Tylan Isn't Well

 Hi everyone, it's the Mom today with some news about Tylan.

Tylan hasn't been feeling good for a little while now. He had blood work done at the beginning of April, and when his white blood cell count came back high, our vet decided it would be a good idea to treat him with Orbax in case he had a kidney infection. His kidney numbers were also up a little from the previous month. 

Unfortunately, the Orbax seemed to make Tylan feel worse. He also seemed to have some kind of allergic reaction to it - he got these sores on his neck from where he was scratching himself so much. Tylan has never had skin issues, so the vet and I decided it was like an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. 

In any case, the medication didn't seem to help him.

Purrs and Prayers for Giovanni

Hi everybody, it's me, Giovanni!

Last week, Mama packed Tylan up in his carrier to take hims to acupuncture. But then hers grabbed me and put me in a carrier, too! Me was not amused.

Once at de vet, me busied myself trying to find a way out of de room to go back home while Tylan made himself comfortable on de floor and waited for de vet to come rub his belly. 

Me was there to get a pedicure since Mama can't see well enough to do it herself at home. So, de tech took me to de back, which was really scary! When hers brought me back to Mama, hers said me was really brave. Once de tech put me on de floor, me wedged myself between de bench and de wall while me waited for Tylan to have his acupuncture.

Mama was talking de vet about me. She said they found some kind of bump on my foot. 

As Tylan was getting his pedicure, Mama picked me up and set me  on de table. And then came de needle.....it poked my foot bump, and de vet went away for a few minutes. 

And then hers came back and gave Mama de news.... Me will let Mama tell you about it.

Tylan Urgently Needs Purrs and Prayers

 

I'm giving Tylan a hug good night before I leave him in good hands at the hospital.

As many of you know, Tylan has been really strugging since the beginning of December, 2024. At that time, his labs confirmed that he was having an acute bout of pancreatitis (he has chronic pancreatitis that flares every little bit). We also found out at that time that he had gone from stage 2 kidney disease (where he’d been stable for 3 years) to mid stage 3 kidney disease.

At the end of December, 2024, Tylan continued to struggle with his pancreatitis, and his labs showed that he had moved into late stage 3 kidney disease. Given that there were only 3 weeks between his two sets of labs, I was disturbed by the increase in his kidney values. But the veterinarians at his clinic didn’t seem too concerned about it. At that time, we decided to put him on subcutaneous fluids every other day and to get him through his acute bout of pancreatitis and start him on a renal diet once he felt better.

On December 30, 2024, Tylan was feeling so crummy that in lieu of acupuncture, his vet took blood work and an x-ray (to see if he was constipated as I hadn’t seen him poop lately). Tylan WAS, in fact, pretty constipated. Long story short, he ended up going back to the vet on January 2 to have an enema because the lactulose and miralax weren’t relieving the constipation.

Tylan had been eating less at the end of December as well. We all hoped that the constipation was the key – relieve the constipation and he might want to eat more.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Purrs and Prayers for Tylan

Purrs and prayers graphic made by Ann of Zoolatry. (Thank you, Ann!)

For the past week or so, Tylan hasn't been feeling well. He was already scheduled for acupuncture and his semi-annual blood work on Tuesday, so I discussed Tylan's eating less and feeling crummy with his vet while we were there, and we agreed it would be a good idea to add an fPLI test (the test for pancreatitis) to his blood work. 

A Few Purrs for Mama?

 

Hi everybody, it's mes, Giovanni! 

Me is here with a special request today. Mama is a bit of a mess and could use a few purrs.

Let me explain...

About a month ago, Mama was putting together an over-the-sink shelf and hers dropped it right on hers foot. It's a pretty heavy metal shelf, and hers had a few HBO words to say when it slammed on hers foot. 

Hers foot still be hurting, so hers had the doctor look at it when hers went last week. The doctor thinks Mama has a hairline fracture in hers right foot. Theys took an x-ray to make sure nothing more serious was going on, but Mama still doesn't have de results for it. Maybe hers will get them later today. Hers says de foot doesn't hurt too much unless something touches the top of it (shower water, sock, shoe...). 

Also, Mama's heartburn has been reallly really bad the past few months. Hers almost went to de ER twice cause de pain was dat bad. After talking to hers doctor about it last week, her doctor thinks Mama has a bleeding ulcer in her belly! Theys did some blood work, and theys found out Mama is now anemic from a serious iron deficiency. The doctor says this supports the theory of a bleeding ulcer in Mama's belly, but they is going to do an endoscopy on hers on Friday to see what is going on down there in Mama's belly. Please wish Mama luck! Hers has had heartburn for 15-ish years now. The last time it got really bad, hers had to have her gall bladder yanked! 

