A little about the kitties... (and a request for advice)

[niwikki]

Sheba's a spayed female Bombay black-haired cat, around 4 years old. I used to take her outside on her harness, but haven't done that at the new place for fear she'll scare away all the birds. She's an absolute sweetie, loves everyone, is curious about everything, and is patient with the world. Recently she has reclaimed my bed (which Graham

Comments

I'd say not to worry.

[thenea]

I am not a vet, but...

My girl cat licks me all the time if she can. I think I've trained her not to wake me up in the middle of the night to groom my face, but when I'm petting her all bets are off. She'll lick whatever bits of my skin her tongue can reach. I've never heard that licking is a sign of Leukemia but that doesn't mean it isn't, but I think you'd see her start to lose weight and such before she considered licking you as a possible source of nutrients.

As for scooting butts on the carpet, I hate it, but both my cats have done it occasionally. If he's only done it twice I would worry too much. Check his rear to see if there is a cling-on or something, but don't panic unless he's doing it all the time. Then it's possible he may have an irritation, infected glands, a parasite, or bowel problems. If you start to notice patterns you may want to give your vet a call.

Just my 2 cents.

Re: I'd say not to worry.

[niwikki]

thanks, that makes me feel better. :)

[gyrbyl]

[I am not an LVT (yet). This is just my thoughts on the matter -- for medical advice, see a veterinarian or an LVT working under the directions of a veterinarian who has seen your pet

[niwikki]

Thanks. Sheba hasn't had any loss of body condition (she *has* lost a good amount of body fat since I first took her in to foster her in October or November, but she needed to lose that -- she's a healthy 11 lbs now, as compared to Graham's somewhat oversized 15 lbs...), so I'm not going to worry about her licking -- instead I'll just enjoy it

[gyrbyl]

A few common small-animal parasite names (just to see if anything rings a bell):
Giardia
Coccidia
Toxocara (roundworm)
Toxascaris (roundworm)
Mesocestoides (tapeworm)
Dipylidium (tapeworm)
Diphyllobothrium (tapeworm)
Taeniid-type (tapeworm)
Ancyclostoma (hookworm)
Uncinaria (hookworm)
Paragonimus (lung fluke)
Physaloptera (stomach worm)
Trichuris (whipworm)
Capillaria

Yipes -- sounds hard with the meds! Glad to hear he takes other things OK...

You might try mixing the liquid into a canned cat food or tuna to see if he'll eat it that way. Also, some cats with sensitive gag reflexes do better if you put the syringe in through the side of the mouth and squirt the medicine into the mouth instead of the throat -- they'll making chewing motions and get it all over their face, but they still get enough into them to do them some good.