Random pictures/stories of our furbabies

[missy]

@missy Oliver is adorable! He sounds like a little baby tiger! So sweet!

Thank you Joanne! He’s the sweetest little tiger. And despite all he’s going through he’s a little trooper.

Thanks @JPie. I know what you mean. There’s just no perfect answer. It all depends.

@Bron357 what a beautiful girl.

 

[elizat]

@elizat how is Leisel doing? Hoping she is improving each day and becoming stronger and healthier.

She is! She pulled through!

She's 1.2 pounds now and doing good, gaining each day!

 

[elizat]

Thank you JPie! Not sure of his exact age...anywhere from about 9-11 weeks now I think. At the moment he is about 3 lbs. Maybe a little more. He has (knock wood) a good appetite. I don't remember how much kittens are supposed to eat and because he cannot eat with the cone on he only gets to eat when we remove it under supervision I am not sure how much to feed him. He keeps eating though until the plate is empty no matter how much I give him. I googled it but there seems to be no one right amount of food to feed a kitten. Right now he is eating a 5.5 oz can throughout the day and some hard food as well. Do you think that is enough?

We are feeding him the kitten food the rescue group recommended. Authority kitten food. I hope that is a decent quality food.

Hi Missy! Congratulations! He's so sweet.

So, up until 20 weeks, it's advised to let them eat as much as they like. I leave hard food out at all times. He could probably figure out how to it with the cone honestly if you wanted to try.

I feed wet twice a day and that amount doesn't sound bad at all. You could give him more, but how is the poo? If it's loose at all, I wouldn't add more. You can also add a little probiotic powder for cats in his food to help with digestion and all the meds.

Authority is ok, pretty average food. Some other brands have better ingredients. If you want to switch it, you can cycle in a new one gradually. We feed a grain free cat food to our adults and allegedly now that's bad. But I feel meow mix is junky stuff.

http://catfooddb.com/product/authority/Kitten+Food+-+Chicken

I looked up what I feed the fosters for wet food- Blue Buffalo kitten pate. Says it's above average, but really, it's what he will eat and keeping him so his belly doesn't get upset as he heals.

Eta: you can weigh him once a day on a small kitchen scale if you are worried about gains. Probably easier to put him in a bowl, tare it out and weigh. He's probably not going to want to sit on the scale for you!

 

[Matata]

We are keeping him isolated from the others for now as he needs to be kept quiet and still so he can hopefully heal.

Has the vet established if the ulcer is from an injury or from herpes? If herpes, your other cats are at risk of getting it (if they don't already have it) even if they've been vaccinated although, hopefully, the vaccine would prevent symptoms from getting severe. I don't know how herpes got into my house but all my cats are affected even though I've always kept current on their vaccines. One of my 4 gets severe symptoms on a cyclical basis -- eye ulcers, severe upper respiratory congestion. Last time it happened, he didn't eat for 8 days and I was panicked he wouldn't pull through. Always keeping us on our toes.

 

[missy]

She is! She pulled through!

She's 1.2 pounds now and doing good, gaining each day!

Amazing news! So happy to hear.

Hi Missy! Congratulations! He's so sweet.

So, up until 20 weeks, it's advised to let them eat as much as they like. I leave hard food out at all times. He could probably figure out how to it with the cone honestly if you wanted to try.

I feed wet twice a day and that amount doesn't sound bad at all. You could give him more, but how is the poo? If it's loose at all, I wouldn't add more. You can also add a little probiotic powder for cats in his food to help with digestion and all the meds.

Authority is ok, pretty average food. Some other brands have better ingredients. If you want to switch it, you can cycle in a new one gradually. We feed a grain free cat food to our adults and allegedly now that's bad. But I feel meow mix is junky stuff.

http://catfooddb.com/product/authority/Kitten+Food+-+Chicken

I looked up what I feed the fosters for wet food- Blue Buffalo kitten pate. Says it's above average, but really, it's what he will eat and keeping him so his belly doesn't get upset as he heals.

Eta: you can weigh him once a day on a small kitchen scale if you are worried about gains. Probably easier to put him in a bowl, tare it out and weigh. He's probably not going to want to sit on the scale for you!

Thank you so much for the info Eliza!

