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Daffodil Goes To The Vet

 


Daffodil has been sneezing and having a runny nose for 5 days now. I thought 5 days was a bit too long so we made a trip to the vet’s today.

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The last trip to the vet’s, Daffodil was so scared she stretched out and tore the plastic covering of my car seat. This time I’m more well-prepared. I brought the Carebears blanket along.

The vet took a look at Daffodil and said 5 days of runny nose is still quite okay and not a cause for concern yet. He acknowledged that I may be particularly concerned because of Daffodil’s age, hence, possible lowered immunity (which I was) but assured me that her body condition is good, she had no mouth ulcers and no conjunctivitis. Her weight has also remained unchanged and yes, she is still eating very well though she did skip a meal or two in the past 5 days.

However…

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…Daffodil did have a few bad teeth (not surprising since she had been living on the streets for 10 years prior to our move to this neighbourhood). These bad teeth could lead to infection and cause a runny nose as well. But we should not need to address the bad teeth at this point in time.

To help with the runny nose, the vet gently squirted some salt water into both her nostrils. Of course, the vet can do anything to her without her objecting. That’s why they are vets (and we are not!). Daffodil didn’t even attempt to put up any struggle. None at all. I didn’t even have to help by holding her. In fact, the vet told me not to hold her. The less stress, the better, especially when Daffodil has had a feral history but is now living in the house. You do NOT want to upset her so much until she runs away and lose all her trust of humans. That is very important.

The magic touch of a vet! That’s why they train for so many years…

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The vet left Daffodil alone so that she would be comfortable and spent the next hour explaining all about cat flu to me and what options I had for Daffodil. He also wanted me to see how effective the salt water treatment was – yes, we didn’t hear Daffodil snorting at all. None. The salt water worked wonders. Salt water has the ability to clear the mucus.

Daffodil hid behind the computer screen. I think she was quite comfortable there, especially when the vet had switched off the air-cont so as not to aggravate her runny nose.

Cat flu is normally caused by one (or several) of three pathogens – the Herpesvirus, the Calicivirus or Chlamydia. If it is caused by the herpesvirus, then Lysine would work well since the molecular structure of something in Lysine is similar to the Herpesvirus (some “trickery” can happen in the body and Lysine can help the body heal).

Also, when the flu bug infects the cat, it takes about 1-3 days for the flu to present itself internally. Once this happens, if there are memory cells in the body, antibodies will be activated to help fight the flu. This is probably why Tiger recovered in one day, Ginger in two days and Vincent in five days. If there are no memory cells, it takes a bit longer for the body to churn out antibodies to fight the pathogens. The antibody level reaches its peak in 7 days and that is why the pet has a good chance of healing without any help, even if it takes about 14 days for recovery to take place.

I am already giving Daffodil Vetri DMG as well as TF. The vet said this ought to be enough for now. If I want to give anything else in a few days’ time (if there is no improvement), I could opt for Lysine (Enisyl is one brand) or Cordiceps (the brand is Cordy). Cordiceps have been researched and found to be helpful in respiratory problems in dogs and cats. Antibiotics is not necessary at this moment (it’s useful for warding off secondary infections or the chlamydia, if that is the cause – the chlamydia is some bacteria-like microorganism).

The big consideration for Daffodil is that it’s unwise to do too much at this point because she has a history of being feral (for 10 years) and I’ve only recently managed to “domesticate” her which means her trust of humans came rather late in life. It’s important not to scare her too much (by force-feeding her medicines, etc.) because that would be extremely stressful for her. Worse, she might run away.

Before we left, the vet squirted some salt water into both her nostrils again. No struggle, it looked too easy. By the way, Daffodil’s right nostril is bigger than her left. We don’t know why.

We came home without medication, which is good. Let the body heal by itself. At least, give it a chance to do so.

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Rosie came to greet her mother upon her return. Or did she just want to go into the carrier?

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Telling Ginger all about her visit to that strange place where liquids were dropped into her nostrils.

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Ginger: No, I wouldn’t have liked that, I think. 

Daffodil: Actually, it was all quite pleasant. The runny mucus cleared up while I was there. 

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Zurik said in Russia, they did things differently.

Вы не можете заболеть – that’s it!

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But he too would like to go into the carrier, he said.

Since our return from the vet’s, Daffodil seems fine, though there is still some runny nose. She ate heartily, which is good. I’m still thinking whether I have enough courage to try the salt water nostril drop on her. I mean, her claws are as sharp as ever, you know…

I’ll let you know if I dare to try it.



Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2016/05/03/daffodil-goes-to-the-vet..



 

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AnimalCare

AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

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