Mancat Monday

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!

Last week, the Mom made me see Dr. Stabby, and I was not amused.  Mes will tell you all about that in a minute, but first mes wants to announce the winners of our "Women Who Still Love Cats Too Much" book giveaway!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered out giveaway!  We appreciate it a lot.

And the lucky winners are....

Val S.

and

Tami G.

Congratulations!  Wes hopes you love the book as much as wes do!

Now mes will tell you about my trip to Dr. Stabby.

Mes had to go see Dr. Stabby for a few reasons.  First, mes get my anal glands expressed every three months.  Can yous see my face turning red from embarrassment?  That is not a pleasant process, but the Mom and Dr. Stabby say it is important because my anal glands don't work quite right.  

The second reason I had to see Dr. Stabby was because she and the Mom wanted to make sure mes has not developed any crystals in my urine.  See, the people at Friskies took my yummy Special Diet Urinary Tract canned foods off the market due to "a lack of sales."  So the Mom has been feeding me different wet food - mostly Natural Balance and Friskies.  Hers also feeds mes Pro Plan Urinary Tract wet and Royal Canin prescription SO canned as part of my rotation.  Mes gets really bored with one kind of food, so the Mom has to rotate the flavors and brands.  Mes still eats my prescription Royal Canin SO kibbles, too.  

The Mom has been keeping a very close eye on mes to make sure mes has no urine troubles, and mes hasn't.  When Dr. Stabby tried to get a sample of urine to test, though, mes had none.  Dr. Stabby said mes has to go back in two weeks so hers can get a urine sample from mes and told the Mom to pull my litter box several hours before my appointment so mes would have something in my bladder to get next time.  

Finally, the Mom said hers thought mes was losing weight, and hers was right.  Mes lost four ounces.  Now mes weighs 10 pounds, 12 ounces.  Dr. Stabby and the Mom agree that this is not a bad weight for mes, but theys do not want this to become a trend like befores.  The Mom thinks my IBD is acting up again.  If my urine comes back fine, Dr. Stabby will likely raise my Prednisolone dose back to 5mg. again (mes is on 2.5mg. right nows).  

Wes also brought Lita with us to Dr. Stabby.  Hers came because the management was doing inspections on random apartments with the VOA people.  The management likes to stand with the door open to the apartment, and Lita would be the most likely to sneak out, so the Mom decided it was best to just take hers with us instead of risking hers escaping by accident.  

Dr. Stabby weighed Lita, and hers gained weight.  Hers is now 14 pounds.  Dr. Stabby and the Mom discussed how to get Lita to stop gaining so much weight.  Wes know the Prednisolone makes her hungrier than usual, so hers eats more.  Dr. Stabby suggested feeding Lita more wet noms and fewer kibbles.  So the Mom is now measuring out our kibbles and will ask Dr. Stabby when it is appropriate to reduce the number of kibbles wes gets.  

The Mom says it is a hard balance because Lita eats too much and mes doesn't eat enough.  Wes hope the plan Dr. Stabby and the Mom came up with will help Lita stop gaining weight.  Ideally, wes want Lita to lose a little weight.  

Wes hopes you all have a wonderful week!

Mancat Monday

Hello everyone, it's the Mom here.  I have some news about Carmine.

Last week when I picked Milita up from her surgery, I asked the vet tech if Carmine could eat regular (as opposed to urinary tract) canned food because he seems to be really sick of his urinary tract diet.  Who can blame him?  He's been eating the same thing for more than 5 years!!

The vet was adamant that he stay on his urinary tract wet food.  I asked her what we could do because Carmine is sick of it, and pilling him to make him hungry enough to eat it seems really mean to me.

When Carmine was first diagnosed with FLUTD, I tried feeding him Hill's prescription c/d kibbles and wet food.  He ate his kibbles just fine, but he ate the canned version only once or twice and decided he was done with it.

After that, I found Pro Plan had a urinary tract canned food you could buy without a prescription.  He ate this happily (along with his c/d kibbles) for an entire year.  Unfortunately, they only make one flavor of this food, so he eventually got tired of that, too.

