Purrs and Updates

Happy Mew Year!!! Mom got to spend the entire week with us between Christmas and New Year's Day. She had to go back to work yesterday. Mom says having that week off with pay is one of the perks working at the university. And other than mom being sick for a couple of days, it was nice having her home. She didn't go out much while she was off, mainly because it was so cold here.

I wanted to update you on my lab work from my vet visit on December 26. My vet said that for a little old lady cat I am doing pretty well. My kidney and liver functions are still within normal range! I am mildly anemic, so now I'm on an iron supplement, probably for the rest of my days. My white cell count was also slightly elevated, so I'm on a liquid antibiotic. Both mom and I are pleased with the report.

Babies Tovah and Cinnamon are doing well. They still want to run from mom. It's part game and part we're-not-so-sure-about-this. Mom finally got them into the computer room tonight and crated. They girls go in tomorrow morning for their spays. Mom is hoping that Tovah won't start yowling while crated. Cinnamon is fine with it. They can't eat after 8:00pm. It's almost 11:00pm now and mom just crated them. They were confined in the room without food by 8:00pm.

Please keep our little girls in your purrs and prayers for a safe surgery. They will spend the night at the vet's office. Mom can pick them up after 9:00am on Friday. She said she will pick them up when she gets off work at 5:00pm.

Tell your people to stay inside if it is cold where you live!!! We know YOU are smart enough to stay in!

Purrs,

Clarissa

Happy Boxing Day

Okay, we are American Cats, so we really don't have a boxing day holiday. However, if there is a box around for us to get in then we are all for it! We hope all of our friends had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was on the quiet side. Mom and our uncle both had a stomach flu. Mom started feeling icky late Saturday night, and at 1:30am Sunday morning the festivities began. She was up about every two hours for about 6 hours. The nasty stuff stopped, but she ran a fever all day and just didn't feel well. Her fever broke over night and she felt a little better on Christmas day, but not enough to really eat. Our uncle was hit with it while he was at work on Christmas eve day. He works at "Wally World". The good news is he didn't get sick until his shift was about over. The bad news is, he exposed a lot of people to it. Of course, he didn't know he had it and that is what is sad. The other good news is he is feeling much better today.

I had my annual exam today. My vet said I'm in pretty good shape for a 17 year old kitty. I had my blood stolen and my claws trimmed and I also got my rabies vaccine. The vet said my lungs and heart sound great, and he didn't feel anything unusual when he was checking me out. I have lost a pound since November 2016. I weigh 7 lbs. now. I drink a lot of water, but I always have, so he isn't too worried about that. Mom told him that I like eating Sable's prescription kidney food and he said that was fine. And he added that I should be eating it anyway. YAY!!! It's nummy kibble. None of us like the canned prescription food.

Mom should hear from the vet with my lab report tomorrow. Hopefully it will all be good!

Purrs,

Clarissa

And then there were 12: Happy News!

It's wonderful to share some happy news. Do you remember those two two young kitties that were living in Tennessee? Mom decided to bring them home!!! She made a round trip drive from Louisville to Soddy Daisy, TN and back to Louisville on Saturday. Soddy Daisy, TN is just a little bit out of Chattanooga, TN. The girls are getting settled in and mama cat is trusting of mom. She isn't sure about the rest of us kitties though. She knows how to use the litter box and she is eating in the common area. Baby cat is wary. Once mom or uncle get her, she is fine. But she will take off like a shot if something loud scares her (like the front door opening). She is going to need a little work, but we think she is will be fine once she knows no is after her.

Mom has some good pictures of them, but she hasn't downloaded them from her phone yet.

Also, mom did stop by the 24-hour animal hospital before she brought the girls home. She had them tested for FeLuk/FIV. Both girls are negative for both illnesses. Mama and baby both got their first round of vaccines, and mama was big/old enough for her rabies vaccine. Both girls are scheduled for their spay surgery on January 4. 

Mom thought mama cat's name was Lavinia and baby cat's name was Rosalie, but she was wrong. Then she thought mama cat's name was Noel, and baby cat's name was Tovah. Now she thinks it may be the other way around. Mama is mostly white with some pale orange (more or a beige shade) patches. Baby is beige with white mittens on her front feet and full white stockings on her back feet & legs. Her belly is also white.

Mom was told that mama cat was born on March 1, which means she is still a baby herself. She weighs a little over 6 lbs. Baby cat weighs a little over 4 lbs. She is somewhere between 3-4 months old.

We will try to get some pictures posted of them soon.

Purrs,

Clarissa

And then there were 10: Fly Free sweet Memphis Meezer

Dearest Friends,

It has been a very rough four months for our household. Our Siamese/Manx, Memphis, crossed the Rainbow Bridge yesterday morning. Our vet discovered an irregular shaped growth in Memphis's mouth. He also had the beginning of a second one forming. It was with a heavy heart that I made the decision to say goodbye.

Memphis was adopted from the city shelter in February 2006 or 2007. I honestly don't remember. I do remember that he was approximately 2 years old, and that he took to my brother immediately. He made the ride home from the shelter with his hind quarters parked on the back of the seat and his front half draped over my brother's shoulder.

The saddest thing about Memphis was his mouth. That poor boy had mouth issues almost from the time he came to us. He had chronic gingivitis. He would go through a round of antibiotics and then have a thorough cleaning and be good to go for several months, and then it would start all over again. We always knew when the problem returned because he would get mad at his food dish because his mouth hurt.

Memphis was laying in my lap over the weekend and I noticed something on the side of his mouth, on the edge of his lip. It was a fleshy growth. I was concerned about it and that is why he was at the vet's office yesterday. His vet wasn't concerned about it, but was very troubled when she looked in his mouth. That is when she found the growths and some small lesions. He was also in a lot of pain when she was doing the exam.

The kindest thing I could do for Memphis was to let him go. This situation was not going to get better. Memphis has joined those who went before him. I hope they guided him on his journey.

With so many loses in such a short time I feel like I haven't had the time to properly grieve for Johnny, Spunky, Lily, and now Memphis. I also feel like it isn't a good time to bring in a kitten and her almost kitten mom. I am going to do what I can to help get them to a good home or to a no-kill rescue.

I know when one has a house full of senior cats, the time will come when goodbyes have to be said. But I never, ever expected that I would have to say goodbye to four of my precious babies within weeks of each other. It has left me feeling almost numb.

Kitties, hug your humans. Humans, hug your kitties.

Clarissa's Mom, Malinda

Our Fur Family Maybe Expanding

With so many recent losses and having so many senior cats, mom has been adamant about NOT taking in any more kitties for the time being. We have settled into a new pecking order and everyone seems to be happy with their station in our household. And then this happened in Tennessee:

One of mom's online friends wrote about these two. The top one is the kitten. She's about 3 months old. The bottom one is the mom. We don't know how old she is, but she looks young. There were two or three other kittens that a neighbor trapped and dumped in a different area. This little one and her mom hid and escaped his clutches.

A lot of circumstances will come into play regarding mom taking them in. Of course, the first thing is they will need to be captured and vetted. Mom has no doubt that they have the normal outdoor cat things going on: fleas, earmites, and worms. But those are treatable. What she must know is if they are FeLV negative and FIV negative. Unfortunately, if they test positive for either then mom can't take them.

Mom's other concern, should these babies check out healthy, is how will we accept them? She doesn't think the kitten will be a huge probably, but she is concerned about the adult. Another woman that is helping with the rescue said if mom cat doesn't work out, she would take her, so there is a backup plan.

Wonder if these Tennessee cats meow with a Southern drawl? They are located near Chattanooga.

So that's what is going on in our part of the world.

And Then There Were 11: Farewell sweet Lily Rose DeWinter

It seems we only post now when there is sad news. Our family said goodbye to our sweet Lillian Rose DeWinter on Saturday. We knew it was coming, but we didn't expect it to be so soon after losing both Johnny and Spunky.

When Lily saw her eye specialist last week, mom asked them to weigh Lily. She was painfully thin and weighed in at only 5 lbs. She had stopped grooming over the summer, so mom would brush her coat, and occasionally she would have to wash Lily's hindquarters. The ulcer on Lily's eye was also starting to look worse. Per the eye specialist's instructions, mom was putting several different drops and a soothing gel in Lily's eyes multiple times per day. When mom did Lily's eye drops on Saturday morning, Lily cried out in pain. It was the first time she had ever done so during all of her treatments. That's when mom knew it was time to say goodbye. She wasn't going to allow Lily to hurt.

Our regular vet's office was able to meet with mom late that morning. They had all of the paperwork ready to go. Mom thought Dr. R might cry right along with her. He hadn't seen Lily is quite awhile and I think he was surprised to see how thin she was.

