Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[bilgistic]

Oh, @emma675, I'm so sorry.

[AgentRXS]

@emma675 I'm sorry. Hugs.

[ABay]

So sorry to hear of your loss, @emma675

[Mindthinkr]

@emma675  So very sorry to hear about Olivia passing. You have my heartfelt sympathy. 

[walnutqueen]

My thoughts are with you and sweet Olivia, @emma675.  I mourn with you, and for you.

[Bastet]

@emma675, I'm glad Olivia had a peaceful end in your arms, but so sorry you had to go through this.  It just rips your heart out to say goodbye to a pet.  You'll be in my thoughts during this awful time in the immediate aftermath.

[Cherry Bomb]

@emma675 I am so sorry for your loss. One consolation of this awful passing is that Olivia went peacefully. Even though I am new here and don't know of you, but you will surely be in my thoughts and prayers.

[emma675]

Thanks so much everyone. I'm pretty much a mess, but it's been so comforting to know that people here understand. Our beloved pets leave a huge hole when they go.

[Cherry Bomb]

4 minutes ago, emma675 said:

Thanks so much everyone. I'm pretty much a mess, but it's been so comforting to know that people here understand. Our beloved pets leave a huge hole when they go.

They certainly do have a huge part in our lives. I think it is great that there is a place where anyone can let out there emotions and people are so understanding and helpful. Please feel free to keep posting as needed as we all have you in our thoughts.

[DeLurker]

17 minutes ago, emma675 said:

Thanks so much everyone. I'm pretty much a mess, but it's been so comforting to know that people here understand. Our beloved pets leave a huge hole when they go.

Your heart grew with Olivia - it got bigger to accommodate her.   

I'm for your loss.

[harrie]

@emma675, I'm very sorry for your loss. You made sure Olivia left this world knowing she was loved, which is a wonderful thing.

[Mindthinkr]

[riley702]

I'm so sorry, Emma.

[Mindthinkr]

[DeLurker]

Kook's beach pic from this summer -

 

[Mindthinkr]

[Bastet]

I didn't want to post about Riley's mild problems in light of Bella and then Olivia dying, but now I'll share that we've been at the vet a few times lately.  I noted about a month ago that I took her in for a check-up because she'd been acting a little off, and that she was pretty much back to normal by the time we went in, and all her tests came back fine (three things out of normal range, but with explanations for each).  A couple of weeks after that, she started acting a little off again - sort of subdued.  She'd still eat, drink, play, cuddle, pee, poop, etc. in general, but one day her appetite might be cut in half and then the next she would play for 30 seconds and quit.  She was napping in some different places, and sometimes I'd find her lying down but awake.  Then she had two days where she acted like she truly did not feel well.

So, we delved a little deeper with the blood tests (which had already been fairly extensive; that senior panel covers a lot of stuff), checked her blood pressure, took x-rays, etc.  Everything looked fine except the base of her heart looked unusual, and slightly different than it had a year ago.  Heart tumors are quite rare in cats, but they have a poor prognosis even when benign, so I spent a couple of days terrified that's what we were looking at, but two different specialists (a board-certified radiologist and a cardiologist) looked at the x-rays and said it's not a tumor, she just has a slightly funky ascending aorta - it's more prominent than typical, but still within what can be considered normal for a cat her age.

It's frustrating not to know what's the cause of her "ADR" (what old school vets call it when an animal just "ain't doin' right" in mild ways like this), as there's nothing to do now but continue to monitor her and hope this passes or, if she gets worse/develops a new symptom, recheck things to look for changes from the previous tests, as that would point us in a direction finally.  But I'm glad everything appears normal; she could be in the early stages of something bad, yes, but she could also just be working her way through something that's no big deal.  And - knocking the hell out of my wood desk - she has been doing well this week.  Zero days of acting like she doesn't feel well, only one day of reduced appetite and she still ate about 80% of her food that day, vigorous play every night but one, and, best of all, two days ago, for the first time in weeks, she purred so hard she drooled (that's normally a near-daily occurrence).

