Pet of the Month! Dasher!

Dasher’s Story

Meet Dasher, an adorable 5-year-old rescue cat who’s been on quite the health journey since finding his forever home. Dasher was initially seen for chronic diarrhoea and significant weight loss, which prompted a series of investigations. Lab tests revealed he had low vitamin B12 levels. With dedicated care from his owners, including preparing a special diet daily, alongside B12 and probiotic supplementation, Dasher gradually turned a corner. 

His gut health has now improved significantly, and his weight steadily increased back to normal. Once stable enough Dasher was also able to undergo a dental procedure to treat his stomatitis (painful inflammation in a cat’s mouth, usually caused by an overreaction to plaque) — this further improved his well-being and he’s now enjoying life again: playful, happy, and back to his charming self. A real testament to the power of perseverance, and lots of love!

Dasher is on our Gold plan which came in very useful as he became a regular to our clinic. Dasher is back in this month for his individually tailoured 'Annual Health Plan' (Included with our silver and gold subscriptions) that will help us plan his ongoing care to keep him in the best health we can.

We asked Dasher’s owners some questions about him:

Does Dasher have any nicknames?
We mostly try to respect his real name, which he was given by the rescue centre we adopted him from (we think because he was taken in near Christmas – and we assume they were working their way through all the reindeer at the time!) That said, he does like to run loops around people's ankles, especially if they're going up or down the stairs or anywhere near the kitchen, so we do occasionally refer to him as 'the tripping hazard'.

What is Dasher’s favourite thing to do?
Like most cats, Dasher's favourite hobby is eating. Because of his sensitive digestion and lack of teeth, he gets four small meals a day (all gut-friendly, wet food), so in his mind it's nearly always time to eat – and he's usually right. Outside meal times, his top treat would be plain, cooked chicken, but he'll settle for freeze-dried chicken pieces or half an Encore-brand fish fillet otherwise. He also comes running if he hears a crisp packet being opened, but he's not allowed those – although the day he managed to steal and eat a Quaver was one of the best of his life!
When not eating, Dasher likes to watch birds in the garden, chase ping pong balls around the house, and sleep on the comfiest blankets he can find.

When did you first notice that Dasher was unwell?
We knew Dasher's digestion wasn't too good within a few weeks of adopting him, but thought this might just be down to the disruption of him moving to a new home. However, when he began to have accidents outside his litter tray and sometimes not want to eat much, we thought it best to get advice. We only realised how much weight he had lost when we took him to the vet for assessment and found it was much lower than on our first visit; and only became aware of the extent of his dental problems when he had his teeth fully examined after we noticed he seemed reluctant to eat any dried or crunchy foods.

Did you research into his diagnosis/condition further?
We did initially try to research what could be causing his stomach upset and the accidents he was having, but knowing very little about his background it was hard to assess what might be happening. As first-time cat owners we knew we'd need to get professional guidance to make sure we were caring for him the best way we could.

What advice would you give to others?
We took a risk adopting Dasher in that he was a former stray who had been living on the streets, so probably hadn't had the healthiest life up to that point. With no background to work with (we didn't – and still don't – even know how old he is), it took some time to observe and understand what his issues were and then try to help him back to full health, but it has been worth it to see him transformed into a much more comfortable, curious and energetic cat. So our advice for others would simply be to understand there are a lot of unknowns when adopting a rescue cat, but patience and perseverance will be rewarded when it comes to helping them thrive in a new home and live their healthiest and happiest lives.

How has the Healthcare Subscription helped you?
The subscription means we know we can take Dasher in to see the vet whenever he needs to, without worrying about the one-off costs. We also appreciate the discounts on his regular flea and worm treatments, and the nail clipping service – which has certainly saved us some scratches over the last couple of years!