He peed on my bed?

[NatashaHodnett]

Dixon (the Bengal) is and Tisserie isn’t yet but will be when he’s 6 months old. As for his pee I think it’s a pretty normal amount, sometimes more depending how much he eats. (I force him to drink a crap ton of water when I rehydrate his freeze dried raw food I usually add extra water just so he gets a good amount)

Now that you say that my neighbour has a cat that he lets roam around and he may come up to my window to investigate while I’m at work? He only started roaming the house recently where the 3 other cats are so they have had a lot more interaction than before so I suppose it could quite likely be stress. He still gets trapped in room with me overnight and when me and my friend are not home so maybe he could be annoyed that he’s trapped in the room?

I will call the vet tomorrow and ask about the shots and pee sample as well, and I will not be getting him the FIV! His shot the other day was for distemper and then his next will be rabies!

update: No more accidents yet with daily scooping!

 

[NatashaHodnett]

Update: there has still been no accidents so I’ve concluded he was just adjusting and a little stressed out

. I unfortunately found out some very sad news at our vet appointment today. He finished off his distemper and rabies vaccinations but the vet said he appears to have a heart murmur. I’ve done some research on this and have seen that it isn’t uncommon for kittens under 5 months to have a murmur when they are hitting a growth spurt and there was no mention of a murmur his last 2 appointments. I was instructed to come back in 4 months for a recheck and see if it has subsided. Does anyone have experience with heart murmurs in kittens? I know it could possibly be harmless but I am quite worried about it, especially given the fact the estimate for all the testing was around $750 (not including possible medication for treatment) and since his insurance hasn’t went through yet it won’t be covered (because it’s a “pre-existing” condition) . I obviously would sell an arm and a leg for my boy but I haven’t had enough time to save that much money for vet bills yet since I got him so recently (I put into a savings account for vet bills every paycheque)

he weighs 1.75KG and has gained weight since his last appointment a couple weeks ago

thanks in advance

 

[Condo commando]

I'm sorry for the bad news. I have a sphynx with a heart murmur so I've done some research. The only difference is mine was detected when he was 5 years old. I don't have experience with a murmur in a kitten; hopefully someone else can chime in on that.

So then step 1 assuming the murmur doesn't go away, you need to figure out if the murmur is due to a heart problem or something else. For example, I read that anemia can cause a heart murmur. So basically your vet needs to find "something" wrong with your cat or your cat's heart, in order to say that specific thing is what is causing the murmur. My vet recommended a chest xray. It showed that one chamber of the heart was enlarged. That is what was causing the murmur. So figuring that out was step 1.

The second step was a proBNP blood test. This is something that you can have done every year when you go for the annual exam. I have always done the complete blood count anyway, and it turned out my vet had a package that included the complete blood count PLUS the proBNP for less than the price of both things together. So ask what options they have. Blood testing is much less expensive that a heart scan. My cat had all these blood tests done and he was actually in the normal range, so he doesn't need medicines at this time. He needs to be tested every year though.

The point of getting the proBNP is to establish a "baseline" for your cat. Without going into a lot of detail, suffice it to say you would redo the proBNP test every year, and if the number you get from the test changes, that is a sign that the heart problem is advancing and your vet would recommend further steps. But if the number doesn't change, my vet said we could wait to do a scan. Important - you want to do the first proBNP as early as you can in order to establishs the baseline and monitor changes.

The third thing you can do is make sure your cat gets omega 3's in his diet. Omega 3's are good anyway but for cats with heart failure a certain amount of omega 3's is part of the recommended therapy. What I decided to do is give my Sphynx with the murmur the same amount of omega 3's that they recommend for cats with heart failure. He's not there but it won't hurt him. The recommended amount is 40 mg/kg eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) + 25 mg/kg docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) per day.

And finally, another supplement that is sometimes recommended for heart disease is CoQ10. You can google this as well as the other things.

 

[Yoda mom]

@NatashaHodnett ((hugs))) hopeful a youngster ghost murmur that disappears on recheck. perhaps stress related from the office visit.
my oldest I was told has a grade 3 murmur , now 9 1/2 years old and no issues.
my vet did tell me their listening grading is subjective.
You can do a scan at a year old.

@Catzzzmeow has posted great info about murmurs.