Hopefully I spent a whole lot of money to find out she just really hates humidity or something.

(And, of course, this means she still hasn't had her teeth cleaned; maybe that's her plan!)

[CoderLady]

@Bastet, I haven't met you personally, but I think you're the best pet parent I've ever known or probably ever will. Keep on keeping on.

[raven]

@slf, so sorry about losing Bella and also to you @emma675 on your loss of Olivia.

They will always be in your hearts.

[ABay]

My grumpy old man cat has been sneezing all day. Its been 20 minutes since the last one. I'm practicing magical thinking--by posting about it I hope to ward off it being anything more than dust in the air.

[slf]

My sincerest condolences for Olivia, @emma675. I'm truly sorry.

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

I didn't want to post about Riley's mild problems in light of Bella and then Olivia dying, but now I'll share that we've been at the vet a few times lately.  I noted about a month ago that I took her in for a check-up because she'd been acting a little off, and that she was pretty much back to normal by the time we went in, and all her tests came back fine (three things out of normal range, but with explanations for each).  A couple of weeks after that, she started acting a little off again - sort of subdued.  She'd still eat, drink, play, cuddle, pee, poop, etc. in general, but one day her appetite might be cut in half and then the next she would play for 30 seconds and quit.  She was napping in some different places, and sometimes I'd find her lying down but awake.  Then she had two days where she acted like she truly did not feel well.

So, we delved a little deeper with the blood tests (which had already been fairly extensive; that senior panel covers a lot of stuff), checked her blood pressure, took x-rays, etc.  Everything looked fine except the base of her heart looked unusual, and slightly different than it had a year ago.  Heart tumors are quite rare in cats, but they have a poor prognosis even when benign, so I spent a couple of days terrified that's what we were looking at, but two different specialists (a board-certified radiologist and a cardiologist) looked at the x-rays and said it's not a tumor, she just has a slightly funky ascending aorta - it's more prominent than typical, but still within what can be considered normal for a cat her age.

It's frustrating not to know what's the cause of her "ADR" (what old school vets call it when an animal just "ain't doin' right" in mild ways like this), as there's nothing to do now but continue to monitor her and hope this passes or, if she gets worse/develops a new symptom, recheck things to look for changes from the previous tests, as that would point us in a direction finally.  But I'm glad everything appears normal; she could be in the early stages of something bad, yes, but she could also just be working her way through something that's no big deal.  And - knocking the hell out of my wood desk - she has been doing well this week.  Zero days of acting like she doesn't feel well, only one day of reduced appetite and she still ate about 80% of her food that day, vigorous play every night but one, and, best of all, two days ago, for the first time in weeks, she purred so hard she drooled (that's normally a near-daily occurrence).

Hopefully I spent a whole lot of money to find out she just really hates humidity or something.

(And, of course, this means she still hasn't had her teeth cleaned; maybe that's her plan!)

It's so frustrating to not know what's behind your kitty not feeling well so I'm happy to hear that Riley is doing better, Bastet. She's lucky to have you taking such good care of her. I hope she gets back to her near-daily drool-purring (somehow buth gross but super cute, lol) soon!

22 minutes ago, ABay said:

My grumpy old man cat has been sneezing all day. Its been 20 minutes since the last one. I'm practicing magical thinking--by posting about it I hope to ward off it being anything more than dust in the air.

Oh my gosh this happened with my Maine Coon once. It happened for just over a day and then nothing, he was fine. Here's hoping it's the same for your ol' man.

[Mindthinkr]

@Bastet story that Riley has been giving you some pause (paws) lately. I really hope it's just a clever avoidance about her teeth cleaned but I'm praying that it will all work out well. You are an extremely astute owner and I'm confident that if you see something too off that you will get the clues and help the vets discover what the issue is. Good point about the humidity tho as it has been very bad of late. Please give Riley a cuddle and tell her to feel better soon from all of us in this kitty household. 

[Bastet]

Thank you, @CoderLady, for that lovely compliment, and thank you all for the well wishes.  Last night, I got drooling again (funny how something gross can become cause for celebration), and her meow was, while still not full voice, stronger than it has been.

I thought once before she was almost back to normal, and then she had the two bad days, so I won't get ahead of myself, but we've had a week of steady improvement, so I am cautiously optimistic. 

Remember how I changed her name to Riley, since after a rough start she would now live the life of Riley?  Yeah, good call.  Because she's not a food-motivated cat and thus appetite is the first thing affected if she gets scared or doesn't feel 100%, I have been doing like I did back when I first adopted her:  poaching her chicken breast (her second-favorite treat; first being baked salmon, but I'll only go so far), that I can then tear up and put into her food so she'll actually eat a full meal.  And breakfast gets served to her, because she only likes to eat at night and thus won't go to her bowl in the morning (I had been letting her just eat everything at night, but once she started having this problem, I found she did better if I fed her in the mornings as well).  Hopefully I can wean her back to the normal routine when this is all over!  (I once had to feed a cat egg yolks, tuna, and chicken breast for nearly a week to keep him eating and give him lots of protein, and then when he was well and I put down a bowl of cat food, he looked at me like, "Are ya kidding me?")

Ooh, edited to say she followed me into the kitchen for her breakfast!  I still had to sit down and feed it to her in there, because she wouldn't follow me into the laundry room and eat it out of her bowl, but at least I didn't have to go find her and coax her to eat.  Yay!

@ABay, I hope the day of sneezing is over. 

Edited August 19, 2017 by Bastet

[ABay]

Thanks, @Bastet. It has continued. Other than the little spasm of them when he was grooming a few minutes ago, it's been one delicate dignified cat sneeze every now and then. He had a cold a few years ago and I clocked 17 in 20 minutes. His nose looks runny, of course I can only see him from a distance of several feet. No discharge from his eyes, so that's good. He's eating, but not as much as I'd like him to, and is maybe a little quieter than usual, but otherwise his usual grumpy self. If it seems no better Monday morning, I'll call the vet and set up an appointment. Hmmm.  Maybe if I tell him that, he'll suddenly feel better. 

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, ABay said:

If it seems no better Monday morning, I'll call the vet and set up an appointment. Hmmm.  Maybe if I tell him that, he'll suddenly feel better. 

That worked on Maddie once.  She was constipated following dental surgery to extract several teeth.  That happens with the Buprenex, but it just kept on, and it had been six days since she pooped (despite the addition of psyllium and water to her food), so I scheduled her for an enema the next morning.  I told her, "Tonight is your last chance to poop, otherwise you go in for an enema."  Two hours later she made a deposit in the litter box, and I was able to leave a message canceling the appointment.

Maddie - like the majority of cats - carried the herpes virus (FHV-1), and she was one who'd have a flare-up from time to time.  (The poor girl had been dying from an untreated herpes virus-induced upper respiratory infection in the shelter when I adopted her, and it took intensive therapy to bring her back to health.)  I could usually just give her some L-Lysine to help her immune system keep it from progressing past sneezing, but once or twice we got to runny eyes and I gave her an anti-viral (Famciclovir) to make sure we didn't even start down the URI road again, given her history.

Your grumpy old man may very well be sneezing for the same reason, since it's so common in cats, in which case hopefully he will get it out of his system over the next couple of days and you two poor souls will not have to go to the vet yet again.  I'll be hoping for that!

I also have further progress to report with Riley: She summoned me to the study (in case it's not obvious that she rules this household, let me state unequivocally: Riley is in charge here) for a quick play session a little while ago.  She's always done most of her playing at night (I can easily spend an hour or more throwing toys around the room for her), but normally also requests one or two quick five-minute sessions as breaks in her busy daytime schedule of sleeping all day.  But there had been no daytime play at all for a couple of weeks now, until today.

[bilgistic]

Look at my sweet little nap buddy. I woke up to him passed out like that. I was laying on my side with my leg bent. I had to carefully try to not move much to get a picture.

