Original post here
Enough people gave me thoughtful replies that I felt I owed people an update.
The day after I posted, I decided to try and put Soft Paws on the cat. He tolerates me better than anyone, so I waited until we could be alone and undisturbed. I trimmed the nails on one paw fine and then when I went to do the next paw he flipped his shit. I persisted, and realized one of his toenails was all shredded. I left him alone at that point and did not put Soft Paws on.
That same night we were tidying up the kitchen and my husband literally /facepalmed and pointed at the refrigerator. A couple weeks back he had been trying to quickly clear the table and he tossed everything on top of the fridge. I am very short, and can't see up there, so I hadn't noticed. Our cat likes to jump on the counter, then on top of the fridge, then hang out on top of the cabinets all day. With everything on the fridge, that pathway was blocked.
Then as we're talking we realize that since the baby has become upwardly mobile, we've been shutting our older daughter's door all the time during the day to keep the baby out. The cat spends a lot of time in her room on her bed when she isn't home. It's his "baby free" room.
So we saw the vet today. She looked at his nail and at first didn't think it was much of anything until she went to peel it off, and it started gushing blood everywhere. The cat went nuts and tried to bite, etc.
Long story short - after a full exam and bloodwork and discussion, the vet's conclusion was:
The cat's nail is definitely messed up. She thinks he must have caught it on something and it's been painful ever since and not able to heal properly. She gave him a shot of antibiotic and some pain medication.
His liver and kidneys are actually better than the last time his levels were checked. So no issue there.
His thyroid is not palpable, and with his reduced appetite, she feels confident it isn't a thyroid issue.
His skin is all dry again. We had switched him to a really good grain-free food and his skin totally cleared up. Now it is cruddy again and she thinks maybe we should look into a different food (haven't looked into this yet)
Having his high hiding place AND his baby free zone blocked off is causing him a lot of stress.
The baby hasn't responded to his "growl/hiss, then hit you with no claws". The vet says that he is probably escalating because he wasn't able to get her to back off by warning her. She said now he is hissing/clawing, and that isn't working either. She says the combination of stress, and her "ignoring" his requests to back off and leave him alone is causing him to lash out at her in anger.
TL;DR Cat has antibiotics and pain meds on board for a messed up toe. Cat's high hiding place has been cleared so he can reach it again. Husband is going to install a cat door on the older daughter's bedroom door. We are looking into new food to help his dry. itchy skin. Vet placed Soft Paws on the cat's claws. Vet wants to give him at least a week with new changes in place, then reevaluate. Expects to see drastic improvement.
Submitted February 07, 2015 at 03:10AM by goodkittybad http://ift.tt/1ACnT52 Parenting
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