De iron deficiency is making Mama feel crummy. Hers gets headaches everyday and sometimes hers gets really really tired. The doctor is going to have Mama start going to de hospital for iron infusions through an IV. That doesn't sound like fun at all, but Mama tells me it won't be too bad.

If you could please send my mama a few purrs, mes bets hers would appreciate it. Mes wants Mama to stop hurting so much. Mes and Tylan don't like it when Mama hurts.

Purrs and Prayers for Tylan: Thankful Thursday

Thank you to Ann from Zoolatry for this lovely graphic for Tylan.

Hi everyone,

I know what you're thinking. "Why is Sierra posting Tylan being unwell as a Thankful Thursday post?" 

No, I'm not thankful Tylan is unwell, of course. I hate that for him. But I am thankful for a couple of silver linings, and I am trying to focus on that.

Let me fill you in on what is going on.

Last week, Tylan went to the vet to have his kidney/thyroid panel done. He gets this done every three months. Our vet was on vacation, so he just had a tech visit. 

Purrs and Prayers Needed for Carmine

 

Thank you to Ann of Zoolatry for making this beautiful badge for Carmine. 

Hi everyone, it's the Mom here today with some news about Carmine.

Carmine has not been feeling well lately. He has not been eating very much. I suspected that his kidney disease was getting worse because his glucose has been pretty stable lately. 

I took him and Tylan to the vet on Tuesday for their kidney panels. Carmine lost a little more weight and is now down to 8.62. The vet is worried about the fact that he does not want to eat much.

I got Carmine's kidney numbers today, and they are as follows.

• BUN: 52 (up from 45).
• Creatinine: 2.9 (up from 2.7).
• Phosphorus: 5.0 (up from 3.0).
• Urine specific gravity: 1.018 (last was 1.019).

As you can see, his kidney values have stayed pretty stable, a little worse, but not enough to account for the big change we've seen in his eating. 

Carmine neutrophils are a little high. He may have a UTI so we are going to run him on a course of antibiotics for that.

Carmine's sugar has been running a bit on the lower side of normal, so we are keeping a close eye on that. Since he has not been eating well, there have been times where I have had to withhold his insulin so his sugar doesn't fall too much. 

We are increasing Carmine's appetite stimulant. We are also increasing his laxative as he is a little constipated from the pain medication he takes for his arthritis. We are hoping this will help.

I went home with a whole case of prescription a/d canned food for Carmine as he has always loved that. He isn't eating a lot of it, but he has been eating a little here and there. 

We are puzzled as to why Carmine doesn't want to eat. He is on anti-nausea medications, so nausea shouldn't be an issue at this point. 

I am going to book an appointment with an animal communicator. Hopefully Carmine will tell us what he wants or needs. I will get whatever it is for him. I just need to know what "it" is. So, if you have any animal communicator recommendations, please do let me know. 

In the meantime, we would appreciate purrs and prayers for Carmine. And if you can convince him to eat more, that would be wonderful. 

A Few Purrs and Prayers for Carmine

The Mom here. 

We could use a few purrs and prayers for Carmine. He has had three rounds of Doxycycline for his upper respiratory infection.

When this all started, Carmine was very congested, snotting on me, and sneezing like crazy. The vet said she could hear the infection starting to go into his lungs, but we thankfully avoided pneumonia.

The first round of Doxycycline helped significantly. Carmine's congestion cleared up, and his sneezing decreased a lot, too.

The second and third rounds of Doxy haven't really done much for him. He is slightly congested and sneezing a little still.

Carmine Could Use a Few Purrs and Prayers

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine.

Mes heard the Mom told yous mes wasn't feeling very good yesterday. It's true. Mes hasn't been feeling very good latelys. Mes has been very sniffly and sneezy and mes has had watery eyes. When mes sleeps on the Mom's pillow with hers, mes sneezes on hers many times at night. Hers usually wakes up and pets mes and says, "Poor Carmine." 

It is hard for us to get to see our regular vet man when wes is sick, so the Mom ended up taking mes to a Banfiled place instead.

The vet lady there was very nice and felt bad for mes. Hers gived me something called Doxycycline to make mes feel better. BUT all theys had was a horrible-tasting one,!! 

Purrs and Prayers for Lita

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine. 

