Loving Brothers

Kodak

Here is my boy~sitting in my lap. One of his favorite places to be once it starts to get cold.....It's also about 2 hours away from insulin time he always tends to hover around me when he nears the time of food and injections. But since it's been colder than normal here in southern california, I've had my boy in my lap, in my arms alot!

????

They love to climb to great heights!! I wish I could have kitty shelves all over the house! The dog hates it though!

The only one who sleeps with me is Winton-he has his pillow right next to the wall-within arm reach of me-because he will occasionally lick my hand. It's really quite comforting! Kodak comes up for a snuggle right when I go to bed but then he wanders off somewhere~maybe it's the dog that chases him away. Perf primarily sleeps at the foot of the bed-but last night he was on the comfy chair in my room.

In about 2 weeks I'm going to be helping out a household that has 12 cats!..and I thought 3 was alot! It will be nice to get a little cash while I wait for this horrible WGA strike to be over!

Meow it's sunny

Sunny but cool today~the boys are getting some Vitamin D....

ha ha!

Well seems I've found the essence of Winton's crying-the water bowl in the small bathroom! Not that there aren't 3 other water bowls around the house but it seems he's fixated on this one. he started crying at 5am-finally at 7am I couldn't stand it and got up. he was sitting right over the water bowl and it had a splattering of water in it. Velcro must drink out of this one at night! So I filled it up, he drank and immediately settled down! Hmmmm....I filled it up last night before going to bed-there is no way Winton drank all of it-but it seems to be the only one he wants to drink out of!

Banging, clattering

Last nite they must have been hungry because around 5am or so there was so much clattering and banging in the kitchen. Stuff was being knocked over-what was going on. The boys seem to want fed at 6am...well they are going to have to find another human who will dot hat for them-because until i start working again (unemployed because of the WGA Strike) I wont be rising at 6am. They will have to snuggle with mom!

All of the boys are really loving the extra wet food. Kodak ate Fancy Feast for the first time today! WOW! He snubbed his nose at the Royal Canin LP pouches and went over to the dish that had the Fancy Feast-I was thrilled! he's expanding his horizons!!

Wellness, Fancy Feast, K/D, D/M oh my

I'm half expecting to get the phone call from the vet today. That is if she's working today. Since I know there wasn't anything grave on the ultrasound I'm not overly concerned! The boys are enjoying the frequency of their wet food.....I think they are really preferring it to dry. I've bought Wellness and Fancy Feast that fall into the category that's good for CRF cats and Diabetic cats. Of course Kodak, being the very picky wet food eater that he is, doesn't like the Fancy Feast or Wellness-but Perf and Winton LOVE it!!! Unfortunately there are limited cans of what works best for both diseases-so we'll see....of course I try to feed Winton his Hills K/D and Kodak stills eats his dry Purina D/M.

All waiting for mom to get up...

Yes the alarm went off and all awoke!! Waiting for mom to rise and feed them!! Perfy didn't rise too far-it takes alot to pluck him off his favorite pillows!!

Thursday..

Well I'm thinking I might hear from my vet either today or tomorrow concerning Winton's Ultrasound results~ie what we do next. What I've been doing is increasing his wet food intake-I'm going to see if it's simply his lack of food, changed metabolism etc. But as soon as I can talk to Dr Evans, I'm sure we'll figure out the next step.

The other two are great-Kodak is in a major love mood! I think he's cold-he sat in my lap alot last nite as I was listening to the rain, watching tv and eating dinner.

Perfy was found on my bed draped across his mushy pillows-he's such a bizarre cat. He is playing a bit more which is great. When the dog first came into the house he stopped playing all together..it's taken awhile to get him back to playing~of course it helps that the dog, Velcro, really responds to commands and listens when i tell her to stop!

A rainy wednesday...

I love rain...so I wanted to go outside and smell it and look who decided to join me!!! Yes all of the furry family!!!

Winton got yummy wet food when he came back from his Ultrasound. He's been up and wandering around all day~probably because Perfy was sleeping in his daytime nap chair and Kodak, he just wants love!

Back from the Ultrasound

He wasn't too happy about them shaving his tummy for the Ultrasound and putting gel on it!

