I don't like spiders and snakes...

 or worms or fleas,

Bringing stray cats in from the streets has its challenges, especially with regard to their health.

Besides the rampant asthma, last Spring we experienced an infestation of fleas.  The truth is, however, that I don't believe it was OUR cats inside, but that it was Inky (Scruff's litter mate). She loves Harry, our dog, and when he goes out, she greets him and schmoozes him.  My guess is some critters made the leap from her to Harry and thus were introduced inside the house.

By this time we had four of them inside with various cages and bedding. They all had the run of the house by day.  So, fleas were a very, very difficult problem to deal with.

Much as I dislike the thought of using chemicals, with so  many furry babies it was necessary to purchase some Frontline.  I did not use full doses, but half on one cat and half on another.  I was especially careful with Imp, who was still small and not entirely well at the time. 

Imp was easy and so was Missy Tee.  Scuff was cagey and knew enough to avoid me if he saw me!  I managed to "trick" him by waiting until he had his head happily sunk into his food bowl and I was able to quickly squirt him before he realized what happened.  Same thing with Calzini (who, to this day, will not let me pick him up). 

I found a dead flea in "my" chair in the living room.  Right after getting them all treated with Frontline, we tore apart their cages and washed every piece of bedding, every towel, every cover, everything. It was a chore because our European washer is not very large by comparison to US models. We also cannot run the washer and dryer at the same time because all the power goes out!! Many, many hours and washes later, we were done. 

We vacuumed.  I read that salt kills fleas, so we sprinkled regular table salt EVERYWHERE there was a rug or upholstered furniture and let it sit overnight, then vacuumed again.  Then we repeated that process. 

I read that mint repels them, so I got essential oil of peppermint and put moist cotton balls with a few drops of oil on them in every room.  I anointed Harry's butt.  I put a drop or two on our bed.  The occasional wafting of the aroma was so pleasant that I intend to do this again once the weather is warm enough to have windows open and fresh air circulating. 

The battle of the fleas was won after two weeks of never ending washing and vacuuming.

All of these kittens had had worms.  Tee had the most dreadful diarrhea at first, Scruff's worms were...unfortunately and much to my horror,  clearly visible in his poop.  It just had to be assumed that they all needed treatment.  I became quite the regular up at the pharmacy.  Each cat had to be treated twice, with the treatments being two months apart. As serendipity had it, I was in possession of an actual paper calendar without which I would have been lost.  Round one, Dose One for Scruff.  Round One, Dose Two for Tee.  Second Round time for Calzini.  I had to designate a drawer for all the medicines, each box or tube labeled with a name. 

Tee's problem abated, but did not stop, even after Round Two, Dose Two.  She was much better, but not all better.  Same thing with Scruffy, who we sometimes called "Stinky Butt."  The solution?  Adding probiotics to their food for a while.  I also had Tee (because she prefers dry food) on "digestive health" kibble.  Somehow, after several months, their little systems adjusted and everyone poops normally now.  Yay!

Imp also got the deworming medication, even though he didn't appear to have them.  Better safe than sorry.  But little Impy, while his asthma was slowly improving, and he got the worm medication, was still horribly thin, even to the point of appearing frail.  He ate like a champ but didn't gain any weight.  I asked the vet if he could possibly have a tapeworm.  With that, Imp was prescribed medicine for that and within a couple of weeks he was noticeably gaining weight. Good grief!  A tapeworm!!  It was finally, at this point, I began to think he would live. 

When Lupo was introduced to the clan, I did a Frontline treatment on him while he was still a "street cat."  He had a minor ear mite problem that a little vinegar and water took care of, so when he entered the house, all he needed was treatment for worms. 

Little Notte was fine...she was too small for Frontline at four months old anyway, but she had not contracted any fleas, thank goodness, and her ears were clean.  

Percy also was flea free, but it was the middle of winter.  He had a yeast infection in his ears that required ten days of drops.  He seemed to realize that they helped him, though, because he eventually put up with it without trying to rip us to shreds and screaming like a banshee. 

Just when I stopped worrying about him, Imp started having a urinary problem.  He is currently on an antibiotic and medication to lower his urine ph.  We are hoping this is a simple UTI (urinary tract infection) and not a chronic problem that will require constant medication and monitoring. 

For now, we breathe a bit.

Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe...

