Conference misery::feline_v1

    This is not something I've ever seen my cats do.
    I'd make a trip to the vet regardless.
    
    Donna

    I agree with Donna - this sounds like a trip to the vet
    is in order - and perhaps very soon. Pat
    

    I just called the vet, he said this is not normal and could be Asthma,
    I have to bring her in Monday,  I read a note in this file about
    feline Asthma and did not like what I read.  Do any of you have
    a cat with Asthma ?  If Tisha does have Asthma and they want to
    put her on medication, should I let them ?  From what I have read
    this could cause kidney damage.  Tisha is only seven months old
    and a very fresh little girl but, I do love her and want to do what
    is best for her.

    ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I have been franticly going through this note
    file, the more I read the more scared I get.  I just called the
    vet and got an appointment for tommorow.  I will let you know Monday
    how I made out.

    Stay calm.  I agree that she should go to the vet, but maybe "breathing
    really weird" is because she has a hairball, or due to some other
    cause besides Asthma.
    

    I thought of asthma when I was replying but didn't put it
    into the note. One of my cats has asthma, and is - IS DOING
    FINE --- so please - if it is asthma -  don't panic. My Daisy has had
    it for about the past three or four years (she is about 9 years
    old). Sometimes it is bad and she takes medication for a short time 
    and it helps but she hasn't had an episode for a year now. Just
    within the past couple weeks her breathing is harder off and on
    during the day and/or night - I think maybe it has something to do 
    with the change in weather and things that go along with the 
    change - maybe pollens. Sometimes I put on a humidifier and I think 
    her breathing is easier. In any case- I also think MY REACTION to 
    her breathing is worse than her actual condition. Also, I wonder
    is stress can trigger an asthma attack. Again - after four years
    of this condition - which only appears once or twice a year -
    Daisy is fine 98% of the time, and the other 2% of the time I am
    definately worse than she is.
     
    
    

Maybe we need a better definition of what "breathing really weird" means.
Does it sort of sound like whooping (ie - the cat goes "whoop whoop")?
If so, the problem is most probably hairballs, especially if this is a
long-haired cat.  I'm not familiar with asthma, but I'm real familiar
with the sounds of bringing up a hairball.

Pam

    RE:.7 
    Tisha is a Siamese.  Her breathing is more a wheezing than a coughing.
    

    Cats can get allergies too which make them wheeze.
    And allergies come and go, can be treated or sometimes don't
    even need to be treated, as whatever causes the allergy goes away
    as quickly as it appears. If she acts like she does
    only part of the day - rather than all day - then she will
    most likely be fine maybe with some medications. 
    You know how kids are - they do these things to make their 
    moms worry. 

    

    RE:9
    
    The only place this breathing problem has happened to Tisha is in
    my bedroom !  It very well could be my perfumes (dresser full of
    them)! Interesting, I will mention it to the vet.  I am feeling
    better with that thought in mind.  I had poor puss dead and buried
    in my head.
    Thanks
    Eileen

    Yes!  Cats can get allergies.  Barney is 6 and has had allergies
    for most of his life - drippy/teary eyes with lots of puss, wheezing,
    and snoring.  The puss in his eyes got so bad that yesterday the
    vet operated on them and removed all the infected areas.  Now his
    eyes are clear and beautiful.  Don't worry about Tisha.  If it is
    an allergy, it's treatable just as in humans.
    
    Mary
    

Well, the vet will have suggestions as to the breathing....about the children,
however, I have one comment.

People often insist upon petting a cat when she/he DOES NOT WANT TO BE
PETTED...when that happens, the cat bites.  They also bite adults, but
adults are quick to note that means the cat wants to be left alone...
children are not so quick to realize this.  Even if the child is gentle,
it still doesn't mean the cat wants to be bothered right then.  A bite
is a normal way to say "leave me alone", and probably will continue to
happen....this behavior can even happen when the cat is on a lap, if
the cat wants the lap, but not the pat.  Noone said they weren't contrary
creatures...

If the cat feels slightly bad (as with allergies or something) this
behavior is likely to be more pronounced.

    Don't panic - cats sense moods very quickly and this will make the
    journey to the vets more of an ordeal than it should be.
    
    If it is asthma I believe that humans grow out of it, cats may be
    the same.
    
    It is now open season for furballs, so it could just be that, or
    the allergy mentioned in previous notes, it seems likely since she
    only does it in one place.
    
    Whatever the reason, you're doing the right thing taking her to
    the vets, will be thinking of you on Monday, let us know how she
    is.

