Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Flip

Original poster

Cat biting her nails and rash on her skin.

9 replies

shuan · 14/01/2015 11:38

Hello,

I am watching my new rescue cat grooming herself and she seems to be pulling and maybe biting her nails/claws.

Is this normal?

The other thing I have noticed is some dry spots on her skin. It looks like a dermatitis type rash.

I have an appointment at the vets end of next week to get her vaccinated. I thought it best to let her settle in for a few weeks before taking her because she has been through a lot. Do you think I should take her sooner?

OP posts:

cozietoesie · 14/01/2015 11:45

Biting claws and 'sooking' webbing and claws is something my boys have always done - it's part of their routine, particularly with back claws because they can't really sharpen those as they do their front claws. (Seniorboy can't do much anymore because his claws have thickened with age and he only has one rear tooth - so I have to help him with those. (eg I do them.))

I'd probably let her settle a bit to see how it goes although it might be no bad thing to start with a grooming routine to get her used to it for later years. How is she doing generally?

cozietoesie · 14/01/2015 11:54

PS - I take it she was spayed, flea'd and wormed etc at the rescue centre before you got her?

Original poster

shuan · 14/01/2015 16:34

Hi Cozie, thank you for your reply. It was her back claws so reassuring to know other cats do it too.

Yes she was spayed and treated for fleas and worms but not vaccinated.

She is very quiet. She is either sitting on my lap or sleeping on the bed. That is all she does. She is eating well and uses her litter tray but only during the night when we are asleep.

I think it will stress her taking her to the vet next week. The appointment is on Friday. Do you think I should take her then?

She was abandoned in April and has stayed in a few different places since then. She has been through a lot.

OP posts:

cozietoesie · 14/01/2015 17:27

Poor lass - but actually it doesn't sound too bad what with the sitting on you and sleeping.

On the timing of the vet visit, I'm a little more hardline than you perhaps. When Seniorboy came to live with me he was vet-phobic - might have been three or four times in his (even then, long) life. I decided that if he had to go to the vet then he had to go to the vet so I tell him 'It's Business', bung him into his (luckily capacious) carrier and just get it over with. I ignore any grumbles and yowls and just do it.

He gets a love-in when he arrives home though and now seems to realize that while the vet may not be a great activity, he gets to come home afterwards and is therefore reconciled to it.

I've also had a cat with active cat flu and very unpleasant it is too. (Not even going near the other elements of the vaccination.) I'm staggered that the rescue didn't do the vaccination before you took her - I rather thought that it was the first thing a vet considered with a new cat - but I'd take her in and get it over with myself.

cozietoesie · 14/01/2015 17:28

PS - sorry. She'll need two of course if it's a fresh start.

Original poster

shuan · 14/01/2015 18:52

I was surprised too, cozie I assumed they would vaccinate too. I said I would take her to the vet asap to get it done but it was the lady from the rescue place that said I should wait. She said to wait a month or two but I really don't want to wait that long. The vets told me it would be two, maybe I will bring the appointment forward really don't want her getting cat flu.

The flea and worm treatment the rescue did was one you can buy in a shop, not one from a vet. Is that ok and when will it need done again? I was told every six months as she is an indoor cat but I am thinking that might not be right.

Thank you for your advice .

How old is your senior cat?

OP posts:

cozietoesie · 14/01/2015 20:02

He's 20. Came to me at about 14.

It sounds as if that rescue is trying to run without any vet support. (No prescription meds.) Are they a small local operation?

Do you know what meds she was given and when?

Original poster

shuan · 14/01/2015 20:31

wow how lovely that he is 20, you must be looking after him really well .

Yes it is a small local rescue. She recommended front line to me for flea treatment so maybe that is what she used. I could be wrong about worming treatment being done. I can email her to ask. She said she did the treatment last week. She did take my cat to see a vet because she was limping. The vet didn't find anything wrong and suggested it could be to do with an old injury that was never treated.

I will definitely see a vet soon to get the vaccines, flea and worming sorted.

OP posts:

cozietoesie · 14/01/2015 21:42

Good. Set it all out for the vet - and the best of luck to her.

Flip