Week in review

We aren't doing the biopsy. I am having trouble with this decision, but understand it. The answer is death either way. The question is how long before dead and whether more pills would help. The bigger question is when to say she has had enough. She hates the meds, is having more accidents. She has days of being herself, but not all days. Cats can be spiteful things, so not sure if accidents are signs of death or anger. Time will tell. But, there will be no chemo or extraordinary means. I hope this is what she wants. She still can't speak english. Which makes this suck more.
For now, she is holding her own. We will keep helping her fight as longs as she is able. I hope that will be a while. Meanwhile, this is it. Clean puke and diarrhea off stuff, do lots of laundry, change litter all the time and listen to her gurgle. Such is life. I am trying to be active and myself through all this and be professional at work. I fail more some days than others. We have that in common, Cleo and i. Good days and bad. Yesterday i went for a run. Today i cried. But bargaining time is done. Now we trudge toward the inevitable.
She isn't playful the last couple of days. Or curious. But she has her moments where she still follows us around and acts like she is interested in the world. So, we aren't there yet. I am so sorry she has to go through this. I am so sorry i can not make this better. She trusts me and comes to me when it bothers her, but in the end, all i can do is pet her and be there. In that way i feel i have failed her.
Callie however remains her usual mess of a self, but is less jealous now. She knows the attention Cleo is getting is not the good kind as often as it is the good kind. She is getting back to her old habits and not trying to get to us at med time anymore. Maybe she is smarter than i thought...

Week Three Roundup

So, B12 shots and metronidazole are helping a little. The diarrhea is never ending, but the smell is less deadly. No more vomiting so far or accidents. The sofa cushions are safely in plastic bags wrapped in old bed sheets and there is a plastic picnic tablecloth under the comforter just in case. Callie is jealous and demanding attention. Maybe we are hitting stability. Better living through chemistry. Cat edition. 

Leaks

Cleo appears to be getting worse again. She still snuggles and purrs, loves her catnip mouse and tries to eat and drink, but so far today, nothing is staying in. I had cleaned vomit and diarrhea from floors and couch cushions 3 times before 8:30. I got to sleep around 2:30 after cleaning last night's mess off the carpet, so that sucked. The smell seems to be intensifying a little. 

I haven't paid off the vet bills yet, so she has to hold on. Darn it. Lying in bed writing this because I am tired/dizzy still. 

She doesn't seem to be suffering at all at this point, so I can't bring myself to give up yet. 

Meanwhile, Callie kept me up sleeping above my pillow because she kept grabbing my face with her paws and rolling onto my face. Today is gonna be long. 

One Week In

So, here are. Cleo is holding her own on 10mg Prednisolone and 2.5 of Pepcid. Yes, that Pepcid. Her vomiting is gone. She is no longer having accidents. She is currently sprawled in the sunshine under the living room window. She and Callie are sniffing each other with the usual mix of curiosity and animosity. Most of the time, life seems pretty normal.
Until we hear digging in the litter box. The smell follows her out, gagging humans and Callie. It has congealed a little, but it is still unmistakably not right. If anyone knows what c-diff smells like, it is close. It is not the same, it is less sour and more ... something else. One of us runs and grabs the scoop and the litter box spray. Glade was not made for this. Cover and spray. Fast.
I have been told cats with intestinal lymphoma who respond to the meds can last a year or two with relatively good quality of life. I wonder how anyone who smells so dead inside can last that long. I don't tell Cleo this. She is doing the best she can. And can't speak English. There is that.
Callie has taken over the high perch and the dominant role. Cleo doesn't care. I don't think she has the energy. As long as we spoil her and she gets to mark our shoes up, she is pretty content. In the old days, she would have fought tooth and nail. Seeing her give up makes me sad. But, she still plays with some of the toys and wants lap time and follows us around all curious as ever, so that makes it better.
The prescription diet z/d is staying down. I don't know if it is the meds or the food, so i am not messing with it... The food lasts about 3 weeks for 2 cats and petsmart carries it for under 30, so adjusting the budget accordingly. Their food is part of the grocery budget, so guess who will get less in all this... Yep. Low budget. Nothing learning about couponing won't cure, though! About time i did that anyway.
Callie likes to shred paper, so maybe she can help clip them...

Mass Destruction?

As of yesterday, Cleo lost control of her bowels and the diarrhea hit the ... everything. Today, we went to the vet. She escaped lethal injection by perking up and purring while we waited for the doctor. Actually, she escaped by no longer having a palpable mass. The food and antibiotic did not work. At all. So, it is, by default lymphoma. The mass reduced on anti-inflammatory medication, so it is probably the kind that will remit for a while. We got out cheaper than the permanent solution would have run and, more importantly, she got some shots that will jump start a more aggressive anti-inflammatory regime. No more metronidazole/flagyl. It was torture for her anyway.
For those given the option, go with the pill form of it. It is bitter, so you have to use a pill shