(Part 2) Best products from r/AskVet

You are doing a great job!

I would make sure your litter truly is "99.9% dust free" - so watch carefully when you pour it to see how much dust it produces. Also, scoop it every day (or twice a day) to reduce the ammonia, which could irritate his airways.

You could talk to a vet about bronchodilator therapy. It's not used by itself, and most cats do not need it, but it can be used symptomatically based on clinical signs (wheezing, noisy breathing, etc).

Air purifiers are probably only helpful if they are effective for the size of the room where he spends most of its time. Ideally you would have one for each room he spends time in, so that you can be sure it is actually circulating there.


You could try covering the carpet in the room he spends most of the time in? I use these for my foster kitten room. These ones have a bit of a chemical odor to them, so if you go this route make sure to let them air out (preferably outside) for a little while. You can get more fashionable ones like this, too. Alternatively, lots of low pile rugs might help - they are much easier to vacuum thoroughly.

Overall, asthma is not curable. Medication helps, but clinical signs may still be present. In humans that develop asthma as kids, spontaneous resolution is common - but we do not know if this is true for cats with asthma.

Of course, check with your vet, but I have found great success in pilling with this pill popper: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007RQQKWC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

The thing I like about it more than others I've tried is that you can suck up a bit of water first, then put the pill in, and it helps the pill go down much better. My vet said it was a good idea-- think of it like taking a pill with a glass of water, most humans do it because otherwise the pill can get caught in the throat.

Many of the books aimed at technicians would be great as well. Not only do they explain the terminology, anatomy, physiology, etc., but it also explains how to laymanize it for clients.

http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Veterinary-Terminology-Douglas-McBride/dp/0323013295

That is a good cheap starting point. Of course there are finer details that are speciality specific, but that would give you a good starting point.

Volunteer specific pointers: Carry a small notebook with you and jot down terms or conditions that you are curious to know more about. Hitting up the technicians when the doctors are busy for spelling clarifications or explanations is also good. Do not talk to doctors who are writing up charts unless their technician(s) say its ok. Don't ask questions in front of clients outside of restraint clarifications, if they let you restrain. Hold them for later. Enjoy the experience!

I just went through this with my cat as well. Quite a pain in the ass but it is fixable. What we did was

1. Vacuum. EVERYTHING. every nook and cranny of every room, every chair, every couch. We did this every couple days just to be sure.
   
2. Washed all our pillows / blankets / clothes that were out or touched by our cat (which was basically everything since she sleeps in our closet :( )
   
3. Nightly brushes with a flea comb on our dog and cat. I kept a glass of water nearby to dunk the flea comb in to stop any fleas from jumping away.
   
4. Bought a couple cans of this stuff http://smile.amazon.com/Virbac-Knockout-E-S-Flea-Spray/dp/B00AT6FY6A/ref=sr_1_6?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1415664304&sr=1-6&keywords=flea+spray and sprayed it on all the fabricy areas in our house. This stuff is pretty nasty according to the can though so be very careful. I bought a little mask because I didn't want to breathe the stuff, barricaded our cat and dog upstairs, stuffed a towel under the door to our finished basement and sprayed it down on all the carpet and couch. I know you mentioned you didn't want something harmful to your cat so maybe this is a little too much for you, but it really did seem to work and our cat had no side-effects from it. After it dries completely it should be fine, especially if you vacuum it once it's dry as well, but of course be careful as it is harmful to cats and dogs.
   
5. After several hours it dried, I went down there and vacuumed everything AGAIN.
   
6. The next day I switched it up, locked the animals in the basement and sprayed the upstairs.
   
7. Continued to vacuum every now and then, keeping in mind the advice about flea cycles (though the spray supposedly kills fleas of all stages, which should in theory stop it at 1 cycle)
   
   After 1 round of spraying, a ton of vacuuming, and getting our cat on Advantage our house was flea free in a couple weeks. (really didn't see many after a couple days actually but I'm sure they're there)
   
   Always good to check in with your actual vet though, these were just my experiences a couple months ago. Good luck! Sorry about all the vacuuming you're about to do :)
   
   Edit: Another thing to keep in mind, if you have a vacuum that uses bags, you might consider replacing the bag afterwards because the fleas can still be alive in the bag and might get out again (probably unlikely but better safe than sorry). We had a bagless, and I would empty it outside in the woods after vacuuming and then wash it out with the hose before bringing it back in.