Next, he started eating Friskies version of urinary tract diet canned food.  He was pretty happy with that for 3 to 4 years.  We also started giving him Pro Plan occasionally after he had had a sufficient break from it.

We switched him over to the Royal Canin SO kibbles about a year ago when he was losing weight due to IBD and needed to eat more.  He does seem to enjoy the Royal Canin SO kibbles more than he did the Hill's c/d ones.  He definitely eats more kibbles now that we've switched his dry food.  I eventually tried him on the Royal Canin SO canned food, too.  He seemed to like it just fine, but he started getting red dots on his head.  The vet wasn't completely sure if they were allergies or something else, but I took him off the canned version just in case, and since then, he's had no more red dots on his head.

The vet suggested that we try Purina Prescription Diet UR (ST/OX).  Has anyone tried this food before?  Our PetSmarts with Banfield Hospitals don't sell it, so I have to order a case of it on-line, which is a little scary considering he's never tried it and it's so expensive.  Our vet doesn't carry it, either.

The other option is to try the Iams prescription diet, which I had never even heard of.  It is also not available anywhere I know of locally.

Does anyone have experience with either of these foods?  Are there any other urinary tract diets out there that I haven't found?

The other alternative is to get more Royal Canin canned SO and see if those red dots come back.

Any thoughts/experiences would be much appreciated.  I want Carmine to like whatever he is going to eat.  A happy Carmine makes a happy Mom :)

A Medical Emergency (FLUTD): Caring for Critters

Many of you know that Carmine is a special needs kitty with several chronic health conditions.  Today, we are participating in the Caring for Critters Round Robin hosted by Heart Like A Dog.  Throughout this round robin, pet owners have been sharing their experiences of injury, illness, and other health concerns.

A Medical Emergency

On April 12, 2009, I was getting ready to go to a friend's home to enjoy Easter dinner.  While I was getting ready, I noticed Carmine go into his litter box.  I didn't think anything of it, of course.

However, over the course of the next 15 to 20 minutes, I kept hearing Carmine get in and out of the litter box, so I decided it was time to go investigate what he was doing.  I watched as he got into his litter box, squatted, and noting came out.  He got out of his box again, walked around for a minute, and then got back into the box again.  He squatted again, and nothing came out.  I watched him do this a few more times and became very worried about him.  I knew this was a very bad situation.

When my friend showed up a few minutes later, I told her what Carmine had been doing.  I called the emergency vet and let them know that Carmine couldn't urinate.  The only question they asked me was if Carmine was a male cat.  I told them he was, and they replied that I needed to bring him in right away as this situation was a life-threatening medical emergency.

So we got Carmine into a carrier and headed off to the nearest veterinary hospital.  I was really anxious and worried about my baby.  Carmine was 4 years old at the time, and I was afraid I was going to lose him that day.

After what seemed like an eternity, the vet came out to the waiting room and told me that Carmine's bladder was inflamed, but he did not have a urethral obstruction.  She also let me know that he probably had a urinary tract infection.  She told me they were going to collect blood and urine from him to determine what medications to put him on.  At this point, I could breathe a little easier knowing that my kitty would probably be okay.  It's the urethral obstruction that is the most dangerous in these situations.  When a urethral obstruction occurs, the kidneys can't maintain an appropriate balance of electrolytes and fluids in the body or remove toxins from the blood.  Sadly, if the urethra isn't unblocked in time, the kitty will lose consciousness and pass away.

Diagnosis & Treatment

After about another hour, the vet came back out to talk to me again.  She said that Carmine has Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD).  She told me they had found struvite (magnesium phosphate) crystals in his bladder.  The plan was to treat Carmine with the antibiotic, Clavamox, for his possible urinary tract infection and an anti-inflammatory pain killer to reduce the inflammation and pain in his urinary tract.  She told me that I'd need to see my regular vet for a long-term treatment plan.

When we got home, I immediately started researching to find out how I could best help my precious baby.  I read that many kitties with FLUTD begin urinating outside the litter box because they associate the litter box with pain, so I began praising Carmine every time he urinated in his box.

For the next two days, I watched Carmine like a hawk.  Every single time he went to the litter box, I followed him to make sure he was able to urinate.  The pain medication the emergency vet gave him made him very sleepy.  Carmine hid under my dresser much of the time for the next few days, and I checked on him often.