Well, we're back! Lets get right to it. The doctor who administered the ultrasound found nothing glaring! No huge tumors or nodules that would immediately say CANCER so I have a slight smile on my face. More relief for now!!! I was really feeling incredibly ill this morning. I've already lost one cat to Lympho Sarcoma I didn't want to find out today the same news. But that wasn't and isn't the case for now. He had actually gained a bit of weight since last week!! Winton weighed 10 lbs 12 1/2 oz! Up from 10 lbs 5 oz last week! baby steps!!

Here is what she saw on the ultrasound-I was writing furiously as she was showing me the pictures and explaining:

• Bladder- looks fine
• Kidneys-show signs of renal failure-bith kidneys look the same though which she was happy about.
• Spleen-a little larger than normal
• Stomach- looks fine-had a bit of food in it. (They never told me to not feed him-I thought about it this morning). But she didn't see any signs of thickening
• Liver-the vessels were more prominent-could have something to do with his CRF
• Gall Bladder-normal
• Adrenal Gland-normal
• Small Intestine-there was some fluid there-but probably because of his food intake
• She did find one enlarged lymph node, just one, in the intestinal area
• Pancreas-shows possible signs of pancreatitis

She wasn't too concerned with these things-nothing glaring as I said before. She's going to send the results to my vet so I'm sure we'll be discussing other possible treatments. He might have an intestinal disease-IBD, or GI Lymphoma (YUCK!) But unfortunately since he has CRF, any procedures we do from here-endoscopy, biopsy or a medical trial have an added twist because of his kidneys! As does the heart murmur, which I'll now be dealing with. I'll probably schedule a consult and an Echo soon.

But I'm feeling a bit of relief! Just a little bit! She didn't see a HUGE TUMOR which was my fear. It doesn't rule out him having a very subtle something that is changing his body.....but for today I feel relief! I love my animals-but you never realize just how much until something happens!

The first thing is to try to get a little bit more weight on him-I'm going to try to feed him more wet food since he's enjoying the wet food more!

off to get an abdominal ultrasound

I'm off to the vet with Winton for his abdominal ultrasound. Keep your fingers crossed that they don't find cancer/tumors!!!

The Call from Winton's Vet

Well, I just got a phone call from my vet, Dr. Evans. Basically, Winton's labs aren't too bad. His BUN and Creatinin have crept up a little bit since his last blood work-Feb 07.

• BUN Jan '08 78

• BUN Feb '07 60

• Creatinin Jan '08 3.3

• Creatinin Feb '07 3.2

She said that within the kidney parameters of 1, 2, 3 and 4, Winton falls in the 2 category of Renal Failure parameters.

Everything else checked out fine:

• cholesterol normal

• calcium - normal

• thyroid - normal

• no sign of diabetes

I can start giving fluids 1-2x a week if I choose-it wont harm him. It would be from 50-100 cc's and also if his appetite begins to wane I can give him a 1/4 tablet of 10mg Pepcid AC. CRF cats can develop uremic ulcers in the stomach area and the pepcid seems to help and is also a benighn treatment (wont hurt him). So I'll be doing that!

As for his weightloss...here is the stinger. She feels that his blood work numbers are not contributing to his dramatic weight loss. She's concerned about his heart murmur and his rapid weight loss and recommends I get a bi-cavity ultrasound and an echocardiogram. AH! She's actually more concerned that he may have cancer so the bi-cavity ultrasound she would have first.

As for the heart disease, a large percentage of cats that have heart disease NEVER show any clinical signs!

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed! I love my animals and will do anything for them-but all of this is coming when I haven't been working since the middle of November because of the WGA strike.

She's recommends getting the Bi-cavity ultrasound and Echo done at Advanced Veterinary Care here in the southbay. i'm going to call them right now and see what they say.

Well I've set up an appointment for his abdominal ultrasound for Winton tomorrow at 10am at Advanced Veterinary Care with Doctor Dani Kobayashi, who is the internist. Let me tell you, I should have become a vet like I had thought about doing!!! The consultation is $155 and then the Ultrasound is $320. And of course Winton doesn't have Pet Health insurance because he had already been diagnosed with CRF way before I got pet insurance on Kodak, Perf and Velcro. Lets hope that his weight loss is from old age and not cancer!