Has the vet established if the ulcer is from an injury or from herpes? If herpes, your other cats are at risk of getting it (if they don't already have it) even if they've been vaccinated although, hopefully, the vaccine would prevent symptoms from getting severe. I don't know how herpes got into my house but all my cats are affected even though I've always kept current on their vaccines. One of my 4 gets severe symptoms on a cyclical basis -- eye ulcers, severe upper respiratory congestion. Last time it happened, he didn't eat for 8 days and I was panicked he wouldn't pull through. Always keeping us on our toes.

Yes it is herpes (most likely) as that is the only organism that can initiate a corneal ulcer in a cat. And to our knowledge he was not injured. Our other cats were vaccinated and were also most likely exposed when they were little as they are all strays with tough beginnings. It is a vicious cycle I know and I am sorry you are dealing with recurring symptoms. Super stressful. I know how awful it is when they refuse to eat. It is what we expect to be going through with Ollie too unfortunately. I know the risks but also realize that if we didn't take Oliver he would have had trouble finding a good home.

@Matata in general how long does it take your kitty's ulcers to heal? And do you know about how large and deep they are and where in the cornea they are located? Sorry for all the questions but this is my first experience with a cat ulcer. I generally deal with human corneal ulcers only.

 

[Matata]

@Matata in general how long does it take your kitty's ulcers to heal?

Only 1 of my 4 gets the ulcers. They range from shallow to deep with shallow being the majority thank goodness. Location differs each time with the majority being on the upper edges of the cornea but sometimes right in the middle. Most are small but visible to naked eye. When this first started they were large, maybe 1/4 inch and darn scary looking. This same cat is the one who suffers the most. The others get mild to moderate sneezing, sometimes weepy eyes but no ulcers, mild to moderate congestion, and sometimes low energy. The 3 who are least affected get over their symptoms in 7 days. My poor Maliik takes anywhere from 7 to 21 days depending on the severity of the relapse.

 

[missy]

Only 1 of my 4 gets the ulcers. They range from shallow to deep with shallow being the majority thank goodness. Location differs each time with the majority being on the upper edges of the cornea but sometimes right in the middle. Most are small but visible to naked eye. When this first started they were large, maybe 1/4 inch and darn scary looking. This same cat is the one who suffers the most. The others get mild to moderate sneezing, sometimes weepy eyes but no ulcers, mild to moderate congestion, and sometimes low energy. The 3 who are least affected get over their symptoms in 7 days. My poor Maliik takes anywhere from 7 to 21 days depending on the severity of the relapse.

Thanks for the info Matata. I don't know if this would help you but just fyi I have been giving them all L Lysine. I don't know if it helps but it is a homeopathic remedy and it cannot hurt according to the veterinarians. Also in another thread @stepcutnut recommended Nordic Naturals fish oil drops to add to their food. Just ordered this from Chewy.

https://www.chewy.com/nordic-naturals-omega-3-pet-cats/dp/35750

Sending Maliik lots of healing dust and well wishes.

 

[OboeGal]

Just to add some to the pet feeding discussion..... (My apologies in advance for writing a book, but I feel like this is important to share.)

I've been doing a deep-dive into the whole pet food issue lately, with the concerning cases of dilated cardiomyopathy in dog breeds without the genetic traits for it linked to grain-free diets or diets with grains that also have either really exotic protein sources or lots of legumes and potatoes. There apparently have been a few cases in cats as well. I'm a member of a Facebook group started and run by veterinary nutritionists and cardiologists, some of whom are actually participating in the main research into the issue, where the issue is being discussed in depth and information and updates are being provided to pet owners. The upshot is, at this point, that the mechanism of action has yet to be determined, but there is a clear correlation to pets eating foods that contain appreciable amounts of potatoes and/or legumes - which is typically the case with grain-free foods - and exotic proteins (such as kangaroo, etc.). Every case confirmed by echo-cardiogram that has been reported either to the FDA or to this Facebook group involved this type of food from boutique brands that do not meet World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) guidelines or home-cooked/raw diets. There have been NO echo-confirmed cases in grain-inclusive WSAVA-compliant brands. There have been cases with all forms of pet food, but the overwhelming majority of cases were fed exclusively dry food. When vet cardiologists out in the trenches have their diagnosed patients eat non-grain-free foods from WSAVA-compliant brands, sometimes with the addition of supportive medication, there typically is improvement of the condition, and even cases of complete reversal, unless so much damage and scarring has taken place that congestive heart failure has already set in OR it's confirmed to be one of the cases caused by genetics in a breed prone to it. Based on this, until there is more information, these experts are recommending that pets be fed grain-free foods from brands compliant with WSAVA guidelines.

