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[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Not a good week for 2 of our kitties.

Lydia is acting 'ghostly', not eating much, and has been losing weight again. I suspect another go round with the kidneys again perhaps. I made a vet appt for tomorrow...meanwhile we are plying her with the water from cans of tuna, which she loves. And we ate a bunch of tuna salad today.

Meanwhile, I picked up something odd looking from the kitchen floor...turns out it was one of rail-thin 20 year old Ellie's big top canine teeth...looking pretty foul too. Poor thing had a little blood on her mouth. Oh, the millions of mice and chipmunks that tooth had crunched. Now I gotta decide whether that's worth a vet visit too or just chalk it up to natural decrepitude. Much be really embarrassing to be a cat that was a proud huntress and then lose your teeth.

[mtbdarby]

Lisa - sorry to hear about the kitties. Good luck at the vet tomorrow and I hope it's not the kidneys again. Since you're going I would have them look at Ellies teeth. I don't know if cats are the same, but my vet told me it can be a big deal when dogs lose they're teeth because of all the bacteria. Keep us posted.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa - sorry to hear about the kitties. Good luck at the vet tomorrow and I hope it's not the kidneys again. Since you're going I would have them look at Ellies teeth. I don't know if cats are the same, but my vet told me it can be a big deal when dogs lose they're teeth because of all the bacteria. Keep us posted.

Thanks Dar,
I can't squeeze Ellie into Lydia's appt though. I think maybe I'll make an appt for Ellie when I am there with Lydia tomorrow. I don't want any guilt hanging over me. Actually, Ellie was DH's cat from 20 years ago and she has a different vet...but maybe I'll just take her to MY vet anyway. DH seems kind of unsure about whether to take her in since she's so old and keeps muddling along ok. Losing teeth is a part of getting really old I suppose.
But maybe she should get an antibiotic shot or something while the tooth wound is healing, who knows....I guess better safe than sorry. I'll make an appt for Ellie too.

Lydia's the one who needs immediate attention. I bet we'll have to start the sub-cutaneous water shots again.

[bmccasland]

Patches, the little stray I've slowly befriended, disappeared for a few days, then finally reappeared yesterday evening demanding her evening meal like usual. What wasn't usual was that she has a wheepy eye. It didn't appear infected, but I'm not sure what's wrong. This morning she was on the porch again wanting her breakfast, and her eye is again wheepy and closed. Unfortunately it was too dark for me to really check her eye.

So far the best I've been able to do for her, is to feed her good cat food, and guard her while she eats. She's a timid cat around others, so gets chased away from the food bowl. She seems to like me to sit out with her while she eats, so that she gets her share, before the other neighbor cats that watch come and chase her off.

I'd like to get her inside.... Of course the other felines in the house may not agree.

Meanwhile I'm concerned about her eye.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sounds like it may have been scratched in a fight.
It's your call whether to take her to the vet on it.

[jessica47201]

I'm gonna go with BleeckerSt on that. If the stray is always getting picked on and chased away, it's very likely that she got scratched in the eye. My two cats at home are always wrestling and jumping around and every now and then one of them will get it in the eye. I usually just try and keep it clean with warm water.

[mtbdarby]

Hey Lisa - How is Lydia doing?

[bmccasland]

I'm gonna go with BleeckerSt on that. If the stray is always getting picked on and chased away, it's very likely that she got scratched in the eye. My two cats at home are always wrestling and jumping around and every now and then one of them will get it in the eye. I usually just try and keep it clean with warm water.

I have eye-wash solution for people, I wonder if she'd let me use that on her.... maybe if I bait her with treats. If it's runny clear / irritated I won't worry to much, but goey infection, I'll take her in. I just can't stand to see one suffer, especially when I know she'll let me catch her. I also need to check with my neighbor who has paid a vet bill or two (paid to have her spayed and see if she's done anything for her & the eye)

[mayanorange]

I have eye-wash solution for people, I wonder if she'd let me use that on her.... maybe if I bait her with treats. If it's runny clear / irritated I won't worry to much, but goey infection, I'll take her in. I just can't stand to see one suffer, especially when I know she'll let me catch her. I also need to check with my neighbor who has paid a vet bill or two (paid to have her spayed and see if she's done anything for her & the eye)

The eye wash should be okay. I bet it's just an upper respiratory infection- probably 90% of strays have them whether they're fully symptomatic or not.

[GLC1968]

Well, these are not really OUR pets, but they will be someone's pets (on a ranch down the road). For now, we get to enjoy their amazing company though!

Pepe and Oreo at about 5 days old:


Oreo face to face with Buddy (who is ours):


Pepe using me as climbing equipment:

[ZenSojourner]

YESSSSS!

BOW DOWN TO YOUR GOAT OVERLORDS!

BWAH HA HA HA Baaaaah, Baaaaah!

[trinena]

what cute kids GLC! is that a donkey in one of the pics? if so could you please take a pic of him/her & post it? i'm a citygirl w/ a thing for donkeys. oh that sounds bad!

Well, these are not really OUR pets, but they will be someone's pets (on a ranch down the road). For now, we get to enjoy their amazing company though!

Pepe and Oreo at about 5 days old:


Oreo face to face with Buddy (who is ours):


Pepe using me as climbing equipment:

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hey Lisa - How is Lydia doing?

Thanks for asking, Dar!

Lydia is home from the vet and she's ok.
Both the vet and I decided that her problem was the kidneys again (she had the same issue 2 years ago but had been doing well until recently). I chose not to get the $130 or so worth of various elaborate blood tests because we both felt it was pretty obvious what to do- get her on water injections again for a while.

Lydia is so funny- at the vet's, she always curls up on her side on the exam table into the tiniest ball imaginable and 'plays dead' just like a possum....you can slide her across the table and she won't move a whisker.
Anyway, we gave her a large water injection right there at the vet's, and I took home the usual 'kit' for starting up the (dreaded) subcutaneous water injections at home again. Ugh, it's a nasty ordeal that we hate, but it's really the only way to make her improve again. We'll start with once a day and see if we can go to every other day as soon as she seems noticably improved. She also has a daily pill with fiber (same as metamusil) and with digestive enzymes- to help her digest the smaller amounts she is currently eating, and to prevent constipation.
Lydia was very well behaved during her 'dead duck act', and seemed pretty tired out and relieved when she got home. I took this picture of her happily snoozing in the wing chair an hour ago, looking so sweet:

Isn't that the cutest?
I have a feeling the water shots will help perk her up over the next few days. This is the 4th time with various cats we have gone through 'the routine', so at least we are experienced. Also, we didn't wait as long this time before bringing her in, so I think that will help her chances too.

I made an appt for Ellie as well, for tuesday. Ellie's the 20 year old kitty who dropped a big gross tooth yesterday. I hydrogen-peroxided her tooth hole today, as per the vet's instructions. We'll get her checked out too.

I actually feel pretty lucky since it's been a while since any of the 3 kitties has needed the vet, and even today's visit only cost $60 which included everything, even the take-home injection supplies.

[GLC1968]

Nope, no donkeys! That's the rear end of the kids momma in that first pic. That would be Sassafras:


We have goats, dogs, cats, chickens and bees...but no donkeys, sorry!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hey, we have goats too! (actually, they belong to 'the girls', their 4H project)