(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Jewel: Sometimes, I like to hang out in my pink house (the Mom calls it a kitty cube).  Other times, I hang out in my green house.  These houses are quite comfy and make a good place for a nice long snooze.  And here's a bonus -- the humans have a hard time getting me out of here when they want to pill or poke me, MOL!  

HAPPY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY, EVERYONE!

Easy Like Sunday with Milita

Milita: I'm just having a nap while I wait for the human to feed me breakfast.  

What's everyone doing today?  

We hope you have a great Sunday!!

Flashback Friday

This is Jewel shortly after I first met her - nearly 4 years ago now.  So much has changed in her life since then, and she has changed a lot as well.  But one thing remains constant - with each passing day, I love her more and more!

Today is National Hairball Awareness Day.

Please ask (or let) your humans brush you today.  It reduces the incidence of hairballs.

We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Wordless Wednesday with Jewel

Jewel: I love this Yeoww! catnip ball!

The Mom's friends gave her a set of three Yeoww! catnip balls as part of her birthday gift.  Carmine found them first, of course.  He seems to be able to hunt down the source of catnip, but can't find chicken when it's right under his nose (MOL!).  

I was so excited, I came out of the pink cube and almost *stole* Carmine's ball from him!  Thankfully, there are three so there's no need to fight over them. :)

We hope you have a lovely Wordless Wednesday, friends!

Ruby Needs a Forever Home: Opt to Adopt

RUBY

CAT CARE SOCIETY, LAKEWOOD, CO

Photo from Ruby's Adopt a Pet profile page.

Hi, my name is Ruby.  I'm a domestic mediumhair.  I'm a very sweet kitty, but I can be quiet sometimes, and shelter life makes me a little nervous, so I hope you'll be patient and take the time to get to know me.  I would make a wonderful companion.  I prefer a home without other kitties in it.  

Because I'm a senior kitty (almost 13 years young), I am part of the Perpet-U-Care program, which will cover a portion of my medical care for the rest of my life.  

I am up-to-date on my vaccinations and litter box trained.  

Please come visit me at Cat Care Society, located at 5787 W. 6th Avenue in Lakewood, CO.  I look forward to visiting with you!

Please don't forget that the "Spring the Seniors" event is still going on!

Today is also Earth Day.  Happy Earth Day, everyone!  Remember to treat our planet with respect and care.

Mancat Monday: Carmine Update

Hi everyone!  The Mom here with another update on Carmine.

Carmine went to the vet last Tuesday for another weigh in and B12 injection.  Before we went, though, Alana from Cat in the Fridge sent us an interesting article on Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency she thought might help Carmine.  Thank you again, Alana, for thinking of my baby! :)

I brought the article to my vet to discuss with her (you can read the article here if you like).  She told me that she is already treating Carmine for Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) on a trial basis.  She says that the test for it is quite expensive so we are treating for EPI along with Carmine's IBD to see how he responds to the treatment.

When she put Carmine on the scale, she had to double check his numbers; she was pretty shocked, as was I when she told me what it said!  Carmine now weighs 9 pounds 6 ounces!!!  This means he gained 6.5 ounces in two weeks!  He's reached his goal weight, but we are continuing with the appetite stimulant for now to make sure he maintains the weight (and if he gains more, great!).

We discussed how Carmine had been doing.  Unfortunately, we had a little incident where a friend of mine made dinner, but he forgot to cover it up on the stove before we ate, and Carmine snatched a piece of chicken out of it.  There was pasta sauce and tomatoes in the pot along with the chicken, and Carmine's tummy didn't like that at all!  He threw it up on the stove right after he ate his piece of chicken.  Poor kitty!  (My friend felt very bad about it, and he's making sure to cover anything he cooks now!).

We called the hospital to see what to do, and they said he'd be okay, so that was a huge relief!  However, he wasn't eating much after that (it happened a few days before his appointment) so we told the vet about it, and she gave Carmine some kind of shot (something like Pepcid, she said) to calm his tummy.

That shot helped immediately!  Carmine was back to wanting to eat his wet foods and everything that night :)

The vet says that now that Carmine is stable, the next thing we will do is to take away the treatment for the EPI - he takes Prozyme for it - to see how - or if - that affects him.  If he starts losing weight again, we'll know EPI is what he has in combination with the IBD.