Here is a link to a .pdf with WSAVA guidelines: https://taurinedcm.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Selecting-the-Best-Food-for-your-Pet-1.pdf

Now, here we get to the part that I, and I imagine most people who worry about feeding their dog and cat companions the best, am struggling with the most - the only brands currently WSAVA-compliant are Purina, Hill's Science Diet line, Royal Canin, Iams, and Eukanuba. Yes, I know - record screeeech. I had been convinced for years that these were garbage brands, and had been feeding expensive boutique-brand and usually grain-free foods for years. But after all the research I'm doing, and finding that all the veterinary professionals I know have been feeding those five brands all along with pets certainly no less healthy than mine have been, I've just completed switching my Gypsy (avatar) over to Eukanuba dry with either Purina Beyond or Eukanuba stews as a topper. If I don't like the results of that, I'll try Purina Pro Plan. (To be honest, back before I "knew better", my mother and I had cats that lived to 18+ on Iams and Purina Pro Plan, and my first collies were fed Pro Plan for quite a while with no ill effects. I also had a collie/German shepherd mix who had severe food and pollen allergies who absolutely thrived on a combo of allergy shots and a diet of exclusively Royal Canin Ultamino.)

I haven't yet settled on what to do for the feline household members. This source has me pretty convinced that a very-low-carb, exclusively-wet-food diet is what's optimum for them: https://catinfo.org/ Unfortunately, that's also very expensive, even if it's Friskies or Fancy Feast, and we simply can't afford it, especially as I'm partially disabled and my husband was just put on half-time at work and will be laid off by the end of the year, unless something magically changes. So.....I've been feeding them a boutique brand grain-free kibble out all the time, plus canned food in pate form (lower carb) from a brand like Friskees/Fancy Feast/Sheba twice a day. I'll probably just stay that course except switch the dry food out for the lowest carb one I can find from one of the WSAVA-compliant brands. Then wait to see if recommendations change with time and new info.

And cross my fingers and hope for the best.

 

[Matata]

I have been giving them all L Lysine.

I use to give mine lysine with no effect and stopped when I started seeing studies showing it could adversely affect health https://www.petmd.com/blogs/nutriti...s-lysine-supplements-cats-under-scrutin-33508

Now I give them Kitty Bloom VM 900+3 twice a week. It was recommended to a friend by her vet. Her cat is being treated for lymphoma and vitamin supplements are compensating for Rafiki's lack of appetite after chemo treatments.

 

[OboeGal]

I'm sorry! I should probably have just started a new thread with all that.

@missy, I wonder - if Oliver is still isolated from the other kitties - if you could leave a little pile of kibble on the floor where he is for him to nibble on when he wants to. Maybe if it's on the floor instead of a bowl with sides, he can manage it with the cone. Just a thought.

@elizat, I'm so thrilled that Leisel pulled through! Good job! I'd been holding my breath hoping for her.

 

[Matata]

I haven't yet settled on what to do for the feline household members. This source has me pretty convinced that a very-low-carb, exclusively-wet-food diet is what's optimum for them: https://catinfo.org/ Unfortunately, that's also very expensive, even if it's Friskies or Fancy Feast, and we simply can't afford it, especially as I'm partially disabled and my husband was just put on half-time at work and will be laid off by the end of the year, unless something magically changes. So.....I've been feeding them a boutique brand grain-free kibble out all the time, plus canned food in pate form (lower carb) from a brand like Friskees/Fancy Feast/Sheba twice a day. I'll probably just stay that course except switch the dry food out for the lowest carb one I can find from one of the WSAVA-compliant brands. Then wait to see if recommendations change with time and new info.

The only thing I'd recommend you change is leaving the kibble out all day. Switch to feeding them 2 or 3 meals a day. Leaving kibble out (I think this is mentioned on catinfo.org) has a tendency to keep them hungry and in digestion mode which may lead to obesity. You can skip the kibble altogether if you can afford to feed the canned exclusively. I hope circumstances improve for you and your hubs.

 

[OboeGal]

The only thing I'd recommend you change is leaving the kibble out all day. Switch to feeding them 2 or 3 meals a day. Leaving kibble out (I think this is mentioned on catinfo.org) has a tendency to keep them hungry and in digestion mode which may lead to obesity. You can skip the kibble altogether if you can afford to feed the canned exclusively. I hope circumstances improve for you and your hubs.

Ah - good catch, @Matata! I missed her mentioning that about leaving the kibble out. Thank you for that and for the well-wishes.

 

[violet3]

We had haircuts! Our groomer is the best and they all feel naked and much cooler now

 

[violet3]

Meet Oliver. The newest member of our family. He has had a tough beginning and is dealing with a severe corneal ulcer. We do not know if we can save his eye but we are going to be doing everything possible for him.

He is a sweet purr baby.


We have to keep a cone on him at all times (so he doesn't touch his right eye) with the exception of eating as he cannot eat with the cone on his neck.


We are keeping him isolated from the others for now as he needs to be kept quiet and still so he can hopefully heal.

We have a section of cones for him depending on his mood. Real boys can wear any color and wear it well.
Pink


Or blue.


He enjoys the iPad mouse game despite vision only in one eye at the moment.




He is a sweet baby.


If you want to hear his purring turn up the volume. This is his default setting lol. Despite all he is going through he is a purring machine.

He’s the cutest!!!! Congratulations!!!

 

[missy]

We had haircuts! Our groomer is the best and they all feel naked and much cooler now

Awww precious!

 

[missy]

He’s the cutest!!!! Congratulations!!!

Thank you Violet!

@missy, I wonder - if Oliver is still isolated from the other kitties - if you could leave a little pile of kibble on the floor where he is for him to nibble on when he wants to. Maybe if it's on the floor instead of a bowl with sides, he can manage it with the cone. Just a thought.

Thanks for the suggestion OboeGal. I don't want to leave food out all day but we are feeding him a number of times throughout the day and letting him eat til he stops each time. He is looking good weight wise just not eye wise.
Sending you and your dh lots of good wishes and hope things start going more smoothly. (((Hugs))).

 

[missy]

I use to give mine lysine with no effect and stopped when I started seeing studies showing it could adversely affect health https://www.petmd.com/blogs/nutriti...s-lysine-supplements-cats-under-scrutin-33508

Now I give them Kitty Bloom VM 900+3 twice a week. It was recommended to a friend by her vet. Her cat is being treated for lymphoma and vitamin supplements are compensating for Rafiki's lack of appetite after chemo treatments.

Thanks again Matata. Another question. And please excuse me if you are already doing this but just in case. Do you give Maliik anti viral drops? Before we adopted Oliver I read about feline herpes and studies suggest that anti viral drops while they cannot kill the virus slows down the replication and helps lessen the herpes infection. I ordered Cidofovir last week in anticipation of adopting Oliver and we are going to start giving him those drops as soon as (knock wood hopefully his cornea will start healing) his corneal ulcer starts healing. The reason is that Cidofovir can irritate the cornea so we don't want to give the anti viral drops until his cornea starts improving. But for Maliik as soon as he starts having a herpes eye outbreak it might prove helpful. Just wanted to put that out there fyi.

I found this article helpful.

https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?id=5709776&pid=11372

 

[missy]

Tommy hanging out yesterday just surveying his house and everything in it. Not a bad vantage point but hey I would be facing the other way. LOL.



And little Houdini umm I mean Oliver. That sneaky baby got out of the cone yesterday. Greg added velcro and we made it snugger and he won't be getting out of this for now. I am sad we have to keep him in the cone but this was the best one we could find as it is transparent and cushioned. And he can still sleep comfortably and play with it on and use the litter box. He just cannot eat or drink with it on unfortunately.

 

[missy]

Lastly a few of our feral kitties hanging about on our I mean their property.
I had to take this through the closed window as they would have run if I went outside to get the photos. Sorry about the glare.








Tux is the black and white kitty looking at us in the below photo. What are we doing on his property? LOL

 

[dk168]

Jess the cat demanding a cuddle yesterday, and Borda the dog being stripped for the first time this year (except for his very expressive eyebrows ).



I love my fur babies.

DK

 

[Hivona]

Pictures never attach in the order I select them! This is Marble & Coco. 4 year old domestic long hair sisters adopted a little over a year ago from a shelter. Marble definitely likes attention on her terms. Coco wants everyone’s attention all the time!