With the help of Dr. R, Lily passed peacefully shortly before noon on Saturday, November 4. Mom was right beside her, stroking Lily's head and telling how much she was loved. We all loved Lily, even when she was being a diva.

Mom was having Lily cremated. When asked if she wanted a paw print, mom declined. Lily was a four paw declaw and she hated having her feet touched. Even in death, mom didn't want anyone messing with Lily's paws.

We aren't exactly sure about Lily's age, but we think she was around 17 years old. She was 6 or 7 when mom adopted her from the Kentucky Humane Society. She adopted Fred at the same time. He was younger at 2 years old. It is hard to believe that they are both Angels now.

Besides being a total declawed kitty, Lily was also partially deaf. About 2-3 years ago she started losing her eyesight. Glaucoma and cataracts. If she had been younger, mom would have had cataract surgery done for her. But at 14 the vet said she wouldn't recommend it. Lily developed an ulcer on on eye early this year. It never seemed to bother her, but she was getting the many eye drops and the soothing gel. About two weeks ago that eye started looking worse. It was just one thing after another for that sweet girl.

We know that fair Lily is much happier and healthier at the Bridge. She has her claws back, she can hear, and she can see again. We miss her, but we know it was the right thing to do.

Rest easy Lily Rose. We will meet again.

And then there were 12: R.I.P Spunky

Clarissa is letting me take over her blog once again. It seems that I am always the bearer of sad news. I said farewell to my big, sweet, doofus boy Spunky on Wednesday. Unlike Johnny's passing, which was expected, Spunky's passing came out of the blue.

All of my kitties have the feline herpes virus. Some have respiratory issues when it flares. Others have eye issues when it flares. Spunky was one of my kitties that would have eye issues. A few months ago I noticed that his right eye was "winky" and it had some of that stringy goop. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I took him to the vet, got some ointment, and the eye started looking better. But it never totally cleared up.

Back to the vet for an oral antibiotic (liquid). Spunky, although a big goofball and love bug, would turn into a fighter whenever it was time for his meds. He got them, but not on a set schedule. It was very hit and miss. He would see me coming and run under the bed. If I did manage to wrangle him. sometimes he would get away from me and run under the bed. On Tuesday night, I found him on my bed. His eye was swollen shut, and there was tiny bit of blood coming from it. I made an immediate trip to the emergency vet. Lily's eye specialist is located there, although I knew at that hour she would be gone. It wasn't clear if Spunky's eye had ruptured or not. He was given pain meds and another liquid/oral antibiotic. I took him home and isolated him in a spare room. He hated it and he cried to be out.

After a week on the antibiotic and pain meds there was no change. His eye continued to bleed. On Tuesday (Oct. 3) I called the animal ophthalmologist who sees Lily. She had no openings, but I was told I could drop him off the next morning and she would work him in.

Dr. T. called me after she saw him. She was 99% certain that Spunky had a tumor and that it was cancerous. They only way to be 100% sure would be to surgically remove his eye and have tissue sent to the lab. If it was cancer, the chances of it coming back were high.

It was with a heavy heart that I decided to let him go. It was not a decision that I made lightly. I had just spent close to $700 on Johnny for lab work, medicine, and finally, helping him cross the Bridge and his cremation. I had spent close to $300 on Spunky's ER visit, and another $100 to board him. I feel horrible that economics had to be a factor in my decision. Spunky's age was also another factor. He was 15. He was in pain. Even if I had brought him home for hospice care, he would have been kept in a closed room so he would be able to get his pain meds and not hide on me. He would have been miserable. I ask that you not judge me harshly for the decision I made.

I will always miss that sweet boy. I lost his sister, Panda, to kidney disease when she was only 9. I worry about his other sister, Ginger, and if she will cope with his passing. They were a bonded pair and cuddled together a lot. She still has her buddy, Batman, to snuggle with.

Several people have asked me if I will get another cat or two to "replace" Johnny and Spunky. I don't think they intended to sound cold or uncaring. I don't think it was meant to be that way. Those boys can never be replaced. The wounds of losing to furbabies in two weeks will take time to heal. I have 12 senior cats to take care of. I can't even consider bringing another kitty into my home at this time.

Fly free my sweet goofy boy. I will always love you.

Spunky

2002-2017