poohbear Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Yayyyy! C'mon kitty, you can do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Nicky update:He has been taking the medication with few complaints (well, for a cat...I get "the look" and a pitiful whine after he takes the pill morning and evening). But no biting or scratching or anything like that. He had his favorite blueberry yogurt and quite a bit of the canned food last night and he kept it all down! He seemed to have more energy this morning. Good to hear! Yogurt you say? Kissa LOVES ice cream but I feel bad giving it to her... all that sugar can't be good for a cat. Or me for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poohbear Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Well, i think they have ice cream for cats. I know they do for dogs. It's called "Frosty Paws". Seriously, they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted May 13, 2004 Author Share Posted May 13, 2004 Well, the yogurt has quite a bit of sugar in it as well but he's not getting much, comparatively, just a few spoonfuls, and it makes him happy. And his blood sugar is very good. I checked with the vet and he said at this point, anything he can tolerate that will put weight on him is acceptable and dairy products are good things. So it was thumbs up for the yogurt just not to go overboard, have it be a small part of his diet. As soon as he heard the top come off the yogurt container his ears pricked up, his tail went up, and this sort of questioning "Meeeooow???" came out of him. Even given the situation I had to laugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepperkorn Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Good news sue! Go kitty go! My dogs eat frosty paws! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nieuwy25 Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Excellent news, Sue! My hubby's family's dogs used to get in the back of the station wagon for family trips to Baskin-Robbins and got their own cups of ice cream. They didn't even make a mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zamode Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Good news, Sue. I know how difficult it can be with a sick pet. You do all you can for them, I know I did. It was worth every penny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 Kitty Update: Nicky is now fighting me about taking the medication which is a real pain but a VERY good sign that he is recovering. His strength is definitely coming back and he is putting on weight. He plays fetch occasionally now and jumps up on countertops that he couldn't get up on last week (this obviously has its good and bad points). He has kept all his food down since he started taking the medication. There are new and different things happening in the house now. Nicky was never a big eater when I was only feeding them dry food. Now he wakes me up and demands the canned food. I refuse to get up until the alarm goes off. He also starts meowing around the time in the evening that he knows I'll be feeding him. Amazing how they know these things. But the funniest thing is the reaction of the other cats, especially Manon. She is the smallest of the 3 (half the size of Eric) but she runs the house. The other 2 actually let her eat first if there is some treat like when I feed them chicken. So she is totally confused as to why the natural order of things has been changed and Nicky (or, as my brother calls him, the court jester) gets to eat FIRST and she (THE QUEEN) has to wait until he is FINISHED to be given something (I give Manon and Eric a little bit of the canned food to keep the peace because it is too fattening for them to eat much of). She sits there and meows loud enough to wake the dead, thumps her tail and occasionally makes a run for the food on the plate Nicky is eating off of. The whole thing is like a comedy routine, at least for me. I'm sure it isn't for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepperkorn Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Good mews Thanks for the update! and poor Manon -- you abuse her so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJayDevil Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 You should see my cat Crystal just sit there upright by her water and food bowls around the same time everyday because she knows it's food time. It's amazing. She doesn't meow. She just sits there and looks at us, because she knows we will give in eventually. The cat always get fed before us humans do, the cat is 1st priority to my mother, with the rest of the family and distant 2nd. I used to play hide-and-go-seek with Crystal too. I taught her how to stay and she would, then I would go hide somewhere and call out her name and everytime, she will come and find me. Everytime. I've missed her so much when I was school and according to my mom, she really missed me. When I left the cat would meow during the night and never leave my mother's sight. At night she would always come to my bed and sleep, and if I went to bed really late, she would sit on my night stand and wait for me to go to bed, and whenever I was home, she would be with me, follow me around. THen when I left, my mom said the cat just didn't know what to do for acouple weeks. Now the cat is back to doing what she's done for 10 years, be my best friend at home. She's the best. Anyway, great to hear ur cat is getting better Sue. Mine is getting old, and I don't want her to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nieuwy25 Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Nice story, NJay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Glad to hear your kitty's doing better, Sue! The other day I had an emergancy with my kitty, Milo. I got really bad poison ivy (I'm very allergic) so I was putting on some prescription calomine gel and, well, once Milo is intrigued by something