Cat People - need advice

I have an old cat who is not healthy, but I don’t know enough to help her. She was exposed to mold in our old house, too, and has been through as much or more trauma as me for the past 3 years.

After we left our home 3 years ago, she was very underweight and got knots all in her hair. After we were able to bring her to our relative’s house, we got her set up in a large crate on the back porch. She has a heated cat house, litter box and food and water and stays in there at night and is free to get out during the day.

Problem is she briefly gained a little weight and started grooming better, but didn’t last long. During the warm months, she loses the hair on her nose and gets scabby sores on her nose. Vet says it’s probably mosquito allergy. I have never been convinced. I think it could be no-see-um bites as they look and itch much like the bites I had all summer.

She eats 2 full small cans of Fancy Feast every day, which is pretty good considering she didn’t eat much for a long time. She’s still very underweight, though, and feels like a feather. She has knots all in her hair again and looks bad. Her hair looks bad. Her skin gets dandruff, especially around her tail.

There are no holistic vets here. When we first got out of mold, one vet treated me awful when I kept bringing up mold concerns.

I really know nothing about cats other than to give her food, water, and a litter box, I’m a terrible cat mother and don’t know how she has survived so long. She’s 19 years old now. I feel guilty for not doing more to help her.

If anyone has suggestions about why she has knots in her hair and isn’t grooming or how to fatten her up, can you please share?

I was thinking kidneys, too. When cats are lucky enough to live to 19, it's often their kidneys that decline. As you may know, many cats don't like being messed with. I think most interventions that prolong their lives would not be what some cats would choose, were it possible to ask them. I don't know how you could detox mold from a cat, but I will ask my holistic vet friend if she has ideas. I like the idea of adding fish oil to her food. Feed her whatever she will eat; eating two cans of food per day isn't bad for a cat her age. One of my mom's cats only ate turkey from Subway in her last months, so my mom bought a lot of Subway....

There's a product called Missing Link, a powder added to cat food to supplement nutrients older and ill cats lack. It can be pricey but has helped my cats in the past. Any chance she has a thyroid issue? Thyroid meds are very cheap and can help a lot with skin, fur, and weight.

Is she on any sort of flea and parasite prevention medication, like Revolution (ivermectin)? The products are toxic, but at this point (advanced age) might be helpful if parasites are causing her problems. Any outdoor cat almost certainly has some parasites. Living in New England, I make the choice to treat my dog with Revolution because I don't know about the safety profiles of herbs for preventing fleas, ticks, worms, and other parasites for my dog, and I have yet to know anyone for whom they have been as effective. (I just don't want to take the chance of bringing those organisms into my house if I can help it.) But I would like to find a better way.

I hope others have some good suggestions!

It’s time for her checkup and rabies shot. Last year I declined the bloodwork due to finances. If I take her to the vet and let them do what they want, I can’t get out of there without paying at least $150. I didn’t even think she’d live another whole year, but she’s still here.

She did not have kidney or thyroid problems the last bloodwork she had. She does have long hair that used to be very beautiful and felt soft like rabbit fur.

She gets a dose of Bravecto once every 3 months.

Where do you get fish oil for cats?

Thanks for all the tips.

The story of the cat eating turkey from Subway reminds me of my other cat who died. The last few weeks he lived, I was boiling chicken breast from Fresh Market and shredding it for him. I wore myself out. That’s the first time I really knew what sacrificial love was❤️.

I did sprinkle chlorella powder on her food for a little while, but couldn’t tell it helped anything. She liked the taste alright, but I didn’t know how much to give her. I probably only did it a few weeks and not every single day. Sometimes I would forget.

My fish oil is in big gel caps. Do you open the capsules or is there a liquid brand you use? How much per day or per meal?

Girlie,

In the last 3 years, she’s had little human contact. She never has liked to be touched much, but she loved to lay in my daddy’s lap at night when we lived at home. I talk to her or touch her a little every day and spend more time with her if I sense she’s lonely, but it’s very little.

The house we bought is undergoing remediation now. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the mold in any of the areas around the windows, even though it’s there. They cross contaminated the air pretty bad during the work. I am still hopeful that somehow it will work and we’ll all be able to safely live in it.

If it works and we all live long enough to see the day, she might have a normal home and love again.

Could be thyroid. My boy who used to be overweight got very skinny but always hungry with good appetite. His coat looked bad and started meowing loudly. He was hyperthyroid. We were able to maintain on meds for awhile and then his bp went sky high and almost went blind. He passed a few months later. He died at our moldly lakehouse - probably no coincidence.

Others make a good point that skin stuff with cats is very often a food allergy. Switching to a limited ingredient food is a good idea, if you can afford it. My cat is allergic to chicken, which is extremely hard to avoid in cat food!

Some cats like company even if they don't like touch. If you have time, she might just like someone nearby sometimes, even just reading a book.

My holistic vet friend does not know of any mold detox protocols for cats aside from removing them from exposure, supporting their kidneys and thyroid when needed, and good nutrition.

I bought fish oil in a liquid for my dog.

I'm sorry to hear that your mold remediation still doesn't seem to be going well for you. What a disappointment! You have been waiting so long to have a safe place to live! Part of mold remediation for us (which also was a ridiculous and disappointing and EXPENSIVE process) was installing a Santa Fe dehumidifier. It's really impressive. We feel very confident that no new mold will grow because the humidity levels in the house are kept so low now. We keep sensors on each floor to make sure. So that might provide some peace of mind, even if the remediation itself isn't as thorough as it should be.