[DeLurker]

My Mom called last night just to tell me a cat story.  Her cat is extremely picky about food she'll eat so Mom is familiar with the process of buying some of everything, finding out what Fluffy will eat, feeding her the chosen food and she turns her nose up at it one day.  She doesn't eat any people food except tuna in a can; everything earns a sniff and a look of disdain.

She kept hearing some odd noise in the kitchen - kind of a tearing, but over and over.  When she went into the kitchen to investigate, it was Fluffy eating some of the leftover dog food for Kook that I left  - he eats Nutro Wholesome Essentials Large Breed Chicken, Brown Rice & Sweet Potato.  She had put it in an empty bag so my brother could take it home for my niece's chow, but it was a super thick bag - one for rice that she had just emptied into her rice container.

[ABay]

Grumpy old man cat's sneezing has abated. Huzza. Now if he would get back to snarfing up his hairball treats...

[bilgistic]

My sweet boy seems to be feeling the effects of kidney disease. I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow (back to his old vet) for a workup. I am going to have to get him on regular subcutaneous fluids one way or another.

I've been very unsuccessful administering them myself. I'm fine with the injection process; I give him B-12 shots. He cries out with any injection even though the B-12 needles are 25 gauge and I cough to distract him when I puncture the skin. I have tried 20g through 22g for fluids. I've watched all the YouTube tutorial videos. Nothing works. It's a disaster--or a bad comedy act. He acts up at the vet's office when getting fluids, so it's not just me.

I've searched all over town for someone to help me give him fluids and come up empty. I cannot take him to the vet multiple times a week. I won't do that to him--he shakes the whole time from fear (when he's not pissed). I also can't afford it right now.

And...keeping him eating is a constant challenge with his irritable bowel disease and pancreatitis. I have at least a dozen brands, varieties and flavors of cat food in my pantry and fridge.

Please keep us in your thoughts and send him healing vibes.

[Mindthinkr]

@bilgistic  Will do. We want your kitty to be well and things to run smoothly for both of you. Best wishes. 

[DeLurker]

@bilgistic and Bilgisticat - you'll both be getting good thoughts from Casa De Lurker.

[AgentRXS]

@bilgistic I know how much cats hate getting fluids. You and Bilgisticat are in my thoughts.

I know its not a substitute for administering fluids, but have you tried syringing or mixing his wet food with Pedialyte? Pedialyte was a lifesaver (literally) when I used to foster kittens that had bad URIs and I had to syringe feed them to get them to eat.  It will help him stay hydrated, at least.

[ratgirlagogo]

53 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

Please keep us in your thoughts and send him healing vibes.

Will do. I found an orange candle!

[bilgistic]

He drinks a lot, which is one way I know his kidneys are progressively getting worse. He has a drinking fountain/bowl that he loves and jumps up on the bathroom counter and drinks from the faucet. He eats only wet food and gets Trader Joe's goat milk yogurt most days. He loves the yogurt. I can usually get him to slurp it up even if nothing else is appealing.

It's just to the point where he needs regular subq fluids. I've tried several times, but I just need to either suck it up and keep trying and get shredded and bitten, or figure something else out. I'm really hoping one of the vet techs will make house calls. None from the holistic vet would. My old pet sitter put me in touch with several other services, but none would do fluids.

Thanks for the kind words, y'all. I appreciate it so much.

[Bastet]

@bilgistic, I wish I was nearby to help; it can be really tricky to do alone.  Maddie and I got into a routine pretty easily, but that was her personality.  If Riley needed regular subQ fluids right now, I would despair just thinking of how I'd make that happen.

Have you tried the Terumo Ultra Thin Wall (UTW) needles for the fluids?  They're completely different than the Monoject or similar needles -- gauge isn't the issue; it's how they're honed and beveled, so they're sharper and go through the skin SO much easier than other needles, at any gauge.  I don't think they make the UTW in 20-gauge anymore, but 21-gauge is available.  If you haven't, I would definitely try that, in the hopes it makes it tolerable to him; there is a significant difference in tolerance of receiving subQ fluids via other needles vs. the UTW needles in many, if not most, cats.  If he has CKD and pancreatitis, fluids are so beneficial to both, so I want to offer any and all additional suggestions beyond the many you've tried that may make it tolerable enough for him, as I completely agree with you on doing it from home rather than at the vet's office. 