 Asthma.  I have been made not only aware of, but intimate with feline asthma, something I never knew existed before.

Little Imp came into our courtyard, quite literally, to die.  He was so sick and one of the things wrong was feline asthma.

Scruffy was on the streets too long.  He was 10 months old when he was finally brought him in and he, too, had asthma.

It is rampant in the street cats here in this town.  Unlike human asthma, the cause is a virus that is passed from cat to cat.  Some are immune.  Calzini and Missy Titi have never shown any symptoms whatsoever.  ALL of the others have a some trace, be it an occasional cough, however mild.  

Lupo nearly died when he was neutered.  The doctor had to intubate him.  The poor little guy lost his voice for weeks...I imagine he had a sore throat, but he stopped breathing altogether during the surgery. Lupo only has a very occasional cough and we completely forgot to mention it, so he had no pre-medications for asthma prior to surgery.

There are medications, and they are human ones.  I have a supply of Diffumal and Medrol in the house and use it at my discretion for when any of them have attacks or difficulties.  We also have an inhaler, with what is called a "spacer" which is used for human babies to administer the medicine.  However, trying to use an inhaler on a cat as opposed to a baby is a ...well...haha..totally different animal! 

 So, as soon as we got Imp to the vet, we already knew he had a severe case.  Impy was put on a combination of the Medrol and Diffumal right away.  It helped and he was able to rest better and he began to eat well.  He was still very small and weak, especially for his age.  He had no desire to leave his cage, but he had soft places to rest and a view of the back window which looks over our balcony to the sky and hills.  He seemed to just be happy enough watching Scruff and Tee come and go and having regular meals. 

Scruffy seemed totally fine for a long time and then, quite suddenly, was "mouth breathing" one night.  I was beside myself.  

At that point, I started doing major research and read that fish can aggravate symptoms, so I will not buy any foods containing fish of any kind.  I bought a Dyson air filter for the house, to keep particles, allergens, mold..whatever...out of the air.  It's good for all of us. On the advice of the vet I started adding lysine (prescription strength) to their food everyday for quite a while.  

Imp had another problem which I will talk about later, but eventually, he ventured out of his cage.  He's a smart little guy...and somehow he knew to seek out the heat sources.  He spent hours and hours on the radiator...I called it his "heat therapy."  

He knew, also, that he had to pace himself, so in spite of all the others...(as we added more kittens to the clown car) he knew when to sit it out and rest.  He also knew and still knows enough to sleep semi-sitting up.  If he isn't in a sitting up position, he sleeps with his head extended, to facilitate his breathing.  Imp has improved, unbelievably, to the point where I really don't worry about him anymore.  He rarely coughs and hasn't needed medication in ages.

Since Lupo's incident in surgery, he has been totally fine.  Notte has an occasional cough.  I have, sadly, also heard a soft cough from Percy.  

Scruffy is the worry now.  Rather than getting better, Scruff got worse and worse.  Lysine....did nothing.  Diffumal seemed worthless as well.  Medrol was the only thing that helped and that is a steroid which cannot be given all the time.  He would be put on a cycle of Medrol and a week later be gasping for breath...lying on the floor looking desperate and scared, looking at me with big, sad eyes. So, we got the inhaler and spacer.  

He hates it.  It works!  But he hates it.  I have to ambush him and hold him down with all my strength while my husband puts the spacer over his face and tries to hold it there....when we manage it, it really helps.  But, coordinating the ambush and being able to hold a little monster made of fight and flight and muscle is a mighty feat to pull off. He has some sixth sense or invisible radar that tells him what we are planning to do.

At this time I have him on intermittent Medrol and daily low dose Diffumal and as long as he doesn't run around like a banshee he seems to be alright.  How do you tell a kitten not to play?

I should add neither of us smoke, I use little perfume, no room deodorizers or scents, only the occasional essential oil...I bought eucalyptus oil and the Italian version of "vapo-rub"...because that is also supposed to help and sometimes dab that around.

We switched to the more expensive corn litter because it has no dust (also good for us) and is 100% biodegradable.  Flushable, too.  

I have tried to make this house as feline asthma friendly as I possibly can.  I keep hoping Scruffy will get better with just more time, like Imp did.  He just had his second birthday....still playing, still breathing. Maybe he's learning a thing or two from Imp??