28 June, 2021

The Many Faces of PO'M

PO'Monday!

It's been hot here, and our area had torrential rains a few days ago, with the result that many folks were flooded.

Thankfully, Eastside Cats was spared, but we are purring for those who've got piles of soaked and destroyed items sitting at the curb, ready to be taken away by the garbage trucks.

To brighten things up, here is my love Paddy, showing his many moods:

His ever-so-ernest look
"Wake up and bring food!"
Territorial
"Watch me scope out the yard!"
Silly
"I love you!"

There is a patch of fur missing from PO'M's tummy, and it's gotten worse as the season progresses.

Not at all sure why he licks himself bald.

In an attempt to help him, since I cannot just grab him and take him to the veterinarian, The Hubby and I removed the straw for The Cat House, and carefully placed freshly laundered bath towels inside.

Of course, cloth is DANGEROUS when the temperatures are near the freezing mark, since the fabric holds moisture and can be deadly if it turns to ice.

This is a temporary warm-weather experiment, to see if the straw is the culprit (which is The Hubby's theory, and I'm going along because my half-dozen trials and errors have had zero effect!)

19 comments:

  1. That flooding is awful and sad. Paddy is so handsome and I hope you solve the fur mystery soon.

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  2. Hi Paddy! We hope your belly clears up soon.

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  3. And great faces all of them. I hope your bare patch clears up.

    You're most good looking and mom loves you so much. I can see why.

    Have a fabulous day and week. ♥

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  4. Awww, Paddy we hope the itchy belly trouble issue will soon be solved!

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  5. GOOD thinking about the towels and as a way to see if the straw id the culprit. Can you ask a vet what might be the problem since it is the lower area...specifically...I wonder about mites if that can happen...or a skin disease peculiar to cats...I so so so wish the time here a year ago I think it was, that you hoped to trap him and get him to a Vet would have worked. You did the very best you could do. It had to be heartbreaking not to get him there.

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  6. We hope the towels trick solves the problem. Purrs

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  7. Oh, that belly!

    I hope the towels solve the over-grooming. When I was a teenager, we had a cat that over-groomed, but we worked out that it was due to anxiety rather than anything irritating his skin.

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  8. Such a cutie from all angles. My Sammy does that too. I had him on apoquil, but it can only be used for a few weeks. Now he is on Chlortabs, but they don't work as well.

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  9. I am sorry you're dealing with this issue but know he's in good care. Best wishes!

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  10. We hope the towels help with POM's belly. There could be something in the straw or the type of straw. That is, is it rye straw, wheat straw, barley straw, etc. and straw often contains mould (and spores). Farmers use loads of pesticide. He could be allergic to that too. Further, bugs LOVE straw! I thought straws were pretty basic but I got a real education a few weeks ago when 2 of my neighbors' chickens started getting itchy and pulling out their feathers. It turned out it was the pesticides the local barley farmer was using. Some farm stores may have bagged chopped straw, specifically for chicken coop use. These are more expensive to buy than bales, but they do have their benefits. Bagged chicken coop straw is pesticide-free, chopped to a small size, dry, and free of dangerous moulds. I am sure that using towels over the summer will help determine of the straw is causing POM's itchies.

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  11. You two are so sweet to think of towels for POM. They are smart and always figure a way

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  12. I hope you can figure out what's causing Paddy's baldness. ~Ernie

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  13. PO'M certainly knows how to be cute! Hopefully his licking stops - could just be some sort of seasonal allergy. Oddly, Raven's skin conditions seemed to be related to her thyroid hormone levels being elevated. Her fur grew back after we had her thyroid treated.

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  14. I hope he will feel more comfortable with towels and stop licking his belly. He is so handsome. xx

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  15. sorry to hear about the flooding but glad to hear you are all safe--Frodo has similar bald spots that developed around his armpits. Turns out he developed food allergies. They are hard to diagnose so i had to put all the cats on hypoallergenic food for two months to see if Frodo got better (was really strict-he was not allowed to eat anything but hypo food) but his fur got much better so now he is on hypo food all the time. YOu might want to try a vet recommended hypo food and see if that helps!

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  16. That is a bit worrying. It may indeed by the straw. If it is, you’ll be able to come up with a cold-weather substitute for the PO’M before autumn arrives.

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  17. Great seeing PO'M and really hope that tummy is better with the change. Hope he does not need some sort of meds but Pill Pockets work for ours and maybe for PO'M, hoping he does not need them

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  18. There are many websites that address belly licking! It even has a long name psycogeginic alopoecia….ugh. But it’s curable! Ask on google: why does my kitty lick his belly all the time.

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Mee-row!
Thanks for your comments; we LURV them! Purrr....