When our vet opened on Tuesday (our vet is only open Tuesdays through Fridays), I called them to see what the next step was.  They told me I needed to pick up some special food and more medication for Carmine.


On Wednesday, I went to the vet's office where they gave me more pain medication in case Carmine had any recurrences.  They also gave me Hill's Prescription c/d dry and canned food.  The vet tech told me that Carmine would need to eat this prescription diet for the rest of his life; the diet dissolves struvite crystals and helps prevent recurrences of FLUTD symptoms.

Carmine enjoyed his prescription c/d dry food, but he refused to eat the canned version.  In addition to his prescription dry food, Carmine has been eating canned Friskies Special Diet (for urinary tract health) and Pro Plan Urinary Tract formula for the past five years.

Approximately a year ago, Carmine developed Irritable Bowel Disease and was losing a lot of weight as a result.  Our vet and I decided to switch Carmine's prescription diet to Royal Canin SO because it is tastier for kitties, and we wanted to encourage him to eat more.  Carmine loves the prescription Royal Canin dry food, and he was even willing to eat the canned version.  However, he began getting red dots on his head, so we think he may be allergic to the canned food (we started the dry and canned foods several months apart and he had no reaction to the dry food).

Water intake is an essential part of managing FLUTD.  Unfortunately, Carmine has never been much of a drinker.  I began mixing a little extra water into his wet food daily to increase his water intake.  About a year ago, when I adopted Jewel, I bought a fountain for her to enjoy.  Carmine definitely likes drinking out of the fountain!  I wish I had bought one much sooner.

Stress can lead to recurrences of FLUTD symptoms, so I've had to work hard at keeping my home as stress-free as possible.  Carmine is a very sensitive mancat, and his connection to me is very strong.  Therefore, I have to work hard at keeping my life stress-free as well.  For approximately the past year, I've been using Sentry calming collars on Carmine, which really seem to help his stress levels, too.

Where Is He Now?

Carmine has done very well on his urinary tract diet for the past five years.  Though he has developed other chronic conditions, he has had no recurrences of FLUTD, and I'm very happy and thankful for that.  

Thank you for allowing me to share Carmine's story with you.  You can see all Caring for Critters posts on the Community Page HERE.  Please join Cascadian Nomads on Tuesday October 21st for another Caring for Critters post!

Vet Visit (Purr and Prayers Needed)

Mom Sierra here.  We made our way to the vet yesterday, and things are not good for Jewel or Carmine, which I did not anticipate at all.

As most of you know, Carmine has chronic anal gland issues, and he has to get them expressed every three months at the v-e-t to prevent some serious health problems.  I didn't anticipate another potential medical issue for my little orange baby.

The vet weighed him, and he's now down to 8 pounds 15 ounces.  That's 4 ounces down from three months ago.  That's not good. In my opinion, he was too thin as it was.  The vet said if he maintains this as his new "normal weight," it will be okay.  However, we don't know what's causing the weight loss, and that scares me.

The vet said she will weigh him again next time, and if he's lost any more weight, we'll have to do a special test to see if he's losing protein.  She said this can happen sometimes with chronic urinary tract or chronic anal gland issues - both of which he has.

The other possibility she mentioned was a food allergy.  If this is the case, it's going to be difficult to treat because we can't change his diet much; he must eat urinary tract food.  We might be able to try another prescription brand (Royal Canin versus Hill's, for instance) but beyond that, we don't have a lot of wiggle room with his diet due to his FLUTD.  I feel very bad for my orange baby!  He is already dealing with many more health issues than any cat should ever have to deal with.  I just hope that his weight stabilizes, and if something is wrong, it won't affect his quality of life.  He's such a lively, active, happy boy!

Then it was Jewel's turn.  I told her about how Jewel had diarrhea all of last week and that it seems to have improved.  I also mentioned that Jewel vomited all of her food for an entire day.  She thought maybe Jewel is allergic to whatever we fed her that day, which is possible.  We don't feed her that particular kind too often so we'll stay away from that kind in the future.

