Jinksy!bear has FEELINGS about the results of his vet visit
Jinksy's main diagnosis: a probable flea allergy. The slightly scabby/rashy patch on the back of his neck, buried under his floof, is an allergic reaction, and while we've literally not seen a single flea in the house, the vet tech did find a bit of flea dirt on poor Jinksy when she combed through his fur. So we're assuming that at least a few fleas got into the house and bit him. ;_; We got medication for the cats and also picked up something to treat the house with if we see any actual sign of fleas.
Neither cat has been scratching more than usual--the bit of unhappy-feeling (to our fingers) skin on Jinksy's neck doesn't seem to be bothering him--but it does seem like he's been grooming more than usual. No raw skin or fur loss, fortunately, but he did have a couple of hairballs in the last week or two, which is more than usual for him.
Jinksy's feelings about being treated with Advantage II (the once-a-month flea treatment you put on the backs of their necks, which either didn't exist back when I lived with and had cats with my parents or else they never opted for, for some reason): fairly neutral. He didn't enjoy having it applied, but didn't seem too bothered. The main issue seemed to be being kept in the upper half of the house for a couple of hours while Claudia was in the lower half, so they wouldn't groom each other's medicine off before it dried. (Claud had the same treatment and responded similarly. [For our own reference: Advantage II was what the vet recced, rather than some other mainstream treatment option, because of Claud's wee heart murmur.])
Jinksy's feelings about the OTC antihistamine we started giving him tonight: took his half pill in a pill pocket with no complaint, so we guess he didn't actually get it on his tongue (the vet says the pills are quite bitter). Tonight was the very first time we'd ever given him a pill of any kind. Hopefully that'll continue to go smoothly; if it doesn't, apparently there's a topical antihistamine that we can give him by rubbing it on his ears?
Jinksy's feelings about the eardrops he's going to be getting twice a day for the next two weeks, at which point we take him back for a follow-up: PROFOUNDLY UNIMPRESSED and BETRAYED. The drops are for a fairly mild ear infection (the vet tech did a swab, since we were there and they were already doing Jinksy's annual physical) and have to be kept refrigerated. He is so unhappy about it. ;_; Poor kitten!bear.
But those are minor things, all told, and everything about his standard physical exam looks good. We'll still have to take him back for a feline leukemia booster in the fall, when we take Claudia in for her physical and booster. And we'll be giving them fresh Advantage II treatments next month and the month after, and will probably just start doing it routinely in the summer from here on out, since Jinksy's (probably) allergic. Presumably we'll know if the allergy is to something else if his mild rash/scabbing doesn't clear up fairly soon.
Originally posted at http://umadoshi.dreamwidth.org/712097.html. Comment here if you like, or comment there using OpenID. Comments at DW:
Neither cat has been scratching more than usual--the bit of unhappy-feeling (to our fingers) skin on Jinksy's neck doesn't seem to be bothering him--but it does seem like he's been grooming more than usual. No raw skin or fur loss, fortunately, but he did have a couple of hairballs in the last week or two, which is more than usual for him.
Jinksy's feelings about being treated with Advantage II (the once-a-month flea treatment you put on the backs of their necks, which either didn't exist back when I lived with and had cats with my parents or else they never opted for, for some reason): fairly neutral. He didn't enjoy having it applied, but didn't seem too bothered. The main issue seemed to be being kept in the upper half of the house for a couple of hours while Claudia was in the lower half, so they wouldn't groom each other's medicine off before it dried. (Claud had the same treatment and responded similarly. [For our own reference: Advantage II was what the vet recced, rather than some other mainstream treatment option, because of Claud's wee heart murmur.])
Jinksy's feelings about the OTC antihistamine we started giving him tonight: took his half pill in a pill pocket with no complaint, so we guess he didn't actually get it on his tongue (the vet says the pills are quite bitter). Tonight was the very first time we'd ever given him a pill of any kind. Hopefully that'll continue to go smoothly; if it doesn't, apparently there's a topical antihistamine that we can give him by rubbing it on his ears?
Jinksy's feelings about the eardrops he's going to be getting twice a day for the next two weeks, at which point we take him back for a follow-up: PROFOUNDLY UNIMPRESSED and BETRAYED. The drops are for a fairly mild ear infection (the vet tech did a swab, since we were there and they were already doing Jinksy's annual physical) and have to be kept refrigerated. He is so unhappy about it. ;_; Poor kitten!bear.
But those are minor things, all told, and everything about his standard physical exam looks good. We'll still have to take him back for a feline leukemia booster in the fall, when we take Claudia in for her physical and booster. And we'll be giving them fresh Advantage II treatments next month and the month after, and will probably just start doing it routinely in the summer from here on out, since Jinksy's (probably) allergic. Presumably we'll know if the allergy is to something else if his mild rash/scabbing doesn't clear up fairly soon.
Originally posted at http://umadoshi.dreamwidth.org/712097.html. Comment here if you like, or comment there using OpenID. Comments at DW: