Raven (the black kitty) has mange

Ref: http://myanimalcare.org/2012/10/09/where-do-all-these-cats-come-from/

So, this morning, I brought the black kitty to the vet's.

But wait, before that...this is what happened last night....

After my husband wire-netted Bunny's Clubhouse sidegate, we waited, but the black kitty did not come back. Because of her skin condition, I was worried for my own cats (I know skin problems spread VERY fast), so I had to ensure she wouldn't get into Bunny's Place again.

My husband had shooed her out. He had to, otherwise, she would just stand at the grille and Tabs would be trying to touch noses with her.

But this morning, as expected, Black Kitty was back in the porch, as confident as ever.

 She was not even afraid of Mr G or Ginger.

 Her territory is under my car.

 Rosie, sweetest Rosie - she only meows from outside the gate and prefers to eat "out". I go out, sit on the culvert and feed her there.

She has that stylish, classic, confident Calico look, doesn't she? The markings on her face is also so..."chic"! Mademoiselle Rosie, Bonjour!

 Ginger comes after Black Kitty's food, but the small one is unruffled. She defends her food. Tough girl there...

 A brief exchange of words there...

The small one maintains her stand and drinks water.

 Take a look at the skin...quite bad, right?

 It looks like mange to me, but I'll need the vet to do a proper check-up.

Shh...it's that typical "Gremlin" look that mange gives a cat.

 I heard what you said...Do looks really matter? 

 All three stayed in the porch (Black Kitty is under my car), with Rosie outside.

I waited for 9.45am, and went out to the porch to catch Black Kitty. The vet's opens at 10am.

Hah...would you know it? She avoided me like the plague. It wasn't easy, but after some chasing, cajoling and sweet-talking, I managed to catch her and put her into the carrier.

Let's go, little one.

Not much complaining in the car, thank goodness.

The vet confirmed that she is female (hence, her name is now Raven). Raven weighs 1.15kg and is estimated to be about 2 1/2 months old. So young!

What she has is classic mange.

She's itching everywhere....poor girl. And she was so happy to have the vet scratch her.

 Gosh...this calls for massive scratching - hand and wall.

The vet, being very thorough, explained the various courses of treatment and we weighed the pros and cons.

In short:

1. Do nothing now, wait for 2 weeks to monitor general health condition, then only start mange treatment. Can wait because the mange is not life-threatening.

2. Do something now and hope nothing else surfaces.

If (2), our choices are:

1. Use a certain spot-on - it takes care of deworming and mange. Only use once and it will last for a month. Advantage - reasonably safe. Disadvantage - it's expensive.

2. Give jabs once a week, or once a fortnight, both for a month. Advantage - the dosage is measured according to the weight. It's also the cheapest option. Disadvantage - it's pretty toxic and may cause death (highly unlikely, but there is a tiny possibility).

3. Use another brand of spot-on - it takes care of deworming and mange. Use once, last for a month. Advantage - cheaper than (1). Disadvantage - more toxic than (1).

Note: Insecticides are classified by numbers. The lower the number, the higher the toxicity.

We discussed in depth and I just wanted something which is low-risk but effective. Money is secondary. Safety first.

So, after a long discussion, we decided on a certain spot-on, 0.25ml, to be applied on the back of the neck and that's it.

So, Raven and I came home and I applied the spot-on for her. I already have the big cat version at home, so I only needed to measure 0.25ml with a syringe and apply it on her.

The rest, I applied on Bosco, since he hangs around the porch too.

The vet cautioned me that the mange parasites could have already been transmitted to my cats, especially to Tabs since Tabs was in contact with Raven a few times last night. But if my cats' immunity is good, their body might be able to fight it off and it might not even manifest. I am fortifying Tabs with Vetri DMG. No need to apply the spot-on yet (that would be doing too much unnecessarily - an "overkill"). 

 Here's Bosco trying to get into the house...again!

Raven has a better appetite than Bosco. The vet did say she might have diarrhoea and told me to go easy on the Hill's kitten kibble because if she had been living as a stray, the premium food might cause diarrhoea in her. So I was advised to give frequent but small meals. Her intestines also felt "thickened" and there were no well-formed stools. The "thickening" could be due to worms. Revolution will take care of worms.

I hope this treatment works. If it does, it's so easy - One application of the spot-on takes care of everything at one go - worms and the mange. The vet says in many cases, they do not give jabs anymore as the ingredient in the spot-on is so much safer and more effective.

The vet also said that despite the mange, it looked like Raven had been on good nutrition because the rest of her coat is very glossy and beautiful. Maybe she is someone's pet?  The vet didn't think that Raven had lived as a stray. The coat is just too glossy for a stray.

Anyway, let's hope the treatment works, and maybe she can then go home?

Bosco!!!

By the way, I got Bosco neutered two days ago. I checked with the vet and his opinion is that if a cat comes into our house compound, the right thing to do would be to get it neutered. After all, we have no way of knowing if the cat has an owner. And Bosco has been coming daily for a week now (just like Tabs previously - I got her spayed after 1 week).

If any owner does not want other people doing anything to their cats, it is their responsibility to keep the cat confined and not let it wander into other people's compound.

Bosco is estimated to be slightly over a year old, so it was safe to get him neutered already. He was also given a check-up and has a clean bill of health.

So, our boy is fixed now and should be a much happier cat.

But ever since being neutered and I hand-fed him (on the first day after surgery), he's been asking for nothing but wetfood. Only wetfood and nothing else.

This girl loves the Hill's kitten kibbles.

Bosco is eating Qiut. He doesn't want Hill's.

And my inside clan "smelled" the Qiut, and so....

...to maintain peace and sanity.

Indy seems to have some sort of "dyslexia" problem (maybe he takes after me, his "Ma"?!!) and has problems with directions. He didn't know everyone was out at the pantry. Sometimes, even when I am sitting right here in the room, he would go to the grille and start calling "Ma...Ma...Ma!".  Then I have to go touch him and tell him, "Hey Indy, I'm here...!" I think his eye disease when first rescued could have caused some blindness in one eye. That eye doesn't reflect light. Indy, our masked hero, remains...the mysterious one!

My brood normally does not get a wetfood meal in the afternoon, so today is an exception just because Bosco and Raven got Qiut outside. I've managed to train them to eat less now - a hearty wetfood breakfast at 6.45am and a hearty wetfood dinner at 5.00pm. The wetfood would be home-cooked, Natural Balance or Monge. In between, there's Feline Caviar kibble snack when I return from work and if I sleep late, another Feline Caviar snack at 10.00pm (only if demanded by Bunny). Feline Caviar seems to be the only kibble food which does not cause Indy to limp, and Indy LOVES kibbles.

Cleo skips the snacks..."jaga badan".