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      Monday, August 05, 2019

catstuff 10:09 AM - 08/05/2019 The topic: Why is it the hard to medicate cats are the ones who get sick? ---------------------------------------------- Ronnie's having problems. Some sort of ear thing, I'm sure. He does have a cancer on one of his ears (he's a mostly white kitty), but it doesn't seem to be getting any worse. But this is a thing with the inner ear. We have had an ongoing problem with bacteria in cats' ears, I have medication on hand. But Ronnie has NEVER liked his head touched. He freaks out when I apply flea stuff on the back of his neck. I can't touch his face. Oh, sure, he'll rub my hands, but God forbid I have a finger in that general direction. I'd love to pick him up and put him in a carrier and haul him off to the vet, but that's not going to happen. If I could even get him into a carrier, he'd have to be sedated (gassed) in the carrier before the vet could even look at him. He would go wild. So, his ears are a mess, his eyes have gotten really weepy and red (allergies?). And I can't do a damned thing about it. I did some research on oral meds for ear bacteria and the vet prescribed (without seeing Ronnie) Clavamox, with the warning it most likely won't help. But I need to do something, he's miserable. I tried carrying him into the bathroom last week, I'd planned on covering him with a towel and kneeling with him between my legs, but he squirmed out of my arms and into the door sill. Scary. He was okay, but he did a nice job of scratching both of my arms when he was trying to get loose. Fortunately, he's not so bad that he turns his nose up at treats. He can eat a watered down jar of baby food at one sitting. And he likes the sliced deli meat. That's a good thing because I can wrap the pill up in a small slice and he'll eat it right down. First I have to get him where he knows I have something yummy. Following him around the yard with med in had. Ronnie. Ronnie. Ronnie. Ronnie. Stop, Ronnie. You'll like this, Ronnie, it's yummy. I cooked him a chicken breast yesterday. This has his approval. Once he realizes that it's not going to kill him, he'll eat with gusto. So, today is day number three of the Clavamox. I hope to see some improvement soon. I just wish I could get those drops in his ears.   ronnie    ears    clavamox    catstuff    | Permalink

      Tuesday, August 06, 2019

catstuff 07:15 AM - 08/06/2019 The topic: Cross your fingers! ---------------------------------------------- Ronnie got his first dose of Mometamax this morning. (I linked it so you can see what how this medicine helps.) I've been sleeping on the sofa since he's gotten so bad, since I'm up and down during the night and didn't want to disturb Brian or the bed cats. You know, Sammy and Mario. Two other cats on medication. He's taking the Clavamox okay. I wrap it in deli meat. The only problem is when he picks it up, sometimes the meat slice unrolls and there goes the pill. I take an extra piece of meat, just in case, so I have that covered. But his ears really bother him. Last night I looked up Benadryl dosage for a cat. I asked an online friend who is incredibly knowledgeable about this stuff and she gave me a dosage that should work, but said that I really should do what I can to get the ear meds in him. She gave me some tips on what I could try. I said I'd do that this morning. And I did. I'd come up with a plan to carry him into the bathroom. Yes, I know I tried this last week, but I wasn't really prepared, it was a spur of the moment thing. But this morning, I was prepared. Which means I already had the medicine in my bathroom so I had both hands and arms free to carry him into said bathroom. During the night, I get up to check on him. I found him on one of the chairs on the patio (after walking through the yard, with a flashlight, barefoot, underwear and teeshirt on).  I opened a can of Fancy Feast and fluffed it up with a fork, took it to him on the chair. He ate the whole thing. (When he was having problems getting what was in the can, I scooped the food out and put it on the chair). That was around eleven last night. Then again, at 3:15, I gave him another can. He ate that. So, this morning, his tummy is pretty full. He's moving faster as well. He was sitting under one of the tractor implements in the yard and I was able to pick him up, hold him close, give him head kisses, making sure I missed his ears, and slowly walked into the house, into my bathroom. I shut the door behind me and let him down. Yanno, if he could have done the Elastigirl thing, he would have gone out under the door. He was laying on his side, nose to the the space at the bottom, paws out, trying to make room to crawl under. I filled the syringes with the proper dosage and got down on my knees. I pulled him towards me, sliding him between my legs, then I lowered myself so he couldn't back out. He was flat on the floor and I got the meds in his right ear, rubbed the ear base, then did the left ear. I think the left ear went in deeper into the canal than the right, you just know. I rubbed both bases and then got to my feet and opened the door. He was more than happy to leave the room. I found him five minutes later in the garage, eating breakfast. He hasn't done that in weeks. So, the first dose is done, thirteen more to go. It wasn't as traumatic as I thought it would be. And he didn't seem to be bothered once it was over. When you experience the problems we had with Rocky, it's understandable to be hesitant to start it again. But maybe, just maybe, we'll have a chance with Ronnie.   ronnie    mometamax    ears    catstuff    | Permalink