You need to find a good behaviourist to work with you, this is a common, but very challenging condition to treat.

This is by far the best book on the subject, and explains how complex these cases are to manage.

What country are you in? You are probably best to find a veterinary behaviourist, and if I know where you're from I can help point you in the right direction to find one.

Since you have trazadone I'm going to assume you have already talked to your veterinarian about your dog's anxiety. If that is not the case, please discuss it with your vet.

The behaviorists are pricy, but they're an excellent resource and worth the money. I'd definitely stick with either a Veterinary Behaviorist or an Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist over a regular trainer, anybody can call themselves a trainer while CAABs and VBs have tons of education and experience. They can tailor advice to your specific dog and your specific household in a way a book or video cannot.

I am by no means an expert (I'm a vet tech at a general-practice clinic) but my go-to recommendations for behavior books are Decoding Your Dog by the American College of Veterinary behaviorists, (it has a chapter on house training and a chapter on separation anxiety) and The Other End of the Leash (it's about understanding dogs and how they think rather than specific issues) by Patricia McConnell. Patricia McConnell also has books (booklets? they're short) about anxiety and separation anxiety. I've never read the booklets, but she's a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist with a Ph.D, so they're probably a better resource than random internet sites even if they're not as helpful as an in-person consultation with a behaviorist.

(Not a vet, not commenting on medication options.)

What's the traveling situation for your car? If you can limit how much luggage and stuff you need to put in it, you could use the back seat or hatchback trunk area pretty comfortable for them.

I would consider using a combination like this: a protector for the vehicle incase someone vomits or has an accident and a barrier to keep them from being able to access the driver.

As a kid we had a lot of very long road trips with cats and they were always quieter and happier when they could be let out of their kennels for long stretches of the drive. We also learned not to bother trying to give them water while we were driving, because it just spills everywhere. Success with food is...highly variable.

Good luck!

I don't have a specific heated cat bed, but I have a contraption that my personal cat really likes in her window seat, so I can add one more "fluffy loves this 5 stars!!" useless review for ya. :P

This warmer under the inside cushion of this bed. Both are a bit more expensive than when I bought them a couple months back, but that's probably the holiday's fault and I bet they'll go back down soon. :)

Tesla Approved! You can see the cord of the heater that runs over the edge - it'd be pretty easy to make a hole and run it out the side/back of the bed if it bugs you.

It sounds definitely like stress is the issue. Some cats can handle losing a prior caretaker/companion and changes in their homes/territory, but many just cannot handle it well and get super stressed. With stress comes hiding, meowing, and peeing/marking. I am certain as well that your other cat is also hiding from some stress of the new cat too, though likely not as much, because at least their territory has their scent in it.

I would recommend a few things. Look into NurtureCalm pheromone collars and also Feliway spray and diffusers. The diffusers are plug-ins and will diffuse the pheromones all day long. The spray can be used to specifically spray in high stress areas or where the cats are peeing/marking or fighting/meowing. I also use an essential oil diffuser and add calming/anti-stress oils to it, and sometimes even spray some Feliway into the water to be diffused as well.

Make sure you also have at least two litter boxes (and from what I read, one extra if you can do it). Make sure the litter boxes are large enough (the dome ones are rated the worst) and I would suggest non-lidded, as most cats don't like the lids, and they are more for humans. And make sure the litter is not too hard or too pellet-like, as most cats prefer sandier/finer grained litter. I personally will only use Scoop Away.