Mes has a special request. My sisfur, Lita, is not doing so well. Do yous think yous can send hers some purrs and prayers? Mes will let the Mom tell yous what is going on, 'cause it is too technical for mes to understand. All mes knows is hers is acting very strange and hers no feels good.

/The Mom here.

A couple of weeks ago, I took Lita to the vet for some blood work because she was slowing down on her eating. While at the vet, they noticed she had a little sore on her left hind ankle. Lita can't walk like a "normal" cat since she shattered the achillies tendon in that leg. Her ankle rubs on the floor as she walks, and that spot has been bald for  a while.

The vet said the sore looked infected and asked if they could give a Convenia injection.  I stupidly assumed that since Lita didn't have any problems with the injections when she was on them for five months to treat her pneumonia that it would be fine.  So I told them to go ahead and give her one.

Carmine Has a Special Request

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine!

Mes has a special request today.  My friend, Chase, could use some purrs and prayers.  Mes has never metted hims, but their humans commie over sometimes 'cause his human mom is one of the Mom's closest and bestest friends.  Even though wes has never metted, us orange mancats look out for each other, so when mes heard Chase is not well, mes knew mes had to get lots of purrs and prayers sent hims way!

Purrs and Prayers Needed for Lita

Hi everyone, it's the Mom today.

Some of you have been seeing our updates about Lita on Facebook.  I've been holding off on officially asking for purrs and prayers for her because I was hoping (and praying) that she'd get better.  Instead, she's gotten worse.  I feel it's time to ask for the support of our amazing friends - to come together to send tons of healing purrs and prayers and love to sweet Lita so she can heal.

After our vet visit in early October (which went amazingly well!), Lita began to have more asthma attacks.  Soon she was having asthma attacks nearly everyday.  Then it became a daily thing.  Now, she's up to several coughing spells/asthma attacks a day.

I am in very close contact with her vet.  Her new vet is AMAZING.  I cannot say enough good things about her! 

We have tried adjusting Lita's asthma medications.  Nothing has really made a dent, though. 

Milita's (Possible) Broken Heart

Hi everyone, it's the Mom today.

Our beautiful graphic was made by Ann of Zoolatry.

Milita had a couple of asthma attacks in the past week or so, so I took her to the vet yesterday to get her checked out and make medication adjustments.

Due to her history of pneumonia, Dr. M and I agreed that they should take chest x-rays.  They gave Milita a little kitty Valium, as x-rays are very stressful on her.

Dr. M came out to talk with me after they took the x-rays.  She said that Lita's lungs looked very patchy, and while she thought it looked like asthma, she wanted to send them to the radiologist for an opinion.

She also told me that Milita had a lot of sugar in her urine.  She gave me some special litter to get a urine sample at home in the next few days.  She said that sometimes a cat's sugar will spike when they are very stressed out, and she didn't want to diagnose diabetes based on a sample taken in the clinic.  So I will try to get a sample from her early next week.  I do believe that the sugar spike was stress related as Lita tends to get very stressed out when going to the vet.  Dr. M told me that it is going to be complicated to treat Lita's asthma if she has diabetes because steroids and insulin cancel each other out.  So let's all hope that she does not have diabetes.

Urgent Purrs and Prayers Needed for Popsicle

Hi everyone,

Popsicle is a very special little kitten.  All kitties are special, of course, but you know how some kitties just stand out in your mind and heart?  Popsicle is one of those for me.

He is a very sick little baby.  I sat and held him for more than an hour yesterday at the shelter.  He sat in my arms and purred.  He was quite curious and alert, but content to sit and let me hold him, which is a huge difference from even two weeks ago when he wouldn't sit still for five seconds, let alone five minutes!  He was the door darter - the one who always escaped from the Kitten Room and was up by the front desk before they caught him to put him back.

Anyway, this little precious baby needs urgent purrs and prayers.  Maybe, just maybe, if all of our kitty friends send rumble really hard and put their paws together in prayer, he will pull through?

Mancat Monday and an Update on Milita

Hi everyone, it's mes, Carmine.  

Last week, mes went to the Stabby Place with Lita, and mes was not amused.  Mes thought it was only Lita who was going!  

The Mom got mes out of my carrier first.  Dr. Stabby weighed mes, and said mes weighs 11 pounds - my highest weight to date!  

Dr. Stabby said the Mom could decrease my Prednisone dose and see mes again in three months because mes is doing so well.  

