Ringworm

[missy]

I know what it takes to get me on hunger strike.

Since Itraf. remains in the system for over a week after the last dose [recalling instructions, TBC] you would need perhaps twice as long to determine if there is any relapse. Their immunity takes over at the end of treatment.

Thanks @AV_ I know this is true. In fact, I believe it stays in their hair follicles for longer than a week after the last dose but not sure on that. The vet derm told me she sees relapses when people administer the Itrafungol on an every other week basis and she always does it on an every day no break basis til cure. But we never discussed how long I could give the Itrafungol and if we need to go much longer I probably am going to have to do bloodwork on everyone again.

 

[TooPatient]

Thanks @AV_ I know this is true. In fact, I believe it stays in their hair follicles for longer than a week after the last dose but not sure on that. The vet derm told me she sees relapses when people administer the Itrafungol on an every other week basis and she always does it on an every day no break basis til cure. But we never discussed how long I could give the Itrafungol and if we need to go much longer I probably am going to have to do bloodwork on everyone again.

I wonder if you could go to a reduced schedule with them now? Something like 4 days med, 2 days no med...
Just thinking aloud here. I guess what I am wondering is if there is a way to keep the benefit, even if slightly reduced, at the same time as helping reduce the stress on the cats.

I'm glad to see pictures of them looking so much better than a few weeks ago!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

if i lived in NJ id definatly risk a cuddle with all your fur babies now missy

my mum was very anti animal when i was growing up i think i had so many alligies because mum kept everything clean to the point of sterile and i had no pets
at one stage the plunket nurse (a special govt funded nurse who visits every baby in NZ) told mum to let me play in the garden !

i kiss Borris and Tibby and bury my face in their fur and i can hear mum's disapproval
Borris and Tibby and darling Tinx before them, grin and bear my effection as best they can with alot of tail switching

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thanks sweet @Daisys and Diamonds, much appreciated. I am sorry Gary has an AI disease and hope he is feeling well. How is his daughter doing?
Thanks for all your support and good wishes. Sending hugs from me and the kitties to you and your furry crew.

thank you for enquiring missy
Gary seems much brighter, we just needs his eyes fixed but its a long term fix
Melanie is back home with her pain under control - palliative care (scary sounding) sorted her pain out - don't know why she had to suffer so long in hospital before they got called in to help
i hope you and Greg are holding up ok
heading into the colder months exhausted is no good

 

[missy]

I wonder if you could go to a reduced schedule with them now? Something like 4 days med, 2 days no med...
Just thinking aloud here. I guess what I am wondering is if there is a way to keep the benefit, even if slightly reduced, at the same time as helping reduce the stress on the cats.

I'm glad to see pictures of them looking so much better than a few weeks ago!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts @TooPatient. Not sure what the best schedule would be at this point in time. I have 5 bottles of Itrafungol left (I think we went through 22 bottles but I have lost count) for the 3 cats who are getting this med and that will last about 2 to 2 and a half weeks which would bring us to 12 weeks. I wanted to have them just in case. We gave them the med today. I am also feeding them the probiotic (what they are eating of it which isn't much right now unfortunately but I am going to keep giving it to them) and also an omega 3 oil plus a DMG immune oil recommended by @Sunstorm. I give all this to them throughout the day.

Plus Fred is getting Lactulose and Benefiber now (for his constipation)and I think either the Lactulose or the probiotic or the fiber worked because he had a BM overnight that was well formed and not too hard and not to soft. So woohoo. And LOL I cannot believe I am talking about my cat's BMs. But just so happy he was able to get relief and I hope that continues and I will be continuing the Lactulose, the fiber and the probiotic for him.

At this point giving it to them some days and not others doesn't seem worth it and might make them a bit crazy not knowing what day they are getting the med. I feel like they are sort of used to it now (as used to it as one can be that is since it is awful tasting) and it isn't as hard on them emotionally as it was in the beginning. Though the side effect of eating less is concerning but again as long as they are eating I would like to continue the Itrafungol til either we get the all clear from the vet or I feel they are fungus free. Or we hit 12 weeks and then at that point if they aren't free of the fungus I might go to an every other week schedule just because how much med can their little bodies tolerate. That is the major concern.

