Vet visits and news

 We did the annual vet visits on Wednesday. Boba got gabapentin before the appointment to keep her head from exploding. 

Daiquiri may have to get some next time too. The stress is hard on those two.

Everyone got a clean bill of health. Chanel and Boba got their rabies vaccines updated and Daiq got a blood draw for senior (omg) blood work.

Also Daiq and mom "may" have gotten a talking too about Daiq's chonky figure. She weighed in at 14.75 pounds and should probably be under 12. Chanel stayed steady at 11 pounds and Boba weighed in at 11.5 (the vet declared her just a big girl).

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In other news, it may come as no surprise to some of you, but Buttons is now officially a permanent member of the Random Felines. Mom made some adjustments around the house and things are going well. 

This is the new gate at the top of the stairs. It's still a work in progress since Chanel gets over but can't seem to figure out how to get back, and Boba knocks it off the closing magnet when she jumps over. 

We hope Buttons can also help us continue to educate people about rescue but also special needs kittens.

The old lady vet visit

 Ivy is going to be 13 years old this year. Per our vet, she won't be vaccinated any more (she has been regularly up to this point so mom is OK with this decision - please talk to your vet about they recommend based on lifestyle and age). But she still needs annual wellness check ups. Plus it has been 2 years since she had bloodwork done so they did that as well just to give us a good read on where she is health wise.

She weighs in at 10 pounds 4 ounces and no comments from the vet about her weight, so she is good there (she is about the same weight as last year and scores a 3 out of 5 on the body score so she is in good shape). She got her ears cleaned and is on meds for 14 days to get those cleaned up. Yuck. 

Mom was disappointed to hear that Ivy's teeth look pretty bad still. It is frustrating since they were just cleaned and she had some pulled in September. Her gums are pretty inflamed and look painful. So mom has to make some decisions about how to move forward. Certainly she isn't comfortable considering annual dental cleanings based on Ivy's age. 

All of her blood work came back completely normal except for a high globulin level which usually indicates inflammation of some sort. Since we know her teeth are bad, for now the vet is presuming that is the reason. Rather than trying to put a band aid on everything, Ivy is scheduled for total extractions on May 25th. Better to just do it to clear up any issues she is having plus is avoids issues in the future as she gets older.

As a side note, our purple Sleepypod stays on the coffee table at all times. We suggest this to adopters all the time - leave the carrier out so it doesn't become a huge event when you have to pull it out to make a vet visit. There is generally someone asleep in it most of the time. Ivy actually spent most of Monday afternoon napping in it - getting out just before she and mom had to leave. haha

annual vet visits

**a post from the mom

I always tell applicants and new adopters from the rescue that we recommend annual wellness visits for every animal. Beyond vaccines and any recommended blood work, cats should be seen just to make sure they are doing well and that there have been no changes in the previous 12 months. I think what people forget is that cats are prey animals as well as predators and that means they tend to hide symptoms of illness until the last minute - sometimes when it is too late to do anything about it.

Since I want to practice what I preach, I set appointments for the girls for this week. Here's my caveat with this - Junior does not go every year. However, he is my "house feral" and it is more stressful for both of us to catch him, transport him, and handle him. In fact he has to be sedated to be handled by the vet. It is just too hard on him. He did get a dental about 18 months ago and was fully vaccinated at that point. So I joke to the vet that he will be vaccinated every 6 years whether he needs it or not (maybe....).

I did have an applicant that had very little vet history for one cat - I asked and she explained a situation similar to Junior - I completely understand and she was approved.

The tricky part of this was going to be Goldfish. I know how skittish she is and that catching her and putting her in a carrier could be a tough prospect. In anticipation of that, I put a half dose of gabapentin into some food and put it out for her. She did eat it and was spacey enough I could almost pick her up. I figured with a full dose we would be fine. Except I think she was on to me by that time - I put out the canned food on Monday and she wouldn't touch it. About 10 minutes before I had to leave I thought to try it the hard way and just grab and she was all kinds of NOPE. I gave up at that point to stop stressing her out. Of course, then Chanel was worked up so I managed to grab Ivy and Daiquiri (who were actually scheduled for Wednesday) and took them instead.

Daiquiri is doing well. Same weight as always, got her vaccine and probably needs her teeth cleaned at some point.

