HOW ARE THE KIDS???

we need a new thread going here, the others are getting long and hard to keep track of....
How are Abby/Snickers/Misha/Akira and Sapphire doing..?? ( hope I didn't miss anybody?)
keep us updated...I hope no news remains as good news?

[dominosarah]

Oh i see we have new babies on the list........

Snickers isnt eating as good as i would like but he has claimed the christmas tree as his so that is a step in the right direction!!

[PrettyKitty1]

I just fed Ab for the second time today, cleaned his incision, and gave him his meds. Abby is doing well, for a cat on a feding tube. I have a follow-up appt on Wed. My husband will take him.  Other than that he was purring this morning in my ear and is still not interested in food whatsoever.

[opus88]

Pk..well that is good news he continues to be doing very well...just wish he would try to eat..guess he is too full!!
Sarah...as long as snickers is eating some I wouldn't worry too much, good to keep an eye on tho!!...my Nemo is such a lite eater, 1/2 cup a day at the MOST of dry food and he is healthy and 11lbs...so is eating just what he needs I guess!

[dominosarah]

I think the meds have something to do with Abby's appetite.  How great is that to wake up to him purring in your ear!!!!!!!!  Sweet sweet music~~~~~

[Jade59]

Sara...yes, as long as he's eating.  I know how you feel though.  I will worry if Jade doesn't eat her normal daily intake...which I suspect may be too much lol...  

PK...I think the meds are the culprit too and if he's still a little nauseated, that would surely affect his wanting to eat.  His tummy is getting used to food again as well.  So happy to hear he's purring...he's happy to be home with mommy :)

[PrettyKitty1]

Guys,

I just got the ACTH test results back from the lab. I got it over the mail, and the doctor has concluded that the response is adequate. If you remember, the vet told me he'd run the ACTH test to find out why Abby was getting sick. He fnds it weird for a cat so young to be getting sick all the time. So this test came back normal. Which leads me to believe that his liver disease was merely caused by his anorexia, which caused by stress from the move.

[zodiacqueen]

LOL Opus.....wonder if it's just cat people that wind up with these HUGE threads?  = )

PK-The purring in the ear and Ab jumping on the bed shows that he's getting better.  I bet that once his liver values are back to normal, he will start to eat on his own again.  You could try to "introduce" him to some food again by watering his food down and putting a little bit of it in his mouth.  I think kitties can get used to not eating, and read that this is a good way to get them eating again.

Sara and PK-Just want both of you to know that the vet can give your cats an appetite stimulant to get them eating again.  Sara, I think I've talked to you about this before, or maybe it was Opus.....LOL...well it was one of ya.  Anyway, that's what Skunkie is now on.  Her appetite, pretty much suks right now, and her blood work is good.  They have no idea what the deal is.  But, I knew she had to get on something since she didn't eat well for a couple of days.  That stuff works great and works within about 15 minutes.  So, if either of ya'll need it, ask your vet about this stuff!  Yes, I had to throw a "ya'll" out there.....some of you miss me saying that.  LMAO

[PrettyKitty1]

ZQ,

How old is Skunk? Do you think her lack of appetite is due to her being an elderly kitty? Jesus, our cats are not making it easy for us, are they?

[zodiacqueen]

She's either 16 or 17 yrs old.  The vets can't figure it out-her liver is fine and her kidneys are normal(a little high, but still normal)-not bad enough to affect the appetite.  I was thinking it was possibly her teeth.  The vets said that I could be right when I brought this up, but they don't want to put her under anesthesia because of her age.  They don't think her teeth are that bad, but there could be some places in her mouth that are bothering her.  They said I could try the appetite stimulant and some pain meds on her.  I'm not doing the pain meds, right now, but if the stimulant stops working, then I will start her on them.

We shall see!  Anyway, I just really wanted you and Sara to know about the appetite stimulants that the vet can give ya.  I didn't even know they existed, until this summer when Skunkie's appetite started sukking!  Once Ab gets back to normal again, now you know that there is an option out there if he stops eating for a few days.  They may seriously come in handy!!.  I'm telling ya, this stuff is great!!!!  = )

[dominosarah]

Where in the world is April?  I would think she would give us her itinerary if she is going to be gone for awhile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  LOL

[PrettyKitty1]

ZQ,
I called the hospital. Dr. Pierre said it is not recommended to give 'this patient' (my cat) stimulants. I guess they take other turns when dealing with a fatty liver disease.
He explained to me but he had a French accent so I understood very little.  He did say my cat would start eating on his own eventually.

[zodiacqueen]

Oh gosh....I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to give them to Ab now.  I meant once Ab is normal again, if God forbid, Ab decides to stop eating again for a few days.  It will be a way to prevent this from ever happening again!  I bet that the doc thinks that the stimulant would be just too much for poor Ab right now.  Poor Ab is getting enough drugs in him right now!  But, I do think that it would be okay to give him a little bit of watered down food-I would ask the doc first, though.

Don't ya just love trying to understand some of the docs!!  Drives me nuts sometimes!  It sounds like they did a great job on Ab, though!  He does sound like he's improving everyday.  I know how very happy you must be!  = )  A true Xmas miracle.  Cats really DO have 9 lives.