Of course we might decide OK let's just stop the med and see if their appetites return but I do not want to give RW a chance to grab hold and not let go if you kwim. We are fighting the invisible enemy and that is a difficult way to battle. I like to see my enemies face to face as it is easier to destroy them. But RW is a little back stabbing fungus. Hiding out and showing themselves when you least expect it.






Gotta keep our sense of humor to keep strong and keep up the fight. Take that RW.

 

[missy]

if i lived in NJ id definatly risk a cuddle with all your fur babies now missy

my mum was very anti animal when i was growing up i think i had so many alligies because mum kept everything clean to the point of sterile and i had no pets
at one stage the plunket nurse (a special govt funded nurse who visits every baby in NZ) told mum to let me play in the garden !

i kiss Borris and Tibby and bury my face in their fur and i can hear mum's disapproval
Borris and Tibby and darling Tinx before them, grin and bear my effection as best they can with alot of tail switching

Greg grew up like that. His mom doesn't care for animals so he never had a pet growing up and he was also very allergic to cats and dogs. Fast forward to meeting me and well he came to love the 3 cats I had at that time and then when we got married he went for immunotherapy every week for 2 years and then every other week for another few years and then once a month and his allergies are manageable and we live with 4 cats and visit my family who has dogs and cats and he is AOK but in the beginning it was no bueno. Hug all your furbabies from Greg and me.

thank you for enquiring missy
Gary seems much brighter, we just needs his eyes fixed but its a long term fix
Melanie is back home with her pain under control - palliative care (scary sounding) sorted her pain out - don't know why she had to suffer so long in hospital before they got called in to help
i hope you and Greg are holding up ok
heading into the colder months exhausted is no good

So glad Gary is doing better and that his daughter has some relief from the pain. It is so scary and I am sending all of you healing vibes and good thoughts. I am so sorry about Melanie's health and hope she can get a miracle. Sending good thoughts across the miles.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Greg grew up like that. His mom doesn't care for animals so he never had a pet growing up and he was also very allergic to cats and dogs. Fast forward to meeting me and well he came to love the 3 cats I had at that time and then when we got married he went for immunotherapy every week for 2 years and then every other week for another few years and then once a month and his allergies are manageable and we live with 4 cats and visit my family who has dogs and cats and he is AOK but in the beginning it was no bueno. Hug all your furbabies from Greg and me.



So glad Gary is doing better and that his daughter has some relief from the pain. It is so scary and I am sending all of you healing vibes and good thoughts. I am so sorry about Melanie's health and hope she can get a miracle. Sending good thoughts across the miles.

thank you so much missy
i really appreate that because sometimes i feel overwelmed as im sure you do too
something i learnt from Gary's mum (who unfortunately was quite old by the time i turned up on the sceen) but parents never stop worring about their children and it mudt be just dreadful for both of Melanie's parents (we see Gary's ex some years at Christmas dinner )


my immunotherapy was just Tinky and his step brother Chub (Chub was a big looking long haired grey cat - his play always ended up getting out of hand - Tinky was more gentle)
actually i moved to the north island and akot of my alligies just started to clear up
a funny / not overly funny story
we had the same family GP like all my life
when i was born early i quickly developed alligies and exama. the doc said no fur, no wool no feathers so i grew up in acrylic
anyway years latter i was all grown up and the doctor's kids had all flown the coop too
him and his wife got a kitten and he would tell my mum and dad all about it
i would get so mad because of him i had no pets
of course luckerly these days they seem to encourage exposure to animals in very young children to build up immunity

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

26 pages is too much heart ache
how are things with you all today ?

 

[missy]

thank you so much missy
i really appreate that because sometimes i feel overwelmed as im sure you do too
something i learnt from Gary's mum (who unfortunately was quite old by the time i turned up on the sceen) but parents never stop worring about their children and it mudt be just dreadful for both of Melanie's parents (we see Gary's ex some years at Christmas dinner )


my immunotherapy was just Tinky and his step brother Chub (Chub was a big looking long haired grey cat - his play always ended up getting out of hand - Tinky was more gentle)
actually i moved to the north island and akot of my alligies just started to clear up
a funny / not overly funny story
we had the same family GP like all my life
when i was born early i quickly developed alligies and exama. the doc said no fur, no wool no feathers so i grew up in acrylic
anyway years latter i was all grown up and the doctor's kids had all flown the coop too
him and his wife got a kitten and he would tell my mum and dad all about it
i would get so mad because of him i had no pets
of course luckerly these days they seem to encourage exposure to animals in very young children to build up immunity

Funny story Daisy. We went through a similar tale when my sister was born. Please skip if you don't feel like reading all I am going to share. It's long winded as I tend to be when I am writing. Stream of consciousness comes out when I am typing for some reason.