Then it was time for her to get weighed.  Her last weight was 8 pounds 11.5 ounces.  Her new weight is 8 pounds 4 ounces!! She lost eight ounces in the span of two months!! :(

The vet was also concerned about Jewel drinking more, laying by the fountain on the floor sometimes, and her not eating well lately.  Though finances are extremely tight for me right now, I was able to use the last of the funds you all so kindly gave me with some of my own green papers to get her kidney values tested today.  Thank you all so much, again, for your generosity!

The vet and I both felt it was important to see how her kidneys are doing in light of all the recent changes.  Unfortunately, we found out that her creatinine level went back up.  Her last level was 2.6.  Her new level is 3.1, indicating her kidneys are, in fact, worse. :(

I've been instructed to give Jewel her subcutaneous fluids every other day now.

I am very upset about this.  I know it's part of the journey of kidney disease, but she was doing SO WELL a mere two months ago!!  I am very sad and worried and upset about this decline.  I am NOT ready for her to go, and I feel like this is the beginning of the end.  I hope with everything I have that I'm wrong.

The vet also said it's time to put Jewel on Reglan - an anti-emetic.  She also wants me to get Jewel's electrolyte levels tested as soon as I can afford it, which probably won't be until January.

I'm just trying to hold it together for my babies' sake.  I know they know when I'm upset, and I want them to be happy.  I just want them to be okay.  I'm sure all of you can relate.

Purrs and prayers, hugs, love, good vibes, etc would be very much appreciated!

Ann from Zoolatry made us these beautiful purrs and prayers badges.  You can display them on your blog sidebars or posts if you would like.

Thank you, Ann, for the badges!  We appreciate all that you do so much.

Purrs and Prayers for Carmine and Some Sad News

It shouldn't still surprise me after so long in the pet blogging world, but it still does.  I have found some of the most compassionate, caring, wonderful people and kitties and woofies over the years; it never ceases to amaze me how supportive and wonderful everyone, every kitty, and every woofie is when a furry friend isn't well or crosses over to the Rainbow Bridge.  Thank you so much for all the love, support, comments, suggestions, hugs, purrs, and prayers.  We so appreciate you all more than we can say.

Ann from Zoolatry made this badge for us.  Thank you, Ann! You are so talented and such a generous and compassionate person.

Carmine is hanging in there.  He ate well both yesterday and today.  Everyone stayed downstairs for the most part when it was time for him to eat, and I think that helped him not be so anxious. He is spending a lot of time in his cube in my room.  At night, sometimes he goes out to the living room and lays under the coffee table for a while.

The more I think about it, the more I think a lot of his behavior is stress-related.  BUT I don't want to assume it's stress, so I'm definitely still taking him to the vet.  We will get him an exam and they will probably want to test his urine to make sure his crystals aren't back and probably some blood tests, too.  Of course, we will get him any other test the vet feels is appropriate as well.  I'm just guessing what they might want to use to figure out what's going on with my baby.  I hear that stress is very bad for FLUTD so that is definitely cause for concern.  However, I have been watching him in his litter box to make sure he isn't having trouble urinating.  He has been urinating without trouble so far, so that's definitely good. :)

I really hope the stress doesn't make his arthritis pain worse.  I'd hate for him to hurt at all.  He is too precious to me and I cannot stand to see him suffer - it seriously makes me cry to even think about it.

I am definitely going to look into getting him Comfort Zone or Feliway like many of you suggested.  Does anybody recommend one over the other or are they about the same in terms of effectiveness?

I think I will be heading to PetSmart later.  They have been selling Comfort Zone, but if Feliway is better, I can always order that on-line.

I just want my little fuzzy baby to be happy and content again.

In other news, my little fishie passed away today.......RIP my little Angel.  I wonder if fishies go to the Rainbow Bridge like kitties?  If you are there, Angel, say hi to Emma for us.  We miss you both.

An Auction to Help Jimmy

This auction is for Jimmy, one of the kitties at Criz Cat Sanctuary.  Jimmy had to have emergency surgery and has been diagnosed with Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD).  As of the last update, Jimmy is resting at home with the rest of his family.

If you would like to help Jimmy, please click here to bid on auction items.