[PrettyKitty1]

ZQ,

You would have loved to listen to that sexy French accent. I do think French accent is sexy!! I think I focused more on his accent than on the reason I called hahahah...

If this happens again I will do whatever it takes to get to him to eat again, including stimulants....

[zodiacqueen]

Oh good Lord, you're such a goof ball!!!  LMAO  I agree, a French accent is HOT, but not when they're trying to talk medical stuff and ya can't understand jack!  = )

Stimulants will be a huge help to prevent this from happening to Ab again!

[April2]

Well, I didn't realize I was supposed to leave my itinerary for the day, lol. If you must know, I was Christmas shopping today. And how about all of you? Have you been getting your shopping done? I'm almost done! :D

Misha is acting fine. I haven't called to schedule the surgery yet. I will do that this week. Hopefully I'll have money left over after Christmas, lol. Ah, such is life, right! What's money anyway? Can't take it with us, right! Might as well spend it till it's gone! :)

[PrettyKitty1]

April...LOL

[dominosarah]

Umm April......i dont recall you asking me what i wanted from Santa.  I am sure i will like whatever you got me!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhhh a french man......brings back some pretty good memories!!!  Oh thats right this is the cat forum........my bad!!!!

[April2]

Sarah, I think I can guess what you'd like from Santa! LOL

[Jade59]

Morning April...are you giving Misha the Lysine?  I ask because if Misha DOES have herpes, the surgery will stress her out and she could have a breakout.  The Lysine may minimize the severity of it if the Lysine is well into her system.  Jade has only had two serious b.o.'s.  One was due to all the stress when she first moved here and the other was the stress of her ear surgery and hospital stay.  

With the dx of that mass though, Misha may very well not even have herpes.  

[dominosarah]

Good Morning Ladies and babies!!!  How is everyone this morning?  We have made some ground here since yesterday.  Snickers seems to be totally annoyed with everything today and he actually batted at my ankles when i dared walk by him!!!  He had a good supper last night for the first time.  He was standing in the water dish so the other 2 couldnt get a drink.......I hope my naughty boy is back!!!

[PrettyKitty1]

Sarah,

That's great! Good ol' S is back! I'm so happy for you and Snickers!

Abby seems to be less yellow today. I have to change his t-shirt. I'mma tape that hahahhaa.......oohh that's going to be hard.....

[dominosarah]

You should post some pics of Abby again.  We would be able to see how much less yellow he is too since we dont see him everyday.  You can do it PK.......Abby knows you are just taking care of him.....Keep us posted.

[PrettyKitty1]

I did it! I mean, we did it! my husband is very agile with his hands (not that I didn't know it lol)
..and so Abby now has a clean t-shirt and it wasn't so bad. Abby is just very sensitive and will cry a bit but he lets us handle him. Ack! I gotta take something for the nerves again. I'm still shaking lol

Sarah, I will post some pictures as soon as he comes out from under the bed. He spends his days under the bed, sleeping, then at night he jumps to sleep by my side. I'll take some good pictures.

The vet called me today to find out how Abby was doing. The tube was clogged last night so I called them hahahaha. I was then able to unclog it and now the food runs fine through it. Then I called again because I was scared to change his t-shirt. I guess I'm just looking for reassurance from them that everything is going to be fine. So now I know how to fix the clogging and change Abby. I think I'm pretty much all set.

[Jade59]

PK...you are doing so great!!  Listen, I would've called about a clogged tube and how to change the t-shirt, too.  Absolutely!  So now that you've done these things, the second time will be 'piece of cake!'   And of course you want some reassurance 'cause normally you would be paying big money for someone else who has had training to do all this!!

Good job, honey :)

I can't wait to see new pictures of Abby...

[opus88]

Oh I'm so glad that snickers is bouncing back...thats great news!!!
Lets have all the babies healthy for Christmas...

PK....ok I'm curious How did you unclog the tubing??

[PrettyKitty1]

Jade,
Thanks. I feel so silly calling them. But the truth is, I have never done this. So a little reassurance comes in handy all the time. I will post new pics soon. He has not gained weight but has not lost any either. I guess we'll know when to increase food amounts on Wed.

Opus,
It was easy. I detached the adapter and washed it with warm water and soap. Then poured a bit of Hydrogen Peroxide.
The tube also had chunks of food inside, so we flushed it with water and air. It didn't work. So we grabbed a cotton tipped applicator, poured a bit of warm water all over the cotton, and cleaned the inside of the tube. We got all those chunks of food out, then flushed it again with water and air (10 cc of water, 10 cc of air) and that did it. I attached the already cleaned adapter and gave him some food. The food ran down smoothly. No more issues. So now I know I'm supposed to do that kind of work every 3 days or so.

[dominosarah]

and dominosarah slithers to the floor~~~~~~~~~~remember i am the one who gets light headed seeing bandaids!!!!!

[PrettyKitty1]

aw sarah..come on be strong. We have to get Abby all better!! Come on get up! Anybody know CPR?