My dad is very allergic to lots of things and when my sister was born she was extremely allergic to all animals and other things. But the animals were concerning because my dad only ever wanted animals when he was a little boy but his parents were not animal people so he never had a pet growing up. When my dad proposed to my mom he said his only condition is he wants a dog. So my mom who also never had a pet growing up said OK when we get pregnant they can get a dog. Since she was still in school when they got engaged and married. She was very young. She was 19 when they got engaged and 20 when they got married. But I digress.

So they got pregnant with me and got their first dog. I came along and all was good. My dad developed allergic asthma to the dog but he was able to control it well enough. Then my sister came along. Who had a host of health issues including severe allergic asthma. My sister was hospitalized often for severe asthma and so any doctor visits with the allergist who told my parents they should get rid of the dog. Of course our dog was our family and my parents considered him their son so there would be no getting rid of the dog.

Fast forward to my sister being an adolescent and professing a desire to become a veterinarian. Her pediatrician Dr. Redner (I remember him so well-a kindly gentle doctor who cared about his patients), who was also an allergist, (she needed a full time allergist due to her terrible allergies) begged her to not go into veterinarian medicine. It was the 1970s and immunotherapy still had a long way to go in those days. My poor sister was hospitalized too often with severe asthma and my dad often had to give her adrenaline shots at home to keep her breathing until they could get to the hospital. And this was with good medical care. Her asthma was that severe. But despite Dr Redner's pleas and my parents pleas (haha hypocrites I would say because I mean they got and kept our dog and now didn't want my sister to follow her dreams) my sister did what she wanted to do.

Being the stubborn girl my sister is (as is my whole family, oh I could tell stories lol and one day maybe I will share if I remember and you ask) defied everyone and became a veterinarian and to this day she has a house full of animals (and kids) that is filled with love and lots and lots of animal hair everywhere. Luckily she outgrew her very severe allergies and while her dh has allergies everyone is able to control them much better than we were able to in the 60s and 70s. Unfortunately I developed allergies in my thirties but til then I was A OK. And I am A OK still around animals just sometimes (often) I get hives and have breathing issues. Nothing I cannot live with if you kwim.

I wish I had more Apache photos to share as I have shared this one often but it's the only photo I have of my family with Apache in it. We had so many slides that got destroyed during Sandy and we had no backups. All the photos of us as kids with my grandparents and the animals. Oh well.



My sister's white boxer Zena



Their white boxer Harley may he RIP



their sweet doves that they saved from an abusive kid
Sorry this is the only photo I can find right now. Super blurry.
But my littlest niece took this photo with animals jumping on her so not bad I guess lol.





One of their cats


and my sister's family's newest addition



Lots more furry family members but you get the idea.

And all's well that ends well because my sister loves being a veterinarian (most days) and my nieces love their home filled with furry love and all allergies are manageable knock wood. What we do for love.

And @Daisys and Diamonds it is never too late and you are a testament to that fact. Your home is filled with furry love and it always will be from here on in so no need to lament what was because what is now is what matters.

You are so right. Parents never stop worrying about their children no matter how old the children or parents are. As long as they are cognizant of what is happening parents will worry. (((Hugs))).

 

[missy]

26 pages is too much heart ache
how are things with you all today ?

Thanks Daisy. We keep plugging along. The most concerning issue right this moment is their lack of appetite so we might have to d/c the Itrafungol. I gave it to them this morning however and will reassess before tomorrow morning's dose. Little Oliver is doing well and waking me up every hour still throughout the night. He is very sweet though we must break him of his (love) biting habit sooner vs later. He has this habit of gently biting us to get our attention or just play and that is not good.

From very early this AM sweet little Oliver wreaking havoc



and Fred from last night



Thanks for asking Daisy and I am keeping you and your family in my thoughts. Continued healing vibes for Melanie.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Funny story Daisy. We went through a similar tale when my sister was born. Please skip if you don't feel like reading all I am going to share. It's long winded as I tend to be when I am writing. Stream of consciousness comes out when I am typing for some reason.

My dad is very allergic to lots of things and when my sister was born she was extremely allergic to all animals and other things. But the animals were concerning because my dad only ever wanted animals when he was a little boy but his parents were not animal people so he never had a pet growing up. When my dad proposed to my mom he said his only condition is he wants a dog. So my mom who also never had a pet growing up said OK when we get pregnant they can get a dog. Since she was still in school when they got engaged and married. She was very young. She was 19 when they got engaged and 20 when they got married. But I digress.

So they got pregnant with me and got their first dog. I came along and all was good. My dad developed allergic asthma to the dog but he was able to control it well enough. Then my sister came along. Who had a host of health issues including severe allergic asthma. My sister was hospitalized often for severe asthma and so any doctor visits with the allergist who told my parents they should get rid of the dog. Of course our dog was our family and my parents considered him their son so there would be no getting rid of the dog.

Fast forward to my sister being an adolescent and professing a desire to become a veterinarian. Her pediatrician Dr. Redner (I remember him so well-a kindly gentle doctor who cared about his patients), who was also an allergist, (she needed a full time allergist due to her terrible allergies) begged her to not go into veterinarian medicine. It was the 1970s and immunotherapy still had a long way to go in those days. My poor sister was hospitalized too often with severe asthma and my dad often had to give her adrenaline shots at home to keep her breathing until they could get to the hospital. And this was with good medical care. Her asthma was that severe. But despite Dr Redner's pleas and my parents pleas (haha hypocrites I would say because I mean they got and kept our dog and now didn't want my sister to follow her dreams) my sister did what she wanted to do.

Being the stubborn girl my sister is (as is my whole family, oh I could tell stories lol and one day maybe I will share if I remember and you ask) defied everyone and became a veterinarian and to this day she has a house full of animals (and kids) that is filled with love and lots and lots of animal hair everywhere. Luckily she outgrew her very severe allergies and while her dh has allergies everyone is able to control them much better than we were able to in the 60s and 70s. Unfortunately I developed allergies in my thirties but til then I was A OK. And I am A OK still around animals just sometimes (often) I get hives and have breathing issues. Nothing I cannot live with if you kwim.

I wish I had more Apache photos to share as I have shared this one often but it's the only photo I have of my family with Apache in it. We had so many slides that got destroyed during Sandy and we had no backups. All the photos of us as kids with my grandparents and the animals. Oh well.



My sister's white boxer Zena



Their white boxer Harley may he RIP



their sweet doves that they saved from an abusive kid
Sorry this is the only photo I can find right now. Super blurry.
But my littlest niece took this photo with animals jumping on her so not bad I guess lol.





One of their cats


and my sister's family's newest addition



Lots more furry family members but you get the idea.

And all's well that ends well because my sister loves being a veterinarian (most days) and my nieces love their home filled with furry love and all allergies are manageable knock wood. What we do for love.

And @Daisys and Diamonds it is never too late and you are a testament to that fact. Your home is filled with furry love and it always will be from here on in so no need to lament what was because what is now is what matters.

You are so right. Parents never stop worrying about their children no matter how old the children or parents are. As long as they are cognizant of what is happening parents will worry. (((Hugs))).

i loved reading this - (well not the alligy part poor family)
i have read a few articles recently about the stresses in the veterinary proffesion, i hope your sister is good in that respect
My dad was in the magic circle and when i was really little he kept doves and we had home movies of me patting them - but we had a really bad neighbour who complained about the doves being too noisy so they had to be given away
your neice's ginger cat is huge
i am really sad to know you got effected in hurrican Sandy
even though we live a long way away it made a lot of news here and of course because it effected NJ i followed it closely and it wasn't long after the Christchurch earthquakes that destroyed my sister's house so i was interested to see how people got on with their insurence

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thanks Daisy. We keep plugging along. The most concerning issue right this moment is their lack of appetite so we might have to d/c the Itrafungol. I gave it to them this morning however and will reassess before tomorrow morning's dose. Little Oliver is doing well and waking me up every hour still throughout the night. He is very sweet though we must break him of his (love) biting habit sooner vs later. He has this habit of gently biting us to get our attention or just play and that is not good.

