Re: BooBoo left us
I am so sorry to hear that BooBoo lost his battle. I know exactly how you feel, as I went through the same thing almost a year ago. My Tomi, Kisa, and Koda will greet him in the place where special kitties go to wait for us to rejoin them. While the pain is so intense at losing our beloved kitties, it is also a relief that they no longer need to suffer, and we no longer need to suffer with them, wondering how much time we have left to spend with them. I know it hurts so much now that you can hardly stand it, but the pain does fade. Your memory, however, will always remain intact of your precious BooBoo. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Lynne To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2008 9:04 PM Subject: BooBoo left us We lost our precious baby tonight. He developed difficulty breathing and we rushed him to the emergency clinic. He was dehydrated and had just had his lungs aspirated Friday. The vet recently experienced the same situation with his Himilayan, co-incidentally, though I sometimes think they make stuff up to identify with your pain. I held his little face in my hand and petted him as did Bob and he slipped away almost immediately. I don't think I've cried this much in my life, Bob too. At this moment I can't imagine ever being happy again. Sounds stupid but BooBoo conveyed to me this evening it was time to go and he thanked us. He was so very weak he could hardly walk but he was still purring as we pet him even with the damn catheter in. We know this was best for him but the worst for us. Thank you all for being so very supportive. Lynne -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.21.3/1306 - Release Date: 3/1/2008 5:41 PM
Re: Panting
My 8 month old kittens also pant briefly after vigorous activity. Wouldn't this be a normal body mechanism to cool itself? One of them also snores quite loudly, and I wonder if that is normal since I've never had a cat snore so audibly before. - Original Message - From: Beth Gouldin To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 5:11 PM Subject: Re: Panting my 6 month old FELV + manx kitten does the same. So did our 9 month old Siamese mix who we had to PTS because of a serious bout with FELV over Christmas. It was normally after careening around the house together but it never really seemed normal. The manx is a loud breather anyway - sometimes on the verge of 'labored' breathing periodically during rest - but more generally just a noisy nose. When she was cked over by our vet other than the FELV+ she was really in good condition considering the odds (she has a partial prolapsed anus that doesn't seem to bother her - we were trying to take care of it when the FELV issue presented itself in the other cat... then we tested her...) We go back in 3 weeks for re-test - we are crossing our fingers ... I googled it (panting) as well and got the same generalized answer which really didn't help - so I'm interested in the answer to Susan's Q. - Beth Gouldin -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.11/1244 - Release Date: 1/25/2008 7:44 PM
Re: OT: diarreah in 6 month old kitten
Just a suggestion, have you ever tried a raw diet? I feed raw, and one thing I've read many times, is that cats with chronic IBD often develop normal poo when fully switched to raw. - Original Message - From: Caroline Kaufmann To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 3:36 PM Subject: RE: OT: diarreah in 6 month old kitten Well, Yoda's favorite thing to do is run across my bed, romp on it and rummage in my pillow! So sometimes there are poopy footprints left on my bed! It's so gross- and I have a multiple junky covers I use as my top sheet to protect my actual bedsheets from getting the Yoda-prints...but still, it's gross and I'm tired of changing it every day after his little party on my bed! He really trashed it one time and my mom was like, I would rather die than sleep in that bed! And I'm a clean-freak/germaphobe-- that's the irony! caroline Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:25:06 -0800 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: OT: diarreah in 6 month old kitten To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Metronidazole can in very rare instances cause convulsions. Very rare though. Untreated giardia is far more dangerous. And, uh, Caroline, if you ever catch giardia from a foster kitty, we're going to have to discuss some grooming issues. Transmission is a fecal to oral route. So don't take playing mamma cat too literally and you should be OK. Caroline Kaufmann [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: No. I didn't want to give him anything that he didn't need. But I do have access to Albon. Incidentally, one of the other fosters told me on Sat.- when I was complaining about Yoda's on going saga- that some of her cats- or a litter that was recently adopted, not sure which, just tested positive for giardia, but they haven't treated yet b/c the vet said that the drug for it can cause seizures and that scared her to death. This is another one of those this is just what I heard. But she wanted to know if Yoda tested pos for giardia (which he didn't and I'm sure he doesn't have- it's a Yoda-specific problem and if he had had giardia, I'd have it by now!), b/c she wanted to know what I decided to do b/c the vet really freaked her out about treating the cats for giardia. Anyone know about this? Caroline Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:06:14 -0600 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: OT: diarreah in 6 month old kitten You know - has he been treated for coccidia? A lot of times my vet will treat for coccidia even if nothing shows up on the fecal, because it is so hard to detect. Metronidazole doesn't cure coccidia...Albon or there is a new drug that does it... On Dec 19, 2007 2:32 PM, Caroline Kaufmann [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have a 6 month old non-felv kitten named Yoda that has had diarrhea pretty much off and on ever since I've had him (Labor Day). Some of you may remember me asking you about Yoda's diarrhea back then (at first I thought it was just the antibiotic for his URI, but he hasn't been on an antibiotic since the first weeks of Sept., so that is out). The vet ran a fecal back in Oct.- nothing. We treated with metro...zole (can't remember the name)-- no difference really. And I have treated him with probiotics just for H of it- I used a whole can up of the Eagle Pack Holistic Remedy for Diarreah (added to his food)- it seemed to make no difference with Yoda, so when it ran out, I stopped using it. I've been adding benebac (sp?) to his wet food at night lately- again, no difference. Don't ask about food and diet changes-- I'm so TIRED of answering those friggin questions-- I mean, this isn't my first time up to bat-- I'm not an idiot. I'm tired of the adoption agency people (those that have to approve Yoda going to the vet) asking me every friggin week about diet changes (um, none!) and the vet's office asking the same. If anyone asks this on Sat. at Cat Adoption Day, I'm going to say: Yeah, I'm trying this new thing were I feed Yoda something different for every meal...and tons of table scraps! Why? Do you think that could be it?! What else? Oh, I took him back to the vet this Monday so they had the Yoda butt to really test for giardia- which I knew it wasn't b/c Yoda is mingled with other fosters and personal cats and they would all have it by now and they don't, but just in case...They did another fecal-- nothing. And I know he's healthy-- he looks like a little greyhound he's so healthy- he's all muscle and lean and just doing wonderful. He never feels bad, but he'll go in the litter box and I will hear these horrible diarrhea, squirty sounds (sorry!) and then he just comes out
Re: Julie has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge
I'm so sorry for you and Julie. These kitties hold such a special place in our lives. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 9:04 PM Subject: Julie has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge Hello everyone, It is with sadness I tell you that Julie's doctor and I helped Julie cross over the Rainbow Bridge yesterday afternoon. She was purring and happy when it happened and she passed peacefully. She was my beautiful 18.5 year old Maine Coon who lived a charmed life and was spoiled to no end. She was a very, very sweet kitty and was never aggressive to anyone or to any fellow animal ever. Her little body had just had it from the hyperT and CRF, and after this last week, I knew it was time. It was such a difficult decision to make though. Part of me felt like it was not my place to make that decision; after all I did not create her life. The other part knew that I could never let her suffer the way my Cricket did when he died from FeLV-related anemia. I knew it would be a matter of days for her and I wanted her to pass without suffering. I took off work to spend the day with her and she had a great day, even being as weak as she was. She enjoyed being outside in the sun; it was a beautiful day. I just want to thank everyone here for your help and encouragment with all my kitties and for being such great listeners. You all are wonderful people. Sincerely, Wendy -- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.14/1172 - Release Date: 12/5/2007 8:41 AM
Re: Litterboxes
I used to use only clumping clay litter, and was never that happy with it. It's terribly dusty, and I found it smelled even when it was fairly fresh. When my anemic kitty started eating it, I tried some alternatives. Now, my favorite as far as price and ease of use is: a rubbermaid container, not huge, but with deeper sides than a regular cat box. I buy a large bag of pine or cedar shavings, and a bag of Yesterday's News litter. I fill the bottom of the container with a thick layer of shavings, probably 6 inches, then a couple inches of yesterday's news on top. Then all I do is scoop the poop, and the pee soaks through down into the shavings. It smells great, and I just dump the whole thing when the shavings become quite wet. The layer of Yesterday's News gives them something to scratch around in, and keeps the pee smell from coming up from the shavings. Another litter I like is called Elegant Cat. It's shaped like Yesterday's News, but its made out of dried alfalfa or grass. This stuff clumps enough that I can scoop the pee as well, but I'm not sure how far this litter is distributed. It's made close to where I live. Cassandra
Re: Coloration of Cat's Pads
I find that the color does vary. When mine are playing, or lazing in a hot sunbeam, the pads look pinker. I think it mainly has to do with how warm they are. Probably the gums are a better indicator, but even those I find vary somewhat in color. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Megan Heikkinen [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 9:34 AM Subject: OT: Coloration of Cat's Pads This is probably a dumb question, but I'm very paranoid after losing Olive, even if my other two are negative. Just because they don't have FeLV, there could always be something else, like Haemobartonella (which I hope they don't have, because then I maybe could have done something for Olive). Also, it's just something I've never thought about, and now I'm interested in finding out the answer even if it's nothing abnormal. Are a cat's pads always supposed to be a nice pink color (if they're pink and not another color, that is)? Or do they change with the cat's behavior--if they've been sleeping and lying around, they'd be paler, or if they've been overly active, they might be redder than usual? I'd assume that their pads would act in the same fashion that our skin does. I'm very pale and can turn very, very red, so I know about sudden changes in skin tone... I'm just not sure if it works the same for cats. Thanks! -Megan -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.487 / Virus Database: 269.13.19/1008 - Release Date: 9/14/2007 8:59 AM
Re: A fun morning link
I love this site, and check it quite often. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2007 7:57 PM Subject: OT: A fun morning link From the hyperT site: www.icanhascheezburger.com Recent Activity a.. 9New Members Visit Your Group New business? Get new customers. List your web site in Yahoo! Search. Yahoo! Groups Get info and support on Samsung HDTVs and devices. Best of Y! Groups Discover groups that are the best of their class. . __,_._,___ -- Don't let your dream ride pass you by. Make it a reality with Yahoo! Autos. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.485 / Virus Database: 269.13.16/1004 - Release Date: 9/12/2007 5:22 PM
Re: Too funny.....
That is hilarious. The wording may actually not be far off what the cat is thinking. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Susan Dubose To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2007 8:14 PM Subject: OT: Too funny. I almost fell off my chair, laughing at this. Warning, tho, graphic language. My felv+cats went crazy trying to get into the computer. They live in the office so they have computer privileges. To my cat family and friends! This is wonderful!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUraEMKs6ys Susan J. DuBose ^..^ www.PetGirlsPetsitting.com www.Tx.SiameseRescue.org www.shadowcats.net As Cleopatra lay in state, Faithful Bast at her side did wait, Purring welcomes of soft applause, Ever guarding with sharpened claws. Trajan Tennent -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.485 / Virus Database: 269.13.12/997 - Release Date: 9/9/2007 10:17 AM
Re: Isabella update and what seems to be working for us.
Good to hear Isabella is doing well. Cassandra - Original Message - From: laurieskatz To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 1:14 PM Subject: Re: Isabella update and what seems to be working for us. Hi all. Isabella is improving again. She is on interferon 7 days on and 7 days off. We opted for transdermal prednisone (once a day) and transdermal tramadol (twice a day). She hates pills. She gets transfer factor sprinkled on her canned food. We have finally found a food she LOVES ~ it's Innova EVO dry. I think someone here suggested it. Anyway, no more tremors or crying out on this regimen. Cutting the pred and inteferon out altogether did NOT work. I know interferon is controversial (some vets think it doesn't work) but since we have a seemingly magical formula FOR NOW, we are sticking with these 3 meds. Last vet check ~ NO temp and highest ever weight. For those who don't know her, she is anemic, has an enlarged spleen and history of high temps, crying out in pain, joint stiffness and tremors and shivering/spasms (we've had her 2 months). Blessings, Laurie -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.11.2/931 - Release Date: 8/1/2007 4:53 PM
Vaccinating kittens of unknown status against FeLV?
I adopted two kittens from a farm who are 8 weeks old right now. They are scheduled to go in for their vaccinations at 10 weeks, and the clinic mentioned that the FeLV vaccination is standard now. I asked if they should be tested first to make sure they don't have FeLV, and they said it didn't matter. I am wondering what your opinions are on this. I don't know if these kittens have ever been exposed, but I do know that 10 weeks is too soon to reliably test for the virus. Is it safe to go ahead and vaccinate, not knowing if they are infected or not? I'm not even positive I want that vaccine, but it may be a good idea. The kittens will eventually be able to go outside in chain-link enclosure that we've built, so it is unlikely they will have contact with other cats, but its always possible some contact could occur through the fence. We live outside of the city now, but there are a few cats belonging to neighbours that wander through from time to time (they mostly stay out of the yard due to our dog). Cassandra
Re: Monkee is gone
I am so sorry for your loss of sweet Monkee. I went through almost exactly the same thing you did less than a month ago, and I can hardly imagine anything worse to have to experience. To watch your best friend pass in such a way is a traumatic and life changing experience. I was hysterical as well when Tomi went into respiratory distress. Just think of how much happiness you brought each other, and even though it was for a short time, you shared a special bond. Think often of the special moments you shared together. I found it helped to do something to honor the memory of your lost companion. I took special pictures of my three lost kitties, blew them up, and got them printed and framed to hang on my wall. I also made a rock garden filled with flowers, etc in which to bury them. Time does heal wounds, though some wounds will always leave scars, at least they don't hurt as much once they heal. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Caroline Kaufmann To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 10:47 AM Subject: Monkee is gone My beloved cat Monkee passed last night in my arms while I held him with my Mom standing next to my side. At about 2:30 a.m. We were going to take him to Dr. Maier's for euthanasia this morning at 8:00 a.m. I thought he could make it until then and that he wouldn't want to go to a strange emergency vet clinic he'd never been to before for his passing. I didn't know he was that bad. I feel so bad. It was so horrible. He was having some trouble breathing, but I was usually able to calm him down by holding him and giving him flower essences. He had begun to have trouble walking and he would cry at me really loudly when he wasn't able to do something he wanted to do because his brain was not getting enough oxygen (like walk around). I didn't want him to be in pain or suffer and I feel like I failed him. He did go really quick, but I was hysterical as it was happening. We were on my bed and I was holding him. He took a last gasp of air and then he stopped. When his body when limp, I felt like I might die too. I think the only thing that helped me and my mom was that she has rescue remedy with her and we both took it right away. It sounds odd to say that, but immediately after it happened, I felt a sense of peace-- for him. I think the rescue remedy helped my breathing at that time. I just held him afterwards and talked to him and pet him and kissed him for about two hours. I told him how wonderful he was and that I would never be the same without him. I walked around the house, sat with him on the porch he loved so much and took him outside for his last time to hold him while sitting on the front steps. I have never had an animal die in my arms like that and to have it be my best friend-- the best companion I've ever had...my heart just feels like it's wrenching in half. I feel guilty and traumatized. I am having a hard time erasing the memories of his passing. When I close my eyes, I see his face as he took his last breath. I don't how to recover from that. I've never been lonely since I had Monkee and now that he's gone, that loneliness is crashing in. I hope all of you are able to continue to care for your cats and give them the peace and love that they so desperately need. I admire those of you who take care of multiple FelV cats and have lost some in the past and continue to keep doing the work that you do. My thoughts and my prayers are now with all of you and your babies. I felt like I didn't have the mental energy to devote many of my prayers in the past few weeks to any cat other than Monkee, but I will be praying for you now. I also wanted to remind everyone that you never really know the power of what love can do for a cat like Monkee, until you experience it. When I found him, he was a crazy, dirty, little ragamuffin eating doves, baby rabbits, and whatever else he could catch in the courtyard of my law school apartment complex in Northern Ky 4 years ago. And four years and 1 month ago, I couldn't take his living it up in the killing fields- as I called it- anymore. It took so long to get him to be a somewhat normal cat. Something bad must have happened to him because he was already neutered when I found him, so he had to have belong to someone. He was deathly afraid of men and it took until probably about this past year for that fear to almost subside. I don't think anyone else in my life (other than myself) believed that he'd ever be trusting, cuddling, sweet, lfunny, love-bug that he was with me. The first time I turned on my radio and my tv after I had brought him into my life, he freaked out and hid under the bed for hours. After lots of love and being spoiled rotten, and having four years to experience as many things as possible, he had truly become my best friend. He would comfort me when something went
Re: Now i've got something of a dilemma
Thank you, it is not out of the question that I may take those kittens yet, but I have alot to think about first. For one, at least those kittens have a home. It may not be the best home in the world, but at least they have a mom, food, and shelter, and it sounds like the mom has hidden them from the dog. There are literally hundreds or more of cats/kittens around here that don't even have that, and are doomed right from the start. I would really like to get my two remaining cats retested for FeLV as well. I'm not sure how long I need to wait on that. They tested negative in March, but still may have gotten the virus over the last few months. I would feel very badly indeed if I brought kittens into the house and infected them. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Gina WN To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2007 1:57 AM Subject: RE: Now i've got something of a dilemma Cassandra, I didn't see your other email saying you had decided not to take them in (before I emailed the one below.) I understand your feelings and there will be those who need you out there when you are ready. Take your time. Take care, Gina Gina WN [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Cassandra, I am not trying to pressure you to keep the babies. I understand the grief you are feeling over your other furbabies, as well as the practical aspects of taking them in. But...how old are the babies? Perhaps mama kitty would not abandon them while in your care. But if she did, perhaps there is a way you can bottle feed them. When we took in our two kittens (almost 15 years ago) they were seven days old. I seem to recall them eating every two hours, then it tapered off each week until they were fully weaned at eight weeks of age. At about the three week mark, on advice from the vet, we slowly began to add a bit of wet kitten food to their formula in a bowl which they began to learn to lap up. (Plus they still got the bottle.) My memory is a little fuzzy after 14+ years. lol But, at some point they started eating from a bowl and were no longer interested in the bottle. I think at about eight weeks. Anyhow, we got help from my sister who lived next door. Is there someone who can help you feed the babies while you are at work? By the way, our bottle babies are still with us. Tigger and Taylor will be 15 years old October 1st. :) Gina Rosenfeldt, Diane [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Cassandra -- This is a toughie, obviously, and I have no practical advice to give, never having had young kittens. But if you can make this work it sounds like a chance for you and your husband (who sounds like a total keeper, BTW!!) to continue the good work you started with your angel kitties. These new ones wouldn't be *replacing* the three you lost, BTW, don't think of it that way. Entertain the possibility that Tomi, Kisa and Koda have something to do with finding these new babies to save. This must be so frustrating -- time isn't on your side here, you obviously can't wait till the kits' feeding schedule is less intense, or they could come to harm, but at the same time, sometimes mom cats do extreme things when they think they and their kits are in harm's way, which she might if they're captured. Is there anyone who could come in for a while and feed the kittens during the day until their feeding schedules are less intense? Or is there maybe a foster person who would give you liberal visitation rights until the kittens are older. It also seems to me that the momcat might be more tameable if the kits weren't an issue, so again, bad timing. Is there a way you could trap them and watch carefully for a while to see what her instincts seem to be when confined? Maybe if she/they were confined outside, rather than go right from barn to house, it would be less of a shock? (I'm just throwing this stuff out as it occurs to me, sorry! Hope some of it is relevant!) Diane R. -- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of C J Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 7:51 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: Now i've got something of a dilemma What worries me, is this mom is used to farm life, and for starters, may not even want to live with us. If she abandons her babies by being moved here (I would lock her in a room with them, but she still could abandon them), I don't know that I am able to feed the babies, both my husband and I work mon-fri, 8 hours a day. We live 20-25 min drive away from work outside of the city. It is possible to come home at lunch time, but that gives us only 10-15 mins to feed the babies. How often do babies need to eat? Isn't it every couple of hours? And how long do they need to eat that frequently. I could probably take a few days off
Re: Ki
Praying for you and Ki. Cassandra - Original Message - From: dede hicken [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2007 6:54 AM Subject: Ki ---I think we are really in trouble here. His whole breathing patern has changed. I've never seen it before, but I think he has fluid in his belly. I am scared to death. It is Sat, and we are in such a rural area. If I have to sit here tomorrow and watch him die, it would kill me. I am just sick at heart. He still has the fever. I haven't even given him the IR, and I'm now sure it would do any good. Bless my little guy. Dede When you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God Mosiah 2:17 Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/222 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.14/880 - Release Date: 6/29/2007 2:15 PM
Immunity to FeLV?
I'm wondering, and I can't seem to find this informationif cats are exposed to the FeLV virus and fight it off (don't become infected), do they develop an immunity to it, as if they had a vaccination? I know my 9 and 12 year old cats must have been exposed to the virus many times. They lived in close proximity to Tomi and Kisa for 2.5 years. They licked out each other's dishes, used the same litterboxes, etc. They both tested negative for the virus in March, and I am curious if they will have developed an immunity to it, or do they need to fight the virus every time they are exposed? Basically i'm wondering if I were to take in more cats with an unknown history (may or may not have FeLV), if I should have my two older cats vaccinated. I want to have the two retested for FeLV again as well to make sure they didn't pick it up in the last few months. How long would one need to wait to make sure they are negative? Cassandra
Re: Ki is an Angel
Dede, i'm so sorry that Ki has passed. It is these days that are the hardest to get through. When Tomi left me, I alternated between not being able to believe he was gone, and feeling like he's been gone forever. It hurts so much, but try to think of him often, and allow yourself to cry as much as you need to. Though i'm not always sure, I try to believe that their spirits live on, and something happened with Tomi that makes me a little more certain that perhaps their spirits do persist. A few hours after Tomi died, I leaned over to kiss his forehead. In that exact moment, when I opened my eyes and looked at him, there was a rainbow across his face. I have a kitty ornament in the window that my dad gave me years ago, and the sun was reflecting through it in such a way at that exact time, that it shone on his face in a rainbow of color. Could it have been a coincidence? I suppose so, but that is sure a crazy coincidence if that's all it was. Maybe Tomi and Ki are introducing themselves to each other right now, and telling each other all about us. Cassandra - Original Message - From: dede hicken [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2007 12:09 PM Subject: Ki is an Angel It is with the heaviest of hearts that I let you know Ki left this world at 10 this AM. It was sooo hard for me. I noticed last night that his belly looked really full. The way he was breathing was weird also. You could see his head and chest moving. His eyes had brightened up though, and the fever had gotten better, but it kept spiking. He even ate a few pieces of food by himself. The vet drained his belly, and it was thick straw colored with fibrin strands...heavy protein. My biggest fear was that he would crash tomorrow when I couldn't get to a vet, and he would have a horrible death. Maybe the move stressed him, or maybe I should have never put him in with most of the cats. I dunno...I could go crazy asking what if's I guess I believed he would be one of the lucky ones. He came from a horrible home...many FeLV cats and death. His siblings and mother were neg and I was sure he would beat it. It was only a faint pos. He had a fever like this last Nov, but recovered, I am so grateful for the time I had with him. He came to me the week before my beloved Smokey died. I didn't even know he was pos. but we kept him in the bedroom, and played with him, and loved and slept with him. He was a pistol, and rough to play with! I hope he doesn't forget us, and the time will come when we can all be together forever. May the Lord bless you sweet one, and keep you in his care until we meet again. Dede When you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God Mosiah 2:17 Bored stiff? Loosen up... Download and play hundreds of games for free on Yahoo! Games. http://games.yahoo.com/games/front -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.14/880 - Release Date: 6/29/2007 2:15 PM
Re: Birds
I love the birds as well. We've lived at this house for 2 summers now, and we have far more birds this summer than last. Just 3 weeks ago, we put up a few feeders to encourage all these beautiful birds to stay, and they love them. We put a 4x4 post in the ground right in front of our living room picture window (the window all of our cats loved to look out of), with a bird feeder on top, and another hanging off the side. The feeders are constantly busy, mostly with gold finches. There must be dozens of gold finches hanging out in our yard. We also have a pair of doves, a few nuthatches, chickadees, bluejays, and various types of sparrows. We mainly just feed sunflower seeds as all the birds like them. My 2 remaining cats enjoy watching the birds as well, though they mostly seem interested in the hummingbirds (we put up a couple of hummingbird feeders as well). Cassandra - Original Message - From: Susan Dubose To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2007 7:22 AM Subject: OT: Birds When I moved to this new house, a few months back, I was determined to make it as wonderful for my cats as I could. They deserve it. Below is an email from a client of mine that has a bird sanctuary in his backyard, as well as a Koi pond that I tend to when he his wife are out of town. There are some good tips to attracting birds for my cats to enjoy, plus it helps the birds. Being this is Texas, hopefully some of the info will help anyone on this list who would like to attract more birds Dear Susan, I get my stuff at Wild Birds Unlimited: Westwoods Shopping Center 3267 Bee Caves Road, Ste. 121 Austin, TX 78746 When Isabelle was alive I did not try to attract birds into the yard because she was such an efficient killing machine. After she died I started to try to attract birds into the yard. The basics include food, water and cover along with sustainable gardening. A few years ago Kay started to deliberately plant varieties of flowers, bushes and vines on which butterflies nectar and lay eggs. The commonest plants for eggs are passion vine for Gulf Fritillary and pipevine for Pipevine Swallowtails. She continues to add other varieties as she finds them in nurseries and we have over 30 species of butterflies in the yard on a casual count. We have always had nesting titmice, cardinals, mockingbirds, Carolina wrens, jays along with hummingbirds in the summer. I have plenty of cover, being adjacent to the woods next door, along with the Agarita bush and all of the perimeter plantings of youpon and boxwood. I have several sources of water which is always moving. I have a small sprayer which drips into a cup about a foot off the ground, and an Indian metate into which water constantly drips. These are surrounded by plants affording some protection. I have the large disappearing fountain that seems to be favored by the goldfinches although others bathe in it. The birds like shallow water which is moving and they like the little splash in the urn which I had disconnected when you were coming to lessen water loss from splashing. They like to get in the wet boxwood leaves from the splashing of the urn and bathe too. I get food at WBU. The wrens like the meal worms and so do the titmice. I have then in an exclusion feeder so that the mockingbird cannot get in; he has a tendency to run everyone else off. He makes a good meal out of some of the butterflies and caterpillars. The thistle seed in a yellow capped feeder attract specifically the goldfinches. I first saw them here when some of the flowers would go to seed. With the feeder they are here year round and have raised babies which depletes the thistle seed at a rapid rate. The green feeder is used by the jays, cardinals, titmice and house finches. The spring is set to discourage the white wing doves and squirrels. I note that the ruby throated hummingbird prefers blooming flowers over the feeder. This past winter a rufuous hummingbird showed up at the green sunflower feeder when we had the ice storm. That is when I got the hummingbird feeder and put it out. At first I thought that I was too late, but a few days later he came back and stayed about a week before going back to the northwest for the spring. He usually winters in south Austin, so I was pleased to have him here. During the spring we had a chipping sparrow, a magnolia warbler, an orange crowned warbler and a yellow warbler. . So, with food, water and cover I believe you can increase the number of birds in your yard; it the cats are a problem try butterfly gardening; cats are not much of a threat to them. g Susan J. DuBose ^..^ www.petgirlspetsitting.com www.tx.siameserescue.org www.shadowcats.net The storm can't down the castle, it can only shift the stones.
Re: Immunity to FeLV?
Thanks for the info, I didn't think you had to wait that long. I guess my options are to wait 6 months before taking in more kitties, or else hope that since my two didn't get infected in 2.5 years, that it is unlikely they got infected in the last few months. What about FIP...if Tomi had it, is that something I need to worry about with my two remaining cats? A few hours after he died, there was a yellowy/orange fluid that started coming out of his nose. Is this a sign he may have had FIP? Cassandra - Original Message - From: Susan Dubose To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2007 12:54 PM Subject: Re: Immunity to FeLV? I have heard many different answers to this. I have heard retest in 3 months after the exposure, retest in 4 months, and retest in 3 months but again @ 6 months. I have 12 foster cats that were exposed to a cat that is felv+, and it has been 2 months. I plan to retest in 4 months. I will be putting them up for adoption if they all come up neg/neg. And of course I will tell the potential adopter about the exposure. Right now I have them separated 6 / 6. If one comes up positive in one group, I will start over again on the quarantine. Please someone correct me if I am wrong, or if you have any other advise. I joined this list to learn :) Susan J. DuBose ^..^ www.PetGirlsPetsitting.com www.Tx.SiameseRescue.org www.shadowcats.net As Cleopatra lay in state, Faithful Bast at her side did wait, Purring welcomes of soft applause, Ever guarding with sharpened claws. Trajan Tennent - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2007 10:54 AM Subject: Immunity to FeLV? I'm wondering, and I can't seem to find this informationif cats are exposed to the FeLV virus and fight it off (don't become infected), do they develop an immunity to it, as if they had a vaccination? I know my 9 and 12 year old cats must have been exposed to the virus many times. They lived in close proximity to Tomi and Kisa for 2.5 years. They licked out each other's dishes, used the same litterboxes, etc. They both tested negative for the virus in March, and I am curious if they will have developed an immunity to it, or do they need to fight the virus every time they are exposed? Basically i'm wondering if I were to take in more cats with an unknown history (may or may not have FeLV), if I should have my two older cats vaccinated. I want to have the two retested for FeLV again as well to make sure they didn't pick it up in the last few months. How long would one need to wait to make sure they are negative? Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.14/880 - Release Date: 6/29/2007 2:15 PM
Re: do you ever.......
I checked my babies alot when they were sick, and a few times my heart stopped because they seemed too still. It is cute that yours just fall asleep anywhere, they are just like kittens then. Mine tend to only sleep in their beds. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Susan Dubose To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 10:15 PM Subject: do you ever... Walk into a room and one of your felv+ cats is asleep somewhere, so peaceful and still, you are afraid that he/ she has passed in their sleep? Lola (Princess Naughty Lola) is like that, a lot. I have to touch her and make sure she is ok... And ruffle her furrage.. Purr-la (my Kannibal Kitty, felv-) is like that too. It's like she can just stop, drop sleep where ever she is, the most peaceful sleep. I find her in the oddish places, fast asleep Like asleep in the hall, right in the center of activity. The other cats are jumping over her, playing w/ her tail stuff. She just sleeps And she can sleep for hours...and hours... I wonder if her life prior to me was so stressful that she is just catching up? I have had her 5+ yrs. now..Makes you wonder. Susan J. DuBose ^..^ www.PetGirlsPetsitting.com www.Tx.SiameseRescue.org www.shadowcats.net As Cleopatra lay in state, Faithful Bast at her side did wait, Purring welcomes of soft applause, Ever guarding with sharpened claws. Trajan Tennent -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.12/878 - Release Date: 6/28/2007 5:57 PM
Re: Suzie crossed the bridge
I'm so sorry you lost Suzie and Lucky Lady. I know you are going through a really tough time right now, and I can definately relate. I've been wondering as well if there's something I am doing wrong, or some kind of virus/disease in my house that could contribute to my losing 3 kitties in the space of a month and a half, when I had nothing but healthy kitties for 12 years. It is so tough to pinpoint a cause though, and it may be just a run of bad luck. I always thought cats were hardy, and could expect to live 20 years as the norm, but I see now they are alot more fragile than I thought. It may be nothing more than coincidence that they seem to all get sick at the same time. The stress of worrying about your babies, and worrying about doing all you can to help them tends to wear one down alot. You are in my thoughts, and hopefully things will calm down for you and your babies soon. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Kelley Saveika To: felvtalk Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 8:37 AM Subject: Suzie crossed the bridge She was a sweet girl who liked to sit in laps, but didn't like other cats much. She was positive for FIP. Dr Samon euthanized her this morning. I wish I had been there, but they said she was comatose.. -- Rescuties - Saving the world, one cat at a time. http://www.rescuties.org Vist the Rescuties store and save a kitty life! http://astore.amazon.com/rescuties-20 Please help Caroline! http://rescuties.chipin.com/caroline I GoodSearch for Rescuties. Raise money for your favorite charity or school just by searching the Internet with GoodSearch - www.goodsearch.com - powered by Yahoo! -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.10/876 - Release Date: 6/28/2007 10:56 AM
Re: Anemia Issues
I know exactly what you are going through, as I joined this list in March because my Tomi was anemic and tested positive for FeLV. He received a transfusion, and even did well for awhile. His red blood cells were increasing on their own, but then they decreased again. They went so low, that he crashed and I thought he would die. He was too weak to get up, and his breathing was rapid. Suddenly he got better again, and I had another 2 months with him (though he never got back to normal range). I had him on Interferon, Lysine, Transfer Factor, and Mega C Plus. Whether these helped to extend his life, or did nothing, I don't know. Never give up hope that Monkee can pull through this, as sometimes that is all you have, but be prepared and enjoy the time you have with him to the fullest. Take lots of pictures and tell him that you love him everyday. I'm sure he will enjoy the extra attention, and if he is able to beat this, you will be closer than ever. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Caroline Kaufmann To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 11:14 AM Subject: Anemia Issues Hi everyone. I wanted to provide an update on my FeLV pos. and lymphosarcoma cat Monkee. He saw his Vet yesterday to determine whether the Epogen had helped his anemia. The news was very bad. Apparently last week, when the anemia started, his Red Blood cell count was 13%. After a week ( 3 doses of the Epogen), his RBC count was actually worse, 10%. However, Monkee's White Blood Cell count is normal (it was down last week) and his lymphocyte count is normal. Dr. Daley also found a lymph node in his groin that is enlarged (but it can't be felt from the outside- it runs along the artery in the leg). His Vet said she thinks the FeLV is causing the problem, or it could be the lymphosarcoma, but when pressed, she said that she honestly doubted it was the cancer. She presented 3 options: (1) a bone marrow aspirate/biopsy to determine what is going on at the cellular level; however, it is invasive and Monkee would need sedation- which he couldn't get anyway while so anemic (so he'd need a blood transfusion 1st, just to be able to do the biospy); However, the biopsy, in her opinion, would probably just tell us it's FeLV causing the anemia; (2) a blood transfusion to literally buy me more time with him; (3) try another dose of chemo in hopes that the anemia is being caused by lymphosarcoma, although, as I said previously, she doubted it and that was a shot in the dark. My mother and I did not want to put this cat through chemo again (although he did very well with the first round). But now that he is actively anemic, there was no way I would do it, especially knowing that Dr. Daley really didn't think the chemo would actually help the situation. We also didn't want to put him through a bone marrow biopsy that would probably tell us what we already know, but don't want to admit.that for four years, I had the healthiest, beefiest, toughest cat in the world, who never even suffered from a urinary tract infection; who was so healthy, I wanted to test him a 3rd time this summer for FeLV because I was sure he didn't have it..To now, out of nowhere, in a span of 2 months, we have gone from that, to a severely anemic, suffering, FeLV cat with lymphosarcoma. Dr. Daley gave him days. Days. Which my mom and I were not prepared to hear at all. I mean, he is eating, drinking, using the litter box, he is thick (he was slightly overweight to begin with, so that is helping him now). Yes, he's not Monkee as I have known him, but he just doesn't look to me like he's on his last leg. When we questioned her on the days prognosis she explained that due to the FeLV virus, and the anemia, his body is not making RBC and his brain is not getting enough oxygen and although he seems okay now, he is dizzy, lightheaded, probably having vertigo, and all of that will continue to get worse because his body is not manufacturing RBC- which carry oxygen in the blood, and eventually, his eating/drinking and making it to the litter box will all drop off. We asked what could be done and she said, if you are not ready yet, she recommended the blood transfusion, which will give him about two weeks, and then the benefits of the transferred blood will wear off and he will start suffering the anemia symptoms again because his body is not producing it's own RBC. She also said that morally, with FeLV cats, she will do 2 blood transfusions, and then that is it. It is fighting a losing battle and that is as far as she will take it. I was wrecked and my mother was crying too. I decided to pull myself together and still take Monkee to the Holistic Vet, Dr. Susan Maier, after we left Dr. Daley's. It was our first visit and I thought, I am so desperate right now, it can't hurt. A funny story about this visit: Monkee
Re: Now i've got something of a dilemma
Well I haven't taken these kittens in yet, and probably won't. The mother moved them, and the farmer doesn't even know where they are now (and probably didn't look very hard). I think that it might not be the best idea to take them anyway, since the mom is half wild and there would be a good chance she could abandon the babies. I am unable to feed them every 2 hours, and I don't know anyone that could or would be able to. The babies may be better off taking their chances where they are. I'm still not really ready to take in more kitties, but my husband wants to. The thing is, as soon as you mention you might be interested in adopting, it seems everyone has kittens they want to get rid of. We've been offered kittens by about 6 different people. It is a bit overwhelming the number of unwanted kittens, especially at this time of year. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 10:42 PM Subject: Now i've got something of a dilemma My husband works with a young guy who lives with his parents on a farm. These people have barn cats, who they basically care very little about. Well one of the cats had kittens a couple of days ago, and got cornered by a dog. By the looks of how scratched up the dog was, she put up a good fight, but the dog ate all but 2 of the kittens. The farmers don't care about the kittens at all, so they may still be in danger from the dog. My husband, feeling empty and sad by all that we've been through, and wanting to make me happy again, offered to take the mom and babies. I seriously don't know what to make of this. On the one hand, it is far far too soon for me take in anymore kitties, especially three of them. By the sounds of it, momma is half wild as she doesn't receive much attention from humans. She is used to being outside on the farm, and I don't know how she would handle coming into a strange house all of a sudden. It is possible she might get stressed out and not take care of her little ones? I also wanted to test my remaining two cats for FeLV in about 6 weeks, to make sure they haven't picked it up. I didn't want to expose any kittens to the virus. Plus I don't know if this momma is even healthy. She could have the virus herself, or any other number of things. She will never have been vaccinated. If I was going to get more kitties, I wanted to check out their backgrounds a little bit. On the other hand, these poor kitties may or may not survive on the farm. Nobody cares about them. Plus, ever since I was 9 years old and watched a mother cat give birth and watched the kittens grow, i've wanted to experience that again. I know I could give them a much better life. I just know i'm not ready to make this sort of decision. I've got open wounds that will take a long time to heal, and just replacing my 3 lost babies so quickly is not the way to heal. I wasn't even sure I wanted to get more cats, and definately wanted to wait quite awhile. I felt both appalled and excited when my husband told me that he had offered to take the kitties in. When it hurts so much, sometimes you just want to try filling those empty places in your heart. I know its difficult to give me any advice on this one, but I just needed to tell someone. You have all been friends to me through the rough times. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.7/868 - Release Date: 6/25/2007 12:20 PM
Re: Now i've got something of a dilemma
What worries me, is this mom is used to farm life, and for starters, may not even want to live with us. If she abandons her babies by being moved here (I would lock her in a room with them, but she still could abandon them), I don't know that I am able to feed the babies, both my husband and I work mon-fri, 8 hours a day. We live 20-25 min drive away from work outside of the city. It is possible to come home at lunch time, but that gives us only 10-15 mins to feed the babies. How often do babies need to eat? Isn't it every couple of hours? And how long do they need to eat that frequently. I could probably take a few days off work to look after them, but do they need to eat that frequently for a whole 4 weeks? I really know nothing about looking after baby kittens. I just don't want to do more harm than good here. Cassandra
Re: Tomi has joined Kisa and Koda
Tomi may have had wet FIP at the end, I don't know, but he was very anemic as well. For the last week, his belly was swollen, and he was eating and drinking alot, but still getting thinner. Does that sound like FIP? I don't know where he would get that from. Not that it matters I suppose, because he just couldn't deal with the anemia by itself, nevermind FIP thrown in. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Susan Dubose To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 4:08 PM Subject: Re: Tomi has joined Kisa and Koda Hi Cassandra, I am sorry to hear about your recent loses, losing 3 cats so close together must have been very hard on you. Question, was Tomi's labored breathing panting due to his felv+ morphing into wet FIP? Susan - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 3:05 PM Subject: Tomi has joined Kisa and Koda I've just lost my closest friend other than my husband. Tomi and I have had a special bond ever since my husband brought him home. My husband was out walking the dog by the river in October of 2004, on a cold and rainy day. There was a kitten crying in the trees, cold and wet, and my husband couldn't just leave him there. I wasn't impressed at first, since we already had 4 cats, but Tomi quickly won me over. I've had a very close bond with him ever since. He was very timid at first, hiding whenever there was a strange noise or person, we often wondered how my husband was able to catch him to bring him home. His tail had been broken at the end at one time too, it sort of looked like a question mark when it was straight up. Tomi quickly came around though and trusted us, though he still always hid when any strangers came to the house. Tomi was the type of loving boy that always acknowledged your presence when you touched him or talked to him...or even looked at him sometimes. He never showed any signs of annoyance when I gave him too many hugs/kisses, and never got angry. 3.5 months ago when I found out he was anemic and had FeLV, I was devastated. I watched him slowly decline for nearly 2 months until he crashed and I was sure he would die. Amazingly he bounced back and gave me another good 8 weeks with him. Except during this time I had to watch Koda and Kisa (Tomi's close buddy) get sick and die, so I didn't get to spend as much time with my Tomi as I would have liked. Then just a few days after Kisa died on June 12, Tomi got sick and crashed again with the anemia. He was having a hard time breathing, and again he bounced back. Last week he had a huge appetite, eating everything I gave him, and drank lots of water. Yesterday, he started to crash again. Today, he was eating a little bit of liver I gave him and still drinking, but his breathing was becoming more labored. Then around noon, he began panting, and I watched him die in a way that will haunt me forever. He was so scared and crying because he couldn't catch his breath. This is absolutely the worse thing i've ever experienced. A huge part of the happiness in my life is now gone. I guess i'll just wander around like a zombie for awhile, and maybe the pain will eventually turn to numbness. Thank you all for the support you've given me through all of this. It looks like this ordeal that has been going on nonstop since March 9 is now over. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.9.6/863 - Release Date: 6/23/2007 11:08 AM
Re: Tomi has joined Kisa and Koda
Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. Knowing there are people out there who truly understand and care without having ever met myself or my babies means so much to me. This is a link to a picture I made the first time Tomi was sick, and have since had printed and framed (Tomi is on the left, Kisa on the right): http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v43/Fyrwulf/FirstSpacetrip5.jpg . Now that they are both gone, I guess it is even more fitting. Here is another pic that I like of them: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v43/Fyrwulf/Kissing.jpg Today is still pretty tough for me. I still can hear Tomi's cries at the end, and it is breaking my heart. Everytime I think of it, I just feel like punching something. I felt so useless and terrified for him. I realize I lost my best friend after my husband yesterday. Even if we were to get another kitten or two one day, I don't think i'll ever have as close a bond again as I did with Tomi. I just wish he could have stayed for longer than the 2.5 years I had with him. My house feels so empty now. I can no longer give my little boy a good long hug when I feel upset. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 3:05 PM Subject: Tomi has joined Kisa and Koda I've just lost my closest friend other than my husband. Tomi and I have had a special bond ever since my husband brought him home. My husband was out walking the dog by the river in October of 2004, on a cold and rainy day. There was a kitten crying in the trees, cold and wet, and my husband couldn't just leave him there. I wasn't impressed at first, since we already had 4 cats, but Tomi quickly won me over. I've had a very close bond with him ever since. He was very timid at first, hiding whenever there was a strange noise or person, we often wondered how my husband was able to catch him to bring him home. His tail had been broken at the end at one time too, it sort of looked like a question mark when it was straight up. Tomi quickly came around though and trusted us, though he still always hid when any strangers came to the house. Tomi was the type of loving boy that always acknowledged your presence when you touched him or talked to him...or even looked at him sometimes. He never showed any signs of annoyance when I gave him too many hugs/kisses, and never got angry. 3.5 months ago when I found out he was anemic and had FeLV, I was devastated. I watched him slowly decline for nearly 2 months until he crashed and I was sure he would die. Amazingly he bounced back and gave me another good 8 weeks with him. Except during this time I had to watch Koda and Kisa (Tomi's close buddy) get sick and die, so I didn't get to spend as much time with my Tomi as I would have liked. Then just a few days after Kisa died on June 12, Tomi got sick and crashed again with the anemia. He was having a hard time breathing, and again he bounced back. Last week he had a huge appetite, eating everything I gave him, and drank lots of water. Yesterday, he started to crash again. Today, he was eating a little bit of liver I gave him and still drinking, but his breathing was becoming more labored. Then around noon, he began panting, and I watched him die in a way that will haunt me forever. He was so scared and crying because he couldn't catch his breath. This is absolutely the worse thing i've ever experienced. A huge part of the happiness in my life is now gone. I guess i'll just wander around like a zombie for awhile, and maybe the pain will eventually turn to numbness. Thank you all for the support you've given me through all of this. It looks like this ordeal that has been going on nonstop since March 9 is now over. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.9.6/863 - Release Date: 6/23/2007 11:08 AM
Now i've got something of a dilemma
My husband works with a young guy who lives with his parents on a farm. These people have barn cats, who they basically care very little about. Well one of the cats had kittens a couple of days ago, and got cornered by a dog. By the looks of how scratched up the dog was, she put up a good fight, but the dog ate all but 2 of the kittens. The farmers don't care about the kittens at all, so they may still be in danger from the dog. My husband, feeling empty and sad by all that we've been through, and wanting to make me happy again, offered to take the mom and babies. I seriously don't know what to make of this. On the one hand, it is far far too soon for me take in anymore kitties, especially three of them. By the sounds of it, momma is half wild as she doesn't receive much attention from humans. She is used to being outside on the farm, and I don't know how she would handle coming into a strange house all of a sudden. It is possible she might get stressed out and not take care of her little ones? I also wanted to test my remaining two cats for FeLV in about 6 weeks, to make sure they haven't picked it up. I didn't want to expose any kittens to the virus. Plus I don't know if this momma is even healthy. She could have the virus herself, or any other number of things. She will never have been vaccinated. If I was going to get more kitties, I wanted to check out their backgrounds a little bit. On the other hand, these poor kitties may or may not survive on the farm. Nobody cares about them. Plus, ever since I was 9 years old and watched a mother cat give birth and watched the kittens grow, i've wanted to experience that again. I know I could give them a much better life. I just know i'm not ready to make this sort of decision. I've got open wounds that will take a long time to heal, and just replacing my 3 lost babies so quickly is not the way to heal. I wasn't even sure I wanted to get more cats, and definately wanted to wait quite awhile. I felt both appalled and excited when my husband told me that he had offered to take the kitties in. When it hurts so much, sometimes you just want to try filling those empty places in your heart. I know its difficult to give me any advice on this one, but I just needed to tell someone. You have all been friends to me through the rough times. Cassandra
Re: Ki update
That's good Ki is doing better. I'm hoping that he keeps going strong. Sometimes they can suprise us with how strong they are. Cassandra - Original Message - From: dede hicken [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 10:52 AM Subject: Ki update Ki seems to be a bit better. He is snacking on dry food. Won't eat wet unless it's raw chicken. Fever got down to 102.8 yesterday, and is back up to 103 this AM. At least he is out of the 104 range. I dunno. He could be a lot worse off as we all know. Dede When you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God Mosiah 2:17 Building a website is a piece of cake. Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.7/868 - Release Date: 6/25/2007 12:20 PM
Re: Another Update:Re: OT: Regarding a freak accident
It is good to hear your husband is doing well. Just make sure he listens and does what the doctor wants him to, and hopefully he'll recover close to 100%. Cassandra - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 10:24 AM Subject: Another Update:Re: OT: Regarding a freak accident Hi all, Wanted to update let you know my husband is home now. He has already went to the Dr. had his dressing change. He is wearing a temporary cast until Thursday the 28th then the Dr will put on the regular cast. He has been cantankerous ole fart but is getting better. The Dr. is proud of how the surgeries have went. As long as my husband listens he should recover but he won't be 100% considering the damage the arm has suffered. I can tell you from experience when I was in nursing years ago his arm is doing well. The swelling has gone down quite a bit. Coloring of the arm is good even though it is bruised. The pain he has is from the surgery sight which is normal. It is also telling me he is starting to heal. He is using his fingers some which is the most important thing. His appetite is back and eating junk foods again...guess there are some things I can't change...lmao! I want to thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers! As we need them! I was recently told that I have lost some weight and aging somegeez can't imagine why...lmao That isn't too encouraging on the aging part! My luck has been horrible in the last year or so. It has just got to get better! This hasn't been easy. I always thought when you start growing older that things get better and easier...lmao! Terrie Mohr-Forker TAZZY'S ANIMAL TRANSPORTS SIAMESE COLLIE RESCUE Donations accepted at: https://www.paypal.com/ http://www.tazzys-siameses-collies.petfinder.org/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wasiameserescue http://hometown.aol.com/tatorbunz/myhomepage/petmemorial.html http://www.felineleukemia.org/ http://www.hometown.aol.com/tatorbunz/index.html http://www.petloss.com/ -- See what's free at AOL.com. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.7/868 - Release Date: 6/25/2007 12:20 PM
Tomi has joined Kisa and Koda
I've just lost my closest friend other than my husband. Tomi and I have had a special bond ever since my husband brought him home. My husband was out walking the dog by the river in October of 2004, on a cold and rainy day. There was a kitten crying in the trees, cold and wet, and my husband couldn't just leave him there. I wasn't impressed at first, since we already had 4 cats, but Tomi quickly won me over. I've had a very close bond with him ever since. He was very timid at first, hiding whenever there was a strange noise or person, we often wondered how my husband was able to catch him to bring him home. His tail had been broken at the end at one time too, it sort of looked like a question mark when it was straight up. Tomi quickly came around though and trusted us, though he still always hid when any strangers came to the house. Tomi was the type of loving boy that always acknowledged your presence when you touched him or talked to him...or even looked at him sometimes. He never showed any signs of annoyance when I gave him too many hugs/kisses, and never got angry. 3.5 months ago when I found out he was anemic and had FeLV, I was devastated. I watched him slowly decline for nearly 2 months until he crashed and I was sure he would die. Amazingly he bounced back and gave me another good 8 weeks with him. Except during this time I had to watch Koda and Kisa (Tomi's close buddy) get sick and die, so I didn't get to spend as much time with my Tomi as I would have liked. Then just a few days after Kisa died on June 12, Tomi got sick and crashed again with the anemia. He was having a hard time breathing, and again he bounced back. Last week he had a huge appetite, eating everything I gave him, and drank lots of water. Yesterday, he started to crash again. Today, he was eating a little bit of liver I gave him and still drinking, but his breathing was becoming more labored. Then around noon, he began panting, and I watched him die in a way that will haunt me forever. He was so scared and crying because he couldn't catch his breath. This is absolutely the worse thing i've ever experienced. A huge part of the happiness in my life is now gone. I guess i'll just wander around like a zombie for awhile, and maybe the pain will eventually turn to numbness. Thank you all for the support you've given me through all of this. It looks like this ordeal that has been going on nonstop since March 9 is now over. Cassandra
Re: Tomi is worse off than I thought
Kisa and Tomi weren't related. Kisa was about a month older than him. They were very close though, so one may have passed it on to the other, just like one likely passed the FeLV to the other. I'm giving Tomi dexamethasone, even though the vet didn't presribe it, about .5 cc twice a day. That's about 5mg per day. I thought about a transfusion, but he's had one already, and he's having troubles getting his HCT back to normal range even when the Hemobart is gone. I don't think I should put him through the stress of a transfusion because all that would do is buy him some time. He needs to be able to produce those red blood cells on his own. The vet believes the FeLV is suppressing his bone marrow. He does seem a little better today. His appetite is better and he's more alert. I don't feel the lumps in his stomach anymore either. He is drinking alot of water though, and peeing 4-5 times per day. Hopefully he doesn't have another problem now on top of the anemia. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 12:49 PM Subject: Re: Tomi is worse off than I thought Hi Cassandra, I am so surprised that hemobart was a problem for both Kisa and Tomi. I did a little research and it said that the mother can pass the parasite to her kittens. How old is Tomi? Isn't he Kisa's brother? If this is the case, they may have had the parasite for a while. You may have to opt for a blood transfusion to help Tomi. It will give him a fighting chance, especially since his HCT is 7.7. That's very low. Has the vet mentioned this? Did they prescribe prednisolone for him? I can't remember if Tomi is FeLV+. Something tells me he is. I'm so sorry you are having to deal with anemia again. That's horrible. Don't let it get you down. Hemobart is treatable. Please keep us posted. Prayers going out for Tomi and for you. :) Wendy Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has! ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~ It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.9.0/853 - Release Date: 6/18/2007 3:02 PM
Re: frustrated
I find also that farmers in general don't have alot of respect for animal lives. I guess it goes hand in hand with the nature of the business. When you raise animals to be slaughtered for food, you wouldn't tend to get very attached to them, and I think that carries over for other types of animals too. Alot of farmers don't like cats either. Cats are there to keep the mouse population down, and that's it. Personally, I tend to judge people by how they treat animals. I judge character based on how people treat those in a lesser position of power...whether it be other people or animals. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Debbie To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 11:22 AM Subject: RE: frustrated So glad things are better. I was in this position years ago. My husband and I ended up hand raising 7 kittens from a co worker. If it is one kitten the lady may get attached to it. Although most people who have farm cats look at them as just there and nothing special. I know because I work with all farmers! They make fun of me all the time because of our cats and dogs. They don't know what they are missing.The one lady's in laws here had a cat that had given birth lately. Her in laws had killed a female raccoon earlier in the week. Somehow the mother cat had found the raccoon's babies and when the people went to look at the kittens they found the baby raccoons with them, nursing the mother cat. Instead of being awed at nature and seeing the beauty in the situation - the farmers being farmers shot the baby raccoons! i have come to find that farmers can very cruel to animals. The other guy here in the office, a few months ago, bragged about how he shot his own dog - just because it wouldn't stay home. Another guy in the warehouse asked me what the dog pound charged to put a dog to sleep. Seems his dog, that was close to 12 years old, was having problems getting on and off the couch. His wife is expecting and had informed him he needed to get the dog put down before the arrival of the baby. he didn't want to pay the vet to do it so he wanted to take it to the dog pound because it is cheaper! Wonder if someday he would do this to his child or parents when they get to be an inconvenience? -Original Message- From: Melissa Lind Sent: Jun 19, 2007 10:07 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: RE: frustrated Wow! Thank you all for the support! I’m back at work now—late because I had to go to the vet for some medicine for my babies—and the lady told me right away about her little kitty who is lapping up milk by himself. She was very excited. I’m very relieved because I worried all night about the little one. I live in Nebraska—far away from everyone on this list I think! But, I’ll let her know later today that there are people who would be willing to help her take care of the “nuisance.” She seems less stressed today, but it still breaks my heart to think of poor mama kitty and the baby having to go through that. I’m more than willing to transport as far as my paycheck will allow if anyone is interested in this baby (or any of my other foster cats, he he!) Since I’m at work, I’ll stealthily keep you posted today. Thanks again—I love being able to reach out to people who understand and who aren’t monsters! Melissa From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Marylyn Sent: Monday, June 18, 2007 4:59 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: frustrated My nephew got me a bumper sticker for Christmas The more people I meet the more I like my cat. If the situation is still on-going tomorrow you could offer, ever so sweetly, to relieve the lady of her problem, explaining how you know it is a burden, etc. If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man. St. Francis - Original Message - From: Melissa Lind To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, June 18, 2007 4:42 PM Subject: OT: frustrated I know this is off topic, but I just had to jot this down at work since it’s consuming my thoughts. A lady that I work with has farm cats. Sadly, mama kitty and baby climbed into the car trunk when open, and they didn’t see them when they closed it. It’s been really hot and the two spent an entire day in the trunk. Mama kitty didn’t make it, but amazingly the baby
Re: The best food for Duncan??
I think Innova EVO, Wellness, or homemade raw food are good choices. As for transmission of the virus, as long as the cats aren't sharing food/water bowls, litterboxes, or grooming each other, they would probably be safe. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Laura Mostello [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 11:45 AM Subject: The best food for Duncan?? Hi, Jane suggested that I ask the list for food recommendations for Duncan. What would you all suggest? She also mentioned some supplements, like lysine and maitake. I know that these are readily available at health food stores, but I'd like to know about the dosage amount and frequency. Right now Duncan's appetite is excellent, and I'd like to keep it that way. He isn't my only cat, by the way. There are 8 others! All were saved from the euthanasia list at work. Duncan lives separately, in my tortoise room. This is probably a really stupid question, but I'll ask it anyway. I understand that FeLV is primarily transmitted through saliva, and that very casual contact between cats is probably not enough to cause infection. Are there other modes of transmission that I should worry about? If he's walking around in the tortoise room, should I be concerned that I'm bringing the virus into other areas of my house on my shoes? I'm being really, really fussy in order to prevent cross-contamination, but perhaps I don't need to nitpick quite so much. Oh, Tonya, I live in Villa Rica, in Carroll county. Where are you located? Laura -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.9.0/853 - Release Date: 6/18/2007 3:02 PM
Re: Tomi is worse off than I thought
- Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2007 2:24 AM Subject: Re: Tomi is worse off than I thought Cassandra, I am so very saddened with all you have dealt with your precious babies. And, I apologize [sincerely] for not sending you my condolences for your loss of Kisa. But, please know.she was in my prayers, along with all the other babies, both w/ illness or passing... It's just very difficult for me to see to read all posts, and sit at PC.Never-the-less, I try to either get on PC, or have my room mate read me posts And, please, don't blame yourself for spending most of your time/energy w/ Kisa perhaps neglecting your Tomi I did the same exact thing when I [suddenly] lost my Charity.. Blamed myself for missing something because, in all truthfulness, my Puma has been my main concern since his diagnosis, along w/ his age, 17+. And, I still look back wondering if Charity was showing some [any] signs that I over-looked... I think, maybe, I'm finally coming to the point that she wasn't showing symptoms, and she passed, just like Black Bart, due to FIP. Bart was her constant companion while she was still an outdoor feral And, when he got very ill, she came to me to her [our] boy.But Bart was so ill.many symptoms, when I did confine him, prior to getting him to vet,well, he was eating, drinking - even loving! But, just like Charity, suddenly, he gave up on food, became listlessbut still showed loving to me I'm just so relieved I was able to get him to vet in 2 days, and, when the exam was done, a likely diagnosis given, the way he looked at me w/ those big, beautiful eyes, I KNEW HE WAS THANKING ME, AND ASO LETTING ME KNOW. TT'S OK MOM TO ASSIST W/ MY PARTING... So, sadly I did have him PTS I'll never forget his eyes, they say so much... And Charity became such a love-muffin, but only w/ me. She was doing so well, so when she went downhill so very fast, I just couldn't believe it!!! And, of course, I blamed myself because I needed some/any explanation I guess because that feral girl stole my heat I gained her trust... And you're so right about the list members here - caring, compassionate so very knowlegable They are always there for one another.. And as far as other humans, all I am going to say is I prefer my babies, and ALL critters way more than people,,, A lot has to do w/ al I've seen them do in all my years of rescue... Anyway, your husband sounds magnificent!! So, again know, your Tomi is [still] in my prayers. And I'm so very sorry about Kisa's passing. Hugs, Patti her gang -- See what's free at AOL.com. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.17/850 - Release Date: 6/15/2007 11:31 AM
Re: Tomi is worse off than I thought
Thank you, for your thoughts. I know you've been going through a really rough time as well, and sometimes its hard to respond to other's losses when one is feeling one's own losses so keenly. I know it is difficult for me to offer words of support to others when i'm dealing with my own grief. These furbabies mean so much to us, I think the only thing worse that could happen would be if I had to go through the same thing with my husband or child. Cassandra - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2007 2:24 AM Subject: Re: Tomi is worse off than I thought Cassandra, I am so very saddened with all you have dealt with your precious babies. And, I apologize [sincerely] for not sending you my condolences for your loss of Kisa. But, please know.she was in my prayers, along with all the other babies, both w/ illness or passing... It's just very difficult for me to see to read all posts, and sit at PC.Never-the-less, I try to either get on PC, or have my room mate read me posts And, please, don't blame yourself for spending most of your time/energy w/ Kisa perhaps neglecting your Tomi I did the same exact thing when I [suddenly] lost my Charity.. Blamed myself for missing something because, in all truthfulness, my Puma has been my main concern since his diagnosis, along w/ his age, 17+. And, I still look back wondering if Charity was showing some [any] signs that I over-looked... I think, maybe, I'm finally coming to the point that she wasn't showing symptoms, and she passed, just like Black Bart, due to FIP. Bart was her constant companion while she was still an outdoor feral And, when he got very ill, she came to me to her [our] boy.But Bart was so ill.many symptoms, when I did confine him, prior to getting him to vet,well, he was eating, drinking - even loving! But, just like Charity, suddenly, he gave up on food, became listlessbut still showed loving to me I'm just so relieved I was able to get him to vet in 2 days, and, when the exam was done, a likely diagnosis given, the way he looked at me w/ those big, beautiful eyes, I KNEW HE WAS THANKING ME, AND ASO LETTING ME KNOW. TT'S OK MOM TO ASSIST W/ MY PARTING... So, sadly I did have him PTS I'll never forget his eyes, they say so much... And Charity became such a love-muffin, but only w/ me. She was doing so well, so when she went downhill so very fast, I just couldn't believe it!!! And, of course, I blamed myself because I needed some/any explanation I guess because that feral girl stole my heat I gained her trust... And you're so right about the list members here - caring, compassionate so very knowlegable They are always there for one another.. And as far as other humans, all I am going to say is I prefer my babies, and ALL critters way more than people,,, A lot has to do w/ al I've seen them do in all my years of rescue... Anyway, your husband sounds magnificent!! So, again know, your Tomi is [still] in my prayers. And I'm so very sorry about Kisa's passing. Hugs, Patti her gang -- See what's free at AOL.com. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.17/850 - Release Date: 6/15/2007 11:31 AM
Re: How is Tomi?
Tomi isn't doing very well. He's really been going downhill the last few days. Now he is vomiting twice a day, and it is so heartbreaking, as he cries out like he is scared before he vomits. He cried like that a few times when he was sick 2 months ago and having trouble catching his breath. To hear someone you love cry like that is the worst thing in the world. He doesn't have much appetite left. He'll eat a bit of liver, or nibble a bit on food. His belly feels odd to me also. It feels kind of hard and lumpy here and there. They didn't say anythign about organ troubles when they did the blood test, so I don't know what that could mean. I would say Tomi's time is limited, unless he can pull off a miracle like he did last time. Maybe this time he doesn't want to though...he might want to be with his best friend Kisa. I just don't know what i'll do without my little boy. He is so loving. The last two cats I have aren't very receptive to receiving attention most of the time. They get grouchy when they're not in the mood. Tomi has always stoically and lovingly put up with all the attention I wish to lavish on him. Cassandra - Original Message - From: dede hicken [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2007 7:10 AM Subject: How is Tomi? Cassandra, Just wanted you to know I was thinking about you and Tomi. Hope things are going better for you. You are in my thoughts. Dede When you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God Mosiah 2:17 Shape Yahoo! in your own image. Join our Network Research Panel today! http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.9.0/852 - Release Date: 6/17/2007 8:23 AM
Re: Update:Re: OT: Regarding a freak accident to my hubby..it islong...sorry!
I know this must be a very difficult time for you. Praying your husband stays strong and is able to keep his arm. Cassandra - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2007 10:27 AM Subject: Update:Re: OT: Regarding a freak accident to my hubby..it islong...sorry! Hi all, I wanted to update you all of what's been going on with my husband. My husband is on a lot of pain meds and is cantankerous. He isn't a happy camper. I have been at the hospital a lot and it is showing. I'm so tired when I do get home I'm only sleeping a few hours. I keep waking up then decide to get up and go back to the hospital. Of course feed the animals and such before leaving. On Friday the Drs. did the second surgery to look at the area and decide on what they are going to do. They cleanse the area and to check for new tissue growth. There is a lot of muscle and skin tissue damage plus the one bone is not connected due to it being shattered. They put a fresh VAC tube in him and closed him up. Came out to talk to me and said he needs to have a bone and skin grafts done. ASAP The Dr. said they would use a bone donor or take bone from his hip and take skin from his thigh area. This would the next surgery. The third surgery is today. My husband is still not out of danger yet. The Drs. are working hard to help and save his arm. So please keep your prayers coming...thanks! God bless you all. Terrie Mohr-Forker TAZZY'S ANIMAL TRANSPORTS SIAMESE COLLIE RESCUE Donations accepted at: https://www.paypal.com/ http://www.tazzys-siameses-collies.petfinder.org/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wasiameserescue http://hometown.aol.com/tatorbunz/myhomepage/petmemorial.html http://www.felineleukemia.org/ http://www.hometown.aol.com/tatorbunz/index.html http://www.petloss.com/ -- See what's free at AOL.com. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.9.0/852 - Release Date: 6/17/2007 8:23 AM
Tomi is worse off than I thought
I guess I should have been paying closer attention to him while dealing with Kisa's illness. I took him to the vet today to get a complete blood count done. The hemobartonella is back, and his red blood cells are down to 1.35 (normals are 5-11). HCT is 7.7. All his other counts are abnormal too. High white blood count and lymphocytes etc. They increased the amount of Doxycycline we'll be giving him, moreso than what he got last time. It is 25mg twice a day now, I think it was 40mg once a day last time. I would have expected him to be acting sicker, but maybe he's getting used to having such a low number of red blood cells. He is out of breath if he does too much, but so far he is still eating and getting around. I guess we'll see how it goes. I'm kind of numb about it all, I can't really contemplate Tomi dying right now. As much as I loved Kisa and Koda, Tomi is the one who has always been the closest to my heart. He's the one who puts up with all my hugs and kisses when i'm feeling upset. Cassandra
Re: Kisa is gone, thank you all
I just want to thank you all for your many kind words and thoughts regarding Kisa, Koda, and Tomi. This is one of the few places where I feel comfortable sharing how strongly I feel about my babies and how deeply saddened I am by their illnesses. My husband is about the only other person who understands how much our kitties mean to both him and I. Most other people I know don't understand the deep bond one can have with an animal. All your replies have meant much to me, and made me feel better. It is amazing that you have never met my babies or I, and yet can offer so many words of reassurance. I am missing Kisa terribly, as she was so much fun to have around. She was the social one, who interacted with my other cats, grooming and playing. Now I have three kitties left who have nothing at all to do with each other. I think they all miss her. Sadly, I am not having much time to grieve for Kisa, because I believe Tomi is getting sick again. The last few days, he seems to be getting more anemic again, and he vomited tonight. After he vomited, he was panting for a few seconds. I'm also worried that he hasn't grown back the hair on his neck that was shaved 3 months ago for his blood test. It still looks like it did a week after it was shaved. I'm thinking of bringing him into the vet again, even though they wanted to put him to sleep 2 months ago. I was wondering if his hemobartonella may be coming back, and that should be simple enough for them to test for. I am so scared to have to go through this again so soon, and afraid Tomi won't be able to pull off a miracle a second time. I almost feel like we are being punished for something, the way this nightmare seems to be unfolding. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 4:50 PM Subject: Kisa is gone :( Kisa passed away this morning while I was at work, exactly one month after Koda. My heart is broken, especially since I wasn't there with her at the end. I had prayed and hoped so much that she would continue to improve after she started eating again a week and a half ago. I suppose it was just too much for her to overcome. The anemia never really did improve much. Though her breathing was better, her skin was so pale. The last few days, her appetite faltered again, and she was getting weaker. I didn't think today would be the day she died, though i'm relieved she didn't have to go on suffering much longer. I don't think she was in pain, and I sincerely hope she wasn't in pain at the end. It was just so hard to see her so weak when she was as active and happy as a kitten 3 weeks ago. Kisa is going to be missed more than words can say. She never quite saw her 3rd birthday, but the time she spent with us will never be forgotten. She was special in so many ways, I wouldn't even know where to start to list them all. Fearless, loving, gentle, playful, curious, and sweet are just a few of the words that describe her. She's been sleeping on my pillow the last few nights, and i'm going to miss her warmth so much. If it ever stops raining, she will be buried next to Koda tonight. I made a rock garden full of flowers on top of Koda's grave. Now Kisa will join her there. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.14/845 - Release Date: 6/12/2007 6:39 AM
Re: Wallace Request: Liver shake recipe?
This is the recipe that was posted here: I tried it and Kisa liked it for awhile until her appetite faded again. Here is the liver shake recipe: 1 cup raw liver (chicken or beef, I use chicken) 1 cup fresh carrot juice, tomato juice, or V-8 1/4 cup filtered water 1 raw egg yolk 1 tsp kelp or spirulina Blend until liquid and frothy. I make it in half batches (though use a whole egg yolk), and warm up small amounts for Simon. I had to put it on his lips the first few times to get him to eat it. it is supposed to be complete nutrition. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Jean [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 5:48 PM Subject: Wallace Request: Liver shake recipe? Greetings, folks-- In all the *wonderful* advice and support I've gotten here, there have been many mentions of a liver shake recipe. Does someone have it handy? I really appreciate it. We've been having a much better day today. Details on my LJ: I'll save the list's bandwidth and just post a link for the interested. :) http://lyonessnyc.livejournal.com/#58245 Thanks so much -- you all are made of awesome. :) Best, Jean Shape Yahoo! in your own image. Join our Network Research Panel today! http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.16/849 - Release Date: 6/14/2007 12:44 PM
Re: Regarding a freak accident to my hubby..it is long...sorry!
I am praying for your husband and hoping he can recover fully. Cassandra - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 10:40 AM Subject: OT: Regarding a freak accident to my hubby..it is long...sorry! (I want apologized if you have already seen this from other groups I'm on) Hello all, I wanted to make everyone aware or least be alert of what can happen when you get behind brush mowers whether it's up close or at a distance. It is very dangerous. Yesterday, my husband was about 20 feet behind a tractor that had a brush mower on it which was operated by his friend. My husband was looking for items that may have been sticking out of the ground that the mower didn't get. Anyway, a huge rock flew out from the mower and my husband said he seen it at the corner of his eye. By then it was too late. The rock hit him on his right arm below the elbow and broke his arm in two places. I had to call 911 for help he was bleeding and going into shock. He was taken to the hospital and had x-rays done on him. The time was around noontime that this happened. My Dr. was on call who is a orthopedic surgeon had to do emergency surgery on him. I have a lot of faith in him as he done my knee replacements and other bone surgeries. One of the bones is shattered in my husband's arm and he said it look like a gunshot wound. He was taken into surgery about 5 pm was returned back to his room about 9:15 pm last night. The Dr. told me he was bad that he could lose his arm especially below the elbow. He has muscle and tissue damage. Many fragments of the bone was floating in his arm. Did what he could do for him at this point. Only time will tell. Since, my husband is a Diabetic and has HEP C from tainted blood in the 60's from a blood transfusion he is considered high risk. He has a tube in him that they call a Vacu this is to suck all the infection and excess blood from the area. He is also on two different IV lines for the loss of blood and for antibiotics. He is being monitored closely. I did noticed his blood pressure was high. So he will be in the hospital for at least some time. He will be taken back into surgery tomorrow to check out more of the damage and try to repair more of his arm. By the way my husband is right handed this is the arm that got injured. Some of you already know he just had two recent right shoulder surgeries on the same arm. He was supposed to return back to work for light duty on the 19th of this month. Believe it or not he was looking forward going back to work after being off for almost a year. Now that this has happened I don't know what we are going to do. Please pray and hope he doesn't lose part of his arm. That he makes full recovery. Terrie Mohr-Forker TAZZY'S ANIMAL TRANSPORTS SIAMESE COLLIE RESCUE Donations accepted at: https://www.paypal.com/ http://www.tazzys-siameses-collies.petfinder.org/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wasiameserescue http://hometown.aol.com/tatorbunz/myhomepage/petmemorial.html http://www.felineleukemia.org/ http://www.hometown.aol.com/tatorbunz/index.html http://www.petloss.com/ -- See what's free at AOL.com. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.15/847 - Release Date: 6/12/2007 9:42 PM
Kisa is gone :(
Kisa passed away this morning while I was at work, exactly one month after Koda. My heart is broken, especially since I wasn't there with her at the end. I had prayed and hoped so much that she would continue to improve after she started eating again a week and a half ago. I suppose it was just too much for her to overcome. The anemia never really did improve much. Though her breathing was better, her skin was so pale. The last few days, her appetite faltered again, and she was getting weaker. I didn't think today would be the day she died, though i'm relieved she didn't have to go on suffering much longer. I don't think she was in pain, and I sincerely hope she wasn't in pain at the end. It was just so hard to see her so weak when she was as active and happy as a kitten 3 weeks ago. Kisa is going to be missed more than words can say. She never quite saw her 3rd birthday, but the time she spent with us will never be forgotten. She was special in so many ways, I wouldn't even know where to start to list them all. Fearless, loving, gentle, playful, curious, and sweet are just a few of the words that describe her. She's been sleeping on my pillow the last few nights, and i'm going to miss her warmth so much. If it ever stops raining, she will be buried next to Koda tonight. I made a rock garden full of flowers on top of Koda's grave. Now Kisa will join her there. Cassandra
Re: Charity (Crossed The Bridge)
I'm so sorry for your loss. I know exactly how you feel and how hard it is.
