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missy

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@missy, I'm just getting on this thread tonight - I'm amazed at the love, dedication, and stamina that you and Greg have shown in the face of this. I wish I could help somehow. All I know to do is to say, as a fellow animal lover, that the two of you inspire me and give me hope. You are two incredible people, and any beings that cross paths with you in life are very blessed indeed.

That is very kind of you to say @OboeGal. Thank you for your generous comments and for taking the time to read through this thread and offer encouragement. I know most PSers would do the same for their furry kids as would most animal lovers. They are our family. We are just hoping and praying we can get them well. I cannot think about the alternative. It has been a devastating year for us and our furbabies and if I think about it too much it overwhelms me so we are just going to continue doing what we need to do and hoping for the best. We love our babies as we love all our family members and honestly maybe we love our furbabies a little (lot) bit more. LOL. What can I say? Our furry kids are sweet and good with pure hearts. They deserve so much better than this and hoping this is but a blip on their radar and that they can go on and live happy healthy lives after RW.


im sitting her woundering how things are in the garden state today .... ?
have fingers crossed all is going well

Hi Daisy, well yesterday went ok with the increased concentration of Lime Dip though the smell is much stronger and they were sort of squinting their eyes a bit last night which worried me because of Oliver's eye history of a severe corneal herpetic eye ulcer. He is prone to more outbreaks so we don't want to initiate another eye problem. We give him a special oil every day to help keep his eyes healthy but all this stress etc makes him more susceptible to eye issues so we are watching him closely. Keeping an eye on things... Pun intended.

The vet tech we spoke with when we came to pick them up said that they *think* Tommy is "blowing" his coat which means stress is causing him to lose lots of hair. They don't think (but cannot be sure) that all his hair loss is from ringworm. To that end I ordered Feliway diffusers and the spray. In the past we used that to no improvement but these are different cats and a different situation and I am hoping it can help. It is very stressful on the cats and Tommy is taking it the worst I think. He runs like crazy when we try to give him the Itrafungol every morning and it is heartbreaking. In fact he won't come for food in the AM anymore and he was the first one to run for food every morning until recently. 6 weeks of this is too much for them.

They have been through the proverbial ringer and it just kills me inside seeing them suffer and stress like this. We remain calm in front of them and speak soothingly to them and pet them the whole time we are administering meds but it isn't helping calm them at all. I don't blame them. I hate me too. It makes me sick how we are torturing them every single day multiple times per day. Yet what choice do we have? They can get well and they can go on to live a happy rest of their life. We cannot just give up on them.

Fred has areas that look irritated with no hair regrowth but his paws and ears and chin/throat are regrowing. But he has large areas on his belly that are hairless and raw and irritated so we have to watch those areas closely too. He also has a new area on his nose which was the original site of infection for Fred but Greg tells me not to panic because a similar thing happened to Oliver as an area got better a new one sort of popped up. But we are 6 weeks into it so that is worrisome especially because Fred is not getting the Itrafungol. But we have to be patient and just keep on doing everything we can.

Bobby's newest area on his back is regrowing hair but I cannot tell as it is a pretty large and scaly area that looks pretty awful. Peeling like no tomorrow. His throat area has been regrowing hair for a few weeks now. The vet tech says he has a thinning area on one of his legs (I forget which and not even sure I heard the details because all I heard was new area and my mind went dark) but she said it was there last week too and she thinks that area might be regrowing hair but now I am unsure of exactly what she said and Greg isn't sure either. All we heard was leg hair thinning on Bobby.

Oliver is showing the best improvement and in fact she wasn't sure she saw anything on him anymore. But we have to continue treatment for at least a few more weeks on him. The thing is we also have to re-culture all of them when we think we are near a cure. And that culture takes 3-4 weeks to grow. The initial Oliver culture took 4 weeks to diagnose M Canis (RW) and we need 2 negative cultures for a cure. But that is crazy long so I want to get a PCR test which is another test that gives results in 3 days. But the vet's office won't do that test so I asked Elaine to please get that for me. As a regular person I cannot buy that test myself and my sister doesn't even know about that test so I have to rely on Elaine to get me the PCR tests and we can retest the cats when we think we are nearer a cure. If I had that now I would retest Oliver.

That is my update. Oh and we brought in a stool sample yesterday from Oliver because he has had parasites since we adopted him. We gave him 2 rounds of treatment for Coccidia (a total of 15 days of treatment for Coccidia) and two doses (3 weeks apart) of Drontal for Roundworm. Let's hope he is finally parasite free. If not I might just have a nervous breakdown because this kid has gotten a lot of anti parasitic medication. C'mon be gone you parasites and next we are getting RW out of our lives. :pray:

I wish I had better news. Yes Oliver is doing better but the other 3 seem to not be getting rid of this RW and it keeps showing up in different places. Thank you everyone for your good thoughts and well wishes and I appreciate every single post and comment shared more than words can express. We are just going to keep doing what we are doing and hopefully get RW out of our lives and hopefully sooner vs later. Today is 41 of RW gate he**.

Screen Shot 2019-09-05 at 5.03.08 AM.png

You can see how yellow his hair looks. From last night. Poor sweetie.

They are all looking yellow from the Lime Dip with the exception of Tommy as he has no white hair on him so his hair color disguises the color of the Lime Dip but you can smell him. The smell doesn't bother me at all. I know (hope) it is working its magic to get them well.
Screen Shot 2019-09-05 at 5.04.47 AM.png

Screen Shot 2019-09-05 at 5.05.00 AM.png

Screen Shot 2019-09-05 at 5.05.12 AM.png

Everyone ate when they got home last night after the Lime Dip so that was good. Poor Freddie. He looks so ragged. I pray he will get better. The new area on his nose is concerning. C'mon Fred honey fight this. We love you so much. Please fight this. :pray:
 
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MaisOuiMadame

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Good news on Ollies RW!!! Keep fighting little champ. And YUCK YUCK YUCK to parasites:sick:. I hole they ARE GONE FOREVER... Hooe you can get that PCR test asap. I understand that you want to know. I hope Elaine can get it for you :pray:.
Best wishes to you and Greg and the cats!!!!
 

Daisys and Diamonds

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everyone had tea :appl:
celebrating the small victories with you missy


(we call the evening meal tea)
 

missy

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missy

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Veterinarian office just called. Oliver is (finally) free of his parasites. "As far as they can tell" LOL don't you just love when everything the healthcare professionals tell you has a qualifier attached to it. We paid for 4 stool samples on Oiiver and first time they caught that he had Coccidia and had it despite treatment. Finally we got rid of that. Then with the third stool sample he suddenly showed Roundworm (not to be confused with ringworm which as anyone reading this thread now knows is a fungus from hell and not a parasite). I said to the vet office well he always had Roundworm then since we got him and they said yes but it didn't show on the first two stool samples. OK.

Anyway good news he is free (I hope!) of all parasites.
"As far as they can tell".

Just wanted to add some positive news here.

Now I have a question which I know no one can definitively answer:

If we let Oliver out of isolation can he become reinfected with RW. He has been isolated basically since we have had him and it's hard on little Oliver. It's easier for us to keep him isolated because that way I know
1. he is safe from getting re-infected from RW from Fred and Tommy and Bobby and
2.he won't be stressing the other cats running around and bothering them.

So what do I do?
Let Oliver out and play with the others and be free to explore and roam the house or
Keep him isolated for perhaps many more weeks (maybe months) until everyone is RW free?
 
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lovedogs

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Veterinarian office just called. Oliver is (finally) free of his parasites. "As far as they can tell" LOL don't you just love when everything the healthcare professionals tell you has a qualifier attached to it. We paid for 4 stool samples on Oiiver and first time they caught that he had Coccidia and had it despite treatment. Finally we got rid of that. Then with the third stool sample he suddenly showed Roundworm (not to be confused with ringworm which as anyone reading this thread now knows is a fungus from hell and not a parasite). I said to the vet office well he always had Roundworm then since we got him and they said yes but it didn't show on the first two stool samples. OK.

Anyway good news he is free (I hope!) of all parasites.
"As far as they can tell".

Just wanted to add some positive news here.

Now I have a question which I know no one can definitively answer:

If we let Oliver out of isolation can he become reinfected with RW. He has been isolated basically since we have had him and it's hard on little Oliver. It's easier for us to keep him isolated because that way I know
1. he is safe from getting re-infected from RW from Fred and Tommy and Bobby and
2.he won't be stressing the other cats running around and bothering them.

So what do I do?
Let Oliver out and play with the others and be free to explore and roam the house or
Keep him isolated for perhaps many more weeks (maybe months) until everyone is RW free?
Ask the vets. But my thought is that he could get reinfected unless somehow he has an immunity now.
 

missy

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Ask the vets. But my thought is that he could get reinfected unless somehow he has an immunity now.

Thanks lovedogs. They said they don’t know. Can’t guarantee anything. My sister votes for letting him out but honestly if he gets reinfected I don’t know what we would do. I am concerned about his emotional well being.
 
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lovedogs

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Thanks lovedogs. They said they don’t know. Can’t guarantee anything. My sister votes for letting him out but honestly if he gets reinfected I don’t know what we would do. I am concerned about his emotional well being.
For safety I think I would just keep him apart. I know that sucks, but I think it would suck infinitely more to have him get reinfected!
 

missy

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For safety I think I would just keep him apart. I know that sucks, but I think it would suck infinitely more to have him get reinfected!

We decided to do just this for now and take it one day at a time as we have been doing all these past weeks. Oliver also isn't 100% clear so he might still infect the others who knows. Our biggest concern right now is if Fred is going to get well and if he doesn't is he going to keep the others sick? It's an awful decision we might have to make and I cry every time I think of this possibility. He's old and deserves golden years and not this. And to have to euthanize him if he doesn't get better for the others is the worst decision ever. And I hope and pray it doesn't come to that. He is eating and even purring at times but if he cannot beat ringworm what are we going to do? All the cats will continue to get reinfected with it and isolating anyone (besides Oliver) is not an option.

If Fred was an only cat we could live with him with RW forever. We would make it work. But we have 3 other cats. :/

Thanks for letting me get that worry off my chest and thanks for listening.
 
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TooPatient

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Fred is looking better in those pictures! Up and moving is big progress. Great news on the parasites too. Keep eating ice cream and hang in there. I would definitely keep Oliver separated from the others still. Fred doesn't need the added stress and you don't need to worry about any more contamination between cats than you already do. You might be able to let him have the run of your room more often if he is doing well?
 

derbygal

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@missy I am just now reading this hearbreaking thread. Hubby and I have taken in feral cats for our entire marriage. I love our fur babies with every ounce of my heart and it's breaking my heart to think of all you've been through. Just wanted to say I'm praying for you and your babies and will continue to do so!!!
 

yssie

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So much to catch up on from the last two days! Missy, my night is devoted to catching up with you in this thread.

A quick update my end: The full biopsy came back - it was exactly what initial screen suggested, we did the right thing removing his leg right away, and the tissue removal was clean but muscle was a “close boundary” which means they can’t be confident surrounding muscle isn’t affected. We have an oncologist appointment next week. I know we’ll have to make decisions about radiation and possibly chemo, and I don’t know how to feel about that... but that’s next week not right now. Right!?

Alex is learning to walk! He’s doing so well. It’s not the greatest video but... now that we’ve mostly figured out which squeaks mean “nerve pain” and which mean “tired” and which mean “snuggle me” - hopping comes naturally to him!! :mrgreen2:
 
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missy

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So much to catch up on from the last two days! Missy, my night is devoted to catching up with you in this thread.

A quick update my end: The full biopsy came back - it was exactly what initial screen suggested, we did the right thing removing his leg right away, and the tissue removal was clean but muscle was a “close boundary” which means they can’t be confident surrounding muscle isn’t affected. We have an oncologist appointment next week. I know we’ll have to make decisions about radiation and possibly chemo, and I don’t know how to feel about that... but that’s next week not right now. Right!?

Alex is learning to walk! He’s doing so well. It’s not the greatest video but... now that we’ve mostly figured out which squeaks mean “nerve pain” and which mean “tired” and which mean “snuggle me” - hopping comes naturally to him!! :mrgreen2:

Amazing news @yssie! Thank you for sharing it. Sending continued healing vibes to Alex and big hugs to you both.

Fred is looking better in those pictures! Up and moving is big progress. Great news on the parasites too. Keep eating ice cream and hang in there. I would definitely keep Oliver separated from the others still. Fred doesn't need the added stress and you don't need to worry about any more contamination between cats than you already do. You might be able to let him have the run of your room more often if he is doing well?

We will allow Oliver the entire bedroom as soon as he is completely clear. He still has a little weird area on his face coming up black every time we clean it. This fungus is quite stubborn and resistant. Oliver has had 10 mg/kg of Itrafungol for over 6 weeks now plus 7 lime dips and shampoos and he is still not 100% free of it.
You are so right. Fred needs no extra stress at the moment. He is super constipated now too so I am going to buy pumpkin and hope he will eat it and that it will help his BMs. Poor Fred has been through so much this summer.

@missy I am just now reading this hearbreaking thread. Hubby and I have taken in feral cats for our entire marriage. I love our fur babies with every ounce of my heart and it's breaking my heart to think of all you've been through. Just wanted to say I'm praying for you and your babies and will continue to do so!!!

Thanks @derbygal I so appreciate your good wishes and prayers.
 

distracts

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If we let Oliver out of isolation can he become reinfected with RW. He has been isolated basically since we have had him and it's hard on little Oliver. It's easier for us to keep him isolated because that way I know
1. he is safe from getting re-infected from RW from Fred and Tommy and Bobby and
2.he won't be stressing the other cats running around and bothering them.

So what do I do?
Let Oliver out and play with the others and be free to explore and roam the house or
Keep him isolated for perhaps many more weeks (maybe months) until everyone is RW free?

Yes Oliver can become reinfected. If he is clear, I would keep him isolated if not adopt him out entirely ideally to a household with no other pets. I would also worry that his presence would be too stressful for the other cats - they don't need another source of stress and cat introductions are already insanely stressful as it is.

Thanks lovedogs. They said they don’t know. Can’t guarantee anything. My sister votes for letting him out but honestly if he gets reinfected I don’t know what we would do. I am concerned about his emotional well being.

This is absolutely untrue - they should know that he can get reinfected, especially since the other cats are still infected. The whole reason you keep the environment decontaminated even in a house with only a single cat is because the higher the concentration of spores, the more likely it is for reinfection to occur. I have read that cats can temporarily resist becoming reinfected but there's no way to know how long that may last.

I hope the Feliway helps. My experience with Feliway diffusers has been very good. I used them because T was so stressed he kept getting sick when I got Hugo, and so when he was sick and they were separated and then when I was trying to introduce them. I too actually thought they weren't working at first, but my cleaning lady would always unplug them and if I forgot to plug them back in T would be hiding all day or later when I was trying to introduce the cats, T would keep hissing. None of that if they were plugged in. I read multiple reviews that said the same thing, that the difference was only noticeable in the absence. So even if you feel they're not doing anything, I'd keep them plugged in.

I'm glad that Fred was up and eating.

This website has a section on what to do if the outbreak is going on longer than expected: https://www.litchfieldvet.com/ringworm.pml
 

Daisys and Diamonds

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just checking in on every body missy
Borris and Tibby send you kitty cat hugs and kisses
i feel so sad for everyone
hang in there
 

KristinTech

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@missy You and hubby are superhuman! You guys make a great team. How is your dermatitis? What misery. :cry:
 

missy

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Yes Oliver can become reinfected. If he is clear, I would keep him isolated if not adopt him out entirely ideally to a household with no other pets. I would also worry that his presence would be too stressful for the other cats - they don't need another source of stress and cat introductions are already insanely stressful as it is.



This is absolutely untrue - they should know that he can get reinfected, especially since the other cats are still infected. The whole reason you keep the environment decontaminated even in a house with only a single cat is because the higher the concentration of spores, the more likely it is for reinfection to occur. I have read that cats can temporarily resist becoming reinfected but there's no way to know how long that may last.

I hope the Feliway helps. My experience with Feliway diffusers has been very good. I used them because T was so stressed he kept getting sick when I got Hugo, and so when he was sick and they were separated and then when I was trying to introduce them. I too actually thought they weren't working at first, but my cleaning lady would always unplug them and if I forgot to plug them back in T would be hiding all day or later when I was trying to introduce the cats, T would keep hissing. None of that if they were plugged in. I read multiple reviews that said the same thing, that the difference was only noticeable in the absence. So even if you feel they're not doing anything, I'd keep them plugged in.

I'm glad that Fred was up and eating.

This website has a section on what to do if the outbreak is going on longer than expected: https://www.litchfieldvet.com/ringworm.pml


@distracts thank you for your continued wisdom and help. I appreciate it so much. What they meant is that since we are like dipping everyone it decreases the contagion. They just cannot say if it goes down to zero or if there is still enough active spores coming off them. That is the conundrum and as of now we are keeping Oliver separated. He’s crying for attention but it’s the lesser of all the evils. Just hope that Fred will get better so we can be a family together again without fear of disease. I worry about tommy and Bobby because Fred is the most likely to still be contagious since he isn’t getting the oral meds. Just doing the best we can under challenging circumstances. Thank you for all your advice and help. Hugs to T and your other kitties and you too

just checking in on every body missy
Borris and Tibby send you kitty cat hugs and kisses
i feel so sad for everyone
hang in there

Thank you sweet Daisy. Hanging in there I will continue to do and just hope our cats can hang in there too and beat RW. :pray:
I actually just got a t shirt with a sloth that says hang in there lol. They complimented it at the vet office where I just wore it. Haha. Now if only I could be a sloth. We are exhausted. Physically and emotionally.


@missy You and hubby are superhuman! You guys make a great team. How is your dermatitis? What misery. :cry:

Aww thank you kindly Kristin. Appreciate the lovely comments. Just saw the derm this am and he thinks it’s eczema so he prescribed protopic and elidel. Fingers crossed it works. Could be all the chemicals were constantly cleaning the house with or the 4 showers a day I’m taking because of the RW and all the cleaning and cas shedding and losing hair. I am itchy all over but the rash is behind both knees and going up my thighs. ::) The good news is I like this local derm who accepts my insurance woohoo. My NYC derm (who is brilliant and who I love) accepts no insurance and it costs me at least $350 a visit which insurance generally gives us $100 back so it’s expensive. Anyway can’t see him right now so pleased I have this local option for now. And I do have an appointment with my NYC derm end of month should my reaction not abate. Hopefully it will and I won’t have to make the trip. Time is not abundant enough for us these days. Need more hours in a day to accomplish all we need to. Thank you for your sweet post.
 
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Daisys and Diamonds

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@distracts thank you for your continued wisdom and help. I appreciate it so much. What they meant is that since we are like dipping everyone it decreases the contagion. They just cannot say if it goes down to zero or if there is still enough active spores coming off them. That is the conundrum and as of now we are keeping Oliver separated. He’s crying for attention but it’s the lesser of all the evils. Just hope that Fred will get better so we can be a family together again without fear of disease. I worry about tommy and Bobby because Fred is the most likely to still be contagious since he isn’t getting the oral meds. Just doing the best we can under challenging circumstances. Thank you for all your advice and help. Hugs to T and your other kitties and you too



Thank you sweet Daisy. Hanging in there I will continue to do and just hope our cats can hang in there too and beat RW. :pray:
I actually just got a t shirt with a sloth that says hang in there lol. They complimented it at the vet office where I just wore it. Haha. Now if only I could be a sloth. We are exhausted. Physically and emotionally.




Aww thank you kindly Kristin. Appreciate the lovely comments. Just saw the derm this am and he thinks it’s eczema so he prescribed protopic and elidel. Fingers crossed it works. Could be all the chemicals were constantly cleaning the house with or the 4 showers a day I’m taking because of the RW and all the cleaning and cas shedding and losing hair. I am itchy all over but the rash is behind both knees and going up my thighs. ::) The good news is I like this local derm who accepts my insurance woohoo. My NYC derm (who is brilliant and who I love) accepts no insurance and it costs me at least $350 a visit which insurance generally gives us $100 back so it’s expensive. Anyway can’t see him right now so pleased I have this local option for now. And I do have an appointment with my NYC derm end of month should my reaction not abate. Hopefully it will and I won’t have to make the trip. Time is not abundant enough for us these days. Need more hours in a day to accomplish all we need to. Thank you for your sweet post.
yaah on the dermatologist!:appl:
(celebrating every good thing)
now i love a shower the same as the next teenager but 4 a day - every day ...your poor skin
you'll be growing scales like a fish, poor missy
im not really into natural organic new age stuff ....but is there anything a bit more gentle that can help you fight the battle
i have a laundry full of chemicals but i use white vinegar lots (Tibby is a naughty tom at times)
i don't know anything about organic products so im really talking out of a hole in my head
but you must have the cleanest house in NJ
but all this work and this misserable summer is going to pay off in the long run, just like the sloth said
 

arkieb1

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Even with all of the treatments and the dips, it's a fungal infection - the cats can still reinfect each other, I personally would be keeping Oliver separate until you at least get the others better under control. At least Oliver is parasite free!!! I assume you and Greg have also have worm tablets too, after getting Oliver.
 

missy

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yaah on the dermatologist!:appl:
(celebrating every good thing)
now i love a shower the same as the next teenager but 4 a day - every day ...your poor skin
you'll be growing scales like a fish, poor missy
im not really into natural organic new age stuff ....but is there anything a bit more gentle that can help you fight the battle
i have a laundry full of chemicals but i use white vinegar lots (Tibby is a naughty tom at times)
i don't know anything about organic products so im really talking out of a hole in my head
but you must have the cleanest house in NJ
but all this work and this misserable summer is going to pay off in the long run, just like the sloth said

Thanks Daisy. You are incredibly supportive and I appreciate your good cheer and encouragement. We are very into organic and all that jazz but we are fighting this fungus with chemicals because it is necessary and that is probably part of the reason my skin isn't appreciating me atm. You are right we have the cleanest house anywhere probably haha not just NJ. Sparkly clean. I told Greg I don't want to ever hear again he wants the house clean again.:lol:

Even with all of the treatments and the dips, it's a fungal infection - the cats can still reinfect each other, I personally would be keeping Oliver separate until you at least get the others better under control. At least Oliver is parasite free!!! I assume you and Greg have also have worm tablets too, after getting Oliver.

No, we didn't take worm tablets. We always wash our hands whenever handling litter or the cats so hopefully we don't need to deworm ourselves. I will ask my sister about it however the local vet said we should be fine since we handle things hygienically and always have. I sure hope Oliver is parasite free. They didn't catch the roundworm with the first two stool samples and it also took two rounds of oral meds to get hi Coccidia free so I hope this time he is parasite free. Fingers crossed.

@ecf8503 I have another question please if you don't mind...we stopped applying spot application topicals to the kitties after the last lime sulfur dip this past Wednesday so as not to wash off the lime sulfur dip. So we are giving everyone Itrafungol still in the AM after their breakfast (with the exception of Fred) and the Lime sulfur dips once a week (thinking about increasing Fred to twice a week) and washing them with the Miconazole/Chlorhexidine shampoo once a week. Do you think we should start applying the topicals (2% Miconazole cream or 1% Miconazole lotion) again? We did it for 6 weeks twice a day to all their spots. The main reason we stopped was it occurred to me we were washing off the LS dip but also because it was further stressing the cats so we thought one less thing to stress them that didn't seem to be that effective anyway from the reading I was doing. It seems the main recs are LS dips, shampoo with Chlorhexidine/Miconazole and Itrafungol. Is that reasonable or should we add the spot topicals back into the twice daily routine? Thanks.

Now the cooler weather is upon us and I am now concerned about the cats catching an URI after being bathed or dipped because it's colder outside and inside. And we have Oliver by the bedroom terrace doors so he can enjoy the ocean view and it is getting too cool right by those doors now so we might have to move him away from the view. He really enjoys looking out at the birds and water so I hate moving him but do not want him to get another URI. Ugh how fast the summer (that wasn't) went and how quickly the cooler weather is here.
 

ecf8503

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Hi Missy! I'm so proud of you and how diligent you are being - I wish all my clients were like you!

Honestly, if it were my house, I'd let Oliver out now. If you think about it, the other cats are already infected and re-infect each other already. But I know the spore load is minimal in your house right now compared to... other situations. This is a critical time for Oliver developmentally and socially. I, personally, feel he would be better served getting acclimated into the clan.

As for the topical, if you just apply it without washing the LS shouldn't be affected. Does it help? Honestly - in your particularly virulent situation, probably not. The concentration in those otc meds is weak, and the LS and itra are more effective anyway. You *can* apply it, and it won't decrease the effectiveness of the LS as long as you aren't washing the area first.
 

Daisys and Diamonds

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im woundering how things are in NJ right now
i just got a right hook from Tibby for doing nothing .....(well i must have done something)
i don't know how your managing your big fella in the shower
i can't get over multi cat households being so friendly
poor little Ollie
he's just a little boy, its so unfair
how is Fred doing today ?
 

distracts

Ideal_Rock
Premium
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Oct 11, 2011
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6,131
Now the cooler weather is upon us and I am now concerned about the cats catching an URI after being bathed or dipped because it's colder outside and inside. And we have Oliver by the bedroom terrace doors so he can enjoy the ocean view and it is getting too cool right by those doors now so we might have to move him away from the view. He really enjoys looking out at the birds and water so I hate moving him but do not want him to get another URI. Ugh how fast the summer (that wasn't) went and how quickly the cooler weather is here.

Are they ok with those little space heaters that you can order for like $50? T won't walk directly in the path of air blown from one but he likes to sleep off to the side. I always turn it on after I bathe either cat and let them hang out in the same room as it.
 

missy

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Jun 8, 2008
Messages
53,980
Hi Missy! I'm so proud of you and how diligent you are being - I wish all my clients were like you!

Honestly, if it were my house, I'd let Oliver out now. If you think about it, the other cats are already infected and re-infect each other already. But I know the spore load is minimal in your house right now compared to... other situations. This is a critical time for Oliver developmentally and socially. I, personally, feel he would be better served getting acclimated into the clan.

As for the topical, if you just apply it without washing the LS shouldn't be affected. Does it help? Honestly - in your particularly virulent situation, probably not. The concentration in those otc meds is weak, and the LS and itra are more effective anyway. You *can* apply it, and it won't decrease the effectiveness of the LS as long as you aren't washing the area first.

Thank you so much @ecf8503 for your input and advice and for sharing your knowledge with us. I appreciate it so much. You are a lifeline in a sea of despair.

That is why I am concerned for Oliver's emotional well being and why I was pushing to let him out. He is in his playpen alone in our bedroom most of the day. We play with him for 2 hours first thing in the AM after we feed them and give everyone their meds and then a few times throughout the day for short periods of time. And then we sleep there of course too but he is alone most of the day.

Greg is very hesitant to let Oliver out to be with the others for 2 reasons. One he is concerned Fred and the others will be stressed further and it will hinder their recovery from RW due to the immune system being suppressed when they are stressed. And two because he is worried Oliver will get RW again from Fred or Bobby and Tommy who don't look as good as Oliver does right now.

We don't even know if Oliver *is* clear of RW. We just ordered the PCR test (thanks to my sister because the local vet refuses to do that test) and it will be arriving Tuesday. I am not sure we will be able to do the skin scraping and get the hair follicle samples necessary (we need 10-20 hairs plus their follicles from all affected areas) to do the PCR test properly but we are on our own since our local vet who has been taking care of our cats since this ordeal doesn't "believe" in the PCR test. And we cannot take all 4 cats to Long Island from the Jersey shore so my sister can do the PCR for them. That would be ideal. But I digress.

All this to say is we wish we knew how they were doing and if we need to keep them separated or if they are perhaps on the mend. Fred is not getting Itrafungol so chances are he is still contagious though with 6 lime dips for him so far and 7th one on Tuesday I am hoping the contagion is much less. I hope it is but I guess it might not be. It's all one big question mark. And Oliver is acting out now. He collapsed the playpen last night because it wasn't fully zippered and he got out in the bedroom but I got him and put him back but he is a baby and he wants to play and he deserves to have a kitten hood. As it is he is almost 5 months old and I feel he is growing up so fast and is being cheated out of his childhood. :( And he is keeping us awake at night making lots of noise in the playpen and this is new. I think he has had enough as have we.

But right now Greg is adamant about not letting him out due to the 2 reasons I posted above. I am on the fence. After reading what you wrote I am more on the side of letting him be free with the others but I agree with Greg that if Oliver got another case of RW (and that is a big if because we do not know if he is truly RW free yet) I don't think we have it in us to start all over. I don't even want to think how we would deal with this if they relapsed and we had to start all over and truth be told with Fred in the condition he is we just might have that scenario on our hands.

The good news is Greg is convinced Fred is growing hair in all the previous balding areas. His chest is the most affected right now but Greg thinks he has peach fuzz there. I cannot see that closely so am taking his word for it. He seems to see things through more rose colored glasses and perhaps I see them through darker lenses but I want to believe him and I hope he is right. Bobby's back is still missing hair but Greg again feels there is new growth there. His neck is growing in and we dont see the leg hair thinning like the vet tech mentioned but again it is hard to hold them still and examine their legs. And Tommy is overall losing hair (stress maybe) and I have 3 multicats Feliway plug ins going and hope that works to calm everyone down. I wish it worked for humans lol.

Good news is everyone is eating well. It could be the Vetri-DMG that @Sunstorm recommended (thank you @Sunstorm) as I have been adding it to their food for a few weeks now. I also added pumpkin (thanks to my sister) to Fred's food and I think it is helping with his constipation. Now we just need RW to die forever and leave our kitties alone.

My sister called her lab and they don't sell PCR tests because they said false positives are a problem. As you know a regular culture takes 3-4 weeks to show results and a PCR takes 1-3 days. Oliver's original culture took 28 days to get the M Canis diagnosis so we would like to speed up the process (I know we need ideally 2 negative cultures) and know if we can go back home to NYC sooner vs later. Greg's job is suffering and we are all suffering. Frankie died in June and we got RW in July and we haven't been back home since May.

Anyway then my sister called IDEXX and they are the one lab that carries it and they are sending us the PCR tests but as I wrote above we aren't veterinarians or vet techs and I hope we can do the test correctly. And we have to send it back to Idexx for interpretation. Elaine misled us weeks ago when she was pushing PCR as she said we could easily do it and read it on our own and we had no clue til my sister contacted Idexx that it was not that straightforward. My sister has no experience with PCR and she did this for us. Now hoping it pays off.

My sister spoke to her labs vet derm yesterday also about our situation and he suggested Terbinafine for Fred but he also said that he never heard of a cat having an issue with Itrafungol. Fred had as you know a huge issue with it. I cannot believe we have the exception to the rule with Fred. And we have Terbinafine (I have 50 pills of it as we ordered it many weeks ago thinking of this option for Fred when Itraungol didn't work) but I know in my heart that would be a mistake for Fred as he couldn't handle Itrafungol and that is more gentle on the system than Terbinafine plus the Terbinafine pill is huge. If we start trying to get that down his throat (even half a pill) that would stress him out too much. I know Fred. I know what we have all gone through. It would not end well. To that end I am hoping the lime dips (to which we increased the concentration to 8% from 4%) are sufficient to do the trick.:pray:

Sorry for all the writing and talking out loud. I appreciate your help and advice and I have a feeling we will let Oliver out sooner than later. I am just waiting for Greg to give it his full heart yes because I need him to be 100% on board. If we let Oliver out and he gets it again or stresses the others out to the extent it hinders their healing well we have to be ready for that and I do need Greg to be completely OK with all possibilities before we take that (albeit small maybe) risk.
 

missy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
53,980
Are they ok with those little space heaters that you can order for like $50? T won't walk directly in the path of air blown from one but he likes to sleep off to the side. I always turn it on after I bathe either cat and let them hang out in the same room as it.

Thank you. That's a great suggestion. Thank you so much @distracts. I so appreciate your input and your generous sharing of your RW experience and overall furbaby experience.

im woundering how things are in NJ right now
i just got a right hook from Tibby for doing nothing .....(well i must have done something)
i don't know how your managing your big fella in the shower
i can't get over multi cat households being so friendly
poor little Ollie
he's just a little boy, its so unfair
how is Fred doing today ?

It's challenging but we are just plugging along doing our best (update in post above to @ecf8503) and hoping the cats can rally and heal and we can all enjoy life as it was before RW. Sooner vs later. Hoping and praying. Thank you for your continued support and good wishes. You are a dear @Daisys and Diamonds.
 

missy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
53,980
@arkieb1 the Malaseb came thank you. Funny though the concentration of Miconazole is 2% same as we have been doing but the Chlorhexidine concentration is 2% and we have been using a 4% chlorhexidine shampoo with the 2% Miconazole shampoo. Do you think we are better off using the 2 separate shampoos we have been using which is 4% Chlorhexidine shampoo with the 2% Miconazole shampoo or using the Malaseb shampoo which has a concentration of 2% for both Miconazole and Chlorhexidine? I have to look at the other ingredients because maybe Malaseb has something else in it to help soothe the cats skin.
 

missy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
53,980
Oliver is such a precious sweetie. Poor baby. None of the cats deserve this stress and aggravation. We just want them to get better and get to enjoy a normal life.

oliverongregsknee.png

oliverongregsknee.jpeg.png
 

Daisys and Diamonds

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 30, 2019
Messages
22,521
oh missy
things are going to get better
that's good Greig can see cat peach fuzz
it seems to take forever to grow back at the best of times
Ollie is very cute
this may or may not be a dumb question?
could Ollie sleep on your bed ?
i mean they sleep for most of the time anyway
Borris and Tibby spend the entire day looking for the next place to take a nap
ive never had a kitten
Im just thinking to a cat, sleeping with humans counts as spending qualify time together
last night was cold
Borris got between 2 layers of covers but not betwen the sheets - she is so funny
she stayed that way for hours
our old cat Tinky slept between our pillows, id drape a cat blankie over him
Tinky will be playing with your Francessa (excuse spelling) over the rainbow bridge - he liked NYC and NJ accents =)2 (he was Bruce Springsteen and the E street band's biggest feline fan)
truthfully if i got home and couldn't find him id open the back door and play born to run really loud and Tinx would come straight home =)2
everything is going to be ok soon Missy
you'll be a happy cat family again