From very early this AM sweet little Oliver wreaking havoc



and Fred from last night



Thanks for asking Daisy and I am keeping you and your family in my thoughts. Continued healing vibes for Melanie.

that picture of Ollie reminds me of the first night Tinky slept inside the house
- he had a warm little bed on both sides of the house
anyway anyway something must have woken Gary up because he sat straight up and bed and said turn in the light
(that usually went a horrible wetta had come in on the clean washing and was crawling over the bed
but he said he was looking at the clock and the numbers fuzzed out and then kind of waved around as they appeared again
it was Tinky walking along the dutchess in front of the alarm clock !
he also used to wake us up crunching his biscuits in the kitchen
he had the loudest purr and Gary is the lightest sleeper - those two wern't really a match made in heaven - they kind of loved each other but didn't really like each other alot of the time
but after Gary's heart attack and we came home thinking he would need a heart bypass and that night Tinky slept cuddeled right up into him
when Tinky became an old contagious man Gary found more patience for him
your poor old Fred, my heart breaks for him but im sure he feels the love or he wouldn't be asleep on Greg like that

thank you for thinking of Melanie

 

[missy]

i loved reading this - (well not the alligy part poor family)
i have read a few articles recently about the stresses in the veterinary proffesion, i hope your sister is good in that respect
My dad was in the magic circle and when i was really little he kept doves and we had home movies of me patting them - but we had a really bad neighbour who complained about the doves being too noisy so they had to be given away
your neice's ginger cat is huge
i am really sad to know you got effected in hurrican Sandy
even though we live a long way away it made a lot of news here and of course because it effected NJ i followed it closely and it wasn't long after the Christchurch earthquakes that destroyed my sister's house so i was interested to see how people got on with their insurence

Thanks Daisy. My sister loves being a veterinarian but it doesn't really afford her a good income for all the education etc she went through but she went into it for her passion of animals and to help as many as she can. It is hard work but she wouldn't change a thing. They live a very modest life but they are happy and they have lots of love in their home.

As for insurance please don't be sad for us. While we had flood insurance it didn't cover what was damaged as we were very lucky and only our backyard was destroyed. Our house was almost untouched. And as we discovered after Sandy only the inside of the house is covered and not the backyard. It was my parents who had much damage in their house in Brooklyn from Sandy. Their house flooded. Long story and shows how stubborn they both are. We lost all the slides when we were little including the slides of my grandparents and all our furbabies. Luckily my parents survived though and that is what matters. However it was just luck that they survived as they refused to evacuate during Sandy which was super frustrating and it could have gone down differently. Everyone in their neighborhood was told they must evacuate but no my parents were going down with the house. And the animals too. The slides would have been A OK if they had given them to me as I requested many years before Sandy so we could make a DVD out of the slides. But no my mom refused. To this day I am confused as to why but probably just because she wanted to be difficult and stubborn. I love my mom and dad very much but my mom is super stubborn and my dad will never go against her. As I guess it should be in a good marriage. They have the best marriage of anyone I know and will be married 56 years this December. Here I go with the photos again.

1963


More current photo



Maybe my mom doesn't look it but if you check out stubborn in the dictionary her photo will be there.

Aww I am sorry your doves had to be given away. I will say yes they are very noisy and never stop talking whenever we are there and for the entire time always. But I find their talking soothing.

 

[missy]

that picture of Ollie reminds me of the first night Tinky slept inside the house
- he had a warm little bed on both sides of the house
anyway anyway something must have woken Gary up because he sat straight up and bed and said turn in the light
(that usually went a horrible wetta had come in on the clean washing and was crawling over the bed
but he said he was looking at the clock and the numbers fuzzed out and then kind of waved around as they appeared again
it was Tinky walking along the dutchess in front of the alarm clock !
he also used to wake us up crunching his biscuits in the kitchen
he had the loudest purr and Gary is the lightest sleeper - those two wern't really a match made in heaven - they kind of loved each other but didn't really like each other alot of the time
but after Gary's heart attack and we came home thinking he would need a heart bypass and that night Tinky slept cuddeled right up into him
when Tinky became an old contagious man Gary found more patience for him
your poor old Fred, my heart breaks for him but im sure he feels the love or he wouldn't be asleep on Greg like that

thank you for thinking of Melanie

Aww thank you for sharing this story. Animals know don't they? When I broke my leg in 2015 Francesca rarely left my side. I miss her so. I am still crying over her every single day. In fact when I wake at 3AM I cannot stop thinking of her. Love that little girl so much. Miss her so much. Intensely so.




I am glad Gary came around and came to love Tinky. How could he not?