      Wednesday, August 21, 2019

catstuff 05:36 PM - 08/21/2019 The topic: I was going to update on Ronnie ---------------------------------------------- But things just didn't work out. I got a crappy night's sleep last night, it's hot, I'm tired and worried about the appointment we had for Sammy at 4:15 this afternoon. About his eye (remember this entry?). Well, we thought the eye was getting better, the drainage of the puss had lessened over the months and the eye was starting to open. But in the past week and a half, it started to bleed. Nasty looking and scary AF. So, into the vet's we went. And even though he's eighteen, the vet feels that he's healthy enough for surgery to remove the eye. This will make him feel better, but there's no guarantee it won't happen to the other eye, because it's most likely viral (herpes). So, that's how this day went. I took this picture at the vet's office. The vet was actually booked up until September, but they worked him in so that he will have surgery next Tuesday. Anesthesia is the scariest part. surgery    sammy    eye surgery    catstuff    | Permalink

      Wednesday, August 28, 2019

catstuff 12:03 PM - 08/28/2019 The topic: Sammy update ---------------------------------------------- Sammy still has his eye. The antibiotic and the doubling up on his herpes medicine worked nothing short of a miracle. By Friday afternoon, I was pretty sure Sammy would be okay. The bleeding had stopped, both in his eye and his nose. There is very little discharge now, and cleaning out the eye in the morning and afternoon is all it needs. I'd say in another week or two, we'll be done with cleaning it and he'll be back to normal. Which is amazing because he's had a problem with that eye since last April. And I'm thrilled. sammy    catstuff    | Permalink

catstuff 12:07 PM - 08/28/2019 The topic: Now, Ronnie ---------------------------------------------- Ronnie is not doing well. I was finally able to get the mometamax in his ears. I was able to get it in three days and it worked wonders. I thought everything was fine. Then, last Friday, I noticed that he'd been licking his underarms. He licked all of the fur off of them. I put some stuff on that's supposed to soothe the itch, but by Monday morning, he'd cleaned off almost all of his chest. No fur, at all. And he started having a problem with his back legs. They were really stiff and he had a very hard time going potty. The vet prescribed pain meds for him this past Monday, he got his thyroid values checked (he's okay) and we got a bottle of Betagen, that's he gets two times. One time a week. I sprayed it on a soft cotton pad and wiped the naked part of him down with it. The vet also suggested an e-collar or shirt, so he wouldn't lick (the only part of him that has this problem is the part he can lick). She thinks maybe the reason his legs are stiff is that maybe the infection (his wbc was high) had gotten into his joints. It's gotten a little worse each day. He has an incredibly hard time walking. I think it's possible he tried to jump up and pulled a muscle. He's been having a hard time pooping since his legs aren't working right. And the poops are huge. And the poops are mostly fur. (Yeah, I check all of that out.) He went a ton this morning, my hands on either side of him so he didn't fall over. Then he walked a ways a way and I followed and he peed a bunch. Since I'm worried about his legs and climbing, I'll be keeping him in the bathroom when I'm not around to keep an eye on him (like at night). I spent four hours on the floor in the bathroom with him last night, just so he wouldn't feel so abandoned. I don't think he slept very much, but he was cuddled up against me. I'd gotten up around two to pee and I checked on him. I thought he was on the bed, but he wasn't. He wasn't in the living room, he wasn't under the sofa. I looked outside and he wasn't in the cathouse. I finally found him under a bed that we got at Costco years ago. I moved that, picked him up, then took him into the bathroom. I have a webcam set up in the bathroom so I can watch him now. At this point, he's outside. He started licking again and I put the surgery shirt on him. Surprisingly, it didn't bother him in the least. As a matter of fact, he seemed to walk better in it. I'm hoping we can pull him out of this. His bloodwork was really good last week, his thryoid values are fine, his heart is strong. The vet believes this is from a flea bite. That it bothered him so much he couldn't stop licking. The licking is spreading the bacteria onto his naked skin and it's getting infected. So, antibiotics (both oral and the Betabgen) and pain killers for the pain. So, that's the Ronnie update. I wish it was better. Anyway, right now he's laying out in the sun. ronnie    catstuff    | Permalink

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lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

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