Subj : OT:  Sharon...Cleft Palates & Cats??
To   : alt.tv.er
From : Connemara
Date : Sat Oct 01 2005 05:25:17

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.er

Sharon,

I was wondering if your husband has ever seen a cat with a cleft palate?  I 
took in a stray cat in mid-August.  Well, a friend took him in first -- but 
she already had three male cats in her one bedroom place and I was thinking 
about taking in a second cat; so I took him.

She had taken him to her vet and the vet estimated he was about 10 months 
old and healthy except that he has a cleft palate which means he sometimes 
coughs -- actually sounds like he is sneezing to get food out of there. 
Anyway, I called my vet to take him in for a follow-up booster and to see if 
they can do the surgery to fix the cleft and the nurse there said she had 
never heard of a cat with a cleft palate.  When I told the friend who 
originally took Othello in, she commented that her vet had said the same 
thing.

So, is it extremely rare among cats to have cleft palates and survive?  Does 
he know anything I need to know?  The only things I know so far are that he 
should not get milk (which I don't give my other cat anyway -- in fact, Kira 
doesn't like it!) and he should only get hard cat food.  (Again, not an 
issue since Kira has been off soft food for about 3-4 months -- much to her 
dismay, but she has gotten used to it.)

If either of you have any suggestions, I would appreciate them.  I am trying 
to get him in to see our vet -- Kira has an appointment on the 3rd; and 
hopefully, we can make an appointment for Othello at that time.  But, I 
would like to have as much information as possible....and tonight it 
occurred to me that you might be able to provide some information.

Appreciate whatever help you might have -- and if you don't have any, such 
is life.  Hope things are going well for you.

Thanks for reading this novelette....
Michelle :-)

--
"Suppose you were an idiot . . . . And suppose you were a member of Congress 
.. . . . But I repeat myself."
-- Mark Twain [b. Samuel Langhorne Clemens]  (1835 - 1910)

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