medical reports

Dandelion has now been on the anti-viral med for almost 2 weeks. Mom was getting ready for bed the other night and thought (apparently too loudly) that she hadn't heard him sneeze in a while. And from the other room came a series of explosive sneezes. That will teach her. MOL Miss Bernadette was helping us with info about this medication and she says they go 21 days before deciding if it is working or not. So that is another week. That said, there has been a noticeable reduction is the amounts of green snot, so we are taking that as a favorable sign.

Tommy had a v-e-t visit a week ago. Annual checkup and all that. Plus old man cat blood work and a request for some antibiotics since he has been sneezing as well (happens about once a year). Well, Dr B called mom on Tuesday and everything looks good. Normal glucose, kidney and liver values and he isn't hyperthyroid. Mom and Dr B have some concerns cause his coat is getting that slightly unkempt look, though that may be due to the cold. More concerning is that he has lost 2 pounds in a year. His white blood cell count was a little high, but again that could be due to the cold. His meds are done today, so mom is going to see if he is better and if not ask for another week. And then the v-e-t wants to run another blood cell count just to be careful.

Mom wants to try to get Tommy and Mozart eating canned food at least once per day (we can't switch everyone cause BAD things happen when Spud eats canned food). Mom tried bringing the two boys into the bathroom one morning while she was getting ready and giving them some canned. Mo was all about it (though he still only eats a few bites and wanders off) and Tommy spent the entire time banging on the bathroom door trying to escape. Mom finally opened the door and Cass ran in under Tommy as he ran out. Sounds like mom is going to need a plan B....she is thinking short term she could put them both in the foster room to eat, but that isn't a good long term plan.

Next up the girls need an annual check up and vaccines and so does Mozart.

Cassis had her spay surgery on Wednesday and it went without a hitch. Mom did laugh as the vets at the clinic will put notes on the medical sheets. In our case, usually something we need to do (meds for snot, etc). In Cassis' case it read "had a couple of baby teeth fall out today".

So, she is spayed, vaccinated, microchipped and ready to go. If you are interested or know someone, drop us an email or message us on facebook. There is an adoption event this weekend on Saturday and Sunday and mom will be out at those with Cass and Dandelion. Then if she is still available, she will go up to the adoption center next Tuesday. *and holy smokes - she weighed in a 5 pounds!!!

She did come home from the clinic on Wednesday pretty hung over but wound up. She was running around and fell off the footstool, cat ladder and mom's lap. Mom finally gave up and got ready for bed and did some reading hoping Cass would come in and lay down - which is exactly what she did.

Muscari

Cute ain't he??

and kind of monster sized....mom weighed everyone on 

Sunday morning and this beast weighs over a pound already

We mentioned last week that mom had some concerns about the structure of his chest. Our v-e-t took an x-ray on Friday afternoon and did make the comment that he does seem to breath more rapidly than normal. Mom had noticed this when she was watching him nurse and that prompted her call.

Dr W had a friend who is an orthopedic doc look at the x-ray. He didn't see a hernia or anything like that. He did say that baby bones are tough to see on x-ray since they don't have as much calcium as adults and therefore don't show up quite as well. He did think say he thinks Muscari's heart looks enlarged but also that that is above his pay grade. Dr W is going to ask a favor of a cardiac vet she knows and see what he says. However, she did mention that most kittens with heart defects tend to lag behind in growth and tire easily. Ummm....we don't think he got that memo. Though mom agrees that he does sleep awfully hard - she has freaked out a couple of times walking in there and he is out cold. :)  We think he is just messing with her.

For now there isn't much that can be done but keep an eye on him. They will be a month old on Wednesday so no real rush unless he appears to stop thriving. Until we have a prognosis, mom says she isn't going to freak out about it since he sure seems to be doing well.

Notice toward the middle Amaryllis starts leaning into the camera - the strap was swinging around and she thought it was fascinating  :)

Muscari

He's the guy with the gray coat (mom was hoping to get a better picture, but her camera won't talk to her computer at work....oh the joys of technology).

Anyhow, mom has noticed when she picks him up that his chest felt kind of flat. He is eating and getting around (as much as any of them do at this age) and weighs the most of the entire litter. However, it worried her. So Saturday morning she sent a text to the head of the rescue and since the head lady was going to the rescue vet with one of the adoptable dogs, mom agreed to meet her there.