Carmine will go back to the vet for another check in and B12 injection next Thursday (May 1).

It makes me so very happy that he is doing so much better!  Praying this will continue for him. :)

Happy Easter

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!!

We hope you all have a blessed day.

Funny Feline Friday

I want to preface this by saying Lita is okay!  We checked her out thoroughly immediately.

Now, with that said....

Yesterday, our friend, D, gave Carmine his appetite pill while I was still asleep.

Apparently, Carmine got SO HUNGRY, he decided it would be a good idea to take a nice chomp out of Lita's behind!!  Lita was NOT happy.  Carmine ran off with gray fur in his mouth!

Poor Lita!

Carmine: Maybe next time the human will listen to me when I say I'm hungry!

How Old Are You?: Poll Results

THE RESULTS ARE IN!!

You remember the poll I posted last week?  The one asking every kitty how old they are?  Well, I've tabulated the results, and here they are!

Sixty-one kitties participated in our survey.

The average age of kitty readers is 8 (well, technically 8.45, but we rounded down).

Ages range from 1 year to 19 years.  

The youngest kitties are Waffles, Sophie, and Caster at one year of age.

The oldest kitties are Merlin and Maestro at 19 years old!  

Thank you to everyone who participated in our survey.  We hope you had fun! :)

Paisley Seeks a Home: Opt to Adopt

Paisley

Cat Care Society, Lakewood, CO

Photo from Paisley's Adopt a Pet profile page.

Hi everyone, I'm Paisley!  I'm a beautiful orange mediumhair tabby.  I give great cuddle, and I love to talk.  I came to the shelter when my human's health declined, and he wasn't able to take care of me anymore.  I prefer a home without young children because I like a nice, quiet environment.

I am approximately 12 years old, which qualifies me for the Perpet-U-Care program.  This program will pay for a portion of my medical care for the rest of my life.  Isn't that a great deal?  I require a special diet, but I am a great kitty companion, and I'm totally worth it.

Won't you please come back Cat Care Society and chat with me a while?

Please don't forget about the Spring the Seniors event currently going on.  Paisley is a wonderful senior cat.

Mancat Monday

Carmine: Even though my catnip cherry doesn't stink anymore, me still likes it.  

We hope you all had a wonderful weekend?  Did you get to do anything exciting?  

Our "How Old Are You?" poll is still open if you haven't had a chance to participate.

How Old Are You: Poll

Earlier, I was reading about how a feline named Phoebe is the oldest cat in the world (currently) at the ripe old age of 25!  According to the article, domestic cats live on average 12-15 years.  

My childhood kitty, Kitty (yes, her name was really Kitty), lived to be 18 years old.  

Angel Emma

Emma lived to be 18 as well.

Jewel

And my sweet Jewel is going to be 16 in June!

Have I gotten lucky with cats who tend to live longer than average or are cats living longer these days, I wonder.  

In any case, this inspired me to take a poll of our furriends.  We want to know: HOW OLD ARE YOU?

Leave us a comment by Wednesday April 16th, telling us how old you are, and we'll tabulate the results!  We'll report the results on Thursday April 17th.  Woofies as well as kitty friends are welcome to participate.  We will calculate separate results for woofies and kitties, so if you are a woofie, please let us know that in the comments, too.

We can't wait to see who is our oldest furriend and who is our youngest furriend!  

Wordless Wednesday

Carmine's a flat cat.

Opt to Adopt: Bob Seeks His Forever Home

Bob

Cat Care Society, Lakewood, CO

Photo from Bob's Adopt a Pet profile. 

Hello, my name is Bob.  I'm a black domestic short-hair.  I'm a little shy at first, but I really like hanging out with my person, and if I'm allowed, I'll even sleep in your bed.  I love to play with catnip toys.  

I'm almost 12 years young, and because of my age, I am on the Perpet-U-Care program, which will pay for a portion of my medical care for the rest of my life.  AND you can take advantage of the "Spring the Seniors" event currently going on here at Cat Care Society when you adopt me!

I am up-to-date on my vaccines, litter box trained, and neutered.

I hope you'll come visit me soon.  I hang out in the upstairs hallway at Cat Care.  