Grades of a murmur and what they mean

We often hear about cats/kittens having murmurs. We hear they are graded in severity from grade 1 through grade 6. I thought sharing exactly what those grades mean might be helpful to many as most only hear the number. Just a reminder some kittens outgrow murmurs in their first year and that a...

sphynxlair.com

hugs and head smooches.

 

[NatashaHodnett]

Thank you both very much, that puts my mind at ease for the time being!

 

[NatashaHodnett]

First off I hope it’s okay that I keep posting unrelated questions in this thread! If not please let me know

So I know that trouble swallowing Is sometimes a symptom of a heart condition and I just wanted to make sure this isn’t what’s going on.

Tisserie is a RAVENOUS eater, and an endless stomach! sometimes he will gag for a couple seconds while eating then go right back in for more. I’ve never actually seen him throw up just kind of cough/gag a couple times and then he’s fine. I’ve always just assumed that he was coughing because he eats like a monster! Should I be concerned? And if this is a normal thing how can I slow down his eating? I don’t want him to choke!! I was thinking of getting a slow feeding bowl and seeing how that works out. I feed him every morning and evening slightly more than the recommended portion size. I’ve tried giving him food until he stops eating because I thought I was starving him but he does not stop eating. He’s steadily gaining weight (about a pound and a half as of Monday since his last aptmnt 3 weeks ago) and the vet said he’s happy with his weight.

Thanks!

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Try getting a slow feeder dish

it could be the scarf and barf issue some have from simply eating too fast. As far as posting questions. If it is not something related to the original thread, it is more likely to be looked at by others and not missed if you start a new thread. Many will see the title of the thread and think they responded if that makes sense. Happy to see you making your way around the community.

 

[NatashaHodnett]

Thank you kindly! I’ll pick one up today and let you know how it works out!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Thank you kindly! I’ll pick one up today and let you know how it works out!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

GREAT...Let’s hope it does the trick. Will be looking for your update.

 

[NatashaHodnett]

Update: switched over to a commercial raw food and the choking issue has stopped. Unfortunately I have discovered an even bigger problem. He has been pooping under everything in my entire house and I didn’t realize until now-my mom found it and is very unhappy. I have no idea why as the litter boxes are perfectly clean, I am at a loss. My mom want me to keep him locked up in my room until he stops which I do not want to do. Could this be because he’s not neutered and the other 3 are? I don’t know what to do!!!!!!!

 

[NatashaHodnett]

I’ve read that I should try a different litter, what do you guys use? Also every single litter box in the house is a different size/shape and only one of them has a hood. So I don’t think the physical litter box is the issue.

 

[sphynxmommy1]

I’ve always used fresh step clumping cat litter, and I’ve never had any issues. I do clean the litter boxes each morning and again at night. I know with Sphynx, litter can hurt their naked feet, so maybe that’s why your baby is going outside the box? I also have a total of 6 litter boxes in my house with 4 cats. My Sphynx boy Edward who is 10 months old and not yet neutered, my sons kitten that is a Sphynx Persian mix who is 4 months old and not yet spayed, and 2 black cats we rescued that are actual sisters both are spayed. And none of them have had any issues. I never change brands, I always buy the same brand and formula. I noticed my Sphynx like the open litter boxes with high sides and a high back we have 2 of those, we also have 2 booda box litter boxes, one self cleaning box, and one small open top litter tray.

 

[Sheldon13]

Yes how many litter boxes do you have? You might have said and I missed it. Definitely a good idea to have a couple different types of litter for options.

On another note, I’m really glad the raw diet is working out for him.

Are you planning on getting him neutered in the future?


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[NatashaHodnett]

I have two litter boxes for my boy but we do have 3 other cats in the house that aren’t mine. There is only 2 litter boxes between the other 3 and I know they don’t clean their boxes as often as I do, so I suppose that might be the issue. The current litter I use is wood pellets as I chose to stay away from clay litters because of the potential for it to harm their respiratory systems (if it has the same effect on cats as is does on ferrets that is, I used to have a couple rescue ferrets and learned a lot about clay litter not being good for them so I assumed the same would apply to cats-but don’t quote me on that). I know you can get a corn cob clumping litter but it costs an arm an a leg. and yes I do plan on getting him neutered in the next couple months! I will try and convince my friend and sister to get more litter boxes But That conversation hasn’t went so well in the past lol

 

[NatashaHodnett]

Has anyone every tried using shavings as litter? My coworker was saying that her cats started using her rabbits shavings as litter and it’s all that she uses now and it works well for her. So I’m just curious if anyone has tried this for sphynx kitties?