Another Ollie photo from just now. Little rascal. Not so little anymore.



Still quite yellow from L-S dip this past Tuesday.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thanks Daisy. My sister loves being a veterinarian but it doesn't really afford her a good income for all the education etc she went through but she went into it for her passion of animals and to help as many as she can. It is hard work but she wouldn't change a thing. They live a very modest life but they are happy and they have lots of love in their home.

As for insurance please don't be sad for us. While we had flood insurance it didn't cover what was damaged as we were very lucky and only our backyard was destroyed. Our house was almost untouched. And as we discovered after Sandy only the inside of the house is covered and not the backyard. It was my parents who had much damage in their house in Brooklyn from Sandy. Their house flooded. Long story and shows how stubborn they both are. We lost all the slides when we were little including the slides of my grandparents and all our furbabies. Luckily my parents survived though and that is what matters. However it was just luck that they survived as they refused to evacuate during Sandy which was super frustrating and it could have gone down differently. Everyone in their neighborhood was told they must evacuate but no my parents were going down with the house. And the animals too. The slides would have been A OK if they had given them to me as I requested many years before Sandy so we could make a DVD out of the slides. But no my mom refused. To this day I am confused as to why but probably just because she wanted to be difficult and stubborn. I love my mom and dad very much but my mom is super stubborn and my dad will never go against her. As I guess it should be in a good marriage. They have the best marriage of anyone I know and will be married 56 years this December. Here I go with the photos again.

1963


More current photo



Maybe my mom doesn't look it but if you check out stubborn in the dictionary her photo will be there.

Aww I am sorry your doves had to be given away. I will say yes they are very noisy and never stop talking whenever we are there and for the entire time always. But I find their talking soothing.

your mum and dad got married 2 years before my mum and dad
its scary how young they all look ?
how could they be old enough to be married they look 15 years old !!!
your mum's stubborness is probably what keeps her going !
that's sad for them about Sandy
but your right - you can get new stuff but not new people
my sister in law had a nice rural property beside a stop bank and they got one of those 100 year floods and the river invited itself into their living room
the hardest thing was evacuating the horses as the donkey sat down and wouldn't move. the water was chest deep before she got all the houses to safety
we are all at the mercy of mother nature
im a bit sad your sister doesn't make better money, it costs sooooo much to go to vet collage but if your work is your passion then its worth the scrafice

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Francesca was very beautiful
they are very insightful people, cats
i still cry for Tinky
Tibby reminds me alot of him because although Tinky was responsibly neutered he was very much a boy and Borris is such a little lady/ princess
when we unpacked into this house i found some of his fur - i must have cut out a knot or something and instead of getting up and putting it in the rubbish i must have been lazy that night and ???? who knows
but we unpacked a little bit of Tinky came with us
i put in out the back door into the garden a few days latter it had come back inside on our feet or the wind
so the little bit of ginger fluff is back in the little vase i found it in

 

[distracts]

Re: oliver’s biting, have you tried doing the thing where you scream like you’re hurt and jerk away then look terribly emotionally wounded and avoid him for a few minutes? That was very effective with my little cat who went through a nipping phase at around the same age.

 

[missy]

Re: oliver’s biting, have you tried doing the thing where you scream like you’re hurt and jerk away then look terribly emotionally wounded and avoid him for a few minutes? That was very effective with my little cat who went through a nipping phase at around the same age.

Thanks Distracts. I will try that. What we do now is hiss at him as we thought that might dissuade him. Sometimes it does but he is still doing it so I guess it's not enough. I will try doing the ouch thing and looking hurt and see if that allows Oliver to realize biting us is not good. It is a pretty light bite and I think it's sort of a kiss but I prefer a non biting soft kiss. From the cats that is. He also like to put his paws on my face as I sleep when he wants to wake me. No claws used and let's hope it stays that way. Not crazy about having his potentially RW nails/paws on my face but at least he isn't using his claws.

 

[TooPatient]

How are you and the kitties doing @missy?

 

[missy]

How are you and the kitties doing @missy?

Hi @TooPatient thanks for asking.