The rescue lady said she agreed it felt funny but that she had seen kittens like this before and they all seem to turn out ok. She suggested that when mom is holding Muscari to put some gentle pressure on his chest/ribs. Mom laughingly said she should maybe build him a tiny straight jacket. MOL

Anyhow, the vet checked him over just to be sure. She was checking his lungs and heart and said she had some concerns he seemed to be breathing fast. Mom leaned over and said - nope, he's ticked off and hissing at you. (he had been asleep on mom's chest before all this). The v-e-t lady leaned over to look - and he hissed and her and SPIT so hard everyone jumped. Mom almost fell over she was laughing so hard. The v-e-t lady agreed at this point he was ticked off more than anything else.

Anyhow, mom is going to keep an eye on him. It may make a difference as he gets bigger and starts walking around too. Mom told the rescue lady that since he was the last kitten born, he had no doubt been smooshed in there for a while. haha

Random Fridays

It has been a weird week. Mom is hoping to get back on schedule over the weekend. Especially since the kittens are going to get bigger as we go along.

Mom weighed them all Wednesday night - their 1 week birthday. Everyone weighs around 8 ounces (mom left her note at home or she would be more specific). We suspect we will be seeing eyeballs any day now. They are getting around (and over each other) pretty well. Amaryllis is a good mom. She is spending a little more time out of the box where the kittens are at right now (mom put them back in the box earlier this week and apparently Amaryllis decided that leaving them there was easier than chasing them around a small space). But the minute those kittens make any noise, she is right there. She is super lovey with mom too.

Daiquiri and Tommy had a v-e-t appointment last week. Mom had scheduled it a week before then for Tim and Tom and decided to keep Tommy's appointment and add Daiquiri (who needed her booster shots). Both were checked over and deemed healthy.

Tommy should get his teeth cleaned as he will be 13 this fall, but they didn't look too bad. Mom did have the v-e-t run a senior blood panel. All looked pretty normal for a guy his age. The v-e-t said a couple of numbers (mom can't remember which) were a tiny bit high but that could be accounted for with the gingivitis. He has actually put on a couple of ounces and was declared pretty perfect.

Daiquiri.....oh my. Mom was hoping she would weigh in around 9-10 pounds. Actual Daiquiri weight: 10 pounds 11 ounces. Mom actually banged her head on the exam table. The v-e-t wrapped her hands around Daiquiri and said it was ok - but no putting on additional weight. However, Daiquiri has pretty red gums and the start of gingivitis - which isn't good considering she isn't even 2 years old. The v-e-t ran a blood test for Bartonella which came back negative. Mom did ask if it could be due to the FeLV marker that tested positive for a while when Daiquiri first came to us. The v-e-t didn't think so. Basically at this point the goal is to clean her teeth and see exactly what is going on back there and stay on top of it. Hopefully it won't morph into stomatitis (which is what Tim had and caused him to lose all his teeth).

Otherwise, all is good here. Mom added a link to the web camera on the upper right of the front page of the blog. Be sure to check in on the kittens. OK - they don't do much at the moment, but it won't be long.....

drat

It was that time of year for Ivy.....

 

unsuspecting

Mom tries to make sure we get our annual check ups and vaccines. Ivy was due and mom had Monday off, so the appointment was set. Now, Ivy hates to travel and everything, so mom spent the morning being all nonchalant until WHAM - she grabbed Ivy, stuffed her in the carrier and off they went.

Ivy of course sang the song of her people all the way there....mom says Ivy must have been an opera singer in a past life.

She weighed in at 12 pounds 13 ounces (oh my) and got checked over. Dr B says her teeth look good and she is healthy. No comment on the weight.....maybe she got distracted by the growling and the pooping (Ivy poops when she is stressed).

All in all, not bad, good review and it is all over until next year.

(we used to used a mobile vet but with using this clinic for the fosters, mom did some thinking and decided to switch us all over there....she loves the mobile vet but says with us getting older she prefers hauling us off to a clinic that has some equipment on site).

Random Fridays

Fountain update:

It has been a week and we love it. Mom is making sure to wipe the edge of the water dish every few days in an effort to help Tim. And so far....no reaction. If you look at the picture above, he seems to drink more from the opposite edge, so we bet that is helping too.  Maxwell, Faraday and Allie's mom asked about the filter...we haven't noticed any clogs or anything. You can't see the refilter part in this picture, but there is a small opening near the bottom of the dish (about where Tim's nose is at) where the water circulates back through and that is where the filter goes. Now...there is a considerable amount of cat hair in this house. Mom has fished a little bit out of the opening, but nothing major. And seriously - this thing is QUIET!! Mom has even gotten used to the blue alien light flickering at night. MOL
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Coral went to the vet last night. No really good news. The concern of the vet is her eyes - they seem a little worse and mom is taking her this afternoon to have the pressures checked - there is such a think as sudden onset glaucoma...which can be painful. Coral walked around the vet office last night and really the only thing saving her from walking into a wall was her whiskers. Mom's major concern is getting Coral to eat...without getting some nutrition in her, there becomes a greater concern about everything else. She did eat ok this am, but nothing really seems to catch her attention. We will keep you posted and thanks for all your purrs.... they mean a lot.

