New To The Breed, Is This Normal?

[Snapcrcklpop]

I am new to the breed and I just wanted to get some opinions from you guys! My new kitten will be 17 weeks on Thursday. He came with a full bill of health from the breeder and has since seen the vet twice where he was pronounced healthy. I was always under the impression that kittens were very active, but this is the most lazy kitten in the world. He just wants to lie in your lap literally all day, and if my fiance or I get up he just follows us around a yells until we sit again. When we first brought him home we were seeing about 30 minutes of play out of him a day but now we are lucky if we get 5 to 10. He was neutered early so part of me thinks he is just a lazy kitten by nature. The breeder described him as laid back and mentioned that "he got a wild hair once in a while". He also has an odd feeding schedule; he will not eat dry food so we essentially are giving him all of the wet food he will eat right now. He eats a huge meal in the evening and he will more or less pick at his food the rest of the day until the evening comes again. He does not seem to be losing weight and my vet was not concerned about this so I guess that is just how he wants to eat? Lastly I am constantly wiping eye boogers out of his eyes and he seems to get congested and sneezy when it is chilly. The doctor took a look at the discharge when I first got him and said it was just normal drainage due to lack of eyelashes. I guess I just wanted to know if you guys thought I am being an over protective helicopter mom and that this is all just him being him? It's hard not to worry about him, he is so perfect and handsome

 

[Catzzzmeow]

The eye booger thing is correct. All of mine have them. The normal color for the discharge is a reddish orange kind of color. If it is yellowish/greenish it usually is a sign of an infection.

All kittens/cats activity level vary. I too would be a bit concerned if he really becomes lethargic. There is a difference and with lethargy usually comes lack of appetite etc. But from what you are saying he eats well once a day and is not losing weight...but is he gaining weight? That is also another important part of the equation. There is nothing wrong with having a healthy lap cat...lol. Are you introducing new toys. Da Bird toy is one that most go wild over...you might give it a try.

As far as the sneezing etc. Are you using L-Lysine? If not, you might give it a try. We use it every day here. Below is a link for more information on it.

L-Lysine for Sphynx Cats


Patti

 

[Toa and Ross]

Hello @Snapcrcklpop and welcome to sphynxlair for you and your boy!

Your boy sure sounds lazy!. I think it's ikportant to find out if he's really lazy or if there's something wrong with him. Playing only 15 minutes a day is not something that's usual. Does he sleep with you during the night? Or is it possible he is active at night?
Is it possible to feed him more small portions of wet food during day to see if this helps him play?

And how will he react when you want to play with a toy with him? Lot of sphynxes get crazy for playing with Da Bird or a laser light.

And is your boy growing and gaining weight? Is his poop normal? Does he pee enough? One of my boys was lethergic the first 4-5 months. He only played for like 5-10 minutes a day and slept the rest of the day. He had diarrhea and didn't have any energy and didn't grow. Now the diarrhea stopped he's very active and plays a lot with his brother!

The eye boogies are normal. My house is almost covered by it.

Hope you'll be able to find out if your boy is just lazy or if he's not feeling well!

 

[Snapcrcklpop]

He seems to have firm stool, with 2 cats it can be hard but I haven't seen any diarrhea in any boxes so yay! When I try to get him to play laser pointer he gets wild eyed and acts like he wants to and then usually cries and crawls into my lap. He is always really excited to see us when we get home and demands to be held. If we don't hold him he usually lies down in his hammock on the cat tree. At night he could be more active. He mostly licks my face which is his favorite passtime, but when I don't allow him that pleasure he leaves the bed though I don't know where he goes or what he does (I take his collar off at night because he can't groom around it, so I can't hear the jingle ). I caught him wrestling briefly with his housemate yesterday but as soon as he sees one of us he stops and runs to us. I try to get him to eat more but he gets distracted and I have to chase him around with the food bowl and remind him he's hungry. He ate Iams really well but has switched to the odd feeding schedule since we finished the slow switch over to a higher quality brand. Part of me thinks I should switch back to the Iams but we see SO many male cats block on Iams. I don't have a scale at home and don't want to bring him to work (unless I have to of course) with me until his final FVRCP has a chance to fully protect him. He has always been on the small side, his last weight was 2.6 lbs. The lysine may not be a bad idea, I may bring him in with me for pm treatments tonight and weigh him. I am an LVT and even I am a little concerned. But he has had so many healthy check ups! It is puzzling.

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Trust your gut. If you feel something is up, then it is a great idea to log his weight each week and any other concerns.

Patti

 

[Snapcrcklpop]

I just sat with him and watched him eat 1/3 of a can (and redirected him when he got distracted haha). He's napping now so we shall see what his activity level does when he sleeps off his food coma. If he hasn't gained any weight when I weigh him tonight I'm going to schedule him another appointment for this week. Tha k you so much everyone for being so welcoming and helpful! I'm so happy to be part of this community. I will add some pictures to my introductory thread in a bit

 

[Snapcrcklpop]

We switched back to what the breeder was originally feeding and he is eating that a tiny bit better. He feels worse today, definitely more lethargic and his weight is down. I brought him to see a different vet today and we sent off a full panel of blood work to IDEXX Lab. Until that comes back we are monitoring his weight carefully. Hopefully we will get him feeling better soon! He was such a little champ for getting his blood drawn though. I have him on some hot water bottles so he doesn't have to spend extra energy keeping warm. My poor baby =(

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Great idea about the hot water bottle. Lair Prayers are sent your baby starts feeling better soon. You will have no regrets getting that second opinion and tests done. Please keep us updated.

