Dust for my sick kitty?

[LGK]

My big orange kitty O.P. is sick. I''m upset and trying not to snivel at work. My husband is a sweetie and took him in to the vet today; lucky boy, he''s never done a vet appointment in the 14 years we''ve had kitties together. Plus since we moved it''s a new vet, the other one is just too far away.

I have no idea what''s wrong with O.P. I realized when I was going to bed last night that I hadn''t seen him all day, and got worried about him. Sure enough he was doing the sick cat hunch n hide. I don''t think he''d eaten all day. Couldn''t get him to move or react to anything, just kept looking totally miserable. I picked him up to put him in the bedroom where I could watch him and he kept trying to creep under the dresser.

He''s never been really sick before. Hopefully it''s something simple. DH said he asked for water earlier today.

He''s getting some blood tests done, the vet said there were no obvious tumors or heart problems. However, his weight loss is much worse than I thought. He was 16 lbs a few years ago, and now hes (gulp) 6 lbs. He''s so furry I didn''t realize, and most if it was lost in the last month or so.

He was a foundling- he showed up at our work about 5 years ago and was skinny- but not as much as he is now

- and matted and clearly lost. All the no-kill shelters said he was at risk for being put down because of his eye. (As it turns out, they were all right that his eye is not fixable- apparently he was kicked in the face as a kitten and his eye healed wrong. We had some plastic surgery done on it, but though it''s better, it''s still always gooey). He also had a .22 caliber bullet in his neck. He was definitely abused, he cringed for about a year and never made a sound, but he finally stopped cringing and talks all the time now. He and my other kittyboy Rat are totally in love, it''s adorable. They sleep in a pile and groom each other.

My husband is always reluctant to go to the vet; Rat got really sick about a year ago and we spent several thousand trying to figure out what was wrong... turns out all it was, was that he hated the new food and decided to starve himself rather than eat it. So DH is always convinced that cat problems are imaginary, and if a cat is old it''s not worth doing any tests on them. (We have no idea how old O.P. is of course.)

We go back tomorrow with him at 8 AM for his blood test results.

DH just brought him into work on the way back from the vet, and let him cruise around the antique mall for a bit. All my co-workers got to give him a snuggle. He''s very laid back and hung out on the front desk with me for a bit. He''s definitely feeling perkier- purring, curious- but shaky and weak, maybe from not eating yesterday & today.

Anyway. Worried. Trying not to freak out.

 

[Haven]

I''m so sorry LGK. Your little guy''s symptoms sound like it could be hyperthyroidism. If that''s the case, the good news is that there are meds available that can bring his numbers back into normal range and give him some quality time. My kitty Bootsie was on hyperthyroid meds for over three years. She dropped a lot of weight and drank a lot of water, too.

Huge amounts of dust coming your way. I hope O.P. feels better soon!

 

[yssie]

Oh, no

DUSTING O.P.!!! That he's interested in water is definitely good, though. I'm glad he's a bit perkier today!

 

[TooPatient]

I''m sorry your kitty is sick. It is such an awful feeling not knowing what is wrong with them.

Lots of healthy kitty dust to O.P.

Let us know what the vet says.

 

[karee888]

tons of dust to you!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Poor kitty...I am sending lots of "get well soon" dust!

 

[iheartscience]

Aww...tons and tons of kitty dust to your orange guy! I hope everything is okay!

 

[Cind11]

Oh, I hope he will be OK! I hate hearing about sick kitties. It is so worrisome. I know just how you feel...

 

[LGK]

He ate a good amount of wet food tonight which is very good

I feel bad though- I thought he was sleeping/hiding on some bags of clothes behind some boxes in the laundry room after he got back from the vet, and kept checking on him... turns out he was stuck back there. I have no idea how he got back there but he was too weak to get out. He seemed asleep every time I checked but finally I wanted to try to feed him, and realized he couldn't get out

and had to dig him out. He's upstairs with us now, I carried him up and put him on a favorite sweater of mine to sleep on (he finds it snuggly, so he can snooze on it all he wants if it makes him happy) but he's definitely not doing well... but he's better than yesterday, he purrs for me and is less abjectly miserable seeming. Hopefully the vet will have good news tomorrow morning.