Ivy however is another story. She wasn't due for vaccines and had a full blood work up last year that was fine. However, she has lost about 3 pounds. Which is a big concern. The vet found that her teeth are terrible and that is most likely the cause of her weight loss (though it was mentioned she could stand to lose another pound - which would put her at about 9.5 pounds total). Next step is to schedule her a dental and see how bad it is for her. The vet said she sees some stomatitis, so it is pretty likely the old lady cat is going to lose some teeth.

As for Goldfish, I am moving on to another plan and will try to get her to the vet in the spring. She may be OK or she may end up being like Junior and going when necessary. I do at least want to get one more round of vaccines in her beyond her current kitten set however. I've gotten a few comments online about just "putting her in the carrier". She really does need the gabapentin - without it she will be way too stressed. I won't do that to her or to my vet. I have friends who use it very successfully and I used to use it with Mozart since he would try to bite the vet. It is short lasting so there is no harm but definitely benefits to using it.

Chanel went on Wednesday. She was her normal self and seems to enjoy the vet and running around the room. She had lost a pound from last year as of this spring when she was in for her foot. Well - she gained it back plus a little more. Our bouncing tuxedo girl weighs 10 pounds 10 ounces (and now outweighs her sister Cupcake). And...her teeth are bad too. I suspected as much as Cupcake had to have hers cleaned last year.

Which means 2020 will be the year of the dental cleanings. Ivy first, and then probably Chanel then Ivy. Ugh....someone besides me needs to get a job around here. 

vet report

Chanel was due for her annual check up and rabies vaccine. Our vet doesn't like to do both at the same time, so we will stop back in about 3 weeks to get her FVRCP.

She had a few complaints in the car, but that is mom's fault for not doing any outings recently. But Chanel was as good as normal in the car and at the vet. Mom lets her out right away in the exam room as Chanel likes to wander around and check out the place.

She currently weighs 9 pounds 14 ounces (yikes - almost 10 pounds). Mom asked though and the vet says Chanel is in good body condition and her weight is fine. Chanel does have some gingivitis...which didn't surprise mom since Chanel's sister Cupcake just had a dental cleaning due to the same thing. So at some point this fall (hopefully), both Chanel and Daiquiri will need to get a dental cleaning. Otherwise, Chanel was well behaved and got a good report. It is always interesting to see her in a different environment. The vet did give her a treat on the mat on the table and Chanel completely missed it, so the vet took a look "deep into her eyes". MOL Dr F said everything looks good, so it may just be Chanel missed it or could be attributable to her fever as a kitten. Once again - just adds to her charm.

In other news, Goldfish needed to be tested and Annatto needed to be retested. Goldfish had previously given the rescue vet a run for her money, so mom asked if our favorite vet tech A would help out. Mom jokingly calls A the "Queen of the Tiny Vein". A agreed so the kittens went with mom and Chanel and mom took tests from the rescue. Well A and mom are used to the other variety of tests so they had a few minutes trying to figure out how the test worked. Once they got that down, blood was drawn and the tests had to sit for 10 minutes. Annatto was charming and Goldfish squirmed some but didn't put up too much of a fuss.

10 minutes later....both kittens are officially FIV and FeLV negative. If you have been following along, we had been told by the person who surrendered Annatto that he had tested positive for FIV. The nice part about kittens is that they can convert the serotype of the virus - or as we say in rescue, they can throw it. He has and while he would have been adoptable as an FIV+ kitten, he will be that much more adoptable now. Both kittens are scheduled for spay/neuter on Friday.

Random Fridays

HALP!!

Ivy and Daiquiri had vet appointments on Monday. Daiquiri just needed a check up, Ivy needed the works. Vaccines and a senior blood panel. She was NOT pleased with all of this. Ivy weighs about 13 pounds and need to lose some. Daiq weighs about 11 pounds and escaped with no comments about her weight. However, her teeth are nasty looking, so next step is a dental for her.

*sorry this went out late - mom is a dork

grumpy watermelon

Last week mom noticed that Ivy had some crusty scabs in her left ear. Mom tried to get a look at it but Ivy was NOT cooperating. Since she puts up a good fight and really doesn't have a scruff to grab, mom called the v-e-t and made an appointment for Monday morning.

Now, catching the grumpy watermelon is an event. If she even SUSPECTS anything, she disappears. Mom put the carrier out on Sunday afternoon and ignored Ivy for most of the weekend unless Ivy sought her out for attention.

 

Come Monday morning, mom went about her business and then at the last possible minute grabbed Ivy from the house and put her in the carrier.

