brush him well and wash his blankets. blankets are usually FULL of hair when they shed. i would do the pumpkin for 3 days straight until his pipes are clean.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 14:05:59 GMT -5
To Jackie:
I was told when I adopted him and his brother from the previous owner at the boys are a year and a half to 2 years.
I have been brushing at least twice a day since I noticed the shedding had started. I didn't think it would start for a few more weeks so I didn't notice right away. It's still really cold here but he had three days of warm melting temps. No bald stops at all. I've even taken time to look for areas that might be thinning out and other then around his genitals there is nothing.
He is eating, drinking and peeing as he normally does as far as I can tell. Though with three using the same litter box it's hard to tell for sure. I've taken to cleaning it every time I see someone use it just to I can keep an eye on how well Zeus is going.
I've been giving all three Salmon Oil and Olive Oil. Hades and Nyx are fine with the oils. I can pour some in a bowl and both will happily drink it. Zeus won't touch it. I'm been mixing it into the food but he pick out the food with no Oil and eats that.
I tried to look at the pet store yesterday for a feeding syringe but they didn't carry then. I was top to look at the drug store but the closest one is closed Sundays so I am going today. I hoping to us that to gentle feed him the oils until he'll take them willingly.
To taratee:
I'm not yet switching to raw. I will eventually but I want to wait just a little while until I know more and am no scared of  it all up and killing them. >w<
To Sherry:
I can't get lax in any of the pet stores here. I'm gonna order some but for now I'm using Olive Oil and I'll give pumpkin a try. Would pumpkin baby food work as well and how much a day/at a time?
To Heather:
I've started brushing twice a day, if not sure. I don't want any of them getting hairballs.
To miamiferret2:
I'll look at ordering that from casey's. This is the stuff right? www.caseyshiddenpantry.com/tomlyn_lax.html
He seems to be peeing fine but as I said before not super easy to tell with three using one box.
He doesn't squirm at all when I feel his bladder.
I'm gotten pick up some pumpkin on the way home from work tonight.
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Post by Heather on Feb 21, 2011 14:44:11 GMT -5
How is he doing?
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 14:48:09 GMT -5
Can you separate him to be able to monitor his potty habits?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 14:59:54 GMT -5
He seems to be doing better. He doesn't look like he is straining as much as he was before. I tried to feed him Olive Oil with a spoon on Saturday night. He didn't get as much as I would have liked but he really wasn't happy with my at the time and I didn't want to stress him to much.
He's also not scratching as much since I upped the amount of Salmon Oil. Also I made sure to completely cover the food with the oils yesterday and today. There is none without oil of it so he can't pick the non oiled food out.
I can't believe how much he and Hades are shedding. I never expected so much.
To Jackie:
I have another cage I could place him in while I'm at work and watch the litter there. I didn't want to because the last time I had mentioned doing that Sherry had told me it was probably a bad idea because it would probably stress them out and make things worse.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 16:01:47 GMT -5
You mentioned pumpkin baby food, what else is in it? If it's just meat and pumpkin (squash works too) you can feed that an watch his stools. Pure pumpkin is best though.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 16:22:41 GMT -5
I haven't bought any yet. I went out to do my shopping yesterday and forgot all about the pumpkin. I'll look today but likely I'll just get pure pumpkin.
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