Patti

 

[Toa and Ross]

Sending healing vibes to your boy. Hope the vet finds out what is wrong and it turns out to be an easy solved health issue!

 

[Snapcrcklpop]

Thanks guys!

 

[Snapcrcklpop]

We also started another round of dewormer, and we are treating a very minor eye infection. Between the treatments, heat and almost a whole can of food he seems more perky! He is certainly loving all the extra pampering!

 

[Xandria]

Here's hoping that you just have a princess kitty! Sending you healing vibes and positive thoughts.

 

[Snapcrcklpop]

You guys! I got home and gave him more food and confined him to my heated hedgie room for a nap. When I went to check on him after dinner he was wild! He played hard for a good 30 minutes and probably would have played longer if I didn't have to leave to do a quick errand. I haven't seen him play hard like that since the weekend we brought him home! Things are looking up for baby Radar!

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Oh good. Have worried from afar. Keep updating us. I hope he drives you nuts with crazy energy...lol.

Patti

 

[Snapcrcklpop]

You and me both hahaha

 

[Toa and Ross]

You guys! I got home and gave him more food and confined him to my heated hedgie room for a nap. When I went to check on him after dinner he was wild! He played hard for a good 30 minutes and probably would have played longer if I didn't have to leave to do a quick errand. I haven't seen him play hard like that since the weekend we brought him home! Things are looking up for baby Radar!

Yeah! So happy to hear this. Keep on going Radar!!

 

[Snapcrcklpop]

Blood work was pretty normal for the stress his body was experiencing at the time of draw. One of his liver values was slightly off but that could be a result of weight loss. We are going to keep cruising for now and carefully monitor him. If he doesn't get better we will investigate that rogue liver value further to look for a shunt. Hoping to come home to a happy bouncy kitten again this evening!

 

[Hairless Blessing]

You guys! I got home and gave him more food and confined him to my heated hedgie room for a nap. When I went to check on him after dinner he was wild! He played hard for a good 30 minutes and probably would have played longer if I didn't have to leave to do a quick errand. I haven't seen him play hard like that since the weekend we brought him home! Things are looking up for baby Radar!

This is great news. Maybe, the food change, back, is exactly what
he needed.

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Glad to hear that blood work looked good.

 

[HappyLilSphynx]

Glad to hear he's doing better (if that's him in the picture, he's a super handsome boy!) Hopefully he'll continue to perk up - but as someone said, trust your gut feeling. My little one has been asymptomatic, but was diagnosed with heart issues at her first annual exam - if I hadn't brought her in, I never would have known. Also, when the regular vet hospital said she didn't have long left, I brought her to a university's cardiac care unit (it's a multi-hour drive, but it's one of the best animal cardiac programs in the country). It was expensive, but they had more info about the correct blood thinner, etc., and have said they've seen cats in worse shape that have lived for a few years (it depends on the cat, how they react to meds, how "on top" of medical care and changes the owner is, the condition's progression, etc.) Long story short - I trusted my instinct, and know that my girl is on the correct meds (the vet had her on half of a baby asprin every 3 days, while the cardiologist changed that to 1/4 of a 75mg tablet every day because new research shows this works MUCH better than asprin - and, at her follow up, the cardiologist didn't see any "shadow" in her heard to indicate that a blood clot was forming).

 

[Snapcrcklpop]

Was a little worried that Radar was going back down hill today. But after a nice bath, a huge meal and a nap in the electric blanket he is energized. He is bouncing between the 2 of us demanding attention, head butting us, rubbing on us and licking my face, and is chirping and trying to get the demon hand under the blanket. All the while purring up a storm. So proud of my little fighter ♡

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Another great update...keep going Radar!!

 

[Toa and Ross]

Yeah Radar, keep growing strong!!

 

[HappyLilSphynx]

I didn't think about this earlier, but one of the things I did for my sweet girl was to get a heated mattress pad (it's fairly warm where I live, but we still have seasonal weather). It doesn't get overly hot, and it automatically shuts off after a certain number of hours. I tried it while I was home first (of course!) and loved getting into a bed that wasn't freezing in the evening. In the colder months, I reset the mattress pad before I leave for work in the mornings (some days, I can be gone for 12+ hours at a time when I'm working both jobs) and know that my little peanut always has a warm place to snuggle throughout the day (and a bonus for me in the evenings - let's face it, it's really her bed and I just sleep there ). I don't know what your schedule is, but if Radar is home alone that might be a safe option to give him a warm space when he's home alone

 

[Snapcrcklpop]

When I'm home I set up my electric blanket (which has an automatic shut off for him) Lately we have been confining him to his bedroom when we are at work so he has extra time to graze on his food (his housemate is a piglet). He shares his bedroom with our hedgie so that particular room is always cozy. He seems more and more lively lately, I still think he's pretty lazy and doesn't play a ton but he moves freely about the house meowing and chirping at everyone instead of being all hunched in a corner. He is also eating like a pig. He goes back for his recheck tomorrow to see how much he has gained