    Had an exciting trip to the vet Sat.  The vet took a blood test
    for Feline Asthma, but she thinks it is furballs, she gave me medicine
    to mix with her food twice a week.  I am feeling a lot better about
    it.  Vet said Tisha had a real apple face, is that good ?
    
    As for the biting of my grandchildren, the best solution is to confine
    the cat to my bedroom while the children are visiting,  I love the
    cat but, I do not appreciate her using my grandchildren as a teething
    wring.  I want the children to grow up loving animals (all animals),
    to much of this biting will turn them against cats.  The children
    are young (the oldest is 6) and easy to scare, I don't want them
    afraid of cats, and I don't want them to think anything is off limits
    in their grandmothers house.  I think Tisha would just a soon stay
    in my room when the tribe arrives anyway.
    
    Thank you all for your help
    Eileen

    Niniane wheezes once in a while and so does Charm.  I mentioned
    this to my vet, and he said that some cats, and especially Siamese,
    are suseptible to allergies and that the wheezing probably meant
    she was allergic to something (since I keep them in the basement,
    we concurred on concrete dust.  It evens makes my asthma act up.
    We'll be painting the floor and walls in the Spring to keep the
    dust down).  Niniane and Charm are both Siamese. They don't wheeze
    badly enough to be on medication, but once in a while as they are
    snoozing on my lap, I can hear them.
    
    As far as the biting, Siamese can be fiercely loyal, one-person
    cats who are very tempermental.  My first Siamese, Lucky, bless
    her soul was a one-person cat who was not above taking a chunk out
    of your hand when she was finished with your attentions.  We loved
    her dearly, but we all bore her scars! My two ladies now seem to
    be the exception rather than the rule - two affectionate, sociable,
    non-biting Siamese who seem to be wonderfully patient with children.
    All I hear from my guests is, "Are you sure these are Siamese?"
    
    Guess I'm just lucky!
    
    Mary-Michael
    
    P.S.  "Apple-headed" or an apple shaped face is a current purebred
          trait in a Siamese.  The former standard was wedge-shaped
          or triangular head.  I have a apple-headed, round-eyed Siamese 
          and a wedge-headed, slant-eyed Siamese.  One looks perpetually
          surprised, the other perpetually confused!  ;-)  But I love
          them both!

    Biting is a way of *teaching* little ones to be cautious around
    cats . . . a lesson well worth the learning.  Little ones, tho',
    are sometimes slow learners, so should probably be separated.
    
    Little ones too, should learn that SOME things ARE off limits at
    grandmother's house . . . or ANYone's house . . . especially things
    that could hurt them.  Grandmothers and cats (also dogs, and other
    animals) are teachers, like it or not.

    Gee I thought that the wedge was current and that the apple head
    was the face of past.  I sure see a bunch of real sharp wedges
    at the shows these days.

    Re: siamese and kids
    
    Little Khalife from next door, who is half Siamese
    (meeeeeeeoooooowwwwwww) is great with their little girl.
    

    RE: .15
    Tisha is appleheaded but slant eyed.
    
    re: 16 
    Thanks for your advice, but I think I will continue to keep children
    and Tisha apart.

    So glad the vet thinks that it is furballs.  Anything oily helps
    smooth them down, I give my two pilchards in oil (I've stopped giving
    them pilchards in tomato sauce because Tarot loves the tomato sauce
    so much that he eats that and leaves the pilchards).
    
    Let us know the results of the asthma test.
    
    Re the biting.  Some cats just don't like small children, they behave
    differently from the adults that they are used to.  Keeping them
    apart seems to be the best option for now, there's plenty of time
    for them to get the cat bug like the rest of us!

    A couple things...first, allergies...my Honey is allergic to down,
    and since my bed is covered with a down comforter, I try to keep
    him away from it.  If he curls up on it, he will usually end up
    wheezing and snoring away (drives me nuts!).  Second, as gentle
    and affectionate as he is, he is terrified of small children and
    will hiss at the sight of one.
    
    Isn't it amazing how the sound of an impending hairball attack (within
    1000 meters) can wake you from a sound sleep???
    
    Mary

>    Isn't it amazing how the sound of an impending hairball attack (within
>    1000 meters) can wake you from a sound sleep???

    It sure does it to me, and I once slept through a fire alarm going
    off right outside my college dorm room.

    Argus sometimes makes funny noises while he sleeps but it has never
    been anything to really worry about. He has a very loud snore and
    refuses to roll over. He is also the affectionate type (gets real
    close so that he can snore in my ear).
    
    Deb

    Asthma test came out negative.  Tisha has not been weezing since
    I started giving her medication.  
    
    Thank you all