We discontinued the Itrafungol for Oliver starting this AM. He had a nasty bout of diarrhea last night and I am not sure what is causing it. His BMs have been loose for the past week or two on and off but yesterday it was just liquid. I had him tested (you might recall) again for parasites and also Giardia which the vet's office didn't test for the first time around when we adopted Oliver. Those were negative as was Giardia (but I wonder if it was false negative) but I don't know why he is having diarrhea so I decided no Itrafungol today and let's see how he does. We don't need additional issues but we might have them nonetheless.

Fred is just out of it. Breaks our hearts. Greg isn't ready to put him down and it isn't what I want to do either. Just not sure what quality of life he has. He does purr and is eating but he seems confused all the time and he always urinates outside the litter box. Now it's every single time. He has been urinating and having BMs outside the litter box for almost 2 years but not all the time. Now he never uses the litter box. That is OK with us. Just don't know what is going on with him besides his old age. His arthritis is pretty bad now too and part of that might be because I took him off his steroid meds when the RW was diagnosed. I am giving him Gabapentin on and off to try easing his pain but not sure if it is helping at all. We wouldn't want someone to put us down just because we are old but if he starts to suffer then yes we will give him peace. It's really heartbreaking and I don't know if it coincidental with the RW or because of the RW treatments. Baths and L-S dips. The Lactulose I got is helping his BMs thank goodness but he still isn't having a BM every day or even every other day. But he is having some BMs and that is better than before. And better than having to put him though another enema or two if you kwim. Poor Fred.

Bobby's RW areas are all growing in but the dark spots on his face we still are not sure what that is. I feel it is RW but Greg doesn't think so and the vet doesn't seem to know what it is either. It is new though (past few weeks) so it is concerning. No change with that. But for his face Bobby is doing great with his hair growing in very lushly on the rest of his body. But his face gives me pause (paws haha) for concern.

Tommy is OK but his overall hair is thin so not sure if we should continue L-S dips on him or not. The vet wants them all to continue. The skeptic in me, well, you can imagine what the skeptic in me is thinking. But ultimately I will do what the vet recommends though my sister thinks they have had enough L-S and Itrafungol but she isn't their vet right now so I take what she says with a grain of salt because she is not seeing them in person.

How are you doing @TooPatient ? How's your grandmother doing? How are your kitties doing?

Sharing a photo of Bobby and Tommy as we came back from our cycling this afternoon. LOL can you see our reflections?

 

[Matata]

His arthritis is pretty bad now too

One of my boys was limping from arthritis and the vet recommended Duralactin (available online) and it has significantly improved his mobility. He's 12 and has arthritis in his hips and lower spine. What I especially like about Duralactin is that it comes in a chewable treat. One of my other cats also has a bit of arthritis in his lower spine but he can't be tempted to eat any type of treat so I grate the Duralactin over his food and he takes it that way.

Duralactin feline fatty + fatty soft chews. Cheapest I've found is at allivet.com

 

[facetgirl]

Hi @missy , I wish I had advice to offer, I feel for your kitties so much. Just letting you know I'm thinking of you and sending positive energy your way for a week with a win or two.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thanks Distracts. I will try that. What we do now is hiss at him as we thought that might dissuade him. Sometimes it does but he is still doing it so I guess it's not enough. I will try doing the ouch thing and looking hurt and see if that allows Oliver to realize biting us is not good. It is a pretty light bite and I think it's sort of a kiss but I prefer a non biting soft kiss. From the cats that is. He also like to put his paws on my face as I sleep when he wants to wake me. No claws used and let's hope it stays that way. Not crazy about having his potentially RW nails/paws on my face but at least he isn't using his claws.

sorry
that's so sweet how he wakes you up
Tinky woukd prod my face with no claws
Borris gets on the bed head and jumps on me from on high
she's only little but when im out to it i do get a fright some times

i think poor little Ollie is just showing you love like he learned from his cat mommy and litter mates
The young little stray that had the kittens under the grape wine was also swiping at my legs and nipping but she was just playing and hasn't work out it could hurt
i ignored her - it was very hard - but she stopped doing it
i felt quilty when i realised it was effection she had been showing me
it will be intetesting to see if Ollie works this out
unfortunately we made the mistake of teaching Tinky to chase our feet when we were under the blankets and him on top of the blankets
once summer came and we ditched most of the covers his sharp claws went right through but it was just innocent play

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

poor Fred
old age sucks
its just not fare

 

[mary poppins]

Sorry to hear the ringworm saga continues and the kitties aren't eating. I saw you have given them pumpkin, but I'm not sure how you are delivering it.

