Elderly cat breathing difficulties when purring

[Guest]

Maud and Fatima were in pretty decent condition when we got them, they just had bald patches on their necks and tatty wing feathers but their neck feathers have all grown back and their wings are almost back to how they should look.

 

Mariana and Shalott were in much poorer condition, their crops were totally bald and most of their neck. The rest of their feathers, what there were of them, we very tatty and raggedy. Mariana seems to be feathering up but painfully slowly.

 

Shalott on the other hand doesn't look any different and I'm very concerned because it's so cold.

 

They get as much layers mash and pellets as they can eat, with garlic powder and poultry spice mixed in. We put ACV in their water. They get a good amount of mixed corn just before bed time, plus they free range so are eating worms etc.

 

Here's a pic of her. Will she bald forever? She seems to have had some feather spikes on her neck for weeks but they haven't developed into feathers and her crop area is totally bald. She preens and dust bathes so I can't understand, after 2 months, why she's still so bedraggled and featherless.

 

Is there anything else I can do to help her? I'm worried she'll freeze to death

 

p.s. we don't have an eglu, we have a wooden coop and we shut the door every night.

 

 

 

 

 

[Rona]

Awww bless her. She looks just like my Cava, she has also had stubble for a while that has grown so far but then stopped. I think I read somewhere that it can take up to six months for them to get their feathers back. Someone said to give them high protein food like tuna or chick crumbs to help them grow feathers. Unfortunatley mine aren't too keen on anything except layers mash and mealworms. Sorry can't be much help but will watch this thread with interest as I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along soon.

[Guest]

i think mealworms are full of protein, will get some at the weekend anyway as we wanted to treat them to something new in the food department.

 

Stubble, good description!

[Karen & co.]

Bless her One of my girls Sprite has only just got feathers on the little scrawny neck, she is still sadly lacking in the feathery tail department though and I've had her 15 months now

 

I wouldn't worry too much, I guess she is too busy being a real chicken to worry about her attire

 

karen x

[Guest]

hi karen, she's totally bald on her crop, not even a sign of a spike- I don't care what she looks like, it's whether she'll get too cold that worries me. It was really cold today and her poor bare skin must have been freezing.

 

Do you think mealworms would be good? She goes mental for earthworms so I'm hoping she'll take to mealworms okay.

 

They've been a bit fussy about what they'll eat, but they all adore the mixed corn.

[Guest]

15 months, so you'll have had them last winter then, and sprite was obviously okay then. Poor little girls, I do worry about them so much, especially the little tatty ones

[theherd123]

Poet with regards the mealworms im sure i read on here that dried mealworms hardly contain any protein at all so if you can get some live ones they would be better

 

White maggots would be good too - they are also great for clearing the crop if there are any problems there.

 

How about scrambled egg with a dusting of poultry spice? My girls love this as a treat

 

As for keeping the girls warm at night you could invest in a Snuggle Safe. You can buy them online and just pop them in the microwave for 5 mins then stick them under the roosting bars to raise the temp by a few degrees.

 

You probably do this already but throwing a heavy blanket over the coop at night should keep out any unwanted draughts

 

Hope these suggestions help

[Guest]

thanks emma

 

xxx

[AMO]

Hi Poet

 

Cool avatar BTW!!

 

I gave my ex-bats a small tina of tuna twice a week to share. Use tuna in brine - just give it a good rinse! I'll post the before/after photos at the weekend. Within 8 weeks Hazel had grown all her neck feathers back - just in time for the cold weather!

 

Anne-Marie

x

[Guest]

thanks AMO, look fwd to the pics- will try them with some tuna but they're sooooooooooo fussy.

 

 

Should i give it in the morning when they're hungry or in the PM as a treat?

[Guest]

oh god, I'm PMSL

 

Just suggested to DH that we open a tin of tuna t'row and give the chickens some of it to try and if they don't like it, we'll eat the rest for lunch.

 

He said "eat what, the chickens or the tuna? Seems a bit extreme to eat them just because they don't like the tuna!"

Edited December 14, 2007 by Guest

[Rona]

[theherd123]

[Christian]

I think it was me Em who said about dried mealworms. My vet said that they are just keratin, the husk of a poor mealworm.

 

Live ones are better and so is tuna or chick crumbs.

 

Hope she feathers up soon Poet.

[Egluntyne]

I give mine cat food.

 

They love it and feathers have grown back quite quickly this time.

[Karen & co.]

hi karen, she's totally bald on her crop, not even a sign of a spike- I don't care what she looks like, it's whether she'll get too cold that worries me. It was really cold today and her poor bare skin must have been freezing.

 

.

 

Sorry I didn't see this yesterday Sprite was fine last winter, I was so worried about her in the frost and snow, but she was quiet happy

 

I was also worried about her in the sun as she was so bald, and wether she would get sunburn Luckily she seemed to like sittling in the shade of a tree when it was really hot, and pootling around under the hedges the rest of the time I also read that dried mealworms are just keratin, but a little scrambled egg or tuna seemed to go down well, (I couldn't bring myself to give them cat food )

 

karen x

[chocchick]

Keratin is a protein....

[little chickadee]

poet - mine go completely mental for mealworms, so much so that I'm breeding my own. You can get them live very easily . I throw them in the run and they have fun digging them out of the hemcore!

My hens are also very fussy but mealworms really seem to push the right buttons!

Good luck with the tuna anyway. You could always try frogs!!!!! Mine had a big fight in October when they found one.... yum ......

 

Ps - has anyone looked on the egg thread???

[Roxanne]

Hi Poet

I actually give mine cat food twice a week because they are not on grass at the moment. Sinced we moved them in for the winter they have been on hard standing so I bought fish only organic cat food which they love so much they literally eat it from the pouch before it hits the ground! I was concerned they would be missing out on that extra bit of protien and the one chicken who decided to moult this year has begun to renew her feathers very quickly.

When I get my ex-bats in Jan/Feb I will let my omlet girls back on grass as a treat, which I hope will stop them picking on the newcomers... hopefully a diversionary tactic!

[Rona]

Ps - has anyone looked on the egg thread???

 

Have now - congratulations! Well done Dave.

 

Merlot has new feathers covering her crop now. She has had stubble for ages and all of a sudden she has lovely fluffy feathers all down her neck.

[Guest]

thanks all

 

see this thread

 

http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17124

 

will let you know how things go but we're still planning on getting them some mealworms later this week

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I was in mid-post last night and managed to inadvertently switch off my laptop . So here it is now...

 

Bless her little baldy neck. She certainly looks bright-eyed and bushy-combed so you're obviously doing something right.

 

I was wondering just a few days ago if your girls had feathered up much in the time you've had them - then I saw the pics of your girls on your knee ( ).

 

When you posted your first pics I got my boys to look at them. They couldn't believe their featherlessness compared to our girls. I think they were quite moved.