she will do wahtever she can to check it out. So she kept on trying to find ways to sniff the gel, but I would push her away each time and firmly say "NO!" to her. However, she managed to sneak around me anyways and take a big whiff of the gel, but she got too close and got a giant blob of it on her nose, which she quickly licked off her face. She immediately started foaming at the mouth and her eyes actually turned red and all watery. Then she started throwing up a WHOLE LOT...I freaked out and picked her up, gimped downstairs and locked the two of us in the bathroom where I tried to flush her mouth out with water and used my brand new t-shirt (*sigh*) to wipe all the sh!t out of her mouth, including throw up, foam, and the actual gel. I have quite a few battle scars from it, too... (ouch) After that I called the vet, where they directed me to animal poison control -- they said because I acted so fast it sounded like my kitty would be okay, and that the gel *shouldn't* be fatal...however, Ishould probably take her to th vet just to get her checked out. Vet said I could have very well saved her life by acting so quick, I felt like a hero ...but yeah, they gave us a few meds for her to use to kind of clean out her stomach just in case, and she'll be as good as new in a few days. She's kinda been a little lackadasical the past few days, very drained and tired. But she does seem very appreciative and happy around me, like she knows I was there for her when she needed me the most. I feel the love Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 I feed the cats first thing in the morning, around 6am. On the weekends, I sleep in. Around 7am Kissa will come in and walk all over me. I lie on my side. So she'll walk from the ankle, up the thigh, along my side, turn at the neck and walk back. Repeat until Don wakes up. I have to feed her and then go back to sleep if I want to sleep in later.... Diablo on the other hand doesn't care when she gets fed... she was on the streets for about two years. A co-worker had a cat shelter she left on her front porch and she knew Diablo was living there, but any time she approached, Dee would run off. Went on for 2 years. Then we were hit by that ice storm a while back and she went to check on the cat, but it wasn't in the cat house, so she was scared that the cat might have died outside in the freezing rain and snow. She didn't see the cat for four days after the storm and she got really concerned. Then she was down doing her laundry and found the laundry room was very cold and she saw that one of her windows was partially open... as she went to close it something hissed at her. Diablo had been inside her laundry room for the whole storm. Smart cat. Too smart. How is this? When I invite someone new into the apartment, Diablo can open the magnetic latch cupboard doors to go hide. But more than that. She can also CLOSE THE DOOR BEHIND HER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 Glad to hear everyone's kitty stories and RD, you ARE a hero to have acted so fast with Milo!!! WOW!!! Isn't it amazing how they just get into everything and have no thought to the danger??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepperkorn Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 uh oh... set backs Sue? I hope Nicky is ok! Butter (15 year old poodle) has a cough - he won't take his cough medicine but it's caused this repulsive condition that isn't serious at the moment.. a perenial hernia at any moment it could turn into something revolting along the lines of a prolapsed butt-hole. I wish he'd just shut up and take his cough medicine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 Sorry to hear about Butter and the cough medication, PK. Keep trying!!! Nicky takes his medication, with some complaints, although he keeps showing up at the chair to take his pill every morning and evening he may even have figured out that there is some connection between the horrible pills and feeling better. Either that or he's just dumb. Because he did it even before there was canned food after every pill. The thing is, I have to find the right medication level for him. To do it, I had to start high and take it down. I did that, and then he started having problems again. So the vet told me to bump it up two levels from where he started having problems and that should be the maintenance level. And it seemed to work for about a week to a week and a half. Then he started vomiting again and refused to eat very much, even the canned food. He would meow and meow for his food, then eat a few mouthfulls and stop. In a few days he had lost practically all the weight he had gained back. The vet is closed on Wednesdays (because he is open on Saturdays). So I took the medication up one level because I didn't want to overdo it. I talked to the vet on Thursday and he said to put him back on the highest level of medication. So I did. I also put out canned food and leave it out for him to come back and eat as he wants it, even if it means that Eric will stuff himself as well, and gain weight that he doesn't need. Nicky started eating more on Saturday and seemed better on Sunday. I've just been through this before...he seemed better a few weeks ago as well. Who's to say he won't somehow adjust to this level of medication and become ill again??? I'm very worried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hells Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Aw, kitties - they're my people. Philip (the one that just died) certainly used up his 9 lives (or at least 5)! I found him eating bread on my lawn a few years ago, he was all emaciated so I took him in. Then he got an upper respiratory infection, coughing blood and what not. Then he started losing his fur. Then he got a cancerous (sp?) lump on his ear and an abscess on his bum at the same time - he came home with a hole in his ear and metal stitches on his backside - coupled with his metal spiked collar he looked pretty bad ass! Guess a speeding car isn't something cats can recover from too easily - post your kitties pictures - I'll try but I'm technologically inept . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Milo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Cat pictures: http://photos.jacknife.org/photoview.cgi/2...whiting&thumb=y Cat story: I live on the second story of my apartment building, and I was scared for a while to let Kissa out on the balcony for fear that she might try to make the jump. Now she's put on two pounds I'm sure she couldn't get through the bars, so I let her out from time to time to lay in the sun. So on the weekend I was cleaning the apartment and let her out for a bit.... and after a half hour she wanted back in again. I could tell because she was sitting at the door, sorta rocking back and forth. So I was trying to train her to meow when she wants back in. So I told her to meow. She just looks at me funny. I tell her again. She sorta turns her head. I tell her that this is her last chance.... and she just sits there. So I wander off and clean the office for 5 minutes and come back to see if she is ready to meow. No need. She had already opened the door and let herself in. Now all I have to do is teach her to close the door behind her, and we're all set.... this time she let a moth in. Which she rather enjoyed trying to catch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted June 19, 2004 Author Share Posted June 19, 2004 Well, the news hasn't gotten any better. Nicky has been eating less and less and the vet just kept telling me to up the dosage of the medication. But he kept losing weight. I felt something wasn't right but the vet kept telling me that as long as he was keeping food down, no matter how little he was eating, it was a good sign. Since he had never been a big eater to begin with I figured I must be worrying for nothing. This week he was really just eating very little. But all 3 of the cats were kind of off their food because the weather was so lousy. Even with the air conditioning on, they were all kind of lethargic and not hungry. So I didn't know what to think. But Nicky was so thin I was getting scared. Then yesterday he threw up and today he refused to eat at all. I decided to take him to the Emergency Vet rather than my regular vet. They took an X-ray and told me that the Prednisone had stopped working, that the tumor had exploded in his abdomen (probably over the last week) and not only that, there are signs of enlarged lymph nodes in his chest area. Right now he's at the Emergency Vet, who is giving him fluids to get his temperature down and re-hydrate him, and he'll stay there until Monday, when they will give him an ultrasound to see whether they believe they can operate on him. If not, I will have to put him down, it would be unfair to put him through any more of this. Even if they determine that it is operable, they could start and find out they were wrong, in which case they will put him down then. If I find out that this IS operable, after my vet told me it WAS NOT, I am going to be very angry. I know that he was afraid of the second case, that someone would tell me it was operable, and then open Nicky up and find out they were wrong. But there was a better chance of them being able to operate when this was smaller. Damn it. What a lousy thing to have happen to a wonderful cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted June 21, 2004 Author Share Posted June 21, 2004 The ultimate bad news today. I just got back from euthanizing Nicky. The vet who gave me the second opinion told me that unless they had caught the cancer very early, all surgery and chemo could do was prolong his life, not eridicate the cancer. Turns out my vet was probably correct in his diagnosis. If they had cought it VERY early, when it was very small and confined to the intestine (before it spread to the abdomen) maybe they could have operated and taken the cancer out completely. But by the time my vet originally diagnosed him it was bigger than that. They told me that if they operated and gave him chemo he had, at most, 10 months. I asked what kind of 10 months and explained what kind of cat Nicky was, that his nicknames were "Adventure Cat" and "Nicky the Destroyer". They told me he wouldn't be that cat again. I made the decision to let him go. I thought if I put him through it I would be doing it for me and not for him. I spent about 15 minutes with him at the vet's playing with him, talking to him, holding him, etc., and staying with him while they administered the drugs. I'm taking the rest of the day off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepperkorn Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 I'm so sorry Sue. It sounds like you did the right thing by Nicky. It's got to be the hardest decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted June 21, 2004 Author Share Posted June 21, 2004 Thanks, PK. I know in my heart it was the right thing to do. He was so unhappy and he wasn't healthy. But the last little time I got to spend with him was actually nice, in a strange kind of way. He kept trying to be "Adventure Cat" to the end and explore the little room they put us in. The vet just looked and me and said, "You were right, this cat feels lousy and he's still "Adventure Cat". So I sat on the floor with him and let him explore and then he sat on my lap and I got to talk to him and pet him. So when he went he was as happy as he was going to be, considering how sick he was. I just got a delivery of flowers from my brother ("signed" by my brother's two cats). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepperkorn Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 Oh -- how adorable! Good brother! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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