Chilly Tuesday

Well it rained all last nite~it was great. My cats should consider themselves very lucky that they only live inside because it was nasty last nite( well that is inside with the occasional balcony visit to soak up some rays!!) And now it's a bit cool~for California standards!

I'm hoping to hear from Dr. Evans today about Winton's blood work. He spends every night on his pillow on my bed. At least he's sleeping thru the night! The food right before I go to bed has really helped~I don't know if it's filling his stomach or if it's a routine he's now gotten into but whatever-he's not crying all night long!! I'll post when I hear from the vet.

A Chilly Monday Night

Cuddle time with mom!It's been cold here!

A Holiday Monday Morning- they all Holidays While the WGA Strike is on

My Kodak.
Perfy playing!
OK maybe I shouldn't have snapped this picture-not the most elegant of poses!!


Must be nice to be a cat in my house!!!

off to the vet with Winton

Well i just got back from the vet with Winton. He was not happy to be there today. He's was growling from the moment we walked in the door-great! Once we got in the room he was weighed, 10 lbs 10oz and his temp was taken-98.8-the first thing I asked was what did he weigh the last time he was in (which was around the 17th Decemebr) and I was told 11 lbs 5 oz. YIKES he's dropping weight so fast!!! It's scaring me! When he was last in in march 2007 he weighed about 12 lbs 10oz.

Dr Evans ,whose is my vet from All Pets Vet Hospital, came in and we talked. She asked what had changed and I mentioned the howling in the middle of the night and that the food right before bed seemed to be helping. She thought he might have kitty alzheimers or might get a little confused at night-which kinda makes sense since he comes running when I call him and settles down.

We talked for awhile as Winton cruised around the room-he tends to growl less if he's given the chance to explore and smell. Then Dr. Evans said she wanted to take his blood pressure first before she started examining him-so the vet tech came into take him back and he immediately started hissing and growling. SO we kept him in the room and they sprayed some calming spray and let him wander for a little bit. Then she came back in and took him back for his BP and his exam which included taking blood and urine, FUN TIMES! The good part-I didn't hear a thing so he couldn't have been too bad!!

When Winton came back into the room he had a bandage on his foot, growling and hissing and all he wanted to do was go in his carrier. So I put him in and Dr. Evans and I talked.

His blood pressure was about the same as in december, about 170. And it seems she heard a heart murmur for the very first time. It could be fear, it could be thyroid related-which we'll find out when we get the blood work back on tuesday or Dr Evans says it could be one of two types of heart disease:

• Restrictive Cardiomyopathy, RCM-there is scarring of the heart muscles that prevents normal pumping action.
  

• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, HCM-the heart retains it's classic shape but the walls of the heart thicken, reducing this muscle's ability to pump blood.

There isn't anything we can do until the blood work comes back. Once she has a bit more info ie thyroid levels etc we can then figure out the next approach-he might need an echocardiogram and also he might need an ultrasound on his stomach to see if we can find out what, if anything, might be causing the rapid weight loss. So I sit and wait until tuesday....scouring the internet on feline heart disease now.

Saturday morning....

The morning congregation point-the bathroom. They all come in there-all four of them-and it's a small bathroom. Kodak wants petted, Winton just follows me, Perf wants to play with his ball in the shower and Velcro, the dog-brings a tennis ball in. It's kinda weird but they are my babies. My ex-boyfriend couldn't stand the fact that I lived with cats and that I'd let them on the bed and in the bathroom-but you know, I've had my cats for over 10 years-they are always there for me~for go's sake they greet me at the door like the dog does. They are amazing cats-he can go screw himself!

It's time for bed

Well, once I crawl into bed it seems they all follow! Must be with mom!!! Winton has his pillow in the corner-he must be within arms reach because in the middle of the night he likes to be comforted with my hand-especially if he's crying. Kodak usually starts off curled up in my arm and then will head off for who knows where..and perf~well perf sometimes sleeps on the colored mushy pillows on the bed or between my legs or wherever the dog isn't!!