She did some talking in the car but no real singing. She is a screamer at the v-e-t office however and got louder as time went on. Dr F cleaned out her ear but didn't find anything definitive. Mom brought her home with meds for the next week (wish mom luck) and plans to recheck in about 10 days to make sure it isn't a polyp in Ivy's ear.

As an added bonus, they did trim her nails.....

Oh - and the watermelon thing...mom jokingly calls Ivy the "watermelon" based on her circumference. The v-e-t weight her and she comes in at 12 pounds 5 ounces.

ugh...test results

Anyone looking for a super sweet, laid back, 

slightly snorty orange teenage kitten??? 

We will make you a good deal.....

He was still acting and sounding nasty the last couple of days. The v-e-t called mom last night with the bartonella test results (negative - ok, so we know it isn't THAT). Mom mentioned he was still snorty and not running around like he should be, so she dropped him off at the v-e-t office yesterday on her way to work.

Dr B called about 2pm yesterday. She is just as frustrated as mom about this whole thing. Dr B spoke to an internist and they went over what meds he has been on and his background. He does has a diminished lung capacity on one side, but the belief all everyone is that is damage from the pneumonia he had when he was tiny. The chest x-rays really haven't changed, so they are saying that is just something that he is going to have to live with - and probably won't cause too much long term issues though it may be why he isn't as active as some other kittens his age all the time.

But the snotty thing is a different issue. The head of the rescue suggested culturing the snot.... but the internist said that while we could knock him out and do that, it may just come back as the feline herpes virus which really is just something he would have to live with. The cost and the risk of it just isn't worth it to the internist. And mom is ok with that. However, what to do? He is on the rescue website and petfinder and can be adopted from our house without going back to the rescue with lots of other cats. However, it is hard to do that when people can't see him and it is also hard to explain to people that his breathing issues are most likely chronic and not "fixable". Ugh.....

Mom left him overnight at the v-e-t office. They have him set up in his own space with a vaporizor. The internist did suggest "a quiet home with maybe 1-2 other cats". Ummm sure - is HE going to take him???  Funny man....  Right now the plan is for mom to pick him back up after work today, see how he did overnight and if that changes anything.

We appreciate all the kind words and purrs for Dandelion. Hopefully we can get some answers and then find him a home willing to accept him on his terms.

(and NO he is NOT staying)

7 weeks old - flower kittens

Orchid

weight: 1 pound 13 ounces

Muscari

weight: 2 pounds 2 ounces

Trillium

weight: 1 pound 8 ounces

Dandelion

weight: 1 pound 15 ounces

The kittens had a vet check today. Good news - the chest defect that mom felt on Muscari seems to be resolving as he gets bigger. The vet took an x-ray and his heart and lungs look normal. His chest still isn't "normal" but it shouldn't affect his lifespan or adaptability.

However, Trillium is still very congested. He's still eating and playing which is good news, but he has a continuing cough and his lungs are congested on x-ray. The vet we saw is going to talk to her partner and maybe have someone else look at the film. The main issue is there is a limit on what medication you can give kittens. But he is gaining weight and seems ok otherwise.

In a couple of weeks Muscari, Dandelion and Orchid should be ready for their spay/neuter surgeries. Then off to be adopted!

The Coral Report

the mom here:
Thursday night Coral was doing great. Ate quite a bit, ran through the house, jumped up for some cuddles.

Friday morning ate again. The vet called on my way home from work. The titer test shows she does have an infection. The bloodwork showed mild anemia and a high protein level. Both of which shouldn't cause her to be little and both of which could be caused by her system fighting off the infection. Nothing showed up on the bloodwork to indicate why she really isn't growing. However, short term we decided to fight the infection and deal with the rest of it later. The vet was encourage by my report of Thursday.

Friday night she refused to eat again and was back to hiding (see picture above). I called the vet Saturday morning and took her back for more fluids and B12. She got to spend a couple of hours with me at an adoption event (that should teach her) and she did eat a little there. Back home with party favors - I got fluids and more B12 from the vet to give at home. And bought a different food at the store hoping she will eat that.

Most of the weekend she was still pretty blah. But...the vet did say that some take longer to react to the antibiotic...this is day 5, so hopefully soon. It is supposed to be a 14 day course.

At least as of Saturday morning she was up 1/2 ounce from the previous Tuesday. I would be WAY more worried if she was losing weight. Though I would be MUCH happier if she was gaining weight.

So that is where we are for right now - convincing her majesty to eat and hoping the drugs kick in soon. I'm trying not to worry too much....but we all know how that goes.

Thankful Thursday

Our tiny chick is having some issues.