years ago i worked for a rural servicing company
we had an equestrian supplies/saddle-tack dept
we sold this natural product for calming horses
on the back of the bottle it said may also be used on rider
hmmm thinking aloud
a few years ago we had an earthquake while i was at work and i commuted on the train the other way to most people - out into a little country village for my work where everone else was all vacating the place to go to work in the city
it was a bit hairy getting home for a couple of nights but everyone else at work lived local (unlike when you work in the city) - the guards on the train even recomended to me to stay home incase the trains stopped running and i couldn't get home but i knew work would be unsympathetic/angry and i felt very stressed being away from home through the day for a couple of months
i got this stuff from the chemist in a yellow box that was for humans and dogs - i probably tried it on Tinky who was a little stresser from way back
....dam cant find it, but there must be a multitude of natural products available at your drug store
are you sleeping ok
you must be bone wearing with all that cleaning:cry2:
 

missy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
53,980
oh missy
things are going to get better
that's good Greig can see cat peach fuzz
it seems to take forever to grow back at the best of times
Ollie is very cute
this may or may not be a dumb question?
could Ollie sleep on your bed ?
i mean they sleep for most of the time anyway
Borris and Tibby spend the entire day looking for the next place to take a nap
ive never had a kitten
Im just thinking to a cat, sleeping with humans counts as spending qualify time together
last night was cold
Borris got between 2 layers of covers but not betwen the sheets - she is so funny
she stayed that way for hours
our old cat Tinky slept between our pillows, id drape a cat blankie over him
Tinky will be playing with your Francessa (excuse spelling) over the rainbow bridge - he liked NYC and NJ accents =)2 (he was Bruce Springsteen and the E street band's biggest feline fan)
truthfully if i got home and couldn't find him id open the back door and play born to run really loud and Tinx would come straight home =)2
everything is going to be ok soon Missy
you'll be a happy cat family again

years ago i worked for a rural servicing company
we had an equestrian supplies/saddle-tack dept
we sold this natural product for calming horses
on the back of the bottle it said may also be used on rider
hmmm thinking aloud
a few years ago we had an earthquake while i was at work and i commuted on the train the other way to most people - out into a little country village for my work where everone else was all vacating the place to go to work in the city
it was a bit hairy getting home for a couple of nights but everyone else at work lived local (unlike when you work in the city) - the guards on the train even recomended to me to stay home incase the trains stopped running and i couldn't get home but i knew work would be unsympathetic/angry and i felt very stressed being away from home through the day for a couple of months
i got this stuff from the chemist in a yellow box that was for humans and dogs - i probably tried it on Tinky who was a little stresser from way back
....dam cant find it, but there must be a multitude of natural products available at your drug store
are you sleeping ok
you must be bone wearing with all that cleaning:cry2:


@Daisys and Diamonds that is not a dumb question at all. I always had the cats sleep with us til my allergies got so severe the pulmonologist ordered them out of my bedroom. That was in the mid 90s. Fast forward to when we got Francesca and we allowed her to sleep with us (one cat vs 4 I guess I can handle) and it was amazing. I love sleeping with my kitties. Francesca and I snuggled every night. I miss that terribly. I miss her terribly. She was my heart kitty and other than Greg the love of my life. When I think of her my heart breaks all over again and it feels like a punch in the gut when I realize she is gone. I miss her so much.

Anyway Oliver *was* sleeping with us in the bed when we first adopted him but then RW happened and of course we had to keep him out of the bed. Now we let him out of the playpen and he plays in the bedroom every morning and on our bed. But then I immediately wash the sheets when I put him back in his clean playpen. It's our routine. Wake up. Give cats food. Give cats meds. Take Oliver out of playpen in bedroom and allow him to be free for 2 hours. Clean playpen. Put him back. Strip bed do laundry 2 hours hot water sanitary cycle. Clean bedroom. Clean whole house. Every single morning. Exhausting. Greg is showing signs of being worn out and not sleeping at night isn't helping now that Oliver has decided to make lots of noise in the middle of the night. I see my poor DH losing altitude. If he loses altitude we are in trouble as he is the rock.

Bone wearing is right Daisy. It is that.

I am comforted to know Tinky is playing with Francesca at Rainbow Bridge. And Francesca doesn't have an accent but mine is decidedly NYC accent all the way. :kiss:



Screen Shot 2019-09-08 at 8.21.35 AM.png
 

Sunstorm

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Messages
1,789
Missy wow I am so happy there is improvement dear friend, what a relief! I was worried about all of you! I know it is still really hard, I will continue to follow. Yeah the Vetri is awesome for the immune system and is a great appetite stimulant. It sounds like you are on the right track. Sending you, Greg and the fur babies lots of love and healing dust!
 
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