Hey everyone, just wondering if anyone can give me some advice on an issue that one of my roommates and I have. Her cat has been sick with an upper respiratory infection for a really long time and need meds, but she refuses to take her to a vet. She has NEVER taken her, and doesn't ever plan on taking her. Because of the illness, you can tell that she is feeling like crap all the time, she is listless, sneezing, and has a pretty bad ulcer on one of her eyes. The really big problem is that we are having someone new move into our house, who also has a cat. The cat is contagious, so there is a huge chance that the new one will get sick as well, and even if she gets her cat checked out by a vet and given antibiotics, he cat will continue to get infected by the untreated one. I have told her how many problems that this could cause, but she really seems to not care at all. The cat is 14, has about 5 or 6 teeth, because they have rotted out of her mouth, and is still feeding her dry food. The girl would rather buy drugs with any extra money that she has, rather than take care of the animal that she is responsible for. She says that if I want to take her cat to the vet and pay for it myself I can go right ahead, but she won't "pay some doctor to stick her cat with needles". I can't even talk to her now because I am so disappointed in her. Any advice would be appreciated greatly!

Failure to provide proper medical treatment is generally considered animal abuse. Check your areas anti-cruelty laws. Maybe just mentioning that to her would be enough to convince her to bring the cat in.



Other than that, maybe if you and all of your friends chipped in some cash, you could take the cat to the vet yourself.



I'm sorry. That is a really frustrating situation to be in.

I have exactly the same advice. If that doesn't do the trick I would take pictures, video, recordings of her saying she won't take the cat to the vet and then actually call. Have some people lined up who'd be willing to take care of her cats if possible. If the authorities don't care, kidnap them and give them to someone with the ability, commitment and money to care for them.



Be prepared for your roomate to hate you and become really difficult to live with.

This has been causing problems between the two of us for about a month now. She has been pretty much avoiding me since I yelled at her about it two weeks ago. I have considered trying to save up some money to at least get her examined by a vet, but I am a student, and right now have barely enough to cover my tuition this upcoming semester. The cat is the sweetest, and I know that she deserves so much more than she has been provided with thus far.

I don't know the rules in Canada but in the US the Dept of Health can fine you TONS of money for having an animal that isn't Rabies vaccinated.



A cat with a long term eye ulceration can end up needing to have it removed. Not taking care of this animal is abusive. See if there's an ASPCA hospital in the area, or the equivilent, who treats on a sliding scale.

Trust me, if(or most likely, when) her cat needs to have its eye removed, it wouldn't be taken to the vet. She claims that where she is from, no one takes their animals to the vet, which I find VERY hard to believe. I am going to be looking into the laws about animal care and animal cruelty in my area and see if there is anything worth showing to her.

The new person who is moving in with their cat should also speak up and say something to your roommate. Since the new cat is also in jeopardy, your new roommate shoud say something.

Where is she from, Mars?

She's "country folk"

*getting madder*



What does being from "the country" have anything to do with this?



I grew up in the city, but I always assumed that even "country folk" loved their animals enough to make sure they were seen by vets, even annual checkups for healthy animals.



IMHO she just doesn't care about this poor cat, doesn't want to spend the money, and is making up excuses not to take the cat to the vet.

Well, next time she goes to buy that "half quarter" instead a trip to the vet's, I will just have to tell her that I am gonna call the OSPCA on her for animal abuse.

Why wait? Call the OSPCA today just to ask for advice on what to do in this situation.

I wouldn't wait, honestly. That cat is in bad need of veterinary assistance. You should call them now.

but what will happen to the cat if they get involved? Will they take the cat? Will they give Hailey's roommate a warning? In the end, will the roomie get fed up and just dump the cat somewhere???

Your profile says Ottawa, I don't know if you are in city limits, but yes, there are several laws that apply, including the rabies law.




http://ottawa.ca/city_services/bylaw...index_en.shtml

http://www.cfhs.ca/CriminalCode/index.htm (for more laws)

http://www.ottawahumane.ca/

Just call, damn it!!!

You may even have a legal duty to contact someone.

Also maybe if you explain the situation to a vet, he/she may offer lower cost treatment (student discount perhaps?)

I just sent an email to the SPCA, explaining the situation. Hopefully they will be able to give me some good advice on how to deal with her.

Cats with upper respiratory infections are miserable. I know because the last kitty I adopted from the shelter came down with it during the waiting period - I ended up waiting 3 weeks for him while they treated him until he was good enough to go home. Unfortunately they neutered him immediately after, and add the stress of moving to a new place with a new cat on top of that - and the infection came back. He was really sick, made me sad to watch him - and that was while I was waiting for the antibiotics to kick in.