When my girl cat seemed to be having trouble pooping, our vet said cats should be going #2 once a day and suggested giving her pumpkin puree for fiber. Since then, we have been mixing equal parts pumpkin puree and wet cat food and serving a tablespoon of "poopkin" or "poompkin" per serving. Both kitties love it, look forward to getting it every night and poop on a regular basis. Our neighbor who watches our cats when we're away brought some of our poopkin to his cat to try. He said his cat normally does not eat wet food but surprisingly loved the poopkin.

Thought you might want to give this at try if you haven't already. Obviously not for Oliver at this time, or any other kitty with diarrhea, but may be good for Fred and the others. By the way, have you had Fred tested for a UTI? That can make it painful to urinate, and he could be associating the pain with the box and thus going outside the box.

You, Greg and the kitties have had a tough few months. I hope everything resolves favorably soon and your household gets back to normal.

 

[PintoBean]

Can your sister make a trip to you instead of tbe other way around so that you dont need to cart 4.cats back and forth?

 

[missy]

Can your sister make a trip to you instead of tbe other way around so that you dont need to cart 4.cats back and forth?

LOL no I wish. Her life is harder than my life at the moment believe it or not. 2 kids in school that she chauffeurs around and she is working 4 full days a week now for extra money and her husband is injured too right now so he isn't mobile. It's been a challenging time for all of us. Plus she would need to see them in the office to do tests etc so it wouldn't make sense to have her come here as there isn't that much she could do at our house.

 

[missy]

Sorry to hear the ringworm saga continues and the kitties aren't eating. I saw you have given them pumpkin, but I'm not sure how you are delivering it.

When my girl cat seemed to be having trouble pooping, our vet said cats should be going #2 once a day and suggested giving her pumpkin puree for fiber. Since then, we have been mixing equal parts pumpkin puree and wet cat food and serving a tablespoon of "poopkin" or "poompkin" per serving. Both kitties love it, look forward to getting it every night and poop on a regular basis. Our neighbor who watches our cats when we're away brought some of our poopkin to his cat to try. He said his cat normally does not eat wet food but surprisingly loved the poopkin.

Thought you might want to give this at try if you haven't already. Obviously not for Oliver at this time, or any other kitty with diarrhea, but may be good for Fred and the others. By the way, have you had Fred tested for a UTI? That can make it painful to urinate, and he could be associating the pain with the box and thus going outside the box.

You, Greg and the kitties have had a tough few months. I hope everything resolves favorably soon and your household gets back to normal.

Thanks for your suggestions. The lactulose seems to be working now so he is pooping. He has been tested for everything. I think it's just old age. We aren't giving him pumpkin anymore as that didn't seem to work but he enjoyed eating it nonetheless. I had mixed it with his food and he ate it up. Now I am adding the probiotic once a day and the Lactulose a few times a day to his food.

Ollie is still having diarrhea despite eating the probiotic every day now for over a week. Really concerned about that so I just ordered Flagyl for him but not sure how long it will take to get approved and sent to us.

Thanks for your good wishes. Very much appreciated.

 

[missy]

Hi @missy , I wish I had advice to offer, I feel for your kitties so much. Just letting you know I'm thinking of you and sending positive energy your way for a week with a win or two.

Thank you. We are bathing them now. The saga continues and just hoping and praying they get over this. Greg now agrees with me that this is the most challenging experience we ever had to date. At first when we got the diagnosis he didn't feel that way but now he does. Appreciate your good thoughts for us very much.

 

[missy]

sorry
that's so sweet how he wakes you up
Tinky woukd prod my face with no claws
Borris gets on the bed head and jumps on me from on high
she's only little but when im out to it i do get a fright some times

i think poor little Ollie is just showing you love like he learned from his cat mommy and litter mates
The young little stray that had the kittens under the grape wine was also swiping at my legs and nipping but she was just playing and hasn't work out it could hurt
i ignored her - it was very hard - but she stopped doing it
i felt quilty when i realised it was effection she had been showing me
it will be intetesting to see if Ollie works this out
unfortunately we made the mistake of teaching Tinky to chase our feet when we were under the blankets and him on top of the blankets
once summer came and we ditched most of the covers his sharp claws went right through but it was just innocent play

poor Fred
old age sucks
its just not fare

Thank you Daisy. I appreciate your good wishes and continued support more than words can express.