So mes and the Mom were happy that mes was doing so well.  Then on Friday, the Mom's friend, D, noticed that mes was limping and told the Mom.  Theys looked at all my feets and all my toes and poked at thems all and made mes annoyed.  D told the Mom that he saw that one of my claws looked black and blue on my left front paw.  The Mom was worried and watched mes walk around for a bit.  Mes was even sitting with my left front paw off the floor.  The Mom was sad that mes was in pain and did what hers could to makes mes comfy.  

The next day, mes wasn't limping as bad, and yesterday mes limped a little less, still.  The Mom had D look at my paw yesterday, and hims said that my claw is not black and blue anymores.  It is back to pink like the rest of my claws.  The Mom is glad that it is healing on its own.  Hers thinks mes probably got my claw stuck somewheres and tore it a bit.  Hers will continue to watch mes to make sure mes is healing and not in pain.  

Milita Update

The Mom here with an update on Milita.  The Clavamox made Milita very sick - she was vomiting at least once a day and had runny stool.  I was concerned, so I called the vet on Friday, and she said I could stop the Clavamox.  Still, I wanted to keep her on it if it was possible.  Unfortunately, she was feeling too terrible while taking it.  She began to eat very little, and in addition to the vomiting and diarrhea, I decided it was best to discontinue the Clavamox.  She was even seeking Carmine out and hanging out near him, which you can see in the photo above, and she never does that.  

I will be asking the vet what we can give her instead of Clavamox tomorrow when she goes back in for another chest x-ray.  She is still taking the Baytril and Prednisone.  

We would appreciate continued purrs and prayers for Lita.  Thankfully, there has been no coughing in days, and I'm hoping this is a sign that she's healing from the pneumonia.  

Purrs and Prayers for Milita

Jewel's Journey will be posted tomorrow.

Thank you, Glogirly, for the beautiful badge for Milita! 

I took Milita and Carmine to the vet on Tuesday.  I had noticed that Milita sounded crackly when she purred again, and D told me that she even had a crackly meow the other day.  I hadn't heard the crackly meow, but on the way out the door, Milita began to sing the song of her people, and her meow sounded terrible!  Milita was also coughing at least once a day - sometimes a few times a day.

The vet weighed Milita before she began the exam, and she weighs 13 pounds, 6 ounces.  After her exam, the vet told us that this respiratory stuff with Lita is probably due to her herpes and that this would likely be a chronic issue.

However, her tune changed after Milita had a chest x-ray.  She brought the x-ray into the room to show us.  She pointed out a few spots and told us that these spots indicated that Lita has pneumonia.  She said that the pneumonia could have transitioned from asthma or from bronchitis, but we won't know until Milita's pneumonia is gone.  Now I'm wondering if all the crackly purring and breathing we've noticed over the past few months was misdiagnosed as upper respiratory infections when in fact it was asthma or bronchitis?

In any case, we have a treatment plan to help Lita get better.  Milita is taking Clavamox (which she absolutely detests!), Baytril, and Prednisolone for the next two weeks.  She is quite unhappy about all the medication.  The Baytril is so big that we are having to break it into four pieces to get it down her.  The vet said we might be able to crush it and put it in wet food, but we want to make sure she's getting all of it, so we will likely continue to pill her with it.

Milita has to go back to the vet next Tuesday for another chest x-ray.  What happens after that will depend on what the x-ray shows and whether her current treatment is working.

I am keeping a close eye on her.  I feel so badly for her.  I've had walking pneumonia in the past, and it is pretty miserable.  I am giving her extra love and spoiling while she recovers.

We appreciate the purrs and prayers all of you have given us on Facebook.  I really hope that Milita starts feeling better very soon and that we've finally gotten to the root cause of her respiratory issues as of late.

Jewel Needs Purrs and Prayers

Hi everyone, Mom here.

Our sweet Jewel really needs some purrs and prayers right now.

Ever since her last vet visit, she's been acting differently.  In the past few days, she's gone to eating hardly anything.  I can tell she's losing weight.  She's lighter than she was even a week ago.

She sleeps a lot.  She's been spending a lot more time in her cubes lately, though she is out here in her pink bed right now.

She hasn't even eaten any treats in the past few days.  She used to live for treats.  We've been giving her Reglan and Cyproheptadine, but they don't seem to be having an effect on her.

We will call the vet later to see what they have to say.  I am very worried about her.

Carmine keeps watch over Jewel.

Opt to Adopt will be back next week.

Purrs and Prayers for Jewel

Thank you Ann from Zoolatry for making this beautiful badge for us!