Rat was freaking out all day, worrying about O.P- howling, searching for him, fretting and pacing. When I fetched him upstairs Rat spent a half hour sniffing and licking him and is finally chiling out finally. I swear I have gay cats!

Thanks for the dust, everyone. Opsie appreciates it.

This is the O.P, permanently gooey eyeball and all, with Rat snuggled up next to him (Rat's shaved in this pic, he's normally as furry as O.P is). I love his frecklenose, I guess a lot of orange kitties have freckles. He's named O.P. as short for, alternately, Orange Problem or Orange Punkin. When I was campaigning to keep him (it was a process- I dunno whyyyy DH objected to the idea of an enormous orange monster as an additional 3rd kitty in our 900 sq/ft apartment

) a friend and I were texting strategies on how to convince my husband of his awesomeness and "The Orange Problem" got abbreviated to O.P., which stuck. Of course DH is a softie and caved pretty much immediately- despite being an abused kitty he's got the sweetest personality of any cat I've ever had, and it didn't hurt that Rat fell in love at first sight either.

 

[bee*]

best of luck at the vets today-sending dust!

 

[Deelight]

good luck and lots of dust how cute are your precious kitties I just want to smoosh there little fluffliness

 

[Madam Bijoux]

Best of luck at the vet, and sending lots of kitty dust.

 

[LGK]

O.P.''s been vetted. He does have hyperthyroid; unfortunately his liver is failing too, possibly because of the thyroid problem.

The vet thinks there''s a chance that his liver will recover if his thyroid is under control at least. Also he has a high white blood cell count, so he got some antibiotics too. So lucky boy, he gets lots of pills. We did Round 1 of pilling O.P. this AM, and he was pretty patient about it- he swallowed on the first attempt rather than hiding the pill under his tongue and spitting it out later.

He did get ordered to only eat wet food, which should make him very happy. The vet did think he could recover, so we''re hoping the thyroid meds fix it all.

He also got some new eye goop, which no vet can resist trying on his poor eyeball. At any rate it might make it easier to clean, but we''ve tried many, many varieties of eye goop for him so I''m kinda thinking it, per usual, will only result in irritated kitty, rather than happier eyeball. Oh well, we''ll try it of course.

Thanks everyone

 

[Octavia]

I''m glad that the vet thinks he''ll recover! Hopefully O.P. will keep being a good kitty about taking his medicines

 

[tlh]

***kitty dust***

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Lots of healing baby kitteh dust headed your way!

 

[that_someone_special]

Aww poor baby!!

Hope he''s running around soon!

 

[isaku5]

To echo all the furbaby owners out there,

I hope O.P. is well on the way to recovery. I know ''the look'' on our Sammy''s face when he''s not feeling well and get him off to the vet as soon as they''ll see him, but that ''look'' took a long time to acquire, and unless he''s really in trouble, he doesn''t put it on as he hates to go to the vet''s.

I remember way back when he had real health problems related to his inability to digest his food, the vet told me what might have to be done and added that it could cost $$$$. I didn''t blink a second before signing that paper. After we were in the car, I asked DH what I had agreed to, and he couldn''t remember either so the cost is irrelevant at times like these.

 

[AprilBaby]

Poor kitty! Feel better!

 

[LGK]

After several days of hiding and acting miserable and not eating, O.P. is doing much better this morning. He had a lot to say this morning, which is great because when O.P. is happy, he''s a noisy boy, and he asked for food twice in two hours. I think he inhaled a whole can of catfood! He''s also stopped hiding in the laundry room, and last I checked was warming his butt on my laptop and searching for an infinite number of Ms. (He has a talent for fouling up my laptop with his butt- he once disabled our entire network.

Nothing like trying to explain to Comcast that your cat''s butt ruined your internet connection).

Anyway, I think the dust worked, though the thyroid pills probably didn''t hurt either. He''s been such a patient baby about taking his pills. He just sits quietly and lets you pop his mouth open and drop the pill in, doesn''t try to spit it out or anything... he just gives you a slightly wounded look afterwards.

 

[princessplease]

Much dust LGK!!!! I hope your kitty is ok. ::HUGS::

 

[CJ2008]

so glad to hear O.P. is better! You guys (which includes Rat, of course) must be so happy!

 

[yssie]

They''re so cute together!!!

