How Do You Do It?

Our mom is very sad lately.  We is trying to keep hers good company.  Maybe if some of our great kitty friends can come over here...then we can all pile on top of mom and purrrrr and purrrr and purrrr.....maybe that would help?

~Carmine, Milita, and Jewel

Mom here: I feel like such a basket case lately.  I don't know how those of you who have/have had cats with kidney disease do this.  How do you stay strong?  How do you watch your kitty go through the ups and downs?  I've only known Jewel a few years, and she's only been with me a short time, but I've already bonded with her a lot, and I find myself just breaking down some nights and crying because I'm so sad!  I don't want to see her go to the Bridge.

How are you supposed to know when that time is here - when her suffering outweighs her quality of life?  Lately, she's eating hardly anything.  She sleeps and drinks, and that's about it these days.

I'll ask the vet what she thinks about all this when I take Carmine back on Tuesday.  I don't want to rob Jewel of ANY of her quality of life, but I don't want her to suffer any more than she has to, either.

Oh no, here come the tears again. :(

She turns 15 in June.  I hope she'll be here for me to have a party for.  I love her so much!

I am thankful that I've met so many kitty people who understand how much I love my babies.  I feel very blessed to have you all in my life.

I'm sorry for the depressing post.  I have a few new pictures to post this weekend.  I'm also sorry we've been so terrible about visiting everyone.

Carmine Update

I thought it was time to give an update on Carmine's recovery.  I'm not sure it's going as well as I'd hoped it would.

Carmine started having diarrhea on Sunday night.  I figured it was from the antibiotics.  It's strange because he's never had a problem with this antibiotic before other than it making him not want to eat much, so I don't know what happened this time.  He only has about two days left of it, so I stopped the medicine until I can talk to the vet and see what she wants me to do.

Unfortunately, he still isn't eating much.  I think this probably means that his throat is still inflamed, which means he'll probably have to go on the steroids next week when we go to see the vet again.

I feel bad for him.  It seems like Carmine got a really stinky hand as far as his health is concerned!

This is an old picture of Carmine. I haven't had a chance to take any new, good pictures of him lately. I really should fix that!

Carmine Update

Before I give my update about Carmine, there's some important information I want to share with all of you.  Tonight, I was going through and reading some of my colleagues' work.  I ran across my colleague, Megan Hamilton, and she has an excellent article about common cat diseases every cat owner should know about: 5 Common Cat Diseases You Should Know About if You Love Your Cat.

She did not compensate me or even ask me to post a link to her article.  But I thought it was well-written and very important, so I hope some of you will check it out.

Carmine was out here earlier for a little bit, but he's been hiding most of the night under my dresser again. He sat in his dinner spot when it was time to eat, so I thought he might eat something, but no, I guess it's just his routine. He ate a whole two bites of dinner, then turned up his nose and ran off. :(

I hope he starts eating more soon. At least I saw him have some kibbles earlier this afternoon.

Carmine's Out of Surgery, But Not Happy

Carmine was not a happy boy today.

He made it through the surgery okay, but he's still not happy. The vet had to extract one tooth (so he has had three extracted total so far) and had to do a root cleaning on one of them. She said his throat and tonsils are inflamed, which could be caused by his teeth or by something else (some big word that I'd never heard before).

He has to go back in two more weeks so we can see if the inflammation in his throat and tonsils has gone down, and if it hasn't, he will have to start a low dose of steroids to see if that helps.

This is an old picture of Carmine.

I just gave him more pain medication and offered him food. He has ZERO interest in food, which is reallly not like him. Thankfully, I know that this is normal (for him) after dental surgery. He probably won't eat a whole lot until he's done with his course of antibiotics (Clavamox).

He's been hiding under my dresser for most of the time we've been back. My poor little orange baby!

Opt to Adopt: Lacey

Today I want to tell you about a very sweet cat named Lacey.

Lacey can often be found hanging out in the front office area of the shelter, begging for pets and scritches. She's a very friendly girl who enjoys playing with other kitties and sometimes even well-mannered dogs. This beautiful tuxedo cat would love a forever home to call her own!

Photo taken from Lacey's PetFinder profile page.

Lacey is up-to-date on all of her vaccines, spayed, microchipped, and litter box trained.

You can see more pictures of Lacey on her PetFinder profile. Or you can go visit Lacey in person by visiting Cat Care Society, located at 5787 W. 6th Avenue in Lakewood, Colorado.

Mancat Monday and a Surgery Update

I have an update on the surgery front.

Our transportation fell through. I asked a few other local friends with cars if they could help us, but none of them are available to help, either. Soooo....this means I will have to use the paratransit system to get Carmine to the vet by 9am, which means I'm going to have to be up by like 6:30! I try not to share much about myself in this blog, but this is actually going to be quite a challenging day for me because I have something called Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder (Delayed Sleep Phase type) - basically, I go to sleep during the day and I'm up all night - opposite of the majority of others.

