Hi all! Meet Troy!! This is long, I pretty much want to lay my new cat's health out and see what everyone thinks, so be warned! My fiance and I recently adopted a 3 year old cat from a shelter. He is our first pet together and I am so happy to finally have a cat of our own rather than the family pets we had growing up... this is MY baby!! 
Anyway, since we brought him home, he has been a complete lovebug - curling up next to me to sleep, kneading us and giving us kisses, always wanting to be on our laps, making cute 'cooing' noises... he's wonderful.
We brought him to the vet one week after getting him for a checkup, as the shelter recommended, and also because we had noticed the signs of tapeworm - the little rice-looking pellets they leave around. The vet gave him a drontal tablet and he has been fine since then, she said to give him dose #2 in 3 weeks to be sure. We've given him Frontline Plus just in case he did have fleas, and the vet said he looked fine.
Now that it's been a little over a week, I've noticed other things that are getting me nervous, but I feel like the vet would've/should've pointed them out if there really was a problem, given it was his first checkup with her, we are new patients there, and first time cat owners on our own.
He did have an upper respiratory infection when he got to the shelter and was treated for it. Even when we saw him in the shelter, and now, I notice that his eyes have small tear lines and that his third eyelid is visible in the corners of his eyes. I googled it and freaked - I found info about Horner's syndrome and things like that, but also things that said in some cats it's normal to see a bit of the white part. I've attached pics so you can all give me an opinion of if he looks healthy or if I have need for concern. Honestly, it's only a tiny bit of white, but I don't know if that's normal in some cats.
He also has chin acne... I thought it was flea dirt and it turns out, upon googling, he has cat acne, which can be caused by a number of things.
Lastly, he has very fine fur on his hind legs and belly... the vet said this is probably from having fleas at one point or from stress. You can see it in the pictures. I haven't seen him licking lately, so maybe he's over it.
I am caring for him in all the ways I've read- wiping his eyes with a warm wet cloth, wiping his chin and dabbing peroxide on at night with a cottonball, and just giving him love so he feels as comfortable in a new place as possible and not as stressed from being left, in a shelter, and then in a brand new home.
My questions are... what are your experiences with 1) how much of the white part (third eyelid) you see in your cat and 2) cats overly licking off their fur and if it grows back or if some cats just do this out of nervousness?
I don't know if I'm being too much of a worrywart- when we brought him to the vet, she did what I thought was a thorough checkup and kept saying how nice of a cat he was, how well-tempered, and healthy. I feel like she would've mentioned any of these things as problems if they were, and I'm kind of mad I paid for her to give a "wellness checkup" just to find he had cat acne, might need eye drops, and she didn't even offer to see if he needed his nails clipped or anything which I've been told is a norm. Ugh. I am a generally worrisome person, so I don't know if I'm transferring that to caring for this new animal in my life or if he really may seem to have any issues. Thank you for any and all support/tips!!!
Anyway, since we brought him home, he has been a complete lovebug - curling up next to me to sleep, kneading us and giving us kisses, always wanting to be on our laps, making cute 'cooing' noises... he's wonderful.
We brought him to the vet one week after getting him for a checkup, as the shelter recommended, and also because we had noticed the signs of tapeworm - the little rice-looking pellets they leave around. The vet gave him a drontal tablet and he has been fine since then, she said to give him dose #2 in 3 weeks to be sure. We've given him Frontline Plus just in case he did have fleas, and the vet said he looked fine.
Now that it's been a little over a week, I've noticed other things that are getting me nervous, but I feel like the vet would've/should've pointed them out if there really was a problem, given it was his first checkup with her, we are new patients there, and first time cat owners on our own.
He did have an upper respiratory infection when he got to the shelter and was treated for it. Even when we saw him in the shelter, and now, I notice that his eyes have small tear lines and that his third eyelid is visible in the corners of his eyes. I googled it and freaked - I found info about Horner's syndrome and things like that, but also things that said in some cats it's normal to see a bit of the white part. I've attached pics so you can all give me an opinion of if he looks healthy or if I have need for concern. Honestly, it's only a tiny bit of white, but I don't know if that's normal in some cats.
He also has chin acne... I thought it was flea dirt and it turns out, upon googling, he has cat acne, which can be caused by a number of things.
Lastly, he has very fine fur on his hind legs and belly... the vet said this is probably from having fleas at one point or from stress. You can see it in the pictures. I haven't seen him licking lately, so maybe he's over it.
I am caring for him in all the ways I've read- wiping his eyes with a warm wet cloth, wiping his chin and dabbing peroxide on at night with a cottonball, and just giving him love so he feels as comfortable in a new place as possible and not as stressed from being left, in a shelter, and then in a brand new home.
My questions are... what are your experiences with 1) how much of the white part (third eyelid) you see in your cat and 2) cats overly licking off their fur and if it grows back or if some cats just do this out of nervousness?
I don't know if I'm being too much of a worrywart- when we brought him to the vet, she did what I thought was a thorough checkup and kept saying how nice of a cat he was, how well-tempered, and healthy. I feel like she would've mentioned any of these things as problems if they were, and I'm kind of mad I paid for her to give a "wellness checkup" just to find he had cat acne, might need eye drops, and she didn't even offer to see if he needed his nails clipped or anything which I've been told is a norm. Ugh. I am a generally worrisome person, so I don't know if I'm transferring that to caring for this new animal in my life or if he really may seem to have any issues. Thank you for any and all support/tips!!!