Jewel went to the vet again on Wednesday for another Adequan injection.  While she was back there, the vet felt her heart was beating too fast and came to ask me if she could check her blood pressure again.

So I went back there to pet Jewel.  She was making so much noise, she was riling up all the little kittens in recovery from their spay and neuter surgeries.

Our vet usually takes the average of three blood pressure takes.  It looked like her heart rate was sitting right around 240!  The vet told us that an acceptable heart rate for a stressed cat can be up to 200.  Her blood pressure was also high, but I can't remember the exact numbers.

The vet told us to increase Jewel's Amlodipine to 1/2 tab twice a day (was 1/2 morning, 1/4 night).  If her blood pressure continues to be high next month, we may have to add the Benazapril back in as well.

I am very worried about Jewel.  We've been trying to get her blood pressure under control for several weeks now, and high blood pressure causes (more) damage to the kidneys in CRF cats like Jewel.

Next month, Jewel is also getting her kidney values checked again, and they WILL be worse.  There is no question about this.  I'm worried about how *much* worse they're going to be.

Thank you everyone who has been purring and praying for us.  Your wonderful friendship and support mean more to us than we can ever say.

Purrs and Prayers Needed for Jewel

Jewel: There I was hanging out in my green house (cube) and the Mom just *had* to wake me up to take my picture.  

Mom here: I took Jewel to the vet on Friday because as many of you already know from Facebook that she has been howling/crying at random times, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong.  It was really upsetting to hear her cry like that.

It's a really good thing that I took her i.

Jewel has maintained her weight at 9 pounds, 3 ounces, which I thought was really amazing seeing as she has been feeling poor lately.

We discussed Jewel's crying/howling, when she does it, where, etc., as well as other symptoms she's exhibiting.  The vet did an examination and noticed that Jewel was putting most of her weight on her front legs and paws and was concerned Jewel's arthritis has gotten worse.  We aren't completely sure because the table was slippery and she may have had trouble balancing, so I'm going to watch her around here and see how she sits.

My friend D had noticed Jewel didn't respond when he waved his hand in front of her eyes one day, so the vet also looked at Jewel's eyes.  Jewel's retinas are halfway detached on both sides!! :(  This news really upset me quite a bit.

The vet said Jewel's heart was beating too fast, even for being stressed, so she took her and checked her blood pressure.  She said Jewel's blood pressure is "off the charts," but she didn't tell me the number.

It's only by God's grace that Jewel didn't have a stroke or a seizure before we got her to the vet.  The vet has switched her to Amlodipine (from Benazepril) for her high blood pressure.  From what I read, Amlodipine is pretty darn good stuff!  They are also smaller, which means D can get them down her a lot easier than the big Benazeprils.

Please pray for my little baby.  I'm having to make some really tough decisions about her care right now due to finances.  I want to give her the best, and I do not want her to suffer in any way.  I love her so much.

Please pray that Jewel's retinas reattach and that this medication works for her.  We would also appreciate purrs, hugs, good thoughts, love....anything you'd like to send :)

Carmine also went to the vet.  I will update you on him tomorrow for Mancat Monday.  HINT: It's good news!

Add Some Spice to Your Life with Cinnamon

Cinnamon 

Cat Care Society, Lakewood, Colorado

Here I am with sweet Cinnamon.

Cinnamon is an orange tabby with short hair.  He is very affectionate once he gets to know you, but can initially be a little shy and nervous.  He doesn't particularly enjoy being picked up, but he will curl up in a comfy lap occasionally.  

Cinnamon came to Cat Care Society in September (2013) when his human passed away.  Even though he misses his human, he has a lot of love to give.  Cinnamon is approximately 13 years and six months old.  Due to his senior status, he is in the Petper-U-Care program, which will pay for a portion of his veterinary care for the remainder of his life.

Photo from Cinnamon's Petfinder profile.

Cinnamon is neutered, up-to-date on his vaccines, litter box trained, and microchipped.  He would prefer to be in a home without dogs.

You can meet Cinnamon at Cat Care Society, located at 5787 W. 6th Avenue in Denver, Colorado.  You can find him in the Gold room on the upper level of the building.

PURRS AND PRAYERS NEEDED

Two of our kitty friends -- Brian from Brian's Home and Ginger Jasper from Ginger Jasper -- are not feeling well and would appreciate some purrs and prayers.  

We love you, Brian and Ginger Jasper, and we pray that you will both start feeling better very soon!!