Thanks again I’m advance you have all been so helpful!!

 

[Sheldon13]

Mind never liked any kind of pelleted litter. She refused to use it. You mentioned corn, but there is also wheat, walnut, grass, and pine that all come in little absorbent crumbles. In my opinion grass litter is superior. SmartCat is the well known brand but is expensive. I buy a dupe off Chewy’s that is half the price called “Frisco” cat grass litter. A 20 lb bag lasts me 2 months for 1 cat so you can expect 1 month for your 2 cats. That would be $25 a month. Not too bad. You can price some of the other types I’ve mentioned and see if they would be in your range. I’m telling you though, you get bang for your buck with grass litter and it lasts forever.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[Sheldon13]

These are just Chewy’s prices, mind you.

Pine:
Feline Pine Scoop Clumping Cat Litter, 14 lb, $14.49, $1.04/lb
Zero Mess by World’s best, 24 lb, $29.99, $1.25/lb

Corn:
World’s Best Multi-cat, 28 lb, $27.99, $1/lb
Nature’s Miracle Corn Cob, 18 lb, $14.15, $0.78/lb

Wheat:
sWheat Scoop Multi-cat, 25 lb, $18.66, $0.75/lb

Walnut:
Naturally Fresh Multi-cat, 26 lb, $21.99, $0.85/lb
Nature’s Miracle Clumping, 10 lb, $12.53, $1.25/lb

Grass:
Frisco, 20 lb, $25.99, $1.30/lb
SmartCat, 20 lb, $35.86, $1.79/lb


These are just examples. There are some more there too.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[Sheldon13]

I also had a thought that you might use a litter attractant. I would still change his litter texture to crumbles though, either way.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[Condo commando]

@Sheldon13 did I read right that you came back around to grass litter? If so, you can add to your list that Petco has their own grass litter now too. Their brand is called SoPhresh. It comes in scented and unscented; if you want it to be the same as SmartCat and Frisco you need to get the unscented one. The price is usually in between the other 2, but Petco has a lot of coupons so you can score a great deal like that.

You were talking about bang for the buck and I agree. The reason why grass litter lasts so long is a matter of volume vs weight. Say for example that you take 2 identical litter boxes and fill them with 2 different kinds of litter. Both boxes would contain the same volume. However, the weight would almost certainly be different. Lighter litter gives you more volume pound for pound; heavier litter gives you less volume.

Even though I really, really like grass litter, I have to admit I'm curious about pine pellets. They sure are cheap for one thing. For another thing, I've heard that the wood powder doesn't hardly smell. I know for a fact those grass and urine clumps stink to high heaven.

 

[Sheldon13]

Oh I never left grass litter! Been using it for 3 years now and couldn’t be happier. I think it’s superiority also comes in the clumping ability. There’s a video out there of SmartCat people throwing clumps at a brick wall and they just voice off rather than breaking.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[Sheldon13]

Playing with a ball of it


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[Condo commando]

Yup it clumps really well and the clumps don't break when I'm scooping. I've posted before that I never, ever dump out all the litter. All I do is every few weeks transfer the litter to a clean box and keep going. If ever there is urine smell coming from the litter box area, I figured out it's actually coming from the box itself because pee goes all the way through and touches the bottom.

Some cheap litters don't form a tight clump and when you scoop, you end up with little pieces of dirty litter being left behind. After a while you have to dump the whole thing out. Sometimes cheap litter isn't as cheap as it looks.

Edit: I'm still intrigued by the wood pellets though. I've heard great things from a pet groomer as well as one of my neighbors that volunteers at a rescue. And if I wasn't willing to try anything new, I'd still be using clay litter ugh.

 

[NatashaHodnett]

Wow I had no idea they made grass litter!! I’m in Canada so I’m not sure I could get it from either of those places? But I will look into it in my area and find away to get my hands on some! Thanks