Hopefully some of this will help you. Once you bring down the stress and can make sure the litter/litter boxes are not a factor, you may also want to make sure there's a lot of toys for the cats to play with when you are at work or away from the apartment. And a good, tall cat tree by a window is always a good thing.

Not a vet, but I just want to mention that there is an alternative.

My vet also mentioned that store bought treats and diets aren't really scientifically proven to have an effect. She recommended some special diet kibble that only vets are selling and gave me some samples for my kitty to try out. He kind of hates them, so I asked about an alternative.

So I ended up with this thing:
http://www.amazon.com/Proden-PlaqueOff-Dental-Care-Dogs/dp/B0047VWPNI
It's 15$ and generally lasts you for a whole year for an average sized cat. You just mix a tiny bit in with wet food.

I have no idea how well it works yet, I just started using it a few weeks ago, but the vet says it's great.

It's also possible to brush your cat's teeth, if she will take it! She's still young, so maybe you can get her to accept it if she's used to being handled by you...

Anyway, best of luck!

Early neutering is associated with increased risk of obesity, orthopedic issues such as cruciate ligament tears, hip dysplasia, anxiety/noise fears, prostate cancer, and possibly other cancers. However, we do not know if these are caused by neutering or if they are just correlated. The best thing you can do is keep your dog very fit and make sure he does not become overweight, as well as doing strengthening exercises to make sure his joints are well supported by strong muscles. This is a great DVD with a lot of exercises, and many training clubs also offer fitness type classes: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Canine-Athlete-Endurance-Interactive/dp/B005F678YU

Article with several references:
https://ivcjournal.com/spay-neuter-considerations/

Kudos to you. I recommend a decent color art pencil set to go with that. I'm a big fan of giving kids stuff a bit advanced, she can grow into it, and she has the internet to look up things she doesn't understand. That book is a wonderful mix of science and art and not what I had in mind when I read coloring book. You could even round out a bit more of the art theme by getting her something like


http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Cool-Stuff-Illusions/dp/0692382518/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449870508&sr=1-2&keywords=art+instruction+books

This one is free on the kindle app.

No medical advice re the vomiting (tech here, not a vet!) but some suggestions for pacing out meals. I've heard of people having success with putting a solid plastic ball in the bowl with the kibble. Kitty has to eat around it and can slow things down. Some special food bowls have raised areas or ridges inside so he will have to work a bit more to get the food.

There are several kinds of treat balls that you can put food in. They usually have some kind of adjustment you can make in hole size so the kibble comes out faster or slower. You can start the holes big while kitty gets used to it and gradually make them smaller for him.

You can also buy a variety of other food dispensing toys like the CatIt Digger which he will have to work at to get food out of.

I also have a cat who would gobble down everything in sight without a breath in between if given the chance and now use a treat ball and the digger to give him his breakfast every day.

For just a little bit more, you can heat your whole mattress, making a huge warm bed for you and your cats. https://www.amazon.com/Mattress-Underblanket-Controller-Flannel-Settings/dp/B07G72DN63/ref=sr_1_5?s=bedbath&ie=UTF8&qid=1542614532&sr=1-5&keywords=heated+mattress+pad

Our cats love it and we love it too. So toasty and comfy.

Best of luck to you and your cat-buddy. :D

Thank you for the reply, I appreciate it. The shampoo that I have and linked Malaseb, I'm pretty sure it's an anitibiotic shampoo , it says on the bottle "Shampoo combines a unique formulation of antibacterial and antifungal agents with coat conditioners for optimal therapeutic effectiveness."

I know it had very good reviews and it isn't cheap, but do you think this would work on the callus? Also, what cream would you recommend? And afterwards should I put something like this over his elbow? http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Cronin-08141425-Cradle-Lite-Protector/dp/B00QKNS328/ref=pd_sim_121_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=31fTOsc2UEL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR85%2C160_&refRID=1WN8TPMW38X1X2RF6GE5

Or is it better to let it breath out?