Cat Health

Delilah (aka levdubya) asked:


I know that spaying and neutering have health benefits for cats. It helps prevents cancers and removes the urges that cause them to roam and fight, among other things.

However, I have yet to discover what benefits declawing contributes to a cat’s health. So, my question is what does declawing do to benefit the cat?
So, if there is no benefit to the cat, then why would people do it their cats?
Surely it couldn’t be for selfish reasons, could it?
I would like to hear from people who believe there are benefits to the cat. Or, perhaps there aren’t any?
I’m having a hard time buying into the whole ‘rather have my fingers amputated than not live at all’ reasoning. Humans in civilized cultures would never have to face that decision. Amputation for anything other than a severe medical condition would be considered torture by any reasonable society and the offender would surely be prosecuted. You can’t tell me that having the tips of your fingers cut off would not have some negative impact on your well being.
This comment is for those wondering why I would ask this question when I’ve clearly indicated my views against declawing in other posts. The answer is simple. I think it is healthy for people to challenge their own viewpoints occassionally, especially those we feel very strongly about. I don’t want to fall into the trap of being so strongheaded about something that I fail to consider other possibilities. In this case, I wanted to make sure that I was not blindly missing some beneficial things. After all, declawing is legal in the US so I figured there might be good reason.

Based on the responses I’ve seen here, I think I’ll stay with my current viewpoint. However, one answer has a scenario I hadn’t considered before and I do agree that in that particular situation, declawing actually did benefit a cat’s health.

Rodney

cheetahangel1997 asked:


my cat is ill and is puking spit i am too poor to afford a vet he seems fine but is loosing weigt rapidly i truly love him and hees my baby he does not have sugar in his food and its science diet he is lactose and tolerant and has not had dairy in a long time he has food where he can get it he is short haired and does not have hairballs help

Nia

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz asked:


My cat overall seems just fine, he’s playful, looks healthy however under his right eye it looks like tears or a clear discharge… The eye itself looks just fine. I was just wondering if anyone else’s cat has had that before and if so what does it mean. I can also say that he is quite the curious and adventurous cat always getting into and looking at stuff so my thought is he got too close to something and it just irritated that eye. He has irritated one of his eyes before when he got to close to something that was hot and had steam coming from it and he was fine after one day.

Samuel

__A_YAHOO_USER__ asked:


My cat’s ears have been verry dirty lately and i have been having to clean hem out every day with like 2 q tips per ear. Please give me awnsers im worried about my kitty. she also goes outside.
the substance in her ear is like brown earwax and its grose looking im not sure its ear mites it just looks like a lot of earwax is it common for cats to have a lot of earwax?

Kyler

robbie347 asked:


My cat i found it stranded and took it in its still a very small kitten and i have had it for about 1 week now and just in the last 2-3 days her eye has become raw looking and kinda goey on the outside like when the get goo in teher ebut it looks really bad i have tried rinsing it out with war water and it just seems t be getting slightly worse. does anyone know what is wrong with her and how to fix it? or do i need to take her to the vet asap?

Brendan

rakimaco asked:


Our little calico (11 years old, an indoor cat that never goes out) seems to be having trouble hearing at times. My sister has told me that calico cats are prone to being deaf. Is this true?
Thank-you!
Rakimaco

Max

LPN in NEPA asked:


My partner and I have 2 cats, Barney (age 7) and Blake (age 14). Barney is perfectly happy with dry food, though he will eat wet food if he has no other choice. Blake, on the other hand, only likes wet food and will throw a temper tantrum if only given dry food.
Here in lies the problem. We have determined that the wet food is causing Blake to have diarhea and bloody stools, which he doesn’t get with dry food. So, we switched to dry food ONLY about 2 months ago. Barney LOVES it, but Blake is not happy. So, to appease Blake, my partner started giving him wet food on Sundays as a treat, and it doesn’t seem to bother him. But now Blake is protesting the dry food during the week.
He wakes us at least 2 hours before our scheduled wake up times DEMANDING wet food, every day. I say we give in and give it to him. After all, he is 14. Let him be happy in his old age. My partner says no, only on the weekends. Or maybe we should stop it altogether? HELP!!
Also, I have just started nursing school and I need plenty of sleep in order to be alert and ready to learn. I can’t do that with a whiny cat waking me up at 3am every morning. Sometimes he will just meow alot but other times he gets downright cranky and swats at my face with his claws out or tries to pull me out of bed with his jaws lightly clamped onto my hand.
Don’t say to close the bedroom door because we don’t have ANY doors in our apartment besides our entrance/exit.

Another part to this question is that Blake has been pulling out the hair on his stomach and tail ever since we stopped giving him wet food. I think its a stress relief for him, or, a nervous habit, such as biting one’s nails. How do we get him to stop this? If we go back to wet food every day, will he stop pulling out his hair? Is diarhea and bloody stools a major problem in an elderly cat?

I love Blake more than life itself and I only want him to happy. Please help.

Samantha

oneplus1is4 asked:


how rare is rare for a female cat to have crystals that cause a urinary blockage?

what happens to cats that have a damaged nerve that prevents them from passing urine?
have i taken her to a vet? pls…she is in surgery.

do you know the answers to my questions? cause the vet wont say yet. pls dont just say to wait…regardless of what she has, the original questions can still be answered, so if you know pls do say.

Fabian

vet girl asked:


cat vomiting when defecating ????
i would like to thank every one and to add that i mean it vomit in the same time that it defecate ?

Bailey