 

[violet3]

Tommy hanging out yesterday just surveying his house and everything in it. Not a bad vantage point but hey I would be facing the other way. LOL.



And little Houdini umm I mean Oliver. That sneaky baby got out of the cone yesterday. Greg added velcro and we made it snugger and he won't be getting out of this for now. I am sad we have to keep him in the cone but this was the best one we could find as it is transparent and cushioned. And he can still sleep comfortably and play with it on and use the litter box. He just cannot eat or drink with it on unfortunately.

Missy, where do you live (besides the clear answer of heaven) Kitties look like they love it!!! Do you put them in crates to take them to the beach house?

 

[violet3]

Sunset at the beach is our favorite time

 

[Matata]

Do you give Maliik anti viral drops?

I don't unfortunately. He can't be handled at all unless he's anesthetized. I could try squirting something at his face but won't be able to administer anything directly to his eyes. Can't give him oral meds either unless they're tasteless, odorless and can be mixed into his food. With the last herpes outbreak, he was so sick I was actually able to syringe feed him baby food but once he started feeling better that stopped. My vet and I are in agreement that if he ever gets to the point where he needs daily meds -- due to from herpes, old age, or something else -- we'd have to euthanize him. Handling him stresses him to the point where he gets sicker. My poor boy.

 

[missy]

I don't unfortunately. He can't be handled at all unless he's anesthetized. I could try squirting something at his face but won't be able to administer anything directly to his eyes. Can't give him oral meds either unless they're tasteless, odorless and can be mixed into his food. With the last herpes outbreak, he was so sick I was actually able to syringe feed him baby food but once he started feeling better that stopped. My vet and I are in agreement that if he ever gets to the point where he needs daily meds -- due to from herpes, old age, or something else -- we'd have to euthanize him. Handling him stresses him to the point where he gets sicker. My poor boy.

Poor baby. I am so sorry. I feel for you and him. We have a similar issue with our 3 adult cats though not as extreme as Maliik. We cannot pill them at all. Francesca (may she RIP) was the only kitty we were able to pill and give meds to. Fortunately Fred will eat his half steroid pill when we add it to the food but that's only because he's old and his taste buds are not what they used to be. Tommy and Bobby fuggedaboutit. When they were all ill recently we had to give them antibiotic injections at the vet vs the oral antibiotics that would have worked better.

And now Tommy was just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism last week so we are going to attempt putting the med in a pill pocket. He likes pill pockets. However he has trouble eating harder food (even the soft pill pockets) and it drops from his mouth. During our empty pill pocket experiment while he eventually ate it the pill pocket kept falling from his mouth and got partially wet from his saliva. I am not sure the pill will stay hidden if this keeps happening when we give him the pill pocket and not sure he will actually eat it with the med. We are going to try but yeah not sure how this is going to go down. And if we had to give Fred, Bobby or Tommy eyedrops we'd be in trouble.

Cats can be challenging with meds. I hope Maliik never needs daily meds @Matata and I am glad he let you syringe feed him. Sweet boy.
We can only do the best we can do but it is hard to bear when we cannot get our babies well.

 

[missy]

Missy, where do you live (besides the clear answer of heaven) Kitties look like they love it!!! Do you put them in crates to take them to the beach house?

Thanks Violet. Our beach house is located at the Jersey Shore. It really is lovely here. We have been here since mid May and not sure when I am going back to NYC. We take the kitties with us in their carriers. When Francesca was alive I would have her sit on my lap the entire trip or else she would get car sick. She loved sitting on my lap. And I loved it too. She was such a good girl.

Here she is during one of our trips to the beach. You can see her pink carrier on the floor.

 

[missy]

"I don't always stick out my tongue but when I do I look purrrrrfectly handsome doing it."

 

[MamaBee]

"I don't always stick out my tongue but when I do I look purrrrrfectly handsome doing it."

@missy! Oliver’s eye looks so much better!!!

 

[Matata]

Atticus tired after playing fetch. At one point, he took the catnip stuffed cigar out on the patio, soaked it in the pool, and brought it back sopping wet for me to continue throwing it.

 

[missy]

@Matata Atticus is a regal and handsome sweetheart. Devastatingly handsome.