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Mom is spending some time with our friend BZ Tat tomorrow at an art retreat. Can't wait to see the weird results from that. (mom is not so much in the artitistic flair). Mom had to send a picture of what she would like to paint and sent this one of our angel Maestro.

Thankful Thursday....

Once again, mom is happy the v-e-t comes to the house....and has a sense of humor. :)

Mozart, Spud and JUNIOR were up this time. And of course Maestro got his 6 months "still going" check up.

Mom swears we misbehave on purpose. We don't - we promise. But seriously - the lady v-e-t comes with pointy things. (everyone but Maestro) was vaccinated. Spud went first and wasn't happy but it wasn't so bad - except for running over Frito as he made his escape. Junior was next - and what an adventure. Yikes.....  he struggled and when he was released from the bathroom he ran out and scared Mo. Maestro was next....both the vet and the tech said it was a nice change to have someone just kinda stand there.  :)  And then Mo. ugh.....  Dr T suggested next time that maybe it might help is mom holds Mo. But everyone is good weight (a little lighter which isn't so bad). Spud and Junior do have ear mites and a minor yeast problem (great - cause there is nothing better than medicating flighty cats).

The snack kittens go in the morning for their spay/neuter appointments. Mom has just about everything crossed that they all make weight. Frito and Dorito will go home that evening if they do.

Frito's after dinner clean up (photobomb by Tim)

Triscuit chowing down (with Tim in the background - notice a theme??)

Samoa

Dorito and his fuzzy buns

Added notes from the mom: our vet charges a one time "travel" fee.....but it ends up being really no more than any other vet visit. And worth it to avoid stuffing cats in carriers.  As to running around to catch everyone, I know when they expect to arrive, so I start shutting cats in rooms well before that happens. In this case, mom and kittens went in my room, Spud was in the bathroom and Junior was in the second bedroom (the cat room) with the door closed. So when Spud was done, we just had a closed room to find Junior (he hid in a bookcase). Mo is easy to catch....just a pain to vaccinate.

Tim and the v-e-t.....

Well, Tim tried to escape his fate, but mom grabbed him yesterday morning and shoved him in the PTU. Then is was off to the v-e-t. Even his warrior songs in the car did not deter her.....

Dr Tom is a very nice man - he was very gentle with Tim and answered all of mom's questions. Plus he was the first to give her a good explanation of why the stomatitis started and everything else. Our v-e-t Dr Taylor had said she suspected an abcess in the back where he had his molars stolen. Dr Tom said that in some cats, a dental is done and the gums are exposed and the plaque gets in there as it is cleaned off and the body reacts by causing an overwhelming infection. So......

Tim lost all his teefs but the front ones. The infected teefs in the back are being rubbed by his lips and that is aggravating it even more (mom saw pics - it was ugly - poor boy). He will be on anty-biotics for a while and rechecked in 2 weeks. Hopefully he will get more comfortable and be back to his normal lovey self soon.

While mom liked Dr Tom, Tim didn't seem as impressed and at one point even tried to climb into mom's shirt.

Mom was kinda smart last night when she brought him home. She put him in the bathroom with Emma to get some dinner and left him in there for a little bit (she had an appointment). When she let him out, he smelled like home and less like the v-e-t. He seemed pretty comfortable and there was no hissing or anything. Though he does keep rubbing his face on everything like he has an itch (which he probably does).

Fanks for all the comments and purrs for our boy. We have read the sites recommended and know he will be fine.....though mom's wallet can't say the same thing. :)  She is mumbling something about someone around here having to get a job.

Medical update.....

The v-e-t called mom yesterday with Maestro's report card. His numbers are a little high, but no more than when they were done a year ago. His globulin protein number is high, which means he may be fighting an infection of some sort.....  He is sneezing and Dr Taylor said his teeth don't look great, so he will be on an antibiotic for a little bit. Obviously at 17 yrs plus, his teeth aren't getting cleaned. Though mom is going to seriously think about everyone else..... (uh oh)

So, all in all, he is an old mancat, but in relatively good shape. YEAH!!