Mom had a check up appointment with her on Sept. 18th. She officially weight 2 pounds 14 ounces and charmed the vet and techs. No idea what her heart sounds like - she never stopped purring. Though mom said later they should have tried at the end of the visit....Coral got her pantaloons trimmed and was NONE too happy about it.

However, mom came home last Wednesday (Sept. 24) and Coral was staggering down the hall and fell over twice before mom could get to her. Mom called the vet in a panic and they said bring her right in.

When they got there, the vet suggested drawing blood to check her glucose level - IF it was not normal (mom can't remember if they were checking for high or low), it might be a shunt which would explain all sorts of things. It was normal. But her temp was 104. So they gave her fluids (she was NOT happy about that), antibiotics and a shot for the temp (no, mom can't remember what that was either). The plan was to take her home, keep an eye on her and make sure she kept eating. She weighed 2 pounds 11 ounces.

Over the weekend, Coral was sort of eating, lethargic and felt kind of warm. By Monday mom had enough of that and called the vet again. They agreed to have mom bring Coral to them on Tuesday morning and have her spend the day. Maybe IV fluids, more drugs, keep an eye on her. The big concern was that her head trembles slightly at different times.

Mom dropped her off Tuesday am and waited....and waited....and waited. Once the the vets just adopted a new baby and she knows they were busy. But by 2pm she couldn't stand it anymore and called for an update. They didn't do IV fluids, electing to give them under the skin. Coral was eating however she was running a temp again. The vet was in with a client.

When Dr B called, they went over the options. Here was the final decision: send her home, keep her eating. Run bloodwork to see if anything else is going on (and start maybe seeing if there is a reason she is still so tiny). In the meantime, the vet suspect toxoplasmosis (see what Cornell Vet has to say about that here) so we are trying a new antibiotic. There is a titer test that can be run and mom said do it - better to know than not know. If the drugs work and it is toxo (and Coral responds like she should), we should notice an improvement by Friday or Saturday. The good news was, despite mom saying Coral felt bony to her, she had only lost an ounce since last week (although at under 3 pounds, she doesn't have an ounce to lose).

If you could be sending her some purrs, we sure would appreciate it. Once the vet calls with some updates and results, we will keep you posted.

Random Fridays....

Maestro is still doing well. The vet stopped over last night and checked him over. They were going to see if they could drain part of it - the pathologist said it is about 1 part tumor to 2 parts inflamed cells. However, nothing much came out before he started to squirm. But the vet says he looks good to her and he was begging for treats from the tech. So he is on prednisone now for the inflammation and clavamox to stave off any infection from the pred affecting his system. Hopefully we will see some results in a week or so. This is by no means a cure...but it should help keep him comfortable and let's mom breathe.

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That Mica is a cutie.....yes, he is sleeping in a tissue box.

no, you cannot get five kittens to look the same way at the same time

Ash....yawning

why go around when you can go over?

Coral in the top left, sitting on Ash, Pearl closest to the camera, and Mica climbing over Amber

getting more mobile by the day

Random Friday....

More on the v-e-t report:

Mo got the bad cat report. He wanders around acting all nice when they get here and then WHAM tries to eat people. Mom is afraid one of these days he will actually bite someone so the next visit will require a little more thought. Mom can catch him easy enough. But he is pretty skinny and can turn himself around which makes him hard to hold on to. He actually got a fang almost into the tech this time. His weight is actually up some (which is good - no body fat on that boy). And he isn't due for vaccines for 3 years.... (mom is fairly certain she heard the v-e-t mutter "hallelulah" MOL).

Maestro weighs about the same - which is a very good thing. Still waiting on the report from the v-e-t.

Spud had to be chased around by mom and then unceremoniously shoved in a carrier to wait for the v-e-t to get here. At least he isn't a screamer like Ivy somecat. He got weighed, vaccinated, toenails clipped and his ummm behind shaved (we told him it could have been worse - we hear some of the cats at Katnip Lounge are now nekkid).

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We got an update on Saffron. She is adjusting pretty well. Mom knew she was going to be a tough nut to crack.....

seriously - you doubt that face would cause problems?? 

Mom and Saff's mom have been texting back and forth. Saff didn't come out much the first couple of days, but by Monday night she was letting them rub her belly. And as of the other night, she had met the other two cats in the house and checked out their climbing wall and the crinkly tube mom sent with her. She has even been out and snuggled on the couch. Though it does appear that she may end up being a daddy's girl. :)

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