Is there a Nextdoor.com group for your neighborhood and, if so, are you signed up (it's a private site; you have to prove residence in the neighborhood to join)?  If you can't find a local vet tech who's willing to help for some extra cash, an equally beneficial assistance would come from a pet owner in your or a nearby neighborhood who has experience with this; Nextdoor might help you connect with one.

If his CKD is progressing, you can try adding a phosphorus binder to his food.  With him already being so picky, he may balk, and he'll almost definitely balk at the pre-made gel vets sell, but you can use plain aluminum hydroxide powder and hope he doesn't detect the texture (there's almost no taste). 

I've been through IBD, CKD, and pancreatitis (not all in the same cat, though!), so I am, as always, available to share research, resources, and experiences.  I will be wishing you and Bilgisticat the best at his check up!

[bilgistic]

I'm was planning to order the Terumo needles (and new B-12; he's been on that over a year) after the vet visit tomorrow. One has to have a prescription to order needles in NC. I have an assortment now, but I don't think they are Terumo. I know the B-12 needles aren't. I need to buy more fluids, too--also RX.

I used to be able to put just about anything in his food, but I can't anymore. He's gotten so he's even rejecting the cannabinoid oil, which is in cod liver oil, so he was pretty enthused...until he wasn't. It was helping his appetite for a bit.

I struggle now to get him to eat, period. He'll have days when he eats really well, then days he'll eat a few bites and walk away. Of course, it's hard to get his meds in him so he'll want to eat.

Tonight was the first time I ate a meal that he didn't also try to eat. I've never fed him from my plate, but he thinks "people food" is the best thing ever. He's usually grabbing at whatever I'm eating, so I have to stand at the kitchen counter to eat or sit in the bedroom with the door closed and listen to him howl while I eat. Maybe I need to pretend to eat his food before I give it to him.

I'll look at nextdoor. I think I tried it once, but never got a confirmation email.

[Bastet]

I feel your pain on struggling to get him to eat, period.  I think that's one of the most frustrating situations for an owner to be in; they need to eat, and you'll feed them anything they want if they will, in fact, eat - but they don't want anything, or at least not enough, or consistently.  I've cried over failed meals more than just about anything else.

Going back to the fluids, you have probably tried this, but since it's generally the second-biggest factor (after the needle), I want to make absolutely sure (and put the info out there for others): Are you warming the fluid first?  Room temp fluid can be uncomfortable (especially on the heels of being stabbed), so warming it to match the cat's internal temp of around 102 degrees can be a big help.  I did this by submerging the bag (except for the port at the bottom of the bag where the IV set connects; it's supposed to be watertight, but just in case, I left it out of the water) in a small roasting pan filled with hot tap water and covered to keep the heat in, for anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on how full the bag was (as it gets used up, it takes less time to warm).  You need to either submerge the line (minus the needle connection, like the port) in the water, too, or bleed the line, so that the fluid going in is warm from the get-go, rather than having room temperature fluid to start and then the warmed stuff.

[ABay]

Shit, @bilgistic. I also sympathise with the eating and fluids situation. My beloved tuxedo cat had liver diesase and I was giving him fluids every morning for weeks. I stabbed myself more than once. I had to use those little tubes with plungers...they have a name, I'm just blanking on it..to get food into him.

[emma675]

bilgistic, your sweet kitty is in my thoughts. Olivia loved cats and her favorite was Sheldon, an orange tabby at the vet's office. His brother is a black kitty named Leonard.

[bilgistic]

11 hours ago, Bastet said:

I feel your pain on struggling to get him to eat, period.  I think that's one of the most frustrating situations for an owner to be in; they need to eat, and you'll feed them anything they want if they will, in fact, eat - but they don't want anything, or at least not enough, or consistently.  I've cried over failed meals more than just about anything else.