It's gotten to the point where I can rarely sleep at night (in rare occasions, I can sleep through one night at a time if I'm really, really, really tired). And, when I don't get enough sleep, my pain condition actually get much worse, so I anticipate being in a lot of pain on Tuesday.

But Carmine is worth it!  I don't want him to be in any more pain than he has to be, so I'll make it work.

I just hope all of the transportation falling through isn't a sign from God that I'm supposed to reschedule or something! I worry about Carmine enough going into surgery with all his health issues.

So, if you wouldn't mind saying some prayers for both me and Carmine - that I have the energy to get through the day - and that Carmine comes through surgery with flying colors, I'd really appreciate it!

In other news, last "night" I slept on the couch, which I don't normally do.  Carmine slept at my feet the whole time, and Jewel even came up and slept ON me a few different times! She stayed on me for a long time each time, and she even PURRED!! She doesn't purr often - not unless there's food or treats or her dad is here to visit. It made my day to feel her purring on me.

Carmine's Having Surgery

I talked to the vet office today who agreed that stopping the antibiotic was the best thing to do (I stopped it on Sunday night/Monday morning). They said they could put Carmine on a different antibiotic, but seeing as Carmine's been having trouble with his teeth now for a month and it's affecting not only how he eats but how much he eats, I decided it was best to go ahead and schedule him for surgery to get the tooth/teeth extracted.

He's already in pain again. :( It's so sad!

His surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday. The vet wanted to give him a few days to recover from the number the antibiotic did on his tummy before surgery. God willing, only a few more days of pain for him and then he'll feel better.

Opt to Adopt Sue Sioux

Sue Sioux is a beautiful and sweet tortoiseshell who is awaiting her forever home at Cat Care Society.

Photo taken from her Petfinder profile.

Sue Sioux enjoys being pet and likes her tummy rubbed. She would really like to be the only cat in your home; she does not want to live with other kitties or dogs. She is a very friendly girl. 

You can see her Petfinder profile here.

You can meet Sue Sioux by visiting Cat Care Society, located at 5787 W. 6th Ave. in Lakewood, Colorado. You can visit Cat Care Society's website here. 

Carmine's Not Feeling Well

Carmine's been on his antibiotic - ClindaCure - for a a couple of days now.  I could tell right away it was upsetting his tummy because he didn't eat much of his wet food at dinner since he's been on it.

I just went to watch Carmine in his box (yes, I know, I'm strange, but sometimes I like to make sure he's still urinating since he has FLUTD) and he had lots of diarrhea. :(

Our vet doesn't open until Tuesday. Should I keep giving it to him?

I cannot stand to see him suffer. It hurts me to know that this is making his tummy upset. :(

I think Carmine could use some nice healing purrs and hugs about now.

Purrs and Prayers Needed for Carmine, Please

Carmine went to the vet today. He was not very happy about that (but are they ever?).

The vet looked around in his mouth and found one very unhealthy tooth. She took him back to another room to look at his mouth some more with a light, and she found another tooth that might need to come out, too.

After some discussion, we decided to try antibiotics for him in case he has a small infection in the bone somewhere in his mouth that they can't see without x-rays. He's also back on pain meds.

If he's not better after this, he will need another dental surgery. His last one was only five months ago. :( If he needs the surgery, they will take a dental x-ray to make sure he doesn't have an abscess as well. They will also extract one or two more teeth (he had two extracted last time).

I can't stand to see my baby in pain. It makes me want to cry. He was visibly distressed when the vet poked at the very unhealthy tooth.

Could everyone purr and pray for him? I hate the idea of him needing surgery so soon after the last one, but if the medications don't help, then we will have to do that. Please pray that these medications help.

We'll try to catch up with you all this weekend. This week was pretty busy, and I (the mom) didn't get much sleep, so I apologize for not visiting as frequently.

My Tree!

Jewel and Milita have been using the tree more often. Carmine gets in the bottom level sometimes, but he hasn't been higher than that - at least I haven't seen him go higher. 

Interestingly, Lita, the one who showed no interest in the tree, has been the only one who has gone up to the second highest level. We managed to get a picture of her. :)

Carmine is headed to the vet later. He's eating out the side of his mouth again and he isn't eating as much as he normally does. I can tell he's in pain (he eats out the side of his mouth when his tongue or teeth hurt). Hopefully, the vet will be able to determine what's causing the pain so we can fix it for him. I can't stand to see my little baby in pain. :(

We also received an award, which we will post about later or this weekend.

Tabby Tuesday with Jewel

I bought the babies a tree on Sunday. So far, Carmine and Jewel hang out on the lowest level occasionally. Milita doesn't seem too interested in it yet. Nobody's gone past the lower level. I moved the tree over by the couch where they might like it better. I also sprayed it with catnip mist, so we'll see if that gets anyone using it more.

Here's a picture of Jewel I took earlier.  She's hanging out on the couch.

How was everyone's weekend?

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Carmine: Mom, can I help?

I know this is Christmas paper, but it's all I have around, and I wanted to wrap the birthday present for a friend. :)