Evelyn Mali
Lairian
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2016
- Messages
- 6
- Points
- 4
Hi!
I want to start this by saying I am DESPERATE and I really, really need help.
I'm from Norway and I bought my first cat, a sphynx called Lykke (whitch means happiness).
She is one and a half years old, and castrated.
When I got her she was in a really bad state coming from a home with bad animal abuse.
When I went to the vet with her for her first checkup, I quickly learned that all information I got from the "breeder" was completely wrong (which i suspected).
The vet had never seen claws that badly cut before, way into the nerves.
So she had pain walking and she never got into using scratching posts because she was used to having so much pain in her paws. And believe me, I bought every kind there is and did everything I could to get her to use them.
(Her claws healed a long time ago and she is fine now)
Luckly I had the oppertunity to spend all hours of the day with her, and she quickly became the happiest cat in the world with a lot of love and care.
I did everything by the book to try and get her used to me cutting her claws. I spent one week cutting one claw and got her used to me touching her paws. We made progress but then the problems started:
She got a bad rash on her tummy, and we ended up having to amputate one of her nipples because she wouldn leave it alone, even when it was completely healed.
And then she started having troubles with her ears, constantly putting her whole leg in there and scratch herself bloody.
She had to wear a cone for what I feel is way too long, but we had no choice.
I have taken her to the vet once a month for a year now, and they can't seem to find anything wrong with her ears, but she still won't stop shaking her head and scratching excessively.
All of this, and all the vet trips and ear rinsings and medicine have caused her to get skittish. And it makes me so sad because we have come so far from the day I got her from her terrible first home.
Now I can't get close to cutting her claws or rinsing her ears, and I have to go to the vet every month to sedate her so the vet can cut and rinse. I am not comfterable with this at all, altough the vet says that because of the time inbetween she won't have any physical damage from the sadations.
But every time we go to the vet she feels more unsafe and afraid and I hate that seeing as she became the safest cat in the world after a lot of work.
We can't keep doing this, and my vet has no other suggestions for what to do.
We don't have any cat behavourist in Norway so that is not an option.
Again, I do everything by the book when I am getting her used to things, slowly and patiently. And we made progress until she got sick and we had to give her lots of medicine and care. Now she is so sick of it she tolerates nothing.
I have no clue what to do, the only thing I know is that I am not comfertable sedating her once a month, and everytime we come home from the vet she is more scared and skittish than the last time.
I have also wondered if the excessive ear scratching is some kind of mental issue since there is nothing physically wrong, and since she would not stop scratching and ended up biting her own nipple of even though the rash arond it was completely healed.
I really, really hope someone can help us. I gave her the name Happiness because she is my everything, and she became the happiest cat in the world, so I can't stand seeing her happiness fading away.
Excuse my spelling mistakes, english is not my first language.
And thank you in advace for any help and advice.
I want to start this by saying I am DESPERATE and I really, really need help.
I'm from Norway and I bought my first cat, a sphynx called Lykke (whitch means happiness).
She is one and a half years old, and castrated.
When I got her she was in a really bad state coming from a home with bad animal abuse.
When I went to the vet with her for her first checkup, I quickly learned that all information I got from the "breeder" was completely wrong (which i suspected).
The vet had never seen claws that badly cut before, way into the nerves.
So she had pain walking and she never got into using scratching posts because she was used to having so much pain in her paws. And believe me, I bought every kind there is and did everything I could to get her to use them.
(Her claws healed a long time ago and she is fine now)
Luckly I had the oppertunity to spend all hours of the day with her, and she quickly became the happiest cat in the world with a lot of love and care.
I did everything by the book to try and get her used to me cutting her claws. I spent one week cutting one claw and got her used to me touching her paws. We made progress but then the problems started:
She got a bad rash on her tummy, and we ended up having to amputate one of her nipples because she wouldn leave it alone, even when it was completely healed.
And then she started having troubles with her ears, constantly putting her whole leg in there and scratch herself bloody.
She had to wear a cone for what I feel is way too long, but we had no choice.
I have taken her to the vet once a month for a year now, and they can't seem to find anything wrong with her ears, but she still won't stop shaking her head and scratching excessively.
All of this, and all the vet trips and ear rinsings and medicine have caused her to get skittish. And it makes me so sad because we have come so far from the day I got her from her terrible first home.
Now I can't get close to cutting her claws or rinsing her ears, and I have to go to the vet every month to sedate her so the vet can cut and rinse. I am not comfterable with this at all, altough the vet says that because of the time inbetween she won't have any physical damage from the sadations.
But every time we go to the vet she feels more unsafe and afraid and I hate that seeing as she became the safest cat in the world after a lot of work.
We can't keep doing this, and my vet has no other suggestions for what to do.
We don't have any cat behavourist in Norway so that is not an option.
Again, I do everything by the book when I am getting her used to things, slowly and patiently. And we made progress until she got sick and we had to give her lots of medicine and care. Now she is so sick of it she tolerates nothing.
I have no clue what to do, the only thing I know is that I am not comfertable sedating her once a month, and everytime we come home from the vet she is more scared and skittish than the last time.
I have also wondered if the excessive ear scratching is some kind of mental issue since there is nothing physically wrong, and since she would not stop scratching and ended up biting her own nipple of even though the rash arond it was completely healed.
I really, really hope someone can help us. I gave her the name Happiness because she is my everything, and she became the happiest cat in the world, so I can't stand seeing her happiness fading away.
Excuse my spelling mistakes, english is not my first language.
And thank you in advace for any help and advice.