Mancat Monday

Carmine: I'm just hanging out here in the Mom's dresser.  Since it broke, this is one of my favorite cushy spots to have a snooze.

We hope you all have a great Monday!

Jewel's Test Results

Many of you already know about Jewel's test results and have given hugs, prayers, purrs, love, etc.  I appreciate all the support more than I can ever express.

I wanted to let the rest of you know about Jewel's test results, though since I know some of you don't connect with us via Facebook.

I had a chat with the vet on Wednesday morning, and she informed me that Jewel is in advanced kidney disease now.  Jewel's creatinine was 2.9 (she was on fluids daily at this point) and her urine specific gravity was 10:14.  Apparently, it's supposed to be above 10:50.  Jewel's urine specific gravity had been holding at 10:20 for a long time, but it's worse now.

Our vet recommended backing off on the fluids again - to give them to her every other day.  I'm not really sure why, though.

I've been trying to process this information the past couple of days.  I'm just really sad, heartbroken.  I hope that she has a lot of time left with me.  I love her so very much.

Happy Birthday, Mom

Today is a special day.  It our Mom's birthday!!

Our Mom does so much for us; we know that hers loves us so very, very much.  And WE love her, too!

Thank you for loving us so very much and taking such good care of us!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

~Carmine, Milita, and Jewel

Wordy Wednesday: To the Vet We Went

I know it's supposed to be Wordless Wednesday, but I didn't think anyone wanted to wait for an update about Jewel, so it's going to be a Wordy Wednesday, instead.

We ALL went to the vet, so I'll update you on the kitties in the order they were seen.

First up was Milita.  She weighs 12 pounds 5.5 ounces.  Surprisingly, the vet said she only needs to lose a half pound to not be overweight! :)  We've been putting her food up on the cat tree, and recently I got her a Neko fly, which she cannot resist.  It's providing good exercise for her.  I'll try to post pictures or a video of her playing with it soon.  It's adorable.

The vet said she may need her teeth cleaned in six months, but other than that, she is healthy.  She got her vaccines, and then a very grumpy kitty went back into her PTU.

Next, it was Jewel's turn.  If you haven't been reading Facebook, Jewel has been having problems with her right back leg for a few days.  She was limping on it and the leg felt floppy to me - it didn't have the tension her other back leg does.  When I moved her, she seemed to be in pain, and she couldn't make it from one place to another without sitting or laying down between.

Jewel weighed in at 9 pounds 3 ounces - which is UP from her last weigh in!  This is pretty rare for CRF cats, says our vet, so I am quite happy.  Jewel really loves the new Royal Canin s/o kibbles Carmine is prescribed.

They took her blood for her kidney levels and to measure electrolytes, but I won't know anything about the results until later.

The vet took her back into another room to examine her leg.  I could hear my little baby crying, and it was sad.  They took an x-ray of her leg, and nothing's broken.  The vet says she thinks Jewel has a soft tissue injury - probably from jumping off the cat tree or the bed.  The Cosequin made Jewel feel so good that she was eating kibbles on the cat tree for a few days (as you can see in the photo).

We have to keep her from jumping for a week and she is on pain medication.  It sounds like it should heal, which is good.  I just feel bad for her being in pain.

Carmine was last.  Boy was the vet glad to see him after Lita and Jewel!  Lita and Jewel aren't exactly the easiest patients to have, but Carmine is so cooperative.  He's like a little rag doll.

Carmine weighed in at 9 pound 0.5 ounces.  So he's up one ounce :)  We want him to get to at least 9 pounds, 6 ounces, so he has a little ways to go still.  The Cyproheptadine seems to be helping his appetite.  He got his vaccines and his B12 injection.

The vet is lowering Carmine's prednisone to one-half tablet in the morning and one-half tablet at night to see how he does on that.  He goes back in two weeks for another B12 injection and weigh in.

I'll update about Jewel's test results when I know what they are.

Thank you all so much for taking this journey with us.  Having special needs kitties is so very wonderful, but it does come with challenges, too.  I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world, though.  I love my babies SOOO MUCH!

Thank you all for the purrs, prayers, hugs, love, encouragement, etc.  We appreciate your friendship so very much. <3 p="">