As for the new cat that will be moving in - has it been vaccinated? If it has, chances are good it won't pick up the infection (if that truly is what it is) as they are vaccinated against that. But it's always better to be safe than sorry.



I hope this all works out

If the new cat is vaccinated, it will only be protected for the specific diseases it was vaccinated against (and even then, no vaccine is 100% full proof). It will not prevent him from catching whatever it is that this cat has.



Upper respiratory illnesses are like wild fire. Putting the new cat with the sick cat, regardless of its vaccine history, is a dangerous idea.

Cats are now vaccinated against upper respiratory infections. Even if this cat gets treated, there is no guarantee that the infection won't come back under stress. If the new cat is going to be susceptible to a respiratory infection, treatment of the existing cat won't guarantee anything either.



I'm wondering if this cat even has a respiratory infection. Is it coughing up mucus? These infections make cats very very sick. Given the age of the cat it is entirely possible that it has some other illness. Only a vet can tell.

Cats with upper respiratory don't neccesarily cough up mucus, actually I have never seen a case of URI where a cats has been coughing up mucus. Cuddles has been sneezing, has runny eyes and has been coughing, as well as having an eye ulcer. There is no vaccine against upper respiratory, only against secondary diseases that usually come along with the infection. The new cat is up to date on his vaccinations, however this won't help him any. I can only hope that the SPCA can guide me in how to effectively deal with the situation.

My cat had an upper respiratory infection after I adopted him. He coughed up huge gobs of yellowish mucus.



There are vaccines against upper respiratory:



http://www.catvaccines.com/ "Today, routine vaccinations provide cats with an enhanced level of protection against feline leukemia, upper respiratory infections, and other diseases"



The cat I had when the one with the upper respiratory infection came home was vaccinated. He did not get the infection from the other cat.





This may be of interest: (from http://www.fabcats.org/catflu1.html)



"Symptoms include sneezing, nasal discharge, conjunctivitis (inflammation of the lining of the eyes), discharge from the eyes, loss of appetite, fever and depression. Occasionally, mouth and eye ulcers and excessive drooling of saliva may be seen. The very young, very old and immunosuppressed cats are more likely to develop severe disease and possibly die as a result of their 'flu."

I guess rather than nitpicking details... I think there is one thing we can all agree on: this cat needs to be seen by a vet, ASAP. That's what really matters.

If the cat is that sick, perhaps try calling? Who knows how often they check email, especially over the weekend. I think this is getting close to emergency territory. 1-888-ONT-SPCA

Cats have been vaccinated against SPECIFIC upper respiratory infections since they've been getting FVRCP vaccines (which are upper resp infections). But that doesn't mean that the particular illness the cat has is one of the infections the vaccines cover. If this cat doesn't have feline viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, or panleuk (or chlamydia, which some vets vax for too), then the new cat will most likely catch it. URI's are very contagious, and only the ones that will likely kill the cat are the ones with vaccines.



Its like getting a flu shot and being around someone with bronchitis and catching brochitis. Granted, you were protected against AN upper respiratory infection, but not THE URI the other person had.

Yes, but if the other cat is not vaccinated, can we all agree that the risk of catching this illness is higher? It doesn't seem as though the other person is not going to bring their cat into this situation. Perhaps that is something that should be discussed. But as it stands, if this is something not covered by vaccinations, even treatment will not guarantee that the new cat will not get this infection.

My point is just because you're vaccinated against one thing doesn't mean ANYTHING against the other things it wasn't vaccinated for. i.e. My Meningitis vaccine isn't going to do squat to protect me from Malaria!

I agree. But if there is no vaccine for this particular URI, then there isn't a whole lot that can be done about it other than treating the infected cat and hoping that the other cat doesn't pick it up.

Fyvel, I don't really understand what your point is, or why you are arguing with Rabid Child and myself. FYI, we both work in animal hospitals so we know what we're talking about.



I think we can all agree that 1. the cat should be taken to the vet and 2. the cat should not be allowed to have contact with other cats until she/he has a clean bill of health, regardless of the vaccine history of either cat.

Who's arguing?



As for the points, yes I agree, as I have stated both previously.



Do you agree that treating the infected cat does not guarantee that the other cat will not become infected? (Particularly if stress causes it to come back?) (Please note this is not meant as an argument, but as a discussion of the potential risks to the new cat).