When Koda passed a month ago, she was crying at the end as well. It is the
most heartbreaking sound in the world. Take comfort in the fact you did all
you could for her, and i'm sure she found it more peaceful to pass at home,
surrounded by familiarity and love.
Cassandra
- Original Message -
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2007 3:14 PM
Subject: Charity (Crossed The Bridge)
I don't know just how I can even write this, but my Charity DID cross..
I can only pray it was peaceful.. But, w/ her pitiful crying, I know she
was in pain.
And, someone [sorry, memory is shot] mentioned getting a cab But,
since I moved, my [wonderful] vet is in Md., I'm in a small town in Pa. With
NO cab service...
It all happened so [too] fast, I am in shock, besides myself.. Don't know
what to do...
And, trust me, I DID try contacting many people...As far as house
calls, well, no one was available. They all said Wait 'til
Monday..Yeah, sure. I deep down inside, knew Monday would be too
late BUT, I DID pray for a miracle.. Didn't want to give up...
I can only be glad that she finally had a home knew she was very much
loved..{Lot of solace that brings me now]
And, it's Saturday, HOT I want to have her cremated vet's not in til
Moday.And, I also don't have a trunk freezer for her remains.. Can't
get any worse...
And, being up w/ her the whole time, I'm just too devastated to even try to
get some rest..
Thank you ALL for your prayers suggestions.[This list has the BEST people.
so caring. understanding.The MAIN reason I never left after losing my
Ethan]
I did write Belinda for the CLS separately
Have to go. With my vision problems with all these tears, I can't see at
all now..
Much love, with tears,
Patti her [remaining] gang
--
See what's free at AOL.com.
--
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Re: was - Update on Kisa, now raw feeding
I started feeding raw about 2 months ago, and now i'm having some second thoughts. I'm just not sure about it yet. It sounds so much healthier, and i'm hoping my two older, fatter cats will lose some weight on the raw. Most of my cats love the food more than they ever liked canned/dry, but then I read about Salmonella and intestinal parasites that could be in raw. Plus Koda died a month ago of organ failure due to unknown causes. She was old and diabetic, but I have that lingering uncertainty that possibly the raw food may have harmed her. I'm still trying to read more info on the raw, but it is the same as everything else, you have people strongly for or against it, both with good arguments. I just want to do what is healthiest for my babies. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 8:50 AM Subject: Re: was - Update on Kisa, now liver shake ingredients I've never seen a green cherry tomato, but that aside and this is my opinion only why tempt fate when dealing with an already compromised immune system. Yes it may be safe for most cats, even positive cats, but I would die if my cat was the one cat it wasn't safe for. It just isn't worth it to me when it can be left out. To be honest with you I will always wonder if Bailey didn't get sick because of the raw food I was feeding him, yes he did very well for about 6 months, got chubby, seemed to feel good but then he got very sick and and less than 6 months later was gone. He had NEVER been sick in all his 11 years before that, so was it just a coincidence ... possibly, but I will NEVER know for sure and I will never feed raw again, just in case. I believe, from all the other info out there, that it is the GREEN tomatoes, stems and leaves that are the poisonous parts. The red/ripe tomatoes thet we normally consume and that are used in tomato juice contain only trace amounts of Solanine and are not poisonous.-- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting web design] http://HostDesign4U.com BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.9/834 - Release Date: 6/5/2007 2:38 PM
Re: Kisa
Thank you. It is very slow, but Kisa is getting a bit stronger everyday. How is MeMe doing now with the new meds for Giardia? Cassandra - Original Message - From: Jane Lyons [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 7:42 AM Subject: Kisa Cassandra, thinking of you and Kisa. Hoping that you had a good night. Jane -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.9/834 - Release Date: 6/5/2007 2:38 PM
Re: To Cassandra and Kisa
Thank you. So far so good. Kisa is eating mainly felidae canned right now, though she only eats when I hand feed her. When I try the foods she ate before she got sick, she shows an aversion to them now, even to the Tempations treats she absolutely loved before. She still wants to hide under the bed all day, and her lips/gums are very pale, but she is getting a little bit stronger each day. Hopefully she can get more of those red blood cells back into circulation soon. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Melissa Lind To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 9:00 AM Subject: To Cassandra and Kisa Cassandra and Kisa: You two are in my thoughts today! Hope all is well and Kisa is eating more! Melissa -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.9/834 - Release Date: 6/5/2007 2:38 PM
Re: was - Update on Kisa, now liver shake ingredients
Do you have to pay to read the HolistiCat forum? Cassandra - Original Message - From: Kat [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 9:17 AM Subject: Re: was - Update on Kisa, now liver shake ingredients Belinda, I hear you, and understand where you're coming from. Raw feeding can be tricky, especially for our positives, because it's easy to be unbalanced. A great resource (online) for me has been the HolistiCat Forum - http://www.holisticat.com/ Besides raw, they share recipes for cooked and have discussions about the better commercial foods as well as pre-made frozen raw, etc. Kat (Mew Jersey) On Wed, 6 Jun 2007, Belinda wrote: I've never seen a green cherry tomato, but that aside *and this is my opinion only* why tempt fate when dealing with an already compromised immune system. Yes it may be safe for most cats, even positive cats, but I would die if *my cat* was the one cat it wasn't safe for. It just isn't worth it to me when it can be left out. *To be honest with you I will always wonder if Bailey didn't get sick because of the raw food I was feeding him*, yes he did very well for about 6 months, got chubby, seemed to feel good but then he got very sick and and less than 6 months later was gone. He had *NEVER* been sick in all his 11 years before that, so was it just a coincidence ... possibly, but I will NEVER know for sure and I will never feed raw again, just in case. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.9/834 - Release Date: 6/5/2007 2:38 PM
Re: OT - Phelix...and lessons learned.
Hope Phelix is doing well. I find that dew claw the worst to cut, its hard to get ahold of, and difficult to get the right angle on it with the clippers. I find having my husband hold the cats at chest level while I clip is the easiest. I usually only remember to trim their nails when they start getting stuck to the carpet as they walk across it. Cassandra - Original Message - From: elizabeth trent To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 10:03 PM Subject: OT - Phelix...and lessons learned. Phelix was taking care of me today because I home and not feeling well. He's always by my side and took a nap with me. He's the one with allergies that was born with only one eye. He's been scratching a lot lately and I woke up and looked at him and he couldn't open his eye! And there was blood. I nearly panicked. I didn't care how bad I felt - I was getting that boy to the doctor. By the time we got there - he was looking a lot better and looking around - no bleeding - but I was so worried and I really need to protect his one good eye. They examined it and put drops in and looked to make sure he hadn't scratched his cornea. They also checked his ears - they look good...and checked for fleas (he doesn't have any). The vet thinks that when Phelix was scratching, his dew claw caught his eye and ripped through the bottom eyelid. They trimmed those for me and gave him a steroid shot because he's really been itchy lately (his tummy is bald but his ears have really been itchy). They gave him some salve for me to use in his eye 2-3 times a day -- it just says 'BNP-HC ophth. ointment'. It has an antibiotic and a steroid in it. Since Phelix's ears are so itchy, we're going to do the tresoderm a few days too just to be extra sure. I feel bad because I'm not very good about keeping toenails trimmedbut I sure will from now on! Thank goodness I was home when that happened. It looks much, much better now and Phelix keeps telling me it was no big deal. Just thought I'd pass that along in case it would help someone else. Phelix thinks it is his god-given right to go outside everyday when I get home and roll in the lavender. He'll let me know if I'm not fast enough letting him out. Today when I took him in the girls kept saying --- Phelix smells like lavender!! :0) He's such a ladies man. All good thoughts to you and your fur babies. elizabeth -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.7/830 - Release Date: 6/3/2007 12:47 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
Thank you. Yes I get the impression from alot of vets that pets are somewhat disposable...if it starts giving alot of problems, throw it away and get a new one. This is how I would treat an old car, not a living creature. I've received much more help from this message list than I have from the vets. If it wasn't for this list, both Tomi and Kisa would probably be gone by now. Thank goodness for the people here that care so much and are willing to share their experiences. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Melissa Lind [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 12:59 PM Subject: RE: Update on Kisa Cassandra, I hope all is going well with you and Kisa this week. It's such good news that she's doing a little bit better. It's just too bad that the vets have to be that way. I know they think they're looking out for Kisa's best interest, but I think that there may be so many options that they just don't bother to explore which could lengthen Kisa's time here as well as improve her time with you. It's a wonderful thing and a great blessing that there are people like you who are willing to try. My vet suggested putting my FeLV to sleep, and he wasn't even outwardly sick! He's now very happy at Best Friends. I think too often people don't think of animals as deserving as people, but I'm glad that there are those out there who do. Stay strong and best wishes for you and your fur baby. Melissa -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of C J Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 11:46 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: Update on Kisa My guess, is her rapid breathing is caused by anemia. She is very pale, her feet and gums are much paler than normal. I am wondering if the hemobart is possibly causing her immune system to attack its own red blood cells, and the Dex is slowling that down. It could be lymphoma too though, its hard to say. Basically the vets aren't very helpful for me anymore. The one vet I was dealing with that was actually being helpful is gone for a few weeks now, and all the other vets want to do is put her to sleep. I hate even consulting them, because they just try to talk me into putting her to sleep. When I got the IV bag, the vet I talked to said to give her like 200ml per day. I think that's way too much right now...when it took her like 12 hours to absorb 100ml. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 11:09 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Hey Cassandra, Wow, I am surprised and so happy that Kisa is rallying! I hope she can pull through. The dex can make a difference. I think the combo shot I mentioned early on shrinks lymphoma, according to Michelle, the girl who used to be here who knows a lot about it. If that's the case, and she does have lymphoma, it might explain the easier breathing. Maybe something is growing quickly and pressing on her lungs or throat. My cat with CRF gets 200 CC a week of subQ fluids, but she is not in grave danger as Kisa is. She walks around with a little sac of fluid hanging off her little bony body for a few hours before it absorbs. She feels so much better after it's done. How much did the vet say you should give Kisa? I would ask them so that you don't overdo it. Keeping my fingers crossed for you guys. :) Wendy --- C J [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: A small update on Kisa. I didn't think she would make it through the night, and at one point I checked on her and thought she was gone, because I didn't see the heavy breathing. She did make it through the night, and I was seriously considering taking her in to the vet for euthanasia. I asked her if I should, and was very upset I wasn't strong enough to make that decision. Well, now she actually looks a little bit better. She's very weak, but she seems more alert and her breathing, while still fast, isn't quite as labored and she's not breathing through her mouth. It could be the dexamethasone making some sort of difference. And then the strangest thing of all happened, she ate about 1 and a half tablespoons of pureed liver, by licking it off the back of a spoon. This is the first time in two weeks since this started, that she didn't gag at the very sight/smell of food. I couldn't believe she actually ate. She must not be feeling as nauseous, and so far she hasn't vomited today. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but this is the first positive thing that has happened for her in two weeks. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how she does over the next couple of days. If she's trying to get better, she has an awful lot to overcome yet in order to do so. I've got a full IV bag of sub-q fluids to keep her hydrated at least. Just a question on that, how much fluid should she get in a day? I gave her about 100ml, six hours ago, and it still hasn't all
Re: How is Miss Kisa doing today?
Thank you. Kisa is improving, slowly but steadily. She still hides under the bed all day, but her breathing has slowed down to pretty much normal while resting. Her gums are pale, but they don't look yellow anymore. Finally, she is bathing herself again, and cleaning up all that stained fur. She is eating fairly decently. I've got her eating liver, a raw chicken puree, and a bit of canned food. She still prefers to lick it off the back of a spoon, but will nibble a bit off a plate as well now. She only seems to eat when we feed her though, the food doesn't get touched when we just leave it with her. Kisa is still very weak. When I bring her into bed with us, she'll sometimes try jumping into the window and not make it. Hopefully her strength will return if she can build up her red blood cells again. I'm not sure if she still has the liver problem and the Dexamethasone is just making her feel well enough to eat, or if somehow the problem is clearing up. Time will tell. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 2:20 PM Subject: How is Miss Kisa doing today? Hey Cassandra, Just wondering how Kisa is doing today? I hope she is stronger and fighting the hemo really well. Best wishes to her and prayers still going out for you both. :) Wendy Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has! ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~ Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center. http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.7/830 - Release Date: 6/3/2007 12:47 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
Yes i'm giving her doxy, but she's one heck of a tough kitty to give pills to. Tomi is way easier to give pills. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 2:44 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Cassandra, I hope she is still getting the doxy otherwise your only prolonging the inevitable, hemo does not go away on its own. If her anemia is because od hemo she needs the doxy to live. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting web design] http://HostDesign4U.com BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
These pills come in a gelcap already. The problem is, she squirms and moves her tongue around like crazy, so I have to try avoiding the tongue and getting the pill right to the back of her throat, or else she bites it. Once she bites it, she foams at the mouth like crazy, so it must taste really bad. I think the vet techs were having a heck of a time giving her pills too when she was there. I am trying to coat it in butter, but cat food juice sounds good too. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Pam Norman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 8:53 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa I find that the easiest way is to cut the tablet up put it in a small gelcap. Then roll the gelcap in cat food juices. Makes it slippery tastes good so they swallow! Not like sticking a nasty pill in that sticks someplace in the mouth to be spit out later on. Pam C J wrote: Yes i'm giving her doxy, but she's one heck of a tough kitty to give pills to. Tomi is way easier to give pills. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 2:44 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Cassandra, I hope she is still getting the doxy otherwise your only prolonging the inevitable, hemo does not go away on its own. If her anemia is because od hemo she needs the doxy to live. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting web design] http://HostDesign4U.com BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: cassandra...pill plunger?
Yes, but it didn't work very well at all, the plunger didn't go all the way to the end, and it was too long. We made our own plunger out of a syringe tonight, and that seemed to work ok. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Jane Lyons [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 9:51 PM Subject: cassandra...pill plunger? Cassandra do you have a pill plunger to pill Kisa? We got one from our vet and it has made pilling MeMe and our Scotties so much easier. If you don't have one, I can ask my vet where you can get one. Jane -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
We could do this with Tomi, but Kisa is like trying to pill a wild squirrel. She moves too fast to even react, and can squirm away in any direction...plus her mouth is small. This is with both my husband and I holding her wrapped in a towel, plus she's weak and anemic. It's even harder as she gains strength. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Pam Norman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 9:23 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Cat food juices are more slippery (I wanted to say 'slipperier but that's obviously wrong!). If you can wedge her between your knees on the floor so she is firmly held by your thighs body, then get mouth open whammo in the back of the mouth. I've had so much experience with pills that I basically just put them in my hand go looking for the subject kitty. Most of the tme, just bending over, backing them up to my legs opening the mouth will do. It's all over before they can object! Pam C J wrote: These pills come in a gelcap already. The problem is, she squirms and moves her tongue around like crazy, so I have to try avoiding the tongue and getting the pill right to the back of her throat, or else she bites it. Once she bites it, she foams at the mouth like crazy, so it must taste really bad. I think the vet techs were having a heck of a time giving her pills too when she was there. I am trying to coat it in butter, but cat food juice sounds good too. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Pam Norman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 8:53 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa I find that the easiest way is to cut the tablet up put it in a small gelcap. Then roll the gelcap in cat food juices. Makes it slippery tastes good so they swallow! Not like sticking a nasty pill in that sticks someplace in the mouth to be spit out later on. Pam C J wrote: Yes i'm giving her doxy, but she's one heck of a tough kitty to give pills to. Tomi is way easier to give pills. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 2:44 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Cassandra, I hope she is still getting the doxy otherwise your only prolonging the inevitable, hemo does not go away on its own. If her anemia is because od hemo she needs the doxy to live. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting web design] http://HostDesign4U.com BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
Kisa is peeing, probably about every 8 hours. She's so weak, that if I don't have a litter box within 2feet of her, she'll just go close to where she's laying. She must not have been very dehydrated yet, since it took at least 12 hours to absorb the 100ml of fluid we gave her. She's only about 6-7 pounds now, she was 8 pounds when she was healthy. I'm thinking I probably shouldn't give her more fluids today since she hasn't vomited so far. I don't think she's dehydrated at all at the moment. She's still licking liver off the back of a spoon today. I tried baby food as well, but she wasn't that interested in it. She did lick a few spoonbacks of it though. Kisa tried to sit up to eat the food directly off the plate, but its almost like she's forgotten how to eat that way. She sniffed it, and tried licking, but she was too far away to actually lick any up. As long as I put some on the back of a spoon and hold it in front of her mouth, she seems to be able to eat that way. I'd like to get her eating something other than just liver, but if she'll eat that, its a good start. I may dissolve a mulitvitamin in it for her if that's all she'll eat. I don't want to overload the vitamin A though either. Kisa purred when we took her to bed last night, and has been purring today when we pet her, so I think she's feeling a bit better. She tried to bath herself, even though it tired her out some. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Pam Norman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 10:36 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Cassamdra. Do NOT attempt to express her bladder unless you are familiar with doing so! This is not something I would ever undertake without being sure I knew what I was doing as you can do real damage. Keep her litter fresh so that you can see what she pees if she is using the litter box. If you are giving 100 ml a day, she should be peeing fairly normally. I would make it a habit to give it at the same time each day. Do you know how to do the skin test for dehydration? Check the gums for tackiness? How much do you think she weighs now? Pam Kelly L wrote: At 06:42 PM 6/1/2007, you wrote: Alot depends upon her kidney function and her respiratory status. On a healthy 10 lb cat 2-300 cc per day is fine, but if her organs are not working properly it could cause a fluidover load and even make it harder for her to breathe. Id she peeing,,,you need to compare what goes in with what goes out, do you know how to express her bladder if you need to, he kidneys do need to be working. I would feel comfortable with 100, but I would sure call the vet and ask as they know he lab values and heart and lung status,, Make sure he body temp does not drop either Have you checked her temp,,,? Thanks for the update and I am sending many good thoughts. it is so very very hard when we love them so much. Kelly A small update on Kisa. I didn't think she would make it through the night, and at one point I checked on her and thought she was gone, because I didn't see the heavy breathing. She did make it through the night, and I was seriously considering taking her in to the vet for euthanasia. I asked her if I should, and was very upset I wasn't strong enough to make that decision. Well, now she actually looks a little bit better. She's very weak, but she seems more alert and her breathing, while still fast, isn't quite as labored and she's not breathing through her mouth. It could be the dexamethasone making some sort of difference. And then the strangest thing of all happened, she ate about 1 and a half tablespoons of pureed liver, by licking it off the back of a spoon. This is the first time in two weeks since this started, that she didn't gag at the very sight/smell of food. I couldn't believe she actually ate. She must not be feeling as nauseous, and so far she hasn't vomited today. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but this is the first positive thing that has happened for her in two weeks. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how she does over the next couple of days. If she's trying to get better, she has an awful lot to overcome yet in order to do so. I've got a full IV bag of sub-q fluids to keep her hydrated at least. Just a question on that, how much fluid should she get in a day? I gave her about 100ml, six hours ago, and it still hasn't all soaked in from under the skin at the back of her neck. Cassandra No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.5/826 - Release Date: 5/31/2007 4:51 PM -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/827 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 9:54 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
I'm giving her 1cc of Dex every 12ish hours. Right now I am just grateful to be able to spend a bit more time with her, since 2 nights ago I was sure she would die at any moment. To see her more alert, purring and trying to eat, she can't be in much pain or discomfort. I think she is just really tired and weak. I'm just grateful to be able to spend some time with her while she's feeling a bit better. I don't know what will happen, but Kisa isn't quite done fighting yet. She sure is a brave little girl. The improvement may only last a day, or may last for years, but I will try not to worry too much because whatever time we have left is precious. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 7:16 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Please, please, please continue her daily shots of dex. The situation you share with Kisa is so eerily familiar that I don't think her current rebound is coincidental with the administration. It's such wonderful news that you've gotten a reprieve with sweet Kisa. I know how hard the battle to restrain your hopes can be, esp with her showing interest in food! You don't have to fight the feeling of happiness, you have every reason to be joyful that she is still with you, and as I've said so many times before, where there is life there is always hope. Do your best to be grateful without being expectant; continue to stand by her and enjoy her presence without quantifying it. I don't even have to preface my following advice with if I were you, I WAS YOU just a few short months ago, (I went through this very thing with my Angel Spencer). I was given the opportunity to let go of the decision dance (as our friend Leslie put it) and free myself of the anxieties, frustrations and expectations that come with so desperately trying to save our fur kids. Somehow I was given the strength to release all that and live every moment fully cognizant of the gift of reprieve with my Spencer. It was one of the most rewarding times of my life and I'll always be grateful to him for the opportunity. You see, Spencer gave me the opportunity to let go of my fear, to accept whatever might come and to commune with another being in the purest form of simply BEING. My prayer for you is that you are able to step away from your expectations, love her unconditionally and be grateful for whatever time the two of you have left in the physical, be it long or short. Many blessings and much love, Nina C J wrote: A small update on Kisa. I didn't think she would make it through the night, and at one point I checked on her and thought she was gone, because I didn't see the heavy breathing. She did make it through the night, and I was seriously considering taking her in to the vet for euthanasia. I asked her if I should, and was very upset I wasn't strong enough to make that decision. Well, now she actually looks a little bit better. She's very weak, but she seems more alert and her breathing, while still fast, isn't quite as labored and she's not breathing through her mouth. It could be the dexamethasone making some sort of difference. And then the strangest thing of all happened, she ate about 1 and a half tablespoons of pureed liver, by licking it off the back of a spoon. This is the first time in two weeks since this started, that she didn't gag at the very sight/smell of food. I couldn't believe she actually ate. She must not be feeling as nauseous, and so far she hasn't vomited today. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but this is the first positive thing that has happened for her in two weeks. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how she does over the next couple of days. If she's trying to get better, she has an awful lot to overcome yet in order to do so. I've got a full IV bag of sub-q fluids to keep her hydrated at least. Just a question on that, how much fluid should she get in a day? I gave her about 100ml, six hours ago, and it still hasn't all soaked in from under the skin at the back of her neck. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