[Jade59]

Sara......LOL...I get the feeling you have normally had healthy animals and aren't used to vet hospitals?  If so, that's a great thing!   I think it's a good thing Snickers is eating and feeling better because we all would have to take turns tending to him if he were sick hahaha.  I missed your earlier post...I'm SO happy to hear S. is doing better.  That's great to hear :)

PK..."It was easy." she says.  Love it!  You're sounding like a pro already :)

[PrettyKitty1]

I know this isn't very relevant but ABBY FINALLY CAME OUT OF THE ROOM AND IS NOW IN THE LIVINGROOM WITH US.
This is the first time since I brought him home he has gone some where other than my room. I think he is feeling much more confident....and better. Last meal @ 10:00pm Eastern Time.

[Jade59]

That's very exciting to hear and I think it's Very relevant.  Means his anxiety has gone down to the level of wanting to socialize instead of hiding in your room.  It also must mean he is getting used to the feel of the tile.  I really think that had something to do with this whole thing.  Moving alone though, is quite stressful for any animal, I mean, Jade is easy going, but when I first met her, of course she had just endured a move with her owners and had a horrible herpes breakout and knowing her now, I know that move had alot to do with her being in such terrible condition.  

Abby is definitely feeling better and more confident!  I am so excited for you...I know this must be a relief for you!

[zodiacqueen]

That is VERY VERY relevant news!!  Another huge step for Ab getting better.  That's awesome that he's not hiding anymore.  That tells me that he's feeling so much better.  Cats hide when they feel bad, so him coming out is a great great sign.

How did you deal w/ Ab's t-shirt? Wind up cutting it off?  And, did you get new ones for him?

Is Ab trying to eat on his own yet?

[dominosarah]

That is so awesome that Abby came into the living room!!!  That means he is feeling better and more secure!!!  

Yes i have had healthy animals thank God but if i didnt i would be able to do what i had to do to make them better......after they were better than i would throw up!!

[PrettyKitty1]

Yep. He has spent this entire time out of the room and walking around the house. He is now in the cat tree, getting a tan. He is looking a lot better you guys. I just fed him his first meal.

ZQ, I cut it all off hahahaha.....It was much easier. The vet said they'd give me some more t-shirts on Wednesday. But I got two more left!

[desperatetostop]

PK...awesome news about Abby....great to hear it just before the holidays!

congrats

[dominosarah]

I bet he will start gaining some weight now.  He is in the cat tree now??  YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

[opus88]

Oh I sure do agree with the other girls...that is a huge step for Abby to come out of hiding! he IS feeling much better and more comfortable with your home too...how is he doing with Dillion now?

Good for you to learn how to do that tube properly, I should have realized its a much shorter tube than for humans and therefor can be reached with a q-tip!!

See those Vets have been a wealth of information to you, and like someone said you are an OLD PRO now!!

I am sooooo glad for you both...you will get through this you know!!!

[zodiacqueen]

PK.....I HEAR ya w/ cutting the thing off!!  LOL  I would've done the same thing....I'm sure Abby was glad!  Is he in the cat tree now???????  Did I hear Sara right???????

I hope ya had an easy time getting the t-shirt back on????

[FurballsMom]

Well, Akira is doing better than I am.  I did discover, though, that if I'm going to give her Benadryl, I'm going to have to try it with half the recommended dose.  She was foaming at the mouth.  If you ever want to get your cat mad at you...pop in 25 mg of Benadryl and watch her foam at the mouth, then run when you get the tissues to wipe off the foam from the mouth.  Uh...we're back on Zyrtec.  She is curled up in her favorite chair right now.  She is such a goof.  

[Jade59]

Oh man, I feel so guilty.  I meant to comment when you first said your vet ok'd the same dose for kitty as for us humans because that just makes no sense.  We weigh so much more than a cat and as soon as I saw your comment I thought that just can't be right.  Shoot, I really meant to speak up :(

I'm glad Akira is okay.  Phew!  I am even thinking like 1/4 of 25mgs.  What do you think?  

[opus88]

poor Akira!!!..................I have had a cat foam yes...it was Opus a few years ago..he foamed and spit and foamed and spit some more had the stuff hanging off the walls, can't remember what from I think it was some teeth cleaning gel maybe...he was furious at me and hid everytime I tried to pick him up for a few days following, it must have tasted terrible...needless to say I discontinued use.
can you pop the pill further down the throat so she doesn't get a taste?...wish you luck there, and sure hope you get feeling better yourself too!!

[zodiacqueen]

Hi Furballsmom-I've never heard of giving cats Benadryl or Zyrtec....are you sure it's safe?

[April2]

Benadryl is supposed to be safe for pets. My vet prescribed it to me once for my cat. I do believe the dosage should be much smaller than for a human, though, so it really should only be done under a vet's care.

[FurballsMom]

She isn't having any trouble with 2.5 mg Zyrtec.  She just still scratches some.  I wouldn't have attempted the Benadryl at 25 mg if her vet's office hadn't said it was okay.  I'm not giving her that dose again, though.  I think it would be a lot better to find tablets I can quarter and 'til then not give it to her.  Suits her just fine, since critters hate medicine more than we do.