Hi Rebecca, that's so wonderful that you found Brooklyn, or rather he
found you! Just wanted to send a short note to say check into giving
him interferon - it's low-dose oral interferon. After my first
losses of my dear FELV cats, I started giving them interferon as a
way of enhancing the immune system. Now since Brooklyn is a kitten,
he could possibly at some point go negative for FELV. Not
necessarily but possibly.
But as long as he's FELV+, interferon may help modulate his immune
system and not get sick. You can get it from a vet, or order form
islandpharmacy.com - there are a variety of prices from vets -
ranging from expensive to cheap, so shop around. The vet I go to
here in Arkansas charges $65 for a small bottle. I found another vet
who sells it for $15 for a whole lot of it. Check out Tally's web
site - about 3/4 down on the page she has links on interferon -
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/stomatitis.html
I'm a vegetarian, btw - was vegan at one time with vegan dogs.
Anyhow - welcome - glad you're here!
Gloria
in Arkansas
On Nov 22, 2005, at 12:47 AM, veggiepugs wrote:
Wow, everyone is so welcoming and wonderful here. thank you so
much. More about my kittyman...His name is
Brooklyn P. O'Malley officially. LOL. My boyfriend named him
Brooklyn because it's a very very special place to us, the
P stands for Putty tat (doh) and O'Malley because he's got orange
fur...makes me think of an irish red-head. LOL. I
found him outside my office on Thursday and he very willingly came
into my arms and into my life. He walked into
my house like he owned the place. lol. Went right up to the dogs
and marked them as his rubbing his face all over
them. My dog Lucy didn't know what to make of it, she kind of
looked as if she were saying "ohmygod what is this!!"
she kind of had a "help me mom!" look in her eyes. My boy Linus
wanted to play with Brooklyn and started doing the
doggy play bow at him and barking at him to instigate him to play.
Brooklyn wasn't startled by him in the least and
just looked at Linus as if to say "And that means what exactly? How
silly you look". LOL. He is absolutely FAN-tastic.
Beautiful, sweet, personable, smart, vocal aannnnd hysterically
funny. He rolls around, acts silly (a big personality plus
for me, I LOVE silly...lol) he even played with a toy I made
him...all it is, is a string with a bell tied to the end, he
loves it! So cute the way they bat it with their paws.
I'm so excited about him because I have never lived with a cat
before or known any very intimately. This is an
experience for me and a wonderful one at that. I am sad to know he
is sick but he is doing so well. Looking at him
and observing his behavior, he appears as a perfectly healthy and
normal cat. He has a RAVENOUS appetite and has
gained some weight already. His belly looks nice and full. lol. His
age has been guesstimated at about 5. He is not a
kitten. I would definitely like to know more about feeding him.
Right now I have him on feline a/d by hill's science
diet (which isn't one of my favorite food companies but...the vets
office gave it to me to fatten him up) and some
kibble which they told me to have out all day for him. Is that right?
I am a VERY serious guardian (don't use the word owner either
Nina...I just can't...lol) about my animals. They are my
children, my family and my life. It's just us here in my cozy
apartment and we live very happily together. (my
goodness I love animals...lol) I also have 2 rabbits, which
Brooklyn hasn't bothered at all. I do all my research and
have always found that having others to talk with has been one of
the greatest helps. I'm so glad I joined here. I read
up on everything and always take my animals to the vet at the sign
of even a sniffle. My animals are VERY important
to me and no less so than any human's life (in fact more so thatn
SOME humans I know...lol)
This is a hot topic whenever I bring it up, and I always hesitate
to do so, but I want to put it out there. I am a vegan
and my dogs are also on a vegan diet for almost 4 years now, vet
supervised and are doing fantastically. I am always
open for discussion on it, as long as it's not offensive. I don't
push others to my ideas, I do it for my own reasons, so
I'll never discuss it here other than mentioning it in this email.
I however, I want to stress that I do NOT intend to try
and change Brooklyn to such a diet at any point. He is too fragile
for that, and cats, being obligate carnivores to
begin with are very difficult to adjust to that kind of diet. (Most
vegans would disagree with my decision, but I'm a
whole different breed. LOL). So, he's the only meat eater in this
house, and his health comes first. SO, that being
said, please offer me any suggestions on diets, foods what I should
feed him, supplements and what dosages I should
be giving him. I will do whatever I must to get him healthy, boost
and keep his immune system up and give him the
best and healthiest life possible.
More about Brooklyn's personality. He's a trip. He lets me know
when he wants something and is usually pretty clear
about what it is. The dogs keep trying to eat his food and get to
his litterbox, so I built a shelf above their food area
where he can jump up and have his food safe from the dogs trying to
steal it. He got used to it in no time. I put his
litterbox in a private place for him and have to get a cover for it
before lucy starts thinking "bon bons!". Ew. He has
had no accidents since his diarrhea cleared up. Other than that, he
has his own collar now which he will soon proudly
wear with his name on it and NO he will not be an outdoor cat at
all. That would be my decision regardless of
whether he was FeLV+ or not. Knowing all the dangers and hazards to
a cat's health and well being that exist outside
when I can't be there to care for a cat is more than I want to
think about. I've seen more than my share of cats and
other animals that meet their fate along the roads. He lives here
with me now so I can give him the best care. He
sleeps in bed with us, snuggled up to my side and wakes me every
morning with loud purring and brushing his face
up against mine. How can you not love that? Again I repeat...HOW
CAN YOU NOT LOVE THAT!
So....thank you SO much for listening, for helping me to give my
new family member a better life and for being so
welcoming and kind. I am glad to be here. Looking forward to diet
recommendations!
Best,
Rebecca, Brooklyn, Linus & Lucy pugs, and Casey & Baxter Rabbit
(and a few nameless spiders about...lol)
Can I attach pictures here? I have some of all the kids if I'm able
to share them. Thanks!