My guess, is her rapid breathing is caused by anemia. She is very pale, her feet and gums are much paler than normal. I am wondering if the hemobart is possibly causing her immune system to attack its own red blood cells, and the Dex is slowling that down. It could be lymphoma too though, its hard to say. Basically the vets aren't very helpful for me anymore. The one vet I was dealing with that was actually being helpful is gone for a few weeks now, and all the other vets want to do is put her to sleep. I hate even consulting them, because they just try to talk me into putting her to sleep. When I got the IV bag, the vet I talked to said to give her like 200ml per day. I think that's way too much right now...when it took her like 12 hours to absorb 100ml. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 11:09 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Hey Cassandra, Wow, I am surprised and so happy that Kisa is rallying! I hope she can pull through. The dex can make a difference. I think the combo shot I mentioned early on shrinks lymphoma, according to Michelle, the girl who used to be here who knows a lot about it. If that's the case, and she does have lymphoma, it might explain the easier breathing. Maybe something is growing quickly and pressing on her lungs or throat. My cat with CRF gets 200 CC a week of subQ fluids, but she is not in grave danger as Kisa is. She walks around with a little sac of fluid hanging off her little bony body for a few hours before it absorbs. She feels so much better after it's done. How much did the vet say you should give Kisa? I would ask them so that you don't overdo it. Keeping my fingers crossed for you guys. :) Wendy --- C J [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: A small update on Kisa. I didn't think she would make it through the night, and at one point I checked on her and thought she was gone, because I didn't see the heavy breathing. She did make it through the night, and I was seriously considering taking her in to the vet for euthanasia. I asked her if I should, and was very upset I wasn't strong enough to make that decision. Well, now she actually looks a little bit better. She's very weak, but she seems more alert and her breathing, while still fast, isn't quite as labored and she's not breathing through her mouth. It could be the dexamethasone making some sort of difference. And then the strangest thing of all happened, she ate about 1 and a half tablespoons of pureed liver, by licking it off the back of a spoon. This is the first time in two weeks since this started, that she didn't gag at the very sight/smell of food. I couldn't believe she actually ate. She must not be feeling as nauseous, and so far she hasn't vomited today. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but this is the first positive thing that has happened for her in two weeks. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how she does over the next couple of days. If she's trying to get better, she has an awful lot to overcome yet in order to do so. I've got a full IV bag of sub-q fluids to keep her hydrated at least. Just a question on that, how much fluid should she get in a day? I gave her about 100ml, six hours ago, and it still hasn't all soaked in from under the skin at the back of her neck. Cassandra Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has! ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~ Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
I can't find A/D here anywhere, the vets here use a different brand called royal canin medi-cal vet formulas. This is the stuff I was pureeing, and syringe feeding her. I was supposed to add potassium, water, and vegetable oil to it though. For the nasal tube feeding, it was a liquid food called Rebound they gave me. It was like a lactose free milk, and high in calories, comes in a little drinking box type carton. I bought some various brands of canned food to try today as well. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Tad Burnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 10:44 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Will she eat A/D ??? That's mostly liver with vitamins... C J wrote: Kisa is peeing, probably about every 8 hours. She's so weak, that if I don't have a litter box within 2feet of her, she'll just go close to where she's laying. She must not have been very dehydrated yet, since it took at least 12 hours to absorb the 100ml of fluid we gave her. She's only about 6-7 pounds now, she was 8 pounds when she was healthy. I'm thinking I probably shouldn't give her more fluids today since she hasn't vomited so far. I don't think she's dehydrated at all at the moment. She's still licking liver off the back of a spoon today. I tried baby food as well, but she wasn't that interested in it. She did lick a few spoonbacks of it though. Kisa tried to sit up to eat the food directly off the plate, but its almost like she's forgotten how to eat that way. She sniffed it, and tried licking, but she was too far away to actually lick any up. As long as I put some on the back of a spoon and hold it in front of her mouth, she seems to be able to eat that way. I'd like to get her eating something other than just liver, but if she'll eat that, its a good start. I may dissolve a mulitvitamin in it for her if that's all she'll eat. I don't want to overload the vitamin A though either. Kisa purred when we took her to bed last night, and has been purring today when we pet her, so I think she's feeling a bit better. She tried to bath herself, even though it tired her out some. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Pam Norman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 10:36 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Cassamdra. Do NOT attempt to express her bladder unless you are familiar with doing so! This is not something I would ever undertake without being sure I knew what I was doing as you can do real damage. Keep her litter fresh so that you can see what she pees if she is using the litter box. If you are giving 100 ml a day, she should be peeing fairly normally. I would make it a habit to give it at the same time each day. Do you know how to do the skin test for dehydration? Check the gums for tackiness? How much do you think she weighs now? Pam Kelly L wrote: At 06:42 PM 6/1/2007, you wrote: Alot depends upon her kidney function and her respiratory status. On a healthy 10 lb cat 2-300 cc per day is fine, but if her organs are not working properly it could cause a fluidover load and even make it harder for her to breathe. Id she peeing,,,you need to compare what goes in with what goes out, do you know how to express her bladder if you need to, he kidneys do need to be working. I would feel comfortable with 100, but I would sure call the vet and ask as they know he lab values and heart and lung status,, Make sure he body temp does not drop either Have you checked her temp,,,? Thanks for the update and I am sending many good thoughts. it is so very very hard when we love them so much. Kelly A small update on Kisa. I didn't think she would make it through the night, and at one point I checked on her and thought she was gone, because I didn't see the heavy breathing. She did make it through the night, and I was seriously considering taking her in to the vet for euthanasia. I asked her if I should, and was very upset I wasn't strong enough to make that decision. Well, now she actually looks a little bit better. She's very weak, but she seems more alert and her breathing, while still fast, isn't quite as labored and she's not breathing through her mouth. It could be the dexamethasone making some sort of difference. And then the strangest thing of all happened, she ate about 1 and a half tablespoons of pureed liver, by licking it off the back of a spoon. This is the first time in two weeks since this started, that she didn't gag at the very sight/smell of food. I couldn't believe she actually ate. She must not be feeling as nauseous, and so far she hasn't vomited today. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but this is the first positive thing that has happened for her in two weeks. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how she does over the next couple of days. If she's trying to get better, she has an awful lot to overcome yet
Re: Update on Kisa
Hmm, I wonder if 1cc every 12 hours isn't too much of the Dex then. Maybe I should cut it back to half a cc every 12 hours and see how that goes. I don't want to shut down her immune system completely. 1cc every 12 hours is what the vet gave me for Tomi to replace 1 prednisone pill every 12 hours. I never really used the shots for him though. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 10:59 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa I had Spencer on .4cc every 24 hours. At one point I tried cutting back to eod, but it was obvious that wasn't enough. You might want to try the A/D as Tad suggests, but if it were me, I wouldn't mess with trying to add vita to the liver she's eating. Hugs to you both, N C J wrote: I'm giving her 1cc of Dex every 12ish hours. Right now I am just grateful to be able to spend a bit more time with her, since 2 nights ago I was sure she would die at any moment. To see her more alert, purring and trying to eat, she can't be in much pain or discomfort. I think she is just really tired and weak. I'm just grateful to be able to spend some time with her while she's feeling a bit better. I don't know what will happen, but Kisa isn't quite done fighting yet. She sure is a brave little girl. The improvement may only last a day, or may last for years, but I will try not to worry too much because whatever time we have left is precious. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: any suggestions
It does sound like maybe you should stop the Drontal until you can consult with your vet. You have to go with your gut feelings on these I think. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Jane Lyons [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 10:02 AM Subject: any suggestions It has been one week since MeMe's diagnosis and yesterday I thought we were making progress. Her swollen glands are noticeably diminished, her sneezing has all but stopped and her bad breath from stomatitis is very much improved. Her appetite has been great and I have been able to get her to finish the daily dose of FortiFlora (probiotic) which my vet is so hopeful about. We are also giving her the Maitake-DMG twice each day. All was fine until the Drontal tablets arrived. My vet prescribed two tablets daily (the canine variety) for 5 days to treat her Giardia. She had consulted with Bayer before prescribing it. The Metroniidazole that she had been on did not work. Last night her right eye became very runny and she threw up a good bit of what looked like clear liquid. This morning she refused food (I tried everything I could think of) and I resorted to putting a blob of Nuti-cal on her paw. I suspect the Drontal is upsetting her stomach. I cannot reach my vet until Monday and cannot give her supplements on an empty stomach. She is so sweet and so vulnerable. I wish I could get her to a place where she has a fighting chance. Thanks for listening. Jane -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Hideyo got her missing cat Maddie!
Congrats Hideyo! Sounds like Maddie really made you work hard to catch her. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Nina To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 10:49 AM Subject: Hideyo got her missing cat Maddie! Some of you good folks might remember that Hideyo has been searching for an adopted kitty that went missing the very first night she was in her new home. Well last night, (actually, this morning at 3:30am), Hideyo was able to trap Maddie using a drop trap! All of you who know Hideyo can imagine the tireless effort that has gone into this rescue effort and I'm so pleased to report that it has paid off with Maddie's safe return from her adventure. Food had been placed in the yard of the house where she escaped from and a couple of the neighbors had been reporting sightings. Regular traps weren't working, so Hideyo had a drop trap made and camped out for a couple nights until she got her! Marissa, I hope you're reading this, have heart my dear and keep trying to find Georgia. Here's the paste of the message Hideyo wanted me to convey to the list: Nina, could you also let everyone on FELK list know that I was able to bring Maddie home..-- mainly so that people won't easily give up if they lose theirs -- 5 five weeks later, I was able to reunite with Maddie.. and I want people not to give up easily if they really want to find theirs -- I also know of a really really good AC besides Carol [Carol Robinson http://www.animal-conversations.com/index.html ] -- I love Carol.. but I also love Annette Betcher [ http://www.seanet.com/~angelb/ ] -- I just love her personality, and I think you should try her and Carol (or anyone else for that matter) if there is any need in the future!! Hideyo -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
Thanks for the recipe, I will try it today. For tomato juice, can I just throw in a whole fresh tomato? I'm not sure what other ingredients might be in tomato juice. Some sugar maybe? Cassandra - Original Message - From: Nina To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 12:56 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Tad, I think that's a great food to try with Kisa, esp since she likes liver! Here's the recipe paste from Michelle: Here is the liver shake recipe: 1 cup raw liver (chicken or beef, I use chicken) 1 cup fresh carrot juice, tomato juice, or V-8 1/4 cup filtered water 1 raw egg yolk 1 tsp kelp or spirulina Blend until liquid and frothy. I make it in half batches (though use a whole egg yolk), and warm up small amounts for Simon. I had to put it on his lips the first few times to get him to eat it. it is supposed to be complete nutrition. Tad Burnett wrote: We used to make a Liver Shake here that was basically liver and a little tomato or V8 juice... Sick cats seem to love that but some people say it has onions in it... But I can't see that it does... Anybody have any thoughts on this ??? Tad -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
Yes I am still giving the Doxy. I missed a day on Thursday when I thought she was going to die, and her breathing was too fast for me to try giving her pills. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 12:54 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa I agree with Pam, the doxy is important for the hemobart. IF all of this is due to hemobart, AND you can kick it, you might just have your kitty back. I so hope this is the case. :) Wendy --- Pam Norman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 200 ml IS too much for her. Stay with 100 but be sure the prior watering is absorbed. Also she should still be on doxy. That is absolutely CRITICAL! For hemobart, she needs to be on it for a good 6 weeks. If she is not, then her HCT will keep dropping she will be in emergency need of a transfusion. Pasm C J wrote: My guess, is her rapid breathing is caused by anemia. She is very pale, her feet and gums are much paler than normal. I am wondering if the hemobart is possibly causing her immune system to attack its own red blood cells, and the Dex is slowling that down. It could be lymphoma too though, its hard to say. Basically the vets aren't very helpful for me anymore. The one vet I was dealing with that was actually being helpful is gone for a few weeks now, and all the other vets want to do is put her to sleep. I hate even consulting them, because they just try to talk me into putting her to sleep. When I got the IV bag, the vet I talked to said to give her like 200ml per day. I think that's way too much right now...when it took her like 12 hours to absorb 100ml. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 11:09 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Hey Cassandra, Wow, I am surprised and so happy that Kisa is rallying! I hope she can pull through. The dex can make a difference. I think the combo shot I mentioned early on shrinks lymphoma, according to Michelle, the girl who used to be here who knows a lot about it. If that's the case, and she does have lymphoma, it might explain the easier breathing. Maybe something is growing quickly and pressing on her lungs or throat. My cat with CRF gets 200 CC a week of subQ fluids, but she is not in grave danger as Kisa is. She walks around with a little sac of fluid hanging off her little bony body for a few hours before it absorbs. She feels so much better after it's done. How much did the vet say you should give Kisa? I would ask them so that you don't overdo it. Keeping my fingers crossed for you guys. :) Wendy --- C J [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: A small update on Kisa. I didn't think she would make it through the night, and at one point I checked on her and thought she was gone, because I didn't see the heavy breathing. She did make it through the night, and I was seriously considering taking her in to the vet for euthanasia. I asked her if I should, and was very upset I wasn't strong enough to make that decision. Well, now she actually looks a little bit better. She's very weak, but she seems more alert and her breathing, while still fast, isn't quite as labored and she's not breathing through her mouth. It could be the dexamethasone making some sort of difference. And then the strangest thing of all happened, she ate about 1 and a half tablespoons of pureed liver, by licking it off the back of a spoon. This is the first time in two weeks since this started, that she didn't gag at the very sight/smell of food. I couldn't believe she actually ate. She must not be feeling as nauseous, and so far she hasn't vomited today. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but this is the first positive thing that has happened for her in two weeks. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how she does over the next couple of days. If she's trying to get better, she has an awful lot to overcome yet in order to do so. I've got a full IV bag of sub-q fluids to keep her hydrated at least. Just a question on that, how much fluid should she get in a day? I gave her about 100ml, six hours ago, and it still hasn't all soaked in from under the skin at the back of her neck. Cassandra Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has! ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~ Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed
Re: Update on Kisa (tomato in liver shake)
How about pure tomato paste? I have a can of that, and while it doesn't say anywhere on it what the ingredients are, I would imagine because it's 100% tomatoes. Cassandra - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 3:12 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa (tomato in liver shake) The tomato peel is not easily digested, and the seeds are not digested at all. You could use fresh tomato if you blanch it, peel it, and then remove all the seeds. Phaewryn http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Special Needs Cat Resources http://www.iGive.com/html/refer.cfm?causeid=21303 Sign up for iGive and a percentage of your purchases helps save animals! -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
Kisa likes the liver shake. She wasn't interested at first, but I just held the spoon in front of her nose until she tried it. I don't know why she'd like it though, it smells awful..mostly like tomato. Now I just need to get her eating off a plate. It's really slow going dipping a spoon in food and letting her lick the back. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 3:07 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Thanks for the recipe, I will try it today. For tomato juice, can I just throw in a whole fresh tomato? I'm not sure what other ingredients might be in tomato juice. Some sugar maybe? Cassandra - Original Message - From: Nina To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 12:56 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Tad, I think that's a great food to try with Kisa, esp since she likes liver! Here's the recipe paste from Michelle: Here is the liver shake recipe: 1 cup raw liver (chicken or beef, I use chicken) 1 cup fresh carrot juice, tomato juice, or V-8 1/4 cup filtered water 1 raw egg yolk 1 tsp kelp or spirulina Blend until liquid and frothy. I make it in half batches (though use a whole egg yolk), and warm up small amounts for Simon. I had to put it on his lips the first few times to get him to eat it. it is supposed to be complete nutrition. Tad Burnett wrote: We used to make a Liver Shake here that was basically liver and a little tomato or V8 juice... Sick cats seem to love that but some people say it has onions in it... But I can't see that it does... Anybody have any thoughts on this ??? Tad No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
Oh, its even better than on my hands and knees. She feels safest under the bedso its more like lying flat on my stomach trying to reach through the 6 inch opening between the bed frame and floor. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Nina To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 8:01 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa I'm so glad she likes it! Don't get greedy about switching her to a plate, we don't want to jinx her! :-) . It's making me smile to picture you on your hands and knees coaxing her to eat and actually having her do it! Been there, done that :-) . C'mon Kisa! N C J wrote: Kisa likes the liver shake. She wasn't interested at first, but I just held the spoon in front of her nose until she tried it. I don't know why she'd like it though, it smells awful..mostly like tomato. Now I just need to get her eating off a plate. It's really slow going dipping a spoon in food and letting her lick the back. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: depressing!!.
I'd hate to try giving pills to a cat that size. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Kelly L To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 10:31 PM Subject: depressing!!. http://www.lifestylepets.com/index.html No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Lycine and supplement fatigue
I've been switching my cats to all canned and homemade food, so its fairly easy to just stir the supplements in. I've also used the baby food and raw pureed liver (I prefer chicken liver since it smells less nasty than beef) to hide things in. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Jane Lyons [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 8:53 PM Subject: Lycine and supplement fatigue What is the best quality Lycine to get? I just Googled it, and there are dozens of brands and I know that since supplements are not regulated, that a quality name is important. Also, how do all of you deal with the 'supplement fatigue'. We've only been into this for a week, but I can see that MeMe is getting wary of the eye dropper and pill plunger. I have been able to get the probiotic into her with food, but the liquids and pills require my husband and I baring down. I would like to include lycine in her regimeany tricks? Jane -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Kisa
Thank you. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Jane Lyons [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 8:56 PM Subject: Kisa Hoping that Kisa has a good night and that all of you can get some much needed sleep. Sleep tight Jane -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
Actually she did do that. I just ripped the fabric lining off. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Taylor Scobie Humphrey To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 9:02 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Oh, I love it! What we do for our babies. Al least she doesn't feel the most comfortable hanging in the hammock that kitties make by ripping a corner of the fabric under the bedframe and crawling in there! Consciousness is Causal and Physicality is its Manifestation. On Jun 2, 2007, at 8:43 PM, C J wrote: Oh, its even better than on my hands and knees. She feels safest under the bedso its more like lying flat on my stomach trying to reach through the 6 inch opening between the bed frame and floor. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Nina To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 8:01 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa I'm so glad she likes it! Don't get greedy about switching her to a plate, we don't want to jinx her! :-) . It's making me smile to picture you on your hands and knees coaxing her to eat and actually having her do it! Been there, done that :-) . C'mon Kisa! N C J wrote: Kisa likes the liver shake. She wasn't interested at first, but I just held the spoon in front of her nose until she tried it. I don't know why she'd like it though, it smells awful..mostly like tomato. Now I just need to get her eating off a plate. It's really slow going dipping a spoon in food and letting her lick the back. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM
Re: Update on Kisa
A small update on Kisa. I didn't think she would make it through the night, and at one point I checked on her and thought she was gone, because I didn't see the heavy breathing. She did make it through the night, and I was seriously considering taking her in to the vet for euthanasia. I asked her if I should, and was very upset I wasn't strong enough to make that decision. Well, now she actually looks a little bit better. She's very weak, but she seems more alert and her breathing, while still fast, isn't quite as labored and she's not breathing through her mouth. It could be the dexamethasone making some sort of difference. And then the strangest thing of all happened, she ate about 1 and a half tablespoons of pureed liver, by licking it off the back of a spoon. This is the first time in two weeks since this started, that she didn't gag at the very sight/smell of food. I couldn't believe she actually ate. She must not be feeling as nauseous, and so far she hasn't vomited today. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but this is the first positive thing that has happened for her in two weeks. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how she does over the next couple of days. If she's trying to get better, she has an awful lot to overcome yet in order to do so. I've got a full IV bag of sub-q fluids to keep her hydrated at least. Just a question on that, how much fluid should she get in a day? I gave her about 100ml, six hours ago, and it still hasn't all soaked in from under the skin at the back of her neck. Cassandra
Re: Update on Kisa
Well, I think its time to give up trying to force feed Kisa. I think she must be severely anemic now. Her breathing is very rapid, and this morning she was panting for awhile and it sounded very labored. She's in no condition to be shoving food down her throat. I don't know how long she may last in this state, but it must be quite uncomfortable. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm trying to decide if I should bring her in to the vet to have her put to sleep, or hold out and hope she can pull off a miracle like Tomi did. I called in sick to work today, just so I can be with her..since I don't know how much longer she can do this. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 8:22 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa The metachlopramide doesn't seem to be helping. She had a shot this morning, and vomited mid afternoon. Then I gave her a shot tonight, and fed her 30 mins later...she vomited that up. We actually pulled her tube out, unclogged it, and put it back in. But when she vomited tonight, she vomited it out again, and bit it off. I'm thinking of getting some more tubes from the vet, and just putting them in ourselves. We syringe fed her 30cc along with her pills after that, hopefully she can keep that down for awhile. She seems to keep stuff down if you give it to her after she vomits. The syringe feeding is not a good thing to do with her, she gets so stressed out about it. Her breathing is fairly rapid now, and doing the syringe feeding, her breathing is super fast. I'm thinking we may be fighting a losing battle here. We can't seem to stop the vomiting, and while she's doing that, we can't keep food/water down her. She's going downhill meanwhile. I would like to try to feel less stressed and more positive around her, but it seems so hard. Everytime I look at her lying there so depressed, with her beautiful white fur stained from food/vomit, when she should be racing around the house without a care in the world, I just can't stop the tears. This waiting is definately the hardest part. Cassandra
Anyone have experience with respiratory distress likely caused by anemia?
I've been searching the web for info on respiratory distress, but can't seem to find what i'm looking for. Kisa's breathing is very rapid and deep, and she has her mouth slightly open most of the time. I can't decide if I should take her in to be put to sleep. I am just wondering if anyone has experience with this, and how long will an animal last in this sort of condition? I am sure she isn't feeling very well at all, but I don't know if she is in pain, or just some discomfort. If this is going to go on for days, I should probably put her to sleep. How will an animal die if the respiratory distress keeps getting worse? Will it be a painful ending, or just a cessation of breathing eventually? Thanks for any input. Cassandra
Re: Kissa
Thanks, I think Kisa is mainly in God's hands right now, but the waiting is so hard. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Jane Lyons [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 3:52 PM Subject: Kissa Cassandra I cannot imagine how tired and stressed you must be. I wonder if the sudden loss of her 'housemates' has been an assault on Kissa's immunity. She is on her own path and you are doing everything you can to support her. She will let you know. Take care of yourself. Jane -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.4/825 - Release Date: 5/30/2007 3:03 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
The thing is with the vomiting though, I don't think its just because i'm feeding her. For the last week, she's been vomiting consistently before I ever feed her. When the vomiting first started suddenly, she vomited several times a day with a completely empty stomach for about 3 days. We then started syringe feeding her, and as soon as we brought her out from her hiding spot, she would vomitthen we would syringe her the food. So yesterday, she vomited after syringing her the food, so I probably gave too much to start. I took her to the vet today, to get the tube put back in, and she got a shot of metachlopramide. Now the problem is, they didn't give me any more of the metachlopramide because they said its a drug filtered by the liver, and if her liver isn't functioning properly, too much of that will cause a problem. They just said to feed her about 12cc followed by 4cc water3 times a day.to see if she would keep that down. I mentioned that I didn't know how i'd be able to get enough calories into her with that small amount, but they just said to see how it goes. What a pain in the butt, because i'm fairly certain that even if I feed her such a tiny amount, i'm betting she's still going to vomit here at some point...possibly vomiting out that tube again. If she vomits again today, i'll have to get more of the metachlopramide even if its going to cause a problem with her liver. This seems to be a no win situation here. Plus, she's definately not feeling very well. All she wants to do is hide, and then lay in one spot all day. I wouldn't doubt it if she's depressed after all this. I notice her breathing seems fast also. I took her to bed with me last night, because she seems to enjoy that, and she did purr for awhile. The problem was, she was peeing about every 3 hours (probably from being on the IV for 2 days), and she was doing it in bed. I put plastic and towels under her, but she missed them once and I had to rip the bed apart in the middle of the night before it soaked too deep. She is too lethargic to get up for anything, unless its running to hide somewhere. All I can do is pray for a miracle, that somehow she will be able to pull through this mess since everything seems to be going wrong. Even my vet, who seems pretty good so far is gone now for a few weeks, so i'll have to deal with a different vet that doesn't know what's been going on so far. I was liking this vet, because he wasn't all doom and gloom like the last 2 vets i've dealt with. If he had the opinion that Kisa didn't have much of a chance, he kept it to himself, and was willing to try whatever I wanted. The last 2 vets i've had were always wanting to make it quite clear that she didn't have a chance and it wasn't worth spending too much on her. I don't see any reason why a vet has to make sure that you have no hope, hope is the only thing that keeps me functioning. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 7:47 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Cassandra, I've had 3 cats with feeding tube (e-tube in the esphogus) and never had a problem with vomiting with any of them unless I was going too fast or giving meds on an empty tummy, once I figured out what I was doing wrong it was no longer an issue. All of my feeding tube experiences as far as the feeding themselves went beautifully. Fred did have an infection problem at the entry site that we couldn't get rid of because the vets wouldn't leave him on the antibiotics long enough. But his feedings went great and he gained back most of the weight he had lost, he never vomited once even with is infection problem. There are several reasons a cat will vomit when getting fed through a feeding tube, getting fed too fast, getting too much food at once, when a cat hasn't eaten for as long as Kisa hasn't you have to go slowly and build up to a bigger amount. What I mean is, she needs to be fed 10 to 20 cc's every hour or two, for the first day, then maybe 15 to 25 every couple of hours then next day, and unfortunetly you aren't going to find many, if any vets willing to devote that kind of time to one animal so it would probably be better if she were home if you can devote that kind of time to her care. Other reasons include the tube not being placed correctly, with an e-tube there is a specific area the tube should be, not higher not lower or it will cause nausea in some cats. It should NOT enter the stomach, it should be between the 7th and 9th rib, this is easily verifiable with an xray. An nasel gastric tube is uncomfortable and only ever should be used in emergencies, which Kisa is at this time, think about it a cats nostril is tiny, imagine having something shoved in it. BUT once Kisa is strong enough she should get an e-tube, it is the safest easiest tube for feeding. A peg tube is
Re: Update on Kisa
PS...one question, how fast do you syringe the food down the tube. I've just been pushing the plunger steadily but slowly. About 2cc per second. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 7:47 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Cassandra, I've had 3 cats with feeding tube (e-tube in the esphogus) and never had a problem with vomiting with any of them unless I was going too fast or giving meds on an empty tummy, once I figured out what I was doing wrong it was no longer an issue. All of my feeding tube experiences as far as the feeding themselves went beautifully. Fred did have an infection problem at the entry site that we couldn't get rid of because the vets wouldn't leave him on the antibiotics long enough. But his feedings went great and he gained back most of the weight he had lost, he never vomited once even with is infection problem. There are several reasons a cat will vomit when getting fed through a feeding tube, getting fed too fast, getting too much food at once, when a cat hasn't eaten for as long as Kisa hasn't you have to go slowly and build up to a bigger amount. What I mean is, she needs to be fed 10 to 20 cc's every hour or two, for the first day, then maybe 15 to 25 every couple of hours then next day, and unfortunetly you aren't going to find many, if any vets willing to devote that kind of time to one animal so it would probably be better if she were home if you can devote that kind of time to her care. Other reasons include the tube not being placed correctly, with an e-tube there is a specific area the tube should be, not higher not lower or it will cause nausea in some cats. It should NOT enter the stomach, it should be between the 7th and 9th rib, this is easily verifiable with an xray. An nasel gastric tube is uncomfortable and only ever should be used in emergencies, which Kisa is at this time, think about it a cats nostril is tiny, imagine having something shoved in it. BUT once Kisa is strong enough she should get an e-tube, it is the safest easiest tube for feeding. A peg tube is used when an e-tube for whatever reason doesn't work. Or the vet just prefers it, much more expensive, and a more extensive surgery too, but some vets will only do them, in my opinion because they are money hungry. Taylor this tube probably wasn't placed right. It didn't seem to want to go down into her tummy and would just come right back up and out around the bandage on her neck. It was a totally awful experience all the way around. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting web design] http://HostDesign4U.com BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.3/824 - Release Date: 5/29/2007 1:01 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
Well, the bad luck is just continuing...I dont' know how much more I can handle. I gave Kisa just 12cc of food followed by 4cc water. About and hour and a half later, she vomited. I tried giving her some more, and now the tube is plugged. I can't get water or anything through it. I called the vet, and i'm going to get more of the metachlopramide, but they said it may not help her because she feels so sick due to toxins building up that the liver isn't filtering. I guess she gets to go get a new tube put in tomorrow. So far she's only had that 12cc of food today...and I guess I have to put her through the stress of another syringe feeding tonight. I could just scream about now. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 2:13 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa The thing is with the vomiting though, I don't think its just because i'm feeding her. For the last week, she's been vomiting consistently before I ever feed her. When the vomiting first started suddenly, she vomited several times a day with a completely empty stomach for about 3 days. We then started syringe feeding her, and as soon as we brought her out from her hiding spot, she would vomitthen we would syringe her the food. So yesterday, she vomited after syringing her the food, so I probably gave too much to start. I took her to the vet today, to get the tube put back in, and she got a shot of metachlopramide. Now the problem is, they didn't give me any more of the metachlopramide because they said its a drug filtered by the liver, and if her liver isn't functioning properly, too much of that will cause a problem. They just said to feed her about 12cc followed by 4cc water3 times a day.to see if she would keep that down. I mentioned that I didn't know how i'd be able to get enough calories into her with that small amount, but they just said to see how it goes. What a pain in the butt, because i'm fairly certain that even if I feed her such a tiny amount, i'm betting she's still going to vomit here at some point...possibly vomiting out that tube again. If she vomits again today, i'll have to get more of the metachlopramide even if its going to cause a problem with her liver. This seems to be a no win situation here. Plus, she's definately not feeling very well. All she wants to do is hide, and then lay in one spot all day. I wouldn't doubt it if she's depressed after all this. I notice her breathing seems fast also. I took her to bed with me last night, because she seems to enjoy that, and she did purr for awhile. The problem was, she was peeing about every 3 hours (probably from being on the IV for 2 days), and she was doing it in bed. I put plastic and towels under her, but she missed them once and I had to rip the bed apart in the middle of the night before it soaked too deep. She is too lethargic to get up for anything, unless its running to hide somewhere. All I can do is pray for a miracle, that somehow she will be able to pull through this mess since everything seems to be going wrong. Even my vet, who seems pretty good so far is gone now for a few weeks, so i'll have to deal with a different vet that doesn't know what's been going on so far. I was liking this vet, because he wasn't all doom and gloom like the last 2 vets i've dealt with. If he had the opinion that Kisa didn't have much of a chance, he kept it to himself, and was willing to try whatever I wanted. The last 2 vets i've had were always wanting to make it quite clear that she didn't have a chance and it wasn't worth spending too much on her. I don't see any reason why a vet has to make sure that you have no hope, hope is the only thing that keeps me functioning. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 7:47 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Cassandra, I've had 3 cats with feeding tube (e-tube in the esphogus) and never had a problem with vomiting with any of them unless I was going too fast or giving meds on an empty tummy, once I figured out what I was doing wrong it was no longer an issue. All of my feeding tube experiences as far as the feeding themselves went beautifully. Fred did have an infection problem at the entry site that we couldn't get rid of because the vets wouldn't leave him on the antibiotics long enough. But his feedings went great and he gained back most of the weight he had lost, he never vomited once even with is infection problem. There are several reasons a cat will vomit when getting fed through a feeding tube, getting fed too fast, getting too much food at once, when a cat hasn't eaten for as long as Kisa hasn't you have to go slowly and build up to a bigger amount. What I mean is, she needs to be fed 10 to 20 cc's every hour or two
Re: Update on Kisa
The metachlopramide doesn't seem to be helping. She had a shot this morning, and vomited mid afternoon. Then I gave her a shot tonight, and fed her 30 mins later...she vomited that up. We actually pulled her tube out, unclogged it, and put it back in. But when she vomited tonight, she vomited it out again, and bit it off. I'm thinking of getting some more tubes from the vet, and just putting them in ourselves. We syringe fed her 30cc along with her pills after that, hopefully she can keep that down for awhile. She seems to keep stuff down if you give it to her after she vomits. The syringe feeding is not a good thing to do with her, she gets so stressed out about it. Her breathing is fairly rapid now, and doing the syringe feeding, her breathing is super fast. I'm thinking we may be fighting a losing battle here. We can't seem to stop the vomiting, and while she's doing that, we can't keep food/water down her. She's going downhill meanwhile. I would like to try to feel less stressed and more positive around her, but it seems so hard. Everytime I look at her lying there so depressed, with her beautiful white fur stained from food/vomit, when she should be racing around the house without a care in the world, I just can't stop the tears. This waiting is definately the hardest part. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 7:49 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa I'd just like to add to this to try and feel be stressed, frustrated or think negatively, I know that seems almost impossible when things just seem to keep not working but cats are very sensitive to our feelings and your stress and fear is being picked up by her. With every fiber of your being think positive and actually see and picture things going right in your minds eye, it will make a difference, I promise ... positive, positive, positive energy, I can't stress that enough. Not sure what your vet told you about the metacloprimide but it should be given 3 times a day about a half hour before the meal it is preceding (Kisa should get more meals than that but give the metacloprimide a half hour to the meal it is closest to). There are exceptions to that, Bailey needed to get his metachloprimide an hour before or he was still a bit nauseous when I fed him. Buddie, Bailey and Fred got 1cc three times a day, it helps to get the digestive juices flowing since they aren't producing saliva because they aren't eating by way of the mouth, saliva starts the digestive process. Talk to her and see what she wantsexplain that you are not doing this to harm her or be mean to her but to help her stay with you where she is loved. She needs to understand what is going on. They pick up on so much but sometimes, like people, misunderstand or take it the wrong way. Talk to her. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting web design] http://HostDesign4U.com BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.3/824 - Release Date: 5/29/2007 1:01 PM
Re: Cassandra: Re: Hemobart
It would be great if her liver issues were due to hemobart, but i'm not sure it can cause all the issues she has. She had very high lvls of bilirubin, but she wasn't anemic at all a week ago. Her liver is enlarged as well, with some elevated liver enzymes, and then there's the vomiting 2-4 times per day with zero appetite. Possibly the hemobart jumped on the bandwagon this last week while she's been weak and stressed, or hopefully it could be the cause of some of her problems. It's really hard to say, but i'm constantly praying that its not cancer and somehow the problem can be dealt with. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 10:24 PM Subject: Cassandra: Re: Hemobart Hey Cassandra, I was reading up on hemobartanellosis right now, and it says that it can cause jaundice, which is related to the liver, I believe. Maybe that's what's causing the liver issues?! I sure hope so. Thank goodness they found the hemobart, because it is VERY hard to diagnose. Half the time, they can't see the little buggers on the slide under a microscope. If she pulls through this, we need to make a note for later in case we see this again. Praying that her liver issues are related to the hemobart... :) Wendy Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has! ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~ 8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time with the Yahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#news -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.0/821 - Release Date: 5/27/2007 3:05 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
I brought Kisa home from the vet today. She's been fully hydrated and had a nasal feeding tube in place, with the lovely lampshade around her neck. She is still very lethargic/depressed, but a little more alert and her eyes look better. We're still no closer to a proper diagnosis though, because she is too weak to undergo surgery to obtain a biopsy of her liver. At the vet, she wasn't vomiting much at all, but once I got her home and fed her 30cc of liquid food, followed by 5 cc of water, she promptly vomited it all up. I gaver her another 20cc after that. Two hours later, I gave her another 30 ccand...well she vomited up her feeding tube shortly thereafter. She vomited up so much, that she must have had most of that 20cc from 2 hrs earlier in her belly still. What a nightmare. I guess we go back to the vet tomorrow to get another tube put insigh. The vet said we can try metachlopromide (or however its spelled) if she vomits alot, so I suppose that will be the next thing we have to try. We really need a break here. Her only chance is to get healthy enough just from feeding and giving the doxycycline so that we can hopefully do a biopsy. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 8:20 PM Subject: Update on Kisa Well, after going to the vet today, it's not looking good for Kisa. She has elevated bilirubin in her blood/urine, and elevated number of lymphocytes. Therefore they believe she has a liver disease, possibly lymphosarcoma. The only way they can tell for sure what the problem is with her liver is to do a biopsy which means surgery.They didn't suggest doing this though because of the FeLV and her immune system being compromised. They gave me prednisone and baytril for her, though i'm really not sure how she'll handle keeping those down when she is vomiting so easily. They're hoping the steroid will make her feel a little better and maybe regain some appetite. I've really got to try and get her to eat something, she hasn't eaten since Saturday night now. I don't understand why this is all happening at once. First I watched Tomi get sicker and sicker for nearly 2 months. As soon as he started getting better, Koda got sick with kidney and liver failure, and died. Now, barely a week later Kisa goes from being a super healthy and active cat to death's door. I haven't even had enough time to get used to Koda being gone, now its another crisis situation. This is all after having nothing but healthy, happy, and active cats for 12 years. I used to think how awful it would be if my house burned down while I was away and my 5 cats were inside. What is happening now is almost worse than that since it is so prolonged and i'm beginning to wonder if something I am doing is causing all this (like feeding raw food). I've always kept my cats indoors because I didn't want them to get run over by a car, etcbut they seem to be no safer indoors. Sorry for venting on you all, its just really starting to affect me, both emotionally and financially. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.7.6/814 - Release Date: 5/21/2007 2:01 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
I visited Kisa three times at the vet today, and she's going to be spending another night there. They're keeping her on the IV. They also put in a feeding tube through her nose, so she's got that taped to the top of her head, and a cone around her neck. She seems a little more alert, but she didn't get up at all. She purred while I pet her, but it is so hard to see her like this. They found the presence of Hemobartonella, and she was looking pale, so they are giving her doxycycline now instead of batyril. She wasn't anemic on Tuesday, but she may be now. They also did an X-ray, and it looks like her liver is quite enlarged. The vet figures it probably is cancer. The only way to know for sure is the liver biopsy, but she is too weak for general anesthetic right now. The nearest place where she can receive cancer treatment is 6-7 hours away from here. I didn't ask yet how much this would cost. She would basically start the treatment there, then the vet here could probably do the chemo after all the diagnosis is done. I'm really now sure how feasible that would be for me. I've got other kitties to look after, and a job to go to...not to mention the cost for a treatment that may or may not help her. He suggested we wait and see how she is tomorrow after another day on the IV. What an ordeal..why is it we have to make such hard decisions when it comes to the lives of our little ones? I don't want to put her through a bunch of stress and pain just to have her die anyway, and wish I hadn't put her through so much. Yet I find it so hard to give up on her. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 8:20 PM Subject: Update on Kisa Well, after going to the vet today, it's not looking good for Kisa. She has elevated bilirubin in her blood/urine, and elevated number of lymphocytes. Therefore they believe she has a liver disease, possibly lymphosarcoma. The only way they can tell for sure what the problem is with her liver is to do a biopsy which means surgery.They didn't suggest doing this though because of the FeLV and her immune system being compromised. They gave me prednisone and baytril for her, though i'm really not sure how she'll handle keeping those down when she is vomiting so easily. They're hoping the steroid will make her feel a little better and maybe regain some appetite. I've really got to try and get her to eat something, she hasn't eaten since Saturday night now. I don't understand why this is all happening at once. First I watched Tomi get sicker and sicker for nearly 2 months. As soon as he started getting better, Koda got sick with kidney and liver failure, and died. Now, barely a week later Kisa goes from being a super healthy and active cat to death's door. I haven't even had enough time to get used to Koda being gone, now its another crisis situation. This is all after having nothing but healthy, happy, and active cats for 12 years. I used to think how awful it would be if my house burned down while I was away and my 5 cats were inside. What is happening now is almost worse than that since it is so prolonged and i'm beginning to wonder if something I am doing is causing all this (like feeding raw food). I've always kept my cats indoors because I didn't want them to get run over by a car, etcbut they seem to be no safer indoors. Sorry for venting on you all, its just really starting to affect me, both emotionally and financially. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.7.6/814 - Release Date: 5/21/2007 2:01 PM
Re: questions
The problems in my little family started on March 9 when I took my poor anemic Tomi to the vet and found out he had FeLV. The next day, I hauled my 4 other cats to the vet and found out Kisa (2.5 years old, the same as Tomi) also tested positive. I realize now that I was living in a nice ignorant bliss before this day. For me, the anxiety and sadness hasn't been able to go away yet, simply because we've been in a state of crisis with 3 different cats ever since. When I first learned of the diagnosis, I was so stressed out, I could hardly even eat anything for about a week. Food just turned my stomach. Then I watched Tomi get worse and worse for nearly 2 months. His red blood cell count kept going down slowly, and the vet wanted to put him to sleep before he went into respiratory distress. Well he very nearly got to that point. It was the worst weekend of my life when he got so bad that I thought for sure he would die overnight. Somehow though, he pulled through that, and got better. He's been getting better for a month now. Sadly, I haven't had much time to enjoy his recovery, because shortly after that, my 15 yr old cat Koda got sick and died in less than a week of acute liver and kidney failure. That may possibly have been cancer, but she went too fast to diagnose anything. We barely buried Koda, when Kisa started vomiting and wouldn't eat. This past weekend watching Kisa fade away, is just as bad if not worse as the weekend where Tomi was so sick, because we've had to torment her with force feedings. I'm really getting worn out here. I don't know if i'll ever recover from all of this. I know how you feel though, I also wake up every couple of hours to check on my kitties when they are so sick. I bring my sick kitties into the bedroom where kitties aren't normally allowed. Kisa has been sleeping between my husband and me, and while she is there, I basically only doze, waking up frequently to watch her. I find the hardest part to be the anticipation of losing a baby, and watching them get weaker and weaker, wondering if you've done all you can possibly do for them. All I can do is mope around the house, wishing time would go by faster, and the worry and sadness are almost too much to bear. Whether one can find acceptance of the disease, and just appreciate your time with them, I don't know because i'm not there yet. I am full of stress, worry, and i'm probably bordering on depression by now. Maybe if things can just stabilize for awhile, and I can recover from the emotional and financial strain, i'll be able to relax and appreciate my babies while I have them. Just pray that MeMe will be one of the kitties that can live for many years without showing any serious signs of the disease. There's no sense worrying about her a great deal if she is relatively healthy. Just giver her extra love, a healthy diet, and whatever supplements you can that may boost her immune system. This whole nightmare has definately changed my life a great deal. It has removed alot of my blissful ignorance, and taught me not to take for granted today, what I could lose tomorrow. I just hope I can regain some happiness, if and when this ordeal will ever come to an end. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Jane Lyons [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 8:11 AM Subject: questions Cassandra you and Kisa are in my thoughts and prayers. Does the anxiety and sadness ever go away? I feel as though I am still in shock with the diagnosis. I feel I am back to the place I was when my 19 year old (NoNo) was failing and I would wake up every few hours to make sure she was ok. The feelings of impending loss and sadness became like a low grade fever for many months. When it became clear that she was in pain and had to cross, I was prepared and relieved to be free of the fear and anxiety and sadness that became a part of the end of her long and happy life and our infinite bond. When I brought this kitten (MeMe) home, I was exhilarated by her sweetness and smitten by the antics of a young cat. It had been a long time since someone had propelled themselves across the room from a counter top to the back of my neck. She sleeps between us in the same spot that NoNo had for 19 years. The Feline Leukemia diagnosis has brought back the sadness and bittersweet feelings of loss and mortality and connectedness. While I am committed to doing whatever I can to give her the best care and support available, will I ever be able to hold her and kiss her without a surge of sadness and regret and longing? Does the shock of this disease ever move to a place of acceptance and appreciation for the present time and moment. I realize that what I am asking has to do with my own consciousness and ability to live in the moment with gratitude that I selected this dear, sweet being to love and care for. She's sitting on my lap,
Re: A little more on the topic of pee
Oh I know they do it on purpose. One of my cats left a nice brown present for me right on my pillow the day we took Tomi in. She never did that before or since. Cassandra - Original Message - From: MaryChristine To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 7:14 PM Subject: Re: A little more on the topic of pee i get such a kick out of the experts who say that cats don't do this on purpose, or don't hold grudges. have they never LIVED with them?? the little beasts know EXACTLY what they're doing, i'm convinced of it! and, yes, are giggling behind their paws as we discover their gifts and surprises! On 5/28/07, Susan Hoffman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Oh, we always close the door. Same with the microwave. We close doors on toaster ovens and microwaves to protect the food that we've hidden from the cats. My mother was punished this morning for not getting up and cleaning litterboxes quickly enough. She awoke to the smell of poop. Two of her cats had managed to poop down a heating vent. At least she has until winter to take the thing apart and clean it out. Kelly L [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: At 04:31 PM 5/28/2007, you wrote: I purchased a fireplace screen at a yard sale for Cat House on the Kings...I may be able to protect my space heater in the fall..then again I may not Kelly The toaster oven is NOT safe UNLESS you remember to ALWAYS close the door! My Sunset became annoyed when I went out of town overnight she peed into the toaster oven. I didn't suspect a thing until I tried to toast an English muffin. The stench was horrible! So do NOT assume that toaster ovens are safe. Cats are VERY creative. Remember what Fluffy did to my friends' winshield washers! Pam Susan Hoffman wrote: And there was the time that Trixie got my roommate's toaster It was late at night. I was lyinjg in bed reading, pinned in place by cats on either side. I smell what smells like a skunk. So I assume we have a skunk in the yard. Not the first time. No big deal. I think nothing of it. Next morning my roommate mentions the skunk to me. And how he was making toast at the time. And how he felt a little ill after eating the toastSlowly, it dawns on us. That was no skunk. Trixie peed in the toaster. AND HE ATE IT! Is that why Trixie was giggling? Larry is convinced that Trixie did this on purpose. She knows mommy NEVER eats toast. He's probably right. The toaster has been replaced by a toaster over. But I think I caught Trixie reading the schematics. She's very clever. If Trixie offers you toast, decline. */Nina /* wrote: Sigh. I just got through battling with my pee entrenched dryer again. Nothing seems to be helping, I feel your pain sister. Nina Susan Hoffman wrote: This morning when I headed into the kitchen to feed everyone, I removed what I thought was a clean frying pan from the stivetop -- I use the stove as a stagingt area to get all the plates of canned catfood ready -- and put the frying pan upside down in the dish drainer. Someone had peed in the frying pan overnight and I wound up pouring cat pee all over the clean dishes in the drainer. One more morning like this and I'm going to make myself a cup of strong coffee before anyone gets a morsel of food. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.0/821 - Release Date: 5/27/2007 3:05 PM -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.0/821 - Release Date: 5/27/2007 3:05 PM -- Spay Neuter Your Neighbors! Maybe That'll Make The Difference MaryChristine AIM / YAHOO: TenHouseCats MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ: 289856892 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.0/821 - Release Date: 5/27/2007 3:05 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
They can't do the needle biospy here, they don't have the equipment. I'm thinking they need the ultrasound in order to do it. Basically my options are: to have her fully hydrated, put some food into her and hope she feels well enough to do the general anesthesia and biopsy, or to send her 6-7 hours away where they have the ultrasound and equipment to diagnose her with a needle. She still would need the general anesthesia to put a better feeding tube in, though. I'm really not sure I can do the second option, nor am I sure how she would handle a long trip like that. I guess a third option would be to just bring her home with the nasal tube and the plastic collar so she can't rip it out, and hope that the problem isn't cancer, and might clear up if we kept her properly fed and hydrated. The vet says it likely isn't fatty liver, since she wasn't overweight, and didn't stop eating til she got sick, but I guess he can't know for sure without the biopsy. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Taylor Scobie Humphrey To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 9:33 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa If you find it hard to give up on Kisa, well, DON'T! Will you please ask your vet if a fine-needle biopsy of Kisa's liver is feasible? Then she won't need general anesthesia because it's a poke instead of an operation. We all have some variation of other kitties and jobs and kids and aging parents and spouses and houses to care for. If you can get her started at the oncologist and then have your vet do it, that sounds ideal. Taylor Scobie Humphrey [EMAIL PROTECTED] On May 28, 2007, at 6:41 PM, C J wrote: I visited Kisa three times at the vet today, and she's going to be spending another night there. They're keeping her on the IV. They also put in a feeding tube through her nose, so she's got that taped to the top of her head, and a cone around her neck. She seems a little more alert, but she didn't get up at all. She purred while I pet her, but it is so hard to see her like this. They found the presence of Hemobartonella, and she was looking pale, so they are giving her doxycycline now instead of batyril. She wasn't anemic on Tuesday, but she may be now. They also did an X-ray, and it looks like her liver is quite enlarged. The vet figures it probably is cancer. The only way to know for sure is the liver biopsy, but she is too weak for general anesthetic right now. The nearest place where she can receive cancer treatment is 6-7 hours away from here. I didn't ask yet how much this would cost. She would basically start the treatment there, then the vet here could probably do the chemo after all the diagnosis is done. I'm really now sure how feasible that would be for me. I've got other kitties to look after, and a job to go to...not to mention the cost for a treatment that may or may not help her. He suggested we wait and see how she is tomorrow after another day on the IV. What an ordeal..why is it we have to make such hard decisions when it comes to the lives of our little ones? I don't want to put her through a bunch of stress and pain just to have her die anyway, and wish I hadn't put her through so much. Yet I find it so hard to give up on her. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 8:20 PM Subject: Update on Kisa Well, after going to the vet today, it's not looking good for Kisa. She has elevated bilirubin in her blood/urine, and elevated number of lymphocytes. Therefore they believe she has a liver disease, possibly lymphosarcoma. The only way they can tell for sure what the problem is with her liver is to do a biopsy which means surgery.They didn't suggest doing this though because of the FeLV and her immune system being compromised. They gave me prednisone and baytril for her, though i'm really not sure how she'll handle keeping those down when she is vomiting so easily. They're hoping the steroid will make her feel a little better and maybe regain some appetite. I've really got to try and get her to eat something, she hasn't eaten since Saturday night now. I don't understand why this is all happening at once. First I watched Tomi get sicker and sicker for nearly 2 months. As soon as he started getting better, Koda got sick with kidney and liver failure, and died. Now, barely a week later Kisa goes from being a super healthy and active cat to death's door. I haven't even had enough time to get used to Koda being gone, now its another crisis situation. This is all after having nothing but healthy, happy, and active cats for 12 years. I used to think how awful it would be if my house burned down while I was away and my 5 cats were inside. What is happening now is almost worse than
Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa
Kisa isn't doing very well so far.Over the last week, she's been getting more lethargic day by day. And now she's at the point where all she does is hide/sleep. When we bring her out of her hiding spot, she vomits almost immediately. The Chloropromazine didn't help the vomiting, so I stopped giving it. The vomiting makes the syringe feeding all the more difficult because if we feed her every four-five hours, she vomits up a fair bit of the prior feeding. I'm going to have to feed her a couple of times a day, and leave it at that. I think food may be the least of her worries right now. She's probably getting dehydrated from all the vomiting, though I don't know how to tell that for sure. Her third eyelid is very noticeable now. She shows very little interest in drinking, mainly just sticks her paws in the water and sniffs it. Plus, even though i've been syringe feeding her since wednesday, I seriously doubt she's pooped at all. I'm not sure where the food is going after it goes in. She's not very responsive either, anymore. She will purr a bit when I pet her, but that's about it. I've been trying to find an oncologist, but i'm not sure she's even strong enough to handle an anesthetic and a liver biopsy, or feeding tube insertion anymore. Considering the vet clinics i've called don't know of an oncologist, i'm doubting I can find one anywhere nearby. This is just so frustrating, but I guess I need to remember that even in people, once cancer gets into the liver, there's usually not much more that can be done. I know someone right now who has cancer, and since the cancer went into her liver, the doctors have stopped aggressive treatment. She has only painkillers and 6 months to live. Everytime I think of how full of life and mischief Kisa was only a week ago, I begin a new batch of tears. She was absolutely fearless, I could vacuum her off, nothing would scare her. Everytime I had an empty box or bag out, she would be in it. She carried a little stuffed panda around all the time, and would proudly announce she had something special in her mouth. No matter where I hid that panda, she would find it. She could break into anything, including the closets. She's always been so loving and gentle too. I could pet her belly, the only cat that would let me do that. And when she played, she would be so gentle when chewing on your fingers, I always thought she would make the perfect kitty for a child to play with. It's so depressing to lose the special kitties, the ones that can cheer you up after a long day at work. It's going to take me a long time to get over the last 3 months, going through this process 3 times. And I know at any time, Tomi could get sick again. I'm sorry for being so long-winded, I just can't seem to focus on anything else other than my kitties these days. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2007 2:00 PM Subject: To Cassandra Re: Kisa Cassandra, I agree with what everyone says here, but am keeping in mind that you are limited to location and funding. That being said, even if Kisa does not get chemo, she does need the combo dexamethasone/depomedrol shots. They will not cure anything, but will keep her very comfortable up to her passing if you choose not to do chemo. They are steroids, but much stronger than prednisone. I am so sorry Kisa is having to go through this (and you as well). Prayers going out for both of you. Please keep us posted. :) Wendy --- wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Cassandra, I just read this email. How is Kisa doing today? I am not caught up yet. I hope she's better. Prayers going out for both of you. :) Wendy --- C J [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Well, after going to the vet today, it's not looking good for Kisa. She has elevated bilirubin in her blood/urine, and elevated number of lymphocytes. Therefore they believe she has a liver disease, possibly lymphosarcoma. The only way they can tell for sure what the problem is with her liver is to do a biopsy which means surgery.They didn't suggest doing this though because of the FeLV and her immune system being compromised. They gave me prednisone and baytril for her, though i'm really not sure how she'll handle keeping those down when she is vomiting so easily. They're hoping the steroid will make her feel a little better and maybe regain some appetite. I've really got to try and get her to eat something, she hasn't eaten since Saturday night now. I don't understand why this is all happening at once. First I watched Tomi get sicker and sicker for nearly 2 months. As soon as he started getting better, Koda got sick with kidney and liver failure, and died. Now, barely a week later Kisa goes from being a super healthy and active cat to death's door. I haven't even had enough time to get used to Koda being
Re: Good thoughts for Caroline
I'm so sorry you and Caroline have to go through this. I hope they can figure out what the problem is and be able to help her. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Kelley Saveika [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2007 5:46 PM Subject: Good thoughts for Caroline I got up this morning and Carline was sick. I took her to the hospital..she had 2 seizures in the car...they don't know what is wrong with her but she will be staying in the ER for the weekend...it doesn't look very good. She's lost a lot of weight and was dehydrated w/vomiting -- Rescuties - Saving the world, one cat at a time. http://www.rescuties.org Vist the Rescuties store and save a kitty life! http://astore.amazon.com/rescuties-20 Please help Gandalf! http://www.firstgiving.com/gandalfkitty I GoodSearch for Rescuties. Raise money for your favorite charity or school just by searching the Internet with GoodSearch - www.goodsearch.com - powered by Yahoo! -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.8.0/817 - Release Date: 5/24/2007 4:01 PM
Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa
Thanks all, Well I took Kisa to the emergency vet just now. It tears me up to have to leave her there overnight, and possibly have her die away from home, but i'm hoping that an IV will make her feel better. I don't know if she seems so sick because of her disfunctioning liver and the toxins in her body, or because she is dehydrated, but I hope something helps. I'll have to get her records faxed from her previous vet, but at least this place is cheaper, and hopefully more willing to treat her. She's been sleeping at night between my husband and I under the blanket, and i'm going to really miss that tonight, but if there's anything at all I can do to help her, i've got to try. I just hope she knows that i'm only doing all this to her because I love her. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 4:36 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa Cassandra, I am so sorry. Kisa sounds like such a special kitty. I loved reading about how she carries her stuffed panda around. What special memories you have of her. Still praying for her to rally. And for comfort for you. :) Wendy --- C J [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Kisa isn't doing very well so far.Over the last week, she's been getting more lethargic day by day. And now she's at the point where all she does is hide/sleep. When we bring her out of her hiding spot, she vomits almost immediately. The Chloropromazine didn't help the vomiting, so I stopped giving it. The vomiting makes the syringe feeding all the more difficult because if we feed her every four-five hours, she vomits up a fair bit of the prior feeding. I'm going to have to feed her a couple of times a day, and leave it at that. I think food may be the least of her worries right now. She's probably getting dehydrated from all the vomiting, though I don't know how to tell that for sure. Her third eyelid is very noticeable now. She shows very little interest in drinking, mainly just sticks her paws in the water and sniffs it. Plus, even though i've been syringe feeding her since wednesday, I seriously doubt she's pooped at all. I'm not sure where the food is going after it goes in. She's not very responsive either, anymore. She will purr a bit when I pet her, but that's about it. I've been trying to find an oncologist, but i'm not sure she's even strong enough to handle an anesthetic and a liver biopsy, or feeding tube insertion anymore. Considering the vet clinics i've called don't know of an oncologist, i'm doubting I can find one anywhere nearby. This is just so frustrating, but I guess I need to remember that even in people, once cancer gets into the liver, there's usually not much more that can be done. I know someone right now who has cancer, and since the cancer went into her liver, the doctors have stopped aggressive treatment. She has only painkillers and 6 months to live. Everytime I think of how full of life and mischief Kisa was only a week ago, I begin a new batch of tears. She was absolutely fearless, I could vacuum her off, nothing would scare her. Everytime I had an empty box or bag out, she would be in it. She carried a little stuffed panda around all the time, and would proudly announce she had something special in her mouth. No matter where I hid that panda, she would find it. She could break into anything, including the closets. She's always been so loving and gentle too. I could pet her belly, the only cat that would let me do that. And when she played, she would be so gentle when chewing on your fingers, I always thought she would make the perfect kitty for a child to play with. It's so depressing to lose the special kitties, the ones that can cheer you up after a long day at work. It's going to take me a long time to get over the last 3 months, going through this process 3 times. And I know at any time, Tomi could get sick again. I'm sorry for being so long-winded, I just can't seem to focus on anything else other than my kitties these days. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2007 2:00 PM Subject: To Cassandra Re: Kisa Cassandra, I agree with what everyone says here, but am keeping in mind that you are limited to location and funding. That being said, even if Kisa does not get chemo, she does need the combo dexamethasone/depomedrol shots. They will not cure anything, but will keep her very comfortable up to her passing if you choose not to do chemo. They are steroids, but much stronger than prednisone. I am so sorry Kisa is having to go through this (and you as well). Prayers going out for both of you. Please keep us posted. :) Wendy --- wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Cassandra, I just read this email. How is Kisa doing today? I am not caught up yet. I hope she's better. Prayers going out for both of you
Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa
Unfortunately, its just an emergency vet, not an 24 hour vet. We don't have any 24 hour vet clinics around here. So basically, the on-call vet will probably only check on her when he happens to be at the clinic. So i'm just praying she makes it through the night ok. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Kelly L [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 5:19 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa At 02:57 PM 5/27/2007, you wrote: I am so sure would would love to be with you, but you are right, she needs medical care right now. they will teach you to give fluids at home and the medications she need. giving injections is so easy, Your baby needs you to be strong and make the best decisions for her and it looks like you have, The emergency vets are open all night and if she were to take a turn for the worse and you would need to make that awful decision just tell them to call you so you can go there and have her safely and warmly un your arms in her favorite blanket. Ask them if you can bring he favorite things to her and they will let you be with her as much as you want to,Feel free to email and post all night and email me privately any time and I will respond, It is so hard, but you are doing what is best for your baby. Kelly Thanks all, Well I took Kisa to the emergency vet just now. It tears me up to have to leave her there overnight, and possibly have her die away from home, but i'm hoping that an IV will make her feel better. I don't know if she seems so sick because of her disfunctioning liver and the toxins in her body, or because she is dehydrated, but I hope something helps. I'll have to get her records faxed from her previous vet, but at least this place is cheaper, and hopefully more willing to treat her. She's been sleeping at night between my husband and I under the blanket, and i'm going to really miss that tonight, but if there's anything at all I can do to help her, i've got to try. I just hope she knows that i'm only doing all this to her because I love her. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 4:36 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa Cassandra, I am so sorry. Kisa sounds like such a special kitty. I loved reading about how she carries her stuffed panda around. What special memories you have of her. Still praying for her to rally. And for comfort for you. :) Wendy --- C J [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Kisa isn't doing very well so far.Over the last week, she's been getting more lethargic day by day. And now she's at the point where all she does is hide/sleep. When we bring her out of her hiding spot, she vomits almost immediately. The Chloropromazine didn't help the vomiting, so I stopped giving it. The vomiting makes the syringe feeding all the more difficult because if we feed her every four-five hours, she vomits up a fair bit of the prior feeding. I'm going to have to feed her a couple of times a day, and leave it at that. I think food may be the least of her worries right now. She's probably getting dehydrated from all the vomiting, though I don't know how to tell that for sure. Her third eyelid is very noticeable now. She shows very little interest in drinking, mainly just sticks her paws in the water and sniffs it. Plus, even though i've been syringe feeding her since wednesday, I seriously doubt she's pooped at all. I'm not sure where the food is going after it goes in. She's not very responsive either, anymore. She will purr a bit when I pet her, but that's about it. I've been trying to find an oncologist, but i'm not sure she's even strong enough to handle an anesthetic and a liver biopsy, or feeding tube insertion anymore. Considering the vet clinics i've called don't know of an oncologist, i'm doubting I can find one anywhere nearby. This is just so frustrating, but I guess I need to remember that even in people, once cancer gets into the liver, there's usually not much more that can be done. I know someone right now who has cancer, and since the cancer went into her liver, the doctors have stopped aggressive treatment. She has only painkillers and 6 months to live. Everytime I think of how full of life and mischief Kisa was only a week ago, I begin a new batch of tears. She was absolutely fearless, I could vacuum her off, nothing would scare her. Everytime I had an empty box or bag out, she would be in it. She carried a little stuffed panda around all the time, and would proudly announce she had something special in her mouth. No matter where I hid that panda, she would find it. She could break into anything, including the closets. She's always been so loving and gentle too. I could pet her belly, the only cat that would let me do that. And when she played, she would be so gentle when chewing on your fingers, I always thought she would make the perfect kitty
Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa
They are just putting her on IV for the night. I'm going to get the previous blood test results and urinalysis from the other vet faxed over tomorrow morning. I imagine they will only check on her when the on-call vet is at the clinic. This is the problem with kitties getting sick on the weekends. All the vet clinics around here are only open regular business hours, and til noon on saturdays. If you have to see a vet on the weekend, its an on-call vet, and you get charged something like $100 to see that vet. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Kelly L [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 6:12 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa At 04:03 PM 5/27/2007, you wrote: What are they doing for her. are they force feeding???Do they have labs to work off???How often are they checking on her??Private email me if you can [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unfortunately, its just an emergency vet, not an 24 hour vet. We don't have any 24 hour vet clinics around here. So basically, the on-call vet will probably only check on her when he happens to be at the clinic. So i'm just praying she makes it through the night ok. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Kelly L [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 5:19 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa At 02:57 PM 5/27/2007, you wrote: I am so sure would would love to be with you, but you are right, she needs medical care right now. they will teach you to give fluids at home and the medications she need. giving injections is so easy, Your baby needs you to be strong and make the best decisions for her and it looks like you have, The emergency vets are open all night and if she were to take a turn for the worse and you would need to make that awful decision just tell them to call you so you can go there and have her safely and warmly un your arms in her favorite blanket. Ask them if you can bring he favorite things to her and they will let you be with her as much as you want to,Feel free to email and post all night and email me privately any time and I will respond, It is so hard, but you are doing what is best for your baby. Kelly Thanks all, Well I took Kisa to the emergency vet just now. It tears me up to have to leave her there overnight, and possibly have her die away from home, but i'm hoping that an IV will make her feel better. I don't know if she seems so sick because of her disfunctioning liver and the toxins in her body, or because she is dehydrated, but I hope something helps. I'll have to get her records faxed from her previous vet, but at least this place is cheaper, and hopefully more willing to treat her. She's been sleeping at night between my husband and I under the blanket, and i'm going to really miss that tonight, but if there's anything at all I can do to help her, i've got to try. I just hope she knows that i'm only doing all this to her because I love her. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 4:36 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa Cassandra, I am so sorry. Kisa sounds like such a special kitty. I loved reading about how she carries her stuffed panda around. What special memories you have of her. Still praying for her to rally. And for comfort for you. :) Wendy --- C J [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Kisa isn't doing very well so far.Over the last week, she's been getting more lethargic day by day. And now she's at the point where all she does is hide/sleep. When we bring her out of her hiding spot, she vomits almost immediately. The Chloropromazine didn't help the vomiting, so I stopped giving it. The vomiting makes the syringe feeding all the more difficult because if we feed her every four-five hours, she vomits up a fair bit of the prior feeding. I'm going to have to feed her a couple of times a day, and leave it at that. I think food may be the least of her worries right now. She's probably getting dehydrated from all the vomiting, though I don't know how to tell that for sure. Her third eyelid is very noticeable now. She shows very little interest in drinking, mainly just sticks her paws in the water and sniffs it. Plus, even though i've been syringe feeding her since wednesday, I seriously doubt she's pooped at all. I'm not sure where the food is going after it goes in. She's not very responsive either, anymore. She will purr a bit when I pet her, but that's about it. I've been trying to find an oncologist, but i'm not sure she's even strong enough to handle an anesthetic and a liver biopsy, or feeding tube insertion anymore. Considering the vet clinics i've called don't know of an oncologist, i'm doubting I can find one anywhere nearby. This is just so frustrating, but I guess I need to remember that even in people, once cancer gets into the liver, there's usually not much more
Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa
The small city I live near is only about 50 thousand people, with 3 vet clinics. The bigger city is a 2.5 hour drive away. They may have a 24 hour vet, but its not feasible to bring her there. Tomorrow isn't a holiday here, we had our holiday last Monday. There's nothing I can do to make sure she is checked up on overnight. I can't tell them how to run their clinic. It sucks, but i'm sure they check on the animals in the evening, and would hopefully call me if anything is wrong. I syringe fed her once today, and she kept it down. I imagine they'll have to feed her tomorrow. I didn't ask how that is done...do they normally do a tube feeding at the vet? Cassandra - Original Message - From: Kelly L [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 7:01 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa At 04:54 PM 5/27/2007, you wrote: Where are you located??? Are they going to insure she gets something in her tummyPlease do not hesitate to be a very SQUEEKY WHEEL... A good thing I have learned is always to ask for a copy of lab results so they can always be hand carried and you have a spare copy at home Make sure you get a middle of the night update Insistbe a B$%^H...this is your baby... Yeah, Emergency vets are expensive,,,and tomorrow is a hOLIDAY,,,How far are you from the closest 24 hour vet I am here awake most of the the night Kelly They are just putting her on IV for the night. I'm going to get the previous blood test results and urinalysis from the other vet faxed over tomorrow morning. I imagine they will only check on her when the on-call vet is at the clinic. This is the problem with kitties getting sick on the weekends. All the vet clinics around here are only open regular business hours, and til noon on saturdays. If you have to see a vet on the weekend, its an on-call vet, and you get charged something like $100 to see that vet. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Kelly L [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 6:12 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa At 04:03 PM 5/27/2007, you wrote: What are they doing for her. are they force feeding???Do they have labs to work off???How often are they checking on her??Private email me if you can [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unfortunately, its just an emergency vet, not an 24 hour vet. We don't have any 24 hour vet clinics around here. So basically, the on-call vet will probably only check on her when he happens to be at the clinic. So i'm just praying she makes it through the night ok. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Kelly L [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 5:19 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa At 02:57 PM 5/27/2007, you wrote: I am so sure would would love to be with you, but you are right, she needs medical care right now. they will teach you to give fluids at home and the medications she need. giving injections is so easy, Your baby needs you to be strong and make the best decisions for her and it looks like you have, The emergency vets are open all night and if she were to take a turn for the worse and you would need to make that awful decision just tell them to call you so you can go there and have her safely and warmly un your arms in her favorite blanket. Ask them if you can bring he favorite things to her and they will let you be with her as much as you want to,Feel free to email and post all night and email me privately any time and I will respond, It is so hard, but you are doing what is best for your baby. Kelly Thanks all, Well I took Kisa to the emergency vet just now. It tears me up to have to leave her there overnight, and possibly have her die away from home, but i'm hoping that an IV will make her feel better. I don't know if she seems so sick because of her disfunctioning liver and the toxins in her body, or because she is dehydrated, but I hope something helps. I'll have to get her records faxed from her previous vet, but at least this place is cheaper, and hopefully more willing to treat her. She's been sleeping at night between my husband and I under the blanket, and i'm going to really miss that tonight, but if there's anything at all I can do to help her, i've got to try. I just hope she knows that i'm only doing all this to her because I love her. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 4:36 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa Cassandra, I am so sorry. Kisa sounds like such a special kitty. I loved reading about how she carries her stuffed panda around. What special memories you have of her. Still praying for her to rally. And for comfort for you. :) Wendy --- C J [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Kisa isn't doing very well so far.Over the last week, she's been getting more lethargic day
Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa
her safely and warmly un your arms in her favorite blanket. Ask them if you can bring he favorite things to her and they will let you be with her as much as you want to,Feel free to email and post all night and email me privately any time and I will respond, It is so hard, but you are doing what is best for your baby. Kelly Thanks all, Well I took Kisa to the emergency vet just now. It tears me up to have to leave her there overnight, and possibly have her die away from home, but i'm hoping that an IV will make her feel better. I don't know if she seems so sick because of her disfunctioning liver and the toxins in her body, or because she is dehydrated, but I hope something helps. I'll have to get her records faxed from her previous vet, but at least this place is cheaper, and hopefully more willing to treat her. She's been sleeping at night between my husband and I under the blanket, and i'm going to really miss that tonight, but if there's anything at all I can do to help her, i've got to try. I just hope she knows that i'm only doing all this to her because I love her. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 4:36 PM Subject: Re: To Cassandra Re: Kisa Cassandra, I am so sorry. Kisa sounds like such a special kitty. I loved reading about how she carries her stuffed panda around. What special memories you have of her. Still praying for her to rally. And for comfort for you. :) Wendy --- C J [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Kisa isn't doing very well so far.Over the last week, she's been getting more lethargic day by day. And now she's at the point where all she does is hide/sleep. When we bring her out of her hiding spot, she vomits almost immediately. The Chloropromazine didn't help the vomiting, so I stopped giving it. The vomiting makes the syringe feeding all the more difficult because if we feed her every four-five hours, she vomits up a fair bit of the prior feeding. I'm going to have to feed her a couple of times a day, and leave it at that. I think food may be the least of her worries right now. She's probably getting dehydrated from all the vomiting, though I don't know how to tell that for sure. Her third eyelid is very noticeable now. She shows very little interest in drinking, mainly just sticks her paws in the water and sniffs it. Plus, even though i've been syringe feeding her since wednesday, I seriously doubt she's pooped at all. I'm not sure where the food is going after it goes in. She's not very responsive either, anymore. She will purr a bit when I pet her, but that's about it. I've been trying to find an oncologist, but i'm not sure she's even strong enough to handle an anesthetic and a liver biopsy, or feeding tube insertion anymore. Considering the vet clinics i've called don't know of an oncologist, i'm doubting I can find one anywhere nearby. This is just so frustrating, but I guess I need to remember that even in people, once cancer gets into the liver, there's usually not much more that can be done. I know someone right now who has cancer, and since the cancer went into her liver, the doctors have stopped aggressive treatment. She has only painkillers and 6 months to live. Everytime I think of how full of life and mischief Kisa was only a week ago, I begin a new batch of tears. She was absolutely fearless, I could vacuum her off, nothing would scare her. Everytime I had an empty box or bag out, she would be in it. She carried a little stuffed panda around all the time, and would proudly announce she had something special in her mouth. No matter where I hid that panda, she would find it. She could break into anything, including the closets. She's always been so loving and gentle too. I could pet her belly, the only cat that would let me do that. And when she played, she would be so gentle when chewing on your fingers, I always thought she would make the perfect kitty for a child to play with. It's so depressing to lose the special kitties, the ones that can cheer you up after a long day at work. It's going to take me a long time to get over the last 3 months, going through this process 3 times. And I know at any time, Tomi could get sick again. I'm sorry for being so long-winded, I just can't seem to focus on anything else other than my kitties these days. Cassandra - Original Message - From: wendy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2007 2:00 PM Subject: To Cassandra Re: Kisa Cassandra, I agree with what everyone says here, but am keeping in mind that you are limited to location and funding. That being said, even if Kisa does not get chemo, she does need the combo dexamethasone/depomedrol shots. They will not cure anything, but will keep her very comfortable up to her passing if you choose not to do chemo. They are steroids, but much stronger than prednisone. I
Re: Update on Kisa
I believe the vet said it was likely a lymphoma due to the lymphocytes being high in the blood. And I am using prednisone right now. I am syringe feeding her even though its terribly stressful on both her and me, but how do you tell the calorie amount in a food? All I can see on the cans is a breakdown of the protein, fat etc. Does fat = calories? The vet said I shouldn't be giving her a food high in fat, that it would be too hard on her liver since its already having a hard time. The vet gave me a cardiovascular food, that i'm supposed to add a bit of potassium and vegetable oil to, and blend up. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Pam Norman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 9:01 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Do they mean cancer or do they mean lymphoma? Because if lymphoma, you can treat that with prednisone. It's not the drug of choice IF you are going to do chemo, but if you are not going to do chemo it IS lymphoma, then pred would be an option. But if she's not eating, she will weaken die if she does not get hepatic lipidosis before that. In which case in her already weakened state there would be little hope. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but when a cat doesn't eat, things don't work out. And an FeLV cat is even more vulnerable. If it's lymphoma as opposed to cancer somewhere, you might buy some time with pred. But if she doesn't get high caloric food into her (either AD or Eukanaba's MaxCal), at least a can a day, she will not make it. Pam C J wrote: Thank you all for your suggestions. I went to the vet today and got some injectable chloropromazine. They said it should help with the vomiting, though it is also a sedative. Kisa still vomited this evening, about 3 hours after a syringe feeding, but hopefully they drug just needs more time to work. The vet got back some blood test results, and says that it looks like cancer. They can't know for sure without a biopsy, but they don't suggest doing that. So really i'm left with not really knowing for sure what is going on. They won't do chemo without a definite diagnosis for cancer. I'm not sure if I could afford that anyway...they didn't say exactly how much it would cost, but said it wouldn't be a good idea to spend thousands on FeLV+ cat with a poor prognosis. Kisa is absolutely hating the syringe feedings. She's all of 6-7 pounds and it takes both my husband and I to hold her. For a weak kitty she sure can put up a fight. By the time we're done, she's got food all over herself, and us. I don't think she's going blind, because she takes off like a shot after the feeding. We allow her into our bedroom at night now...our bedroom is reserved for sick kitties only. She really seemed to enjoy that, and even crawled under the covers and curled up to me purring. I haven't seen her that happy in awhile. But this mornign at 5:30 am, I woke up to a huge puddle of orange pee (filled with Bilirubin) right between us. She didn't even try to use the litter box or even squat to pee. Well we were up after that trying to wash some of the bedding before going to work. It sure has been a long haul here, I can only hope somehow it will work out. Cassandra - Original Message - *From:* C J mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *To:* felvtalk@felineleukemia.org mailto:felvtalk@felineleukemia.org *Sent:* Tuesday, May 22, 2007 8:20 PM *Subject:* Update on Kisa Well, after going to the vet today, it's not looking good for Kisa. She has elevated bilirubin in her blood/urine, and elevated number of lymphocytes. Therefore they believe she has a liver disease, possibly lymphosarcoma. The only way they can tell for sure what the problem is with her liver is to do a biopsy which means surgery.They didn't suggest doing this though because of the FeLV and her immune system being compromised. They gave me prednisone and baytril for her, though i'm really not sure how she'll handle keeping those down when she is vomiting so easily. They're hoping the steroid will make her feel a little better and maybe regain some appetite. I've really got to try and get her to eat something, she hasn't eaten since Saturday night now. I don't understand why this is all happening at once. First I watched Tomi get sicker and sicker for nearly 2 months. As soon as he started getting better, Koda got sick with kidney and liver failure, and died. Now, barely a week later Kisa goes from being a super healthy and active cat to death's door. I haven't even had enough time to get used to Koda being gone, now its another crisis situation. This is all after having nothing but healthy, happy, and active cats for 12 years. I used to think how awful it would be if my house burned down while I was away and my 5 cats were inside. What is happening now
Re: Update on Kisa
I think my vet is just trying to be a realist. She basically was saying, do you want to spend a ton of money and put her through the stress of general anesthesia, when she has a slim chance of surviving. She said that an FeLV+ cat will eventually die, within 3-5 years at most of contracting the virus. I don't know where else to go. There are only 3 vet clinics where I live, and i've already tried two of them. The vets all seem to have the same attitude, that we'll try what we can to save your sick FeLV+, but we don't advise spending a ton of money or putting them through alot of stress. By the sounds of it, i'm not even sure they offer chemo here...they were talking like I would have to go 4 hours away for that. I don't know what to do. I want to give my Kisa every chance I can, but I can't afford to spend so much. The vet said it would be $900 just to put in a feeding tube and do a biopsy of the liver. I've already spent close to $2000 in the last 2 months on Tomi and Koda, and haven't even paid off all those bills yet. It's just so frustrating and overwhelming. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 9:39 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa PS. And if it were the way my vet thought, they wouldn't be my vet anymore ... The vet got back some blood test results, and says that it looks like cancer. They can't know for sure without a biopsy, but they don't suggest doing that. So really i'm left with not really knowing for sure what is going on. They won't do chemo without a definite diagnosis for cancer. I'm not sure if I could afford that anyway...they didn't say exactly how much it would cost, but said it wouldn't be a good idea to spend thousands on FeLV+ cat with a poor prognosis. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting web design] http://HostDesign4U.com BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.8.0/817 - Release Date: 5/24/2007 4:01 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
Isn't Dex mainly the same thing as prednisone, only injectable? - Original Message - From: Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 12:57 PM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Did you ask your vet about dex shots? If he is ready to give up on Kisa and you are not, find yourself another vet. Nina C J wrote: Thank you all for your suggestions. I went to the vet today and got some injectable chloropromazine. They said it should help with the vomiting, though it is also a sedative. Kisa still vomited this evening, about 3 hours after a syringe feeding, but hopefully they drug just needs more time to work. The vet got back some blood test results, and says that it looks like cancer. They can't know for sure without a biopsy, but they don't suggest doing that. So really i'm left with not really knowing for sure what is going on. They won't do chemo without a definite diagnosis for cancer. I'm not sure if I could afford that anyway...they didn't say exactly how much it would cost, but said it wouldn't be a good idea to spend thousands on FeLV+ cat with a poor prognosis. Kisa is absolutely hating the syringe feedings. She's all of 6-7 pounds and it takes both my husband and I to hold her. For a weak kitty she sure can put up a fight. By the time we're done, she's got food all over herself, and us. I don't think she's going blind, because she takes off like a shot after the feeding. We allow her into our bedroom at night now...our bedroom is reserved for sick kitties only. She really seemed to enjoy that, and even crawled under the covers and curled up to me purring. I haven't seen her that happy in awhile. But this mornign at 5:30 am, I woke up to a huge puddle of orange pee (filled with Bilirubin) right between us. She didn't even try to use the litter box or even squat to pee. Well we were up after that trying to wash some of the bedding before going to work. It sure has been a long haul here, I can only hope somehow it will work out. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.8.0/817 - Release Date: 5/24/2007 4:01 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
One other question on the syringe feeding. Should a cat get enough water from the watered down syringe food? I don't know how to tell if a cat is dehydrated, but the membrane on her eye is showing a bit. When she tries to drink, i'm not sure how much water she's actually getting. She just won't lap up water normally anymore. She digs and digs at the water until she's emptied the whole bowl onto the floor, then licks the sides of the bowl a bit. Or she tries to lick the water out of the sink. Even with the syringe feeding, I believe she is getting worse. The jaundice is more noticeable now, I can see the yellow in her lip coloring. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 8:20 PM Subject: Update on Kisa Well, after going to the vet today, it's not looking good for Kisa. She has elevated bilirubin in her blood/urine, and elevated number of lymphocytes. Therefore they believe she has a liver disease, possibly lymphosarcoma. The only way they can tell for sure what the problem is with her liver is to do a biopsy which means surgery.They didn't suggest doing this though because of the FeLV and her immune system being compromised. They gave me prednisone and baytril for her, though i'm really not sure how she'll handle keeping those down when she is vomiting so easily. They're hoping the steroid will make her feel a little better and maybe regain some appetite. I've really got to try and get her to eat something, she hasn't eaten since Saturday night now. I don't understand why this is all happening at once. First I watched Tomi get sicker and sicker for nearly 2 months. As soon as he started getting better, Koda got sick with kidney and liver failure, and died. Now, barely a week later Kisa goes from being a super healthy and active cat to death's door. I haven't even had enough time to get used to Koda being gone, now its another crisis situation. This is all after having nothing but healthy, happy, and active cats for 12 years. I used to think how awful it would be if my house burned down while I was away and my 5 cats were inside. What is happening now is almost worse than that since it is so prolonged and i'm beginning to wonder if something I am doing is causing all this (like feeding raw food). I've always kept my cats indoors because I didn't want them to get run over by a car, etcbut they seem to be no safer indoors. Sorry for venting on you all, its just really starting to affect me, both emotionally and financially. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.7.6/814 - Release Date: 5/21/2007 2:01 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
Belinda, Is Buddie FeLV+, and what happened after the diagnosis? Did you do chemotherapy or anything like that? My vet didn't even mention an ultrasound, but they did send a blood sample away to be analyzed a little more in depth. They might be able to say more about what sort of liver problem it is. As for the syringe feeding, i'm not going to be able to get 5 oz into her. She didn't even eat that much food when she was healthy and racing around the house carrying her little stuffed bear. I did try force feeding her tonight tho, and so far i've gotten about 30cc's into her (and in my hair, and everywhere else). She sure doesn't like it though, and i've got a couple of deep scratches to prove it. I'll try some more a little later. Hopefully her liver can handle the food. I guess if it can't, then there's not alot we can do. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 7:49 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa Cassandra, This is exactly what Buddie had and they diagnosed it with an ultra sound and did biopsies while doing that. They did get a sample that contained cancer cells. Maybe they could try getting a biopsy that way. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting web design] http://HostDesign4U.com BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.7.6/815 - Release Date: 5/22/2007 3:49 PM
Re: Update on Kisa
I asked the vet about something to calm her nausea and appetite stimulants. They didn't think it was a good idea though because it is another medication that her liver is going to have to deal with. Her liver is having problems removing toxins, and that's likely why she feels nauseous. If I am syringe feeding her, I can likely grind her pills into the food easily enough, though the injectable meds would be good if she ever decides to eat on her own again. The vet said she wasn't dehydrated, and she is drinking some on her own (though she's acting odd when she drinks, she sticks her paw in the water, digs at it, then licks off her paw). I've never seen her drink that way before. We don't really have any specialized vets in our area. I took Kisa to a different vet clinic than the one I took Tomi to, hoping they would be a little better with FeLV, but even though they are twice as expensive, I don't think they are any better. They have a pretty bleak outlook on FeLV as well, though they are trying to help at least. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Nina [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 11:47 AM Subject: Re: Update on Kisa I can completely understand how overwhelmed and disheartened you must feel right now Cassandra. You need to shake that off if you can. Concentrate instead on keeping your spirits up and doing everything possible to help Kisa feel more comfortable and regain her health. Who knows why these things seem to come out of nowhere and heap themselves one on top of the other. I too had years of healthy no problem animals and then boom! One after the other started falling ill to things I'd never even heard of before. Instead of wondering 'why', or even wondering 'why now', be thankful for all those wonderful years of blissful ignorance. One obstacle at a time, one day at a time. Celebrate every little success and esp celebrate every moment you have with your loved ones. You can do this, you can and you will for Kisa's sake. Talk to your vet about injectable steroids and transdermal appetite stimulants. If Kisa is vomiting, then she would probably benefit from some sort of anti-nausea med as well. Get her meds in forms that don't have to be administered by mouth to lessen the stress and possibility of them not staying down. I don't know if it's appropriate, but you might want to ask your vet about different steroids like dex or depro. Depro is longer acting and dex is fast acting. It was nothing short of amazing how much better my Spencer felt, (and ate), after starting small dose daily dex shots subq at home. Are you giving Kisa subq fluids at home? Sometimes fluids can make them feel better all by themselves. If she starts feeling better, she's liable to start eating better. Has your vet consulted with or have you brought Kisa to an oncologist? I get it about the money factor too. Sometimes all we can do does not include the heavy financial costs involved with specialists. It sucks, but that's the way it is sometimes. Just do the best you can with the resources you've got. Ask trusted vets to use their intuition and to suggest, based on their experience, the most cost effective treatment plans. Please keep us informed, we're all pulling for you guys, Nina C J wrote: Well, after going to the vet today, it's not looking good for Kisa. She has elevated bilirubin in her blood/urine, and elevated number of lymphocytes. Therefore they believe she has a liver disease, possibly lymphosarcoma. The only way they can tell for sure what the problem is with her liver is to do a biopsy which means surgery.They didn't suggest doing this though because of the FeLV and her immune system being compromised. They gave me prednisone and baytril for her, though i'm really not sure how she'll handle keeping those down when she is vomiting so easily. They're hoping the steroid will make her feel a little better and maybe regain some appetite. I've really got to try and get her to eat something, she hasn't eaten since Saturday night now. I don't understand why this is all happening at once. First I watched Tomi get sicker and sicker for nearly 2 months. As soon as he started getting better, Koda got sick with kidney and liver failure, and died. Now, barely a week later Kisa goes from being a super healthy and active cat to death's door. I haven't even had enough time to get used to Koda being gone, now its another crisis situation. This is all after having nothing but healthy, happy, and active cats for 12 years. I used to think how awful it would be if my house burned down while I was away and my 5 cats were inside. What is happening now is almost worse than that since it is so prolonged and i'm beginning to wonder if something I am doing is causing all this (like feeding raw food). I've always kept my cats indoors because I didn't want them to get
Re: Update on Kisa
Ugh, Kisa vomited again about 3 hours after I syringe fed her and gave her the pills. There seemed to be quite a bit of food vomited up. I hoping that a few hours is enough to absorb the pills and get some nutrition? I syringe fed her some more, and am hoping she can keep that down. It seems like I have the most luck with her keeping things down if I give them right after she vomits. This syringe feeding is sure an awful process. She hates it so much, and the food gets all over her and me. Cassandra - Original Message - From: C J To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 8:20 PM Subject: Update on Kisa Well, after going to the vet today, it's not looking good for Kisa. She has elevated bilirubin in her blood/urine, and elevated number of lymphocytes. Therefore they believe she has a liver disease, possibly lymphosarcoma. The only way they can tell for sure what the problem is with her liver is to do a biopsy which means surgery.They didn't suggest doing this though because of the FeLV and her immune system being compromised. They gave me prednisone and baytril for her, though i'm really not sure how she'll handle keeping those down when she is vomiting so easily. They're hoping the steroid will make her feel a little better and maybe regain some appetite. I've really got to try and get her to eat something, she hasn't eaten since Saturday night now. I don't understand why this is all happening at once. First I watched Tomi get sicker and sicker for nearly 2 months. As soon as he started getting better, Koda got sick with kidney and liver failure, and died. Now, barely a week later Kisa goes from being a super healthy and active cat to death's door. I haven't even had enough time to get used to Koda being gone, now its another crisis situation. This is all after having nothing but healthy, happy, and active cats for 12 years. I used to think how awful it would be if my house burned down while I was away and my 5 cats were inside. What is happening now is almost worse than that since it is so prolonged and i'm beginning to wonder if something I am doing is causing all this (like feeding raw food). I've always kept my cats indoors because I didn't want them to get run over by a car, etcbut they seem to be no safer indoors. Sorry for venting on you all, its just really starting to affect me, both emotionally and financially. Cassandra -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.7.6/814 - Release Date: 5/21/2007 2:01 PM
Re: Anyone feed a raw diet to their FeLV+ cats?
Unfortunately, I can't give Kisa any food. If I even come towards her with food, she vomits. I'm taking her to the vet as soon as they open today, I really hope its not too serious. She's not feeling very well at all. I'm about at my wits end here. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Marissa Johnson To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 5:58 AM Subject: Re: Anyone feed a raw diet to their FeLV+ cats? I will mention that to her, thanks. I think Mouse and I may go visit her this morning just to say hi (that way he doesn't think every time we go to the vet he'll get poked and prodded). By the way, Cassandra, I haven't seen anyone mention this yet and I'm certainly no expert, but if it's been 36 hours since Kisa ate (more now since you wrote that a day or two ago), I would syringe feed her something. Avoiding fatty liver disease is probably of paramount importance right now. You can syringe baby food, A/D, KMR, or anything else you can get to a syringe-able consistency. Your main goal at this point would be getting SOMETHING into her. Just my thoughts...perhaps others with more experience will chime in. Hope she's feeling better already! Marissa Marylyn [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: You might suggest to your vet that she try another variety of raw. There was no way Dixie was going to eat raw the first few times I tried. Finally I hit on the Primal and she loves it but it does need to be mixed with some water and/or veggies because it is so concentrated. If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man. St. Francis - Original Message - From: Marissa Johnson To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 8:29 PM Subject: Re: Anyone feed a raw diet to their FeLV+ cats? Hi everyone. I fed Slinky (+) raw, and am feeding Mouse (-) raw as well. I use Nature's Variety frozen raw, mostly chicken and turkey (though sometimes I mix it up with some lamb or venison) - www.naturesvariety.com. I've found the cats have all loved it once they got used to it. I, too, would be nervous about trying to balance it myself. Slinky died of his felv, but I'm sure it had nothing to do with the raw. I asked my vet the other day (remember? the amazing Dr. G who helped me look for Georgia)...an ALLOPATHIC vet...what she thinks about feeding raw. She said she thinks it's the best thing for them if you do it right (said she tried it with her cats but they didn't like it...she was disappointed and wished they had). She seemed to prefer the idea of buying pre-made since it can be tough to balance it. But she said if I decided to make my own I should just use a trusted recipe, follow it closely, and try to avoid the ones that are high in grains. My best friend asked her HOMEOPATHIC vet about feeding raw to cats and she said she feeds her cats Nature's Variety. That's what I know about feeding raw. There are several good books out there and lots of info online. Good luck...hope they start feeling better GLOW to you and the furkids. Marissa, Mouse, Georgia, Angel Slinky ^..^ p.s. Georgia has not been found yet and is still out there somewhere. Please keep sending glow to bring her home!!! Thanks C J [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: And how has it worked for you? I started feeding a raw diet from here http://www.catnutrition.org/recipes.html a few weeks ago. The problem is, i've been having crisis after crisis in my house with my 5 cats, and am wondering if the raw diet has anything to do with it. After Tomi got sick with anemia and he and Kisa tested positive for FeLV, I started out trying the raw diet, hoping to improve everyone's health. Well last weekend, my 15 year old cat Koda died due to her liver and kidneys shutting down. The vet had no idea what caused it. Then early last week, my 9 year old cat Link seemed a bit under the weather, but pulled out of it just fine. Now, Kisa (my other FeLV) is sick. She's never been sick, and she's almost 3 yrs old. Yesterday morning she vomited after I put her morning food in front of her (without eating anything). She continues to vomit anytime she smells food. I've tried all her favorite treats and she won't touch any of it. She's been over 36 hours now since she's eaten anything. Due to today being a holiday, I can't take her to the vet until tomorrow. Hopefully she'll be safe from fatty liver though, since she is a normal weight. I'm
Update on Kisa
Well, after going to the vet today, it's not looking good for Kisa. She has elevated bilirubin in her blood/urine, and elevated number of lymphocytes. Therefore they believe she has a liver disease, possibly lymphosarcoma. The only way they can tell for sure what the problem is with her liver is to do a biopsy which means surgery.They didn't suggest doing this though because of the FeLV and her immune system being compromised. They gave me prednisone and baytril for her, though i'm really not sure how she'll handle keeping those down when she is vomiting so easily. They're hoping the steroid will make her feel a little better and maybe regain some appetite. I've really got to try and get her to eat something, she hasn't eaten since Saturday night now. I don't understand why this is all happening at once. First I watched Tomi get sicker and sicker for nearly 2 months. As soon as he started getting better, Koda got sick with kidney and liver failure, and died. Now, barely a week later Kisa goes from being a super healthy and active cat to death's door. I haven't even had enough time to get used to Koda being gone, now its another crisis situation. This is all after having nothing but healthy, happy, and active cats for 12 years. I used to think how awful it would be if my house burned down while I was away and my 5 cats were inside. What is happening now is almost worse than that since it is so prolonged and i'm beginning to wonder if something I am doing is causing all this (like feeding raw food). I've always kept my cats indoors because I didn't want them to get run over by a car, etcbut they seem to be no safer indoors. Sorry for venting on you all, its just really starting to affect me, both emotionally and financially. Cassandra
Anyone feed a raw diet to their FeLV+ cats?
And how has it worked for you? I started feeding a raw diet from here http://www.catnutrition.org/recipes.html a few weeks ago. The problem is, i've been having crisis after crisis in my house with my 5 cats, and am wondering if the raw diet has anything to do with it. After Tomi got sick with anemia and he and Kisa tested positive for FeLV, I started out trying the raw diet, hoping to improve everyone's health. Well last weekend, my 15 year old cat Koda died due to her liver and kidneys shutting down. The vet had no idea what caused it. Then early last week, my 9 year old cat Link seemed a bit under the weather, but pulled out of it just fine. Now, Kisa (my other FeLV) is sick. She's never been sick, and she's almost 3 yrs old. Yesterday morning she vomited after I put her morning food in front of her (without eating anything). She continues to vomit anytime she smells food. I've tried all her favorite treats and she won't touch any of it. She's been over 36 hours now since she's eaten anything. Due to today being a holiday, I can't take her to the vet until tomorrow. Hopefully she'll be safe from fatty liver though, since she is a normal weight. I'm really hoping that my change to raw food isn't causing this. My cats seem to really enjoy the food, and I was hoping that my older overweight ones would reduce to a normal weight on a natural diet, and everyone would be healthier. If anyone has had experiences with raw food, any input would be appreciated. Cassandra
Re: Anyone feed a raw diet to their FeLV+ cats?
What sort of raw meat did you use? I started off with ground turkey/chicken from the supermarket, but didn't feel comfortable with that, so I bought a meat grinder. Now I grind up turkey/chicken thighs after washing them off. I can't find organic meat in my area, so I have little choice other than to buy meat at the supermarket. Cassandra - Original Message - From: Belinda [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 4:30 PM Subject: Re: Anyone feed a raw diet to their FeLV+ cats? PS. I used to feed raw and my positive did very well on it, he became a little chubbster. I did lose him a year ago to pancreatic cancer unfortunately. -- Belinda happiness is being owned by cats ... Be-Mi-Kitties http://bemikitties.com Post Adoptable FeLV/FIV/FIP Cats/Kittens http://adopt.bemikitties.com FeLV Candlelight Service http://bemikitties.com/cls HostDesign4U.com [affordable hosting web design] http://HostDesign4U.com BMK Designs [non-profit animals websites] http://bmk.bemikitties.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.7.6/813 - Release Date: 5/20/2007 7:54 AM