I love their names, too, so... refreshingly bizarre

. Can I ask why he''s "Rat"?

I''m so glad the vet thinks O.P.''s liver has a chance, and that he''s feeling better! You''re lucky he''s so easy to give pills to

Our cat lost three pounds in two months - he had minimal liver function, and the vet diagnosed FIP but gave him a series of pills and nutrients for severe hepatitis just in case. He was a royal pain to pill, but he was suddenly ravenous where before he''d had to be forcefed, and in just three weeks he was active and licking and playing with his sister, and gaining weight. On his last vet visit (6 months post-diagnosis) he was given a clean bill of health! Full recovery - and he''s now 14.5 lbs!

Your O.P.''s liver can certainly heal, I''m sending him tons of dust!!!

 

[LGK]

Date: 12/4/2009 3:56:25 PM
Author: yssie
They''re so cute together!!!

I love their names, too, so... refreshingly bizarre

. Can I ask why he''s ''Rat''?

I''m so glad the vet thinks O.P.''s liver has a chance, and that he''s feeling better! You''re lucky he''s so easy to give pills to

Our cat lost three pounds in two months - he had minimal liver function, and the vet diagnosed FIP but gave him a series of pills and nutrients for severe hepatitis just in case. He was a royal pain to pill, but he was suddenly ravenous where before he''d had to be forcefed, and in just three weeks he was active and licking and playing with his sister, and gaining weight. On his last vet visit (6 months post-diagnosis) he was given a clean bill of health! Full recovery - and he''s now 14.5 lbs!

Your O.P.''s liver can certainly heal, I''m sending him tons of dust!!!

Yssie, I am thrilled to hear your kitty is doing so well; I sure hope O.P. does too, but he seems so much better today that I''m feeling optimistic.

Most cats detest pilling and show it by bleeding their humans

Rat is actually technically named Rascal- but we never call him that. The story is pretty silly. My DH named him Rascal when we got him and his sister as teensy kittens. Our roommate at the time (a true loser) felt it was amusing to change it to Rat Skull, since he was a silly little uber-cute ball of fluff, the irony of the ghastly nickname and gorgeous cute kitten never got old to him. Despite my irritation with our ex-roommate and the horrid nickname it somehow stuck, mostly because ex-roommate trained him (unemployed- lots of time to train the kittens while we were out working!) to come to Rat. So he thinks his name is Rat, and that''s what stuck. He''s always Rat or Ratty, never Rascal. When a vet calls out for "Rascal" we both look around like "huh? who?" As he got older and a heck of a lot more willful, it was a bit more... appropriate.

He is only 6 lbs (normally, not underweight), and is pound for pound the most willful object in the entire world, I believe. He is extremely high strung and weird, we love him but he''s definitely a rat sometimes. For example. last night Rat was so gleeful to have O.P. upstairs again, Rat wanted his nose in O.P.''s butt, even though O.P. wanted to rest. No matter what we did to try to distract Rat, there he was, pesting O.P. Definitely ratty! (The exuberance at having O.P. nearby again expressed itself in three water puddles, a half hour of thunderous charges down the hallway at top speed, two escapes out the window onto the roof, a night of happy-howling rather than anxioius-howling, and a lot of staring at O.P. from two inches away.)

 

[yssie]

That''s such a cute naming story

sounds like your ex-roomie had the right side of things afterall

Hmm. Definitely in love.

 

[Gypsy]

I hope the upward trend continues. They are so cute.

 

[ckrickett]

dduusssttt

 

[MeowMeow]

My kitties and I are sending dust and good wishes your kitty''s way too! Glad the poor thing is feeling a little bit better now. Hope he improves some more!

 

[isaku5]

Our kitty Sammy and I wish continued progress for OP and less worrying for you.

 

[deegee]

I hope your kitty continues to feel better! My cat Queso has hyperthyroidism, and we have one pharmacy in our area where they crush the pill into a stinky, fish-flavored mixture that he licks off the spoon. He''s a small guy, but it took 4 adults at the vet to hold him down while the vet tried to get blood. They ended up having to sedate him, and there is absolutely no giving that cat a pill! Queso got down to 4 pounds and is up to 7 now after being on the medicine for a year.

Your poor little kitty has been through a lot. I hope medicine helps him to feel tons better!