Going back to the fluids, you have probably tried this, but since it's generally the second-biggest factor (after the needle), I want to make absolutely sure (and put the info out there for others): Are you warming the fluid first?  Room temp fluid can be uncomfortable (especially on the heels of being stabbed), so warming it to match the cat's internal temp of around 102 degrees can be a big help.  I did this by submerging the bag (except for the port at the bottom of the bag where the IV set connects; it's supposed to be watertight, but just in case, I left it out of the water) in a small roasting pan filled with hot tap water and covered to keep the heat in, for anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on how full the bag was (as it gets used up, it takes less time to warm).  You need to either submerge the line (minus the needle connection, like the port) in the water, too, or bleed the line, so that the fluid going in is warm from the get-go, rather than having room temperature fluid to start and then the warmed stuff.

I thought I replied to this last night but it's not here now. Weird. I have a mixing bowl that serves as my fluids warming bowl (since I never bake). I bleed the line.

Whatever mojo y'all sent B-cat last night helped because he ate and perked up. Of course, the pain meds helped, too. He is super-extra cuddly and needy since I've been off work. He is huggy and wraps himself backwards around my neck. It's like he can't get enough body surface touching me. I love him so much! He's such a sweet and loving boy until the needles come out, then he's a hellcat.

[bilgistic]

Speaking of hellcat, he came out in spades at the vet's office. The techs couldn't get fluids in him because he ran around the room "in the back". He was still hissing and howling when they brought him back to me. He also peed (and pooped, I found later) in his carrier when they put him back in.

He's lost about half a pound since May, but at 7.2 pounds is still up a pound from his lowest. I've done so much to get that small amount of weight on him. It's just hard to keep him eating.

I'm determined to get him on a fluid regimen even if I have to wear waders and rubber gloves that extend to my shoulders. The vet was dour seeing him, but he's a totally different cat at the vet--a mixture of being terrified, depressed and lashing out. I opted to not do new bloodwork.

The vet thinks that fluid administration is just going to stress him more than anything else, which will elevate his blood pressure. I understand that, but really think that fluids need to happen. He's at stage 3 of 4 with his kidney disease. He's clearly thirsty and pees a lot. If we can just get over the scariness of the process, I think he'll see he feels better after. I need to get some junky treats to convince him of that and so he can snack while he's getting fluids. I think he associates the "good" treats I have now with nausea.

I'm feeding him I and Love and You wet food. He loves the cod and salmon flavors. (Chicken is the second ingredient.) I would rather not feed him fish, but at this point, any food is good food.

I'm going to step up the steroids a bit, along with the anti-nausea meds, while introducing an OTC antacid. He ate a whole 3oz can of cod food when we got home. That's more than he eats some entire days. Steroid increase will help his appetite, as will the other meds. Going to step up B-12 to weekly rather than biweekly. I've ordered needles, fluids and new B-12. Good thing I'm not working since I'm going to be doing this full-time.

He still has a lot of fight in him. I love him with all I have. He's taught me what I'm capable of as a kitty mom.

Sorry for the long and rambling post. I'm mostly thinking out loud. Here's a picture of him after his meal after the vet trip. Being a naughty boy is hard work. Doesn't he look like he just has the world wrapped around his paw? This is the boy I know and love. ♥️

[Bastet]

He looks quite satisfied with himself after that post-vet meal.

Does it remotely work to make a "purr-ito" out of him by wrapping him up in a towel or similar to keep his legs contained, so you can control him to give him the fluids?  Some people have great luck with that, while I often find it just stresses the cat more. 

For junky treats to distract/reward him during fluid administration, try Temptations.  They're kitty crack -- they're made almost exclusively of things cats shouldn't be eating, so most cats love them.

Sometimes it's very difficult not being able to communicate directly with them:  If you eat and let me hydrate you, you will feel better.

[DeLurker]

35 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Does it remotely work to make a "purr-ito" out of him by wrapping him up in a towel or similar to keep his legs contained, so you can control him to give him the fluids?  Some people have great luck with that, while I often find it just stresses the cat more.

Maybe try the purr-ito first without the fluids - talk to him sweet and reward him with some cat crack so he associates the process with a good outcome initially?