Meow Meow Meow Meow

Perfy

Kodak

Winton attacking Velcro

Yep that's what I heard at 7:30 this morning from Winton-mom get out of bed and feed me!!! So I listened like the good human caretaker that I am! And they all gobbled down food. Perfy slept on the bed last night-he must have been cold. Well he started off on the chair and the proceeded to move to the bed to snuggle by mom. Come to think of it Perf loves to sleep. he did play quite a bit yesterday~of course he was racing around the house and the dog thought it was her job to chase him so there were Perf and Velcro sliding across the hard wood floors...funny! I've scheduled a vet appoinment for Winton tomorrow. He's a little past due for blood work. he's been losing weight. But there isn't anything glaring other than the fact that he's renal deficient. But the blood work will let me know how his levels are-for I feel things have changed. Kodak threw up today-he ate alot!!! He tends to overeat a bit....especially if he's hungry.

Food, Food and more Food

Calm, Quiet, peaceful night! Thanks goodness for that! I didn't make it to the pet store yesterday-felt the need for time for me so I saw a movie-good thing I have a huge stash of food!!! I think I'm going to order the Wysong online-the all meat variety-it's good for both Diabetic and CRF cats and the dog can eat it if they hate it!!! Gotta love that! I have to order online because no one carries the all meat variety anywhere near me in Los Angeles-hopefully I wont get killed with stupid shipping charges! And hopefully after all that they like it and will eat it. kodak has been VERY picky lately! He's wanted to go back to his dry food-they've all been hungry-it's been a bit chilly here in sunny southern cal....the boys must bulk up to stay warm-HA!

Here is the list of Fancy Feast that are good for both Diabetic and CRF:
Minced Beef feast
Sliced Beef feast
Sliced Beef and Giblets
Grilled Chicken feast
Tuna ans Ocean Fish in Aspic
Grilled Beef feast
Grilled Turkey feast
Sliced Chicken Hearts and Liver

The other foods I found that I think all of my cats would eat-well probably not Kodak:

Wellness:
Turkey and Salmon
Chicken and Herring
Turkey

sounds YUMMY!!!

Woo Hoo

A can of yummy Fancy Feast yields a quiet content Winton! I think he's tired of eating his K/D. So yesterday I looked up on the CRF food sites and found some Fancy Feast that would tempt his appetite. And it seemed to work last nite. I must go get more food for him....

AAAHHHHHH!

Seriously I want to scream! What a horrible night! Winton was awful. Kodak and Perfy are fine at night but last nite-it feels like I got zero sleep! He cried and was at the water bowl I swear all night. I finally got up at 3:30am, went into the kitchen and opened a can of fancy feast and fed him-amazing after that he settled down and was fine! I noticed that he hadn't eaten his K/D~which is his renal food. So I'm going to have to check out the CRF food charts and find a kitty junk food that i can feed him that has the proper levels for his kidneys.

On another note-Kodak is balking at his caneed food-turning his nose up at it~the beast! Is is a full moon or something? What's going on???

wow....

Well first of all I will be scouring the internet and checking with my vet today. Winton was SO restless last night around midnight. I found him in the bathroom drinking water about 4 times within a half hour period! This is the first time I've seen him drink this much-mind you maybe he does this at night because he doesn't do it during the day. He has CRF so I know at somepoint things will start to happen. But I sure hope it isn't now since I haven't worked since the end of November! I'd pay anything for my animals but right now would really be a horrible time! Maybe he was just thirsty!!??? But it was very odd-and of course he did his normal howling-once I called his name he'd settle down on his pillow. I put my hand out, under his paws, so he can lick it and knows I'm there.

Time for bed

The boys gathering for their nighttime snuggle

Sleepy Sunday morning

Perfy was VERY needy this morning. Had to get as close as possible, snuggle and purred like crazy! He had been sleeping at my feet until I woke up....sleepy little boy! He's the baby!

My Boys

Not a quiet nite

Winton cried all night last night. he just wouldn't settle down. I fed him late-and he ate his food. I re-arranged the bedroom last night-and he's very aware of his surroundings and doesn't settle quickly. I'm wondering if that had something to do with it.

Friday morning and all was VERY QUIET last nite

I don't know what's happened but the boys are quiet and sleeping soundly at night! It's absolutely wonderful! And they always come up for their morning snuggle when I wake up.....this morning was a little earlier than I had hoped because Velcro heard her friend Reggie outside on a walk very early this morning-so the boys came up for their snuggle earlier than I had hoped.