[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi Cat cuddlers,


    any idea why I seem to wake up to the odd pile of cat sick or pink pile on a morning? can it be a sign of worms?

Buffy   

[SallyintNorth]

Well, yes, it could be a sign of worms.  Or a hairball.  Or just that they're cats 

One learns to wear soled slippers... always!  <squelch>

Oh, or keep a dog in the same place.  (Gross!  )

Anyways, it won't do any harm to worm them.  Cats that hunt need worming regularly - either every 3 months or whenever you see any signs.

Welcome to the less appealing side of being a cat slave! 

[Bionic]

Buffy my cat is sick regularly.  She has been to the vets who can't find any reason for it so we just continue to clear up the mess.
Sorry I know this isn't much help but for me its just one of lifes 'pleasures'
Sally

[Buffy the eggs layer]

How delightful

                I dont recall any of this being mentioned when I was encouraged to take the plunge into cat ownership by certain members of this forum.

              Perhaps this would be a good oppertunity for you lot to fess up and share the slightly less appealing side of owning a cat. I have already discovered the fleas, the dreaded litter tray , the vets bills and the vomiting. I fear this is only the start and that there are fare more unappealing aspects to face.

Well?.....Come on then, you might as well tell me the about all the other stuff.



            Buffy

[Bionic]

How about all the hair shedding?  Mine looses so much hair that I am surprised she isn't bald.

Then of course there are all thise lovely gifts they bring.  Mice are the most common here but its also baby birds in the right season or a nice juicy frog.  Often they are still alive so you have to hone your small creature capture skills.

Sally

[waterhouse]

We have two well fed and glossy ferals living in the stables who deal with vermin very effectively.   One has let it be known that he considers that moving indoors would suit.   No way, for all the reasons already mentioned! 

We didnt see much of him in the summer and discovered from their daughter that he'd found his way to one of our neighbours cat flaps and was tidying up there every night.

[DJ_Chook]

...she has been to the vets who can't find any reason for it so we just continue to clear up the mess.
Sorry I know this isn't much help but for me its just one of lifes 'pleasures'

Mine too, almost daily. The chickens clear it up 

[MikeM]

yup, our tom is a regular vomit machine. Seems it's just how he is. Our elderly female, on the other hand, was hardly ever sick.

[SallyintNorth]

                I dont recall any of this being mentioned when I was encouraged to take the plunge into cat ownership by certain members of this forum.

:whistles:  :looking at clouds, hands behind back:   :picture of innocence:

Well?.....Come on then, you might as well tell me the about all the other stuff.

You got most of it.  Except...

• worse than presents, the bit they don't eat (it's the gall bladder - makes them vomit), which is dark and difficult to spot and gets left in obscure places your feet will find - squelch - stains and stinks!
• live presents is a nuisance, dead presents well hidden is a health hazard... if you start to get lots of flies, look around for decomposed carcases...
• rabbits have tapeworms, I guess mice do too - so your cat has tapeworms unless it's just been wormed.  If you see little flattened rice grains around its bottom or where it's been - time for the worm pill!
• some of them suck the leaves of grassy plants and spider plants so they go soggy and brown and die back
• and the bit I am most not missing now I am catless - you cannot leave any food out, or any plate with food remains on it - unless you want the feline food disposal and dish-licking service!

Sounds dreadful - but they are so worth it!   

[MikeM]

not forgetting their lovely habit of getting up onto kitchen work surfaces, usually after they've just been to the lav.

[deepinthewoods]

a good tip for recovering live presents, leave a welly lying on the floor, the mouse will see a dark hole and shoot in the welly and then you just empty it outside.

[ellied]

All the above x4 but only one seems to vomit regularly and I reckon she just stuffs her face with catfood even after munching however many mice/birds she's caught and doesn't know when enough is enough   Most of the cat vomit appears to have mouse coloured bits in

I tend to shout "out!" very loudly when the pre-vomit noise starts, or when I hear a certain kind of "look what I've brought" miaow is heard in the kitchen, let alone if I see something being played with in the hall   They get the picture and pickup and leave with the dead thing, but I've had to capture a few live ones and sadly missed a few too so now I have unwanted lodgers which is why I got cats in the first place

I sometimes wonder whether worming cats is worth the hassle and cost - mine are forever hunting mice, rabbits etc and seem to show signs of shedding at least every month so at what point does the chemical input start to become a health hazard to their innards?   Are injected wormers the answer and would they last longer?

[Bionic]

Ellied,
Because my cat is such a scavenger the vet said she needs worming regularly. Having said that I don't do her as regularly as suggested.
Sally

[SallyintNorth]

Ellied,
Because my cat is such a scavenger the vet said she needs worming regularly. Having said that I don't do her as regularly as suggested.
Sally

How regularly did they suggest?  I never did the every-three-months thing on the same basis ellied queried - worried about the effects on the cats' insides. 

<<<< supper warning, stop reading if you haven't finished your supper >>>>>

But one time when I did decide worming was in order, I was completely horrified at the quantity of roundworms brought up within minutes.

[Bionic]

Vet sugested every 3 months but Cleo only gets 'done' when I remember and thats never as frequent as quarterly.
Sally