You are an awesome cat Mom.

[bilgistic]

He was quite proud of himself! He was immediately tail-up happy when we got in the door and went straight to his food area.

I've tried both the purrito method and sitting him on the counter in the bathroom with an ace bandage wrapped around him to hold the line in place; he ate for most of the session then walked around. But DAMN if it wasn't tough getting to that point. I've not been successful since that one time (May 1).

I think I'll try purrito-ing again. I don't want him to have a negative association with the bathroom because that's where his bathroom is. It'll be a few days until the fluids and needles arrive (BTW, I found out I didn't need an RX for needles) and he "forgets" about the vet trauma. It's been a while since I tried it at home.

4 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

Maybe try the purr-ito first without the fluids - talk to him sweet and reward him with some cat crack so he associates the process with a good outcome initially?

You are an awesome cat Mom.

That's a good idea. Y'all are all so great. Thanks so much for being here.

[bilgistic]

Last thread hijack of the week...

I ran errands and got home to a hungry boy! B-cat ate another 5/8 of a can! He loves his new borderline healthy grain-free treats. I've never given him fun treats except for tuna flakes, and he gets bored with that. I also got some brothy packets that he can slurp up if he's not wanting anything else.

Thanks again for being a sounding board and all your feedback and help. He sends purrs.

[theredhead77]

The cat-cat went to the vet for his boosters and a pre-move check-up. He does not like the car or car carrier and made sure everyone knew it. On the way home he worked himself into such a tizzy he started panting. Freaked me the fuck out, I turned around and went right back to the vet. They immediately took him to the back, diagnosed him with 'IDontWantToBeInThisCarrieritis' and sent us home (he was a happy purrful boy once he was out of the carrier).

Picked up their kitty Valium today. This move is going to be super!fun! I hope the sedatives work and knock me out.

Edited August 23, 2017 by theredhead77

[DeLurker]

@bilgistic - would giving Bilgisticat something to make him drowsy help when you need to give him fluids?  My vet suggested I bring along some Bonine* (OTC motion sickness medicine similar to Dramamine) before I took the first long car trip with Sir Robin.  I gave it to him the first morning - about 1/3 tab (approx.  8 mgs) ground up in some soft food about an hour before we started.  It made him a bit drowsy for the first couple of hours.  He rides in a car fine, but I had never taken him in the car for a road trip.  Mostly he seemed stressed because of all the unusual activity associated with preparing for a trip so he knew something was up, but not what.

Dramamine is also used on pets, but I think that is supposed to cause more lethargy. 

I'd probably call the vet to double check if it would be suitable for you to try given the health issues you are dealing with.

The active ingredient is Meclizine which isn't supposed to cause drowsiness, but drowsiness is listed as one of the side effects.  I need to take it periodically for an inner ear imbalance and it effects me that way.

[AgentRXS]

@bilgistic I wonder if this will help? (Sorry for the long link) The product has mixed reviews but it may be worth a shot.  http://www.gnc.com/cat-calming/341103.html?product_id=341103&flagtype=nonbrand&vendor=none&channel=ppc&adpos=1o2&creative=189757865440&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz_TMBRD0ARIsADfk7hSSerleNbeYQHJFlkT30Sv_r7rMGD2sMpGwPzkO_DCARF8kA2evyyUaAjVgEALw_wcB

[Mindthinkr]

@bilgistic Sorry to hear you are having such a sad and frustrating time trying to nurse your furry child back to health. I hope kitty feels better soon and no longer needs the fluids. Our purrs are with you. 

Those kitty calming treats look promising. I wish I had known about them before now. Thx @AgentRXS. 

[bilgistic]

I'll look into the suggestions. Thanks!

I had a heart-to-heart with him last night, laying face-to-face on the bed. I told him he has a lot of life left in him and I was going to keep fighting for him. His increased meds will help, etc. I love him, he's so brave, etc. He responded by one of those I've-had-enough! crazy kitty (non-puncturing) bites to my face. The kid still has quite the fight in him.