If not, how would one go about making them weatherproof? Can someone explain this to me like I'm 5 lol. Or can I just buy one from catflapfever and ask a handyman to make it weatherproof?
I received a bad diagnosis for my kitty, and I want to make sure he gets to spend the rest of his life spoiled.
I would like it to be easy to build because I need it to be available fast and I don’t know shit about handwork. I’ll hire a handyman if I have to, but again, the easier to build the better, so the labor doesn’t cost me too much
It would also be great if it was elevated; if it’s not, I just gotta figure out how to make the bottom 2 feet or so “covered”, because neighbor cats will come up to the catio and stress my cats out if they can get face to face
It can be a window catio, it just needs to be sort of large, because I have two 15 pound boys that don’t love to be super duper close to each other. Or maybe I could get 2 window catios instead of one large one, idk
It’d be great- if I’m only getting one- if it could be large enough to put a cat tree in there or something. I’m looking at catios and seeing the platforms are sort of small, and I’d like my cats to be able to comfortably sit in there. Or maybe I could hang a hammock or something? I just don’t quite know how I’d do this
Anyways, I may be able to spend more than $1,000. I just want my cats to really be able to enjoy it, and right away. Thank you!!
^videos above.
My baby (7.5 y/o, neutered male, DSH, 13 Ibs) went to the vet 1.5 months ago for a bad URI. He tested positive for FeLV (he’s an indoor cat but had outdoor access via a leash, where he sniffed a neighbor’s cat nose; I took him for yearly vaccinations but they never gave him the FeLV one, apparently). When his cough didn’t go away all the way and his respiratory rate remained a bit high (50’s ish) , they saw on an X-ray that he had asthma (donut thingies). They also heard a heart gallop, and did an echo and saw he had extremely mild HCM (his heart wall was 51% rather than 50% and under, whatever that means). The vet (internal specialist) estimated he may not need meds for about another 7 years. They saw nothing wrong with his upper respiratory tract and didn’t see or hear any fluid in or near his lungs. They prescribed an inhaler for daily maintenance and I’ve been trying to train him daily to get accustomed to it, but we haven’t actually used it yet.
Over the past couple week, the coughing stopped and his respiratory rate returned to ~20. Paradoxical breathing pattern continued, but that was going on before all this too. His appetite has been decent (tho he isn’t a menace for food like he was before), and he hasn’t lost weight.
2 nights ago, we ran a window AC unit (that I hadn’t run it forever) and I’m not sure if it irritated him, but he started coughing a bit again and 2 nights ago I noticed his respiratory rate had been really elevated that day ( (~70) and it looked labored. I took him to the ER and they said it was ~120 when they examined him. They put him in an oxygen tank and gave him nebulized albuterol, which helped. They also gave him a mild opioid. They took x-rays and ultrasounds and said his heart looked normal, but could see irritation and inflammation in his lower respiratory tract. On ultrasound, she said she saw a little bit of fluid in his lungs. She gave him a shot of lasix, and then another one a few hours later. They also gave me lasix pills to give him every 12 hours for 5 days, then every 24 hours for 5 days.
His appetite hasn’t been great today, but I’m giving him 75mg gabapentin which has helped him be hungrier in the past. I also gave it to him because he seemed anxious and his whiskers were very straight.
His hospital stay was about 16 hours and it’s been about 15 hours since his discharge; he’s a bit loopy (the gabapentin and shock of everything I assume) and doesn’t seem super super comfortable- he is drinking more water- but this just happened. It didn’t accompany coughing, he got hunched over and it lasted about 10 minutes then stopped. What could this have been??? Do I bring him back to vet ASAP??? It’s the weekend, and I plan to follow up with his main vet (specialist) in 6 days anyways, as per the ER’s instructions.
I also notice, when he’s sitting on me, that sometimes, his breath seems to … sort of catch? and he jolts a little bit- super minor, I’m not sure you could even see it, I just feel it since he’s on me. This happens once in a while. His purring also sounds a little … more hoarse?