We've got a family! Also Vet experience with cats

PRIYA

Maybe milk watered down wouldn't be so rich for her - and some broken up roti to help her with her tummy problem?

(eenie, meenie, minie mo, catch a ****** by his toe, if he hollers, let him go, eenie, meenie, minie mo)

__________________
Happiness is for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched and those who have tried. For only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives. (Anon.)

karuna

Careful with the chicken bones, they splinter easily and can be dangerous. Some people say raw bones are OK but not cooked. I don't know.

Re: the diarrhoea- if it's not the milk, perhaps worms?

Nick-H

Good thought.

Worms is a certainty, yes. This is an almost-feral cat, so she will have them.

I don't want to upset things by forcing pills down anyone's mouths yet awhile.

Re the bones... wild, raw bird and other small creatures is what she will have been living on until she found we were a soft touch, so I'm not worried about the raw chicken bones --- but I'm not going to give her cooked bones, and I'm not going to cook meat for her.

I was told, very bluntly, by my previous cat that cooking meat ruins it. She would kill (Errr, well, obviously, I suppose ) for raw meat, but turned her nose up at once cooked. Except for ham; she had a thing about ham.

My previous cat had spent time as a stray too, and was capable of supporting herself on fresh bird.

__________________
.


Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Nick-H

Weaning? Don't talk to me about weaning! I've just spent a day stuck in a drainpipe, expecting it to be my last day, and I need real food!

Attached Thumbnails

 

SueJ

We were told when we last got kittens that unless a cat is given cows' milk when it is tiny, as part of weaning, then it will always get an upset tum when given it later in life. Since then we've totally avoided milk for our cats, saved a fortune (most of it was always left in the dish) and had fewer upset tum problems with cats.

The other thing we were told is that if a kitten is consistently and kindly handled by a minimum of 4 humans in thwe first few weeks of life then it sees humans as part of its family. Certainly true for one of our cats. She just KNOWS that we are of the same race as her and infinitely inferior......... ;-)

Nick-H

I've never given cows' milk before either, and found that if it is not given it is not missed.

When this cat first started calling we didn't have anything else to give her, and she got very excited when we gave her milk. SHe drinks water too.

vonkla

To cure the diarrhoea let the cat drink the water in which you boiled the rice.

__________________
.
See our travel journal Mumbai-Dehli in three months

Nick-H

Thanks for the hint. Will let her have some.

machadinha

Rice water is a very good tip (and de-worming of course, once she'll let you). Good for humans on diarrhea as well.

We feed our cats cow milk when they have mild constipation, not if they don't (let alone when they have diarrhea!) They seem to like it but will also lose interest after a few days (er, the milk being refreshed in the meantime, of course!) Don't overdo it on the dosages either, a small bowl a day for a couple of cats is just fine.

btw That feeding kitten is another cutesy pic Nick Hey, you'll realize not every cat out there will make it. Comes with the field, kind of. I've seen many get poisoned run over disappear altogether etc. where I lived, alas. I've seen many more others living a happy life, if perhaps not quite to the ripe old age they might achieve elsewhere, but at least living a free outdoors life in the meantime Anyway, it's fun to read about your arduous rescue and care-taking adventures.

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

Nick-H

Sure, I was saying to Mrs N today that we'd be very lucky to end up with three out of three adults!

We'll see.

I could worry all night... could definitely only find two last time I went out.

Mrs N says we've saved one life today, we must leave it to destiny.

shashank.aggarwal

If one is no supposed to give cows milk to that cat then what exactly should they be given...?? .

We are not a pet lover family, however being a hindu my dad believes in holiness of all forms of life..so we regularly feed animals..and we have a large rooftop and hence we always have a cat or two living there...and my dad often leaves a bowl of milk for the cats...

Infact I always believed that cats love milk and milk products as whenever a cat enters our kitchen (without our knowledge) their first target is the milk or curd vessel...


Wise words from a wise lady...this is the way most of things work there...

__________________
Travelogue - Around India
Random Reviews

mridula

What a saga Nick! I hope all of them are safe and the pipe is mended.

__________________
mridula

http://www.gonomad.com/traveltalesfromindia/

Nick-H

A route will be in place for the passage of water from our terrace to the soak pit by the time the rains come.

Every month, I will post pictures of Mrs N and I looking at the missing pipe, and repeat the same assurance.

We will go on doing this, even as the first showers of the 2008 monsoon actually fall.

I'm learning fast --- from the Tamil Nadu State Government. This transcends party politics, as the last lot did much the same.

Cats. Milk. They like it if they get used to it, then it will be a treat to them --- much the same as us really. My last cat in UK drank only water. I never gave her milk, and she never asked for it. Similar to us, I guess!

ScarletLSG

Gracious ... what a thread this is. I'm hooked on it, like a mad soap opera. NO CHICKEN BONES though Mr. Nick. They splinter quite easily and will destroy the digestive plumbing!! Otherwise have fun ... and let me help Mrs. N. with the nagging -- get that stinking pipe fixes already.

machadinha

My dear Mrs. M. is an animal caretaker Shashank, but she's also sound asleep after a day of doing just that. Will ask her for some tips later.

That cats-and-milk idea is of course a popular myth, and they will love it, but beyond that it doesn't seem to be much more than a myth. Between a starving cat and one with some milk though, I'm sure the latter gesture wouldn't be a bad move.

I suppose ready-made cat food may not be so easy to come by there, or expensive if it is (it is relatively so here). It should specify it's "complete" food anyway, or again, at least where I live, this has to do with national stipulations. This would indicate it has all the necessary ingredients, and preferably not too many additives. (Cat food will regularly feature sugar though. I know, don't ask me. It will get them hooked on that brand that's for sure. And no, of course it doesn't do them any good.)

There will be books on how to prepare your own pet meals, I suppose these will be available in decent Delhi bookstores, or otherwise on the web. Note that views on it will differ and change all the time, of course.

With milk and dairy in any case, I know it can easily cause stomach disorders as already described. It's just not very natural to most mammals, not even to humans. And they say as long as you take them you'll build up and maintain the enzymes to deal with them, yes; if you stop it, you lose that function. Not sure how strict that is, nor how it relates to cats. They're largely carnivores I think, whereas we are omnivores. (However with pet owners a common mistake is to feed them just meat because of it. Carnivores will eat the stomach and stuff too though, which provides them with the vegetable ingredients in there. Dogs need much more veggies and grains than cats in that sense, and canines will head for the stomach before anything else. Large felines as well I believe, come to think of it, I'm not sure.)

I know with dogs cheese is said to badly effect their sense of smell, which they much need. Not sure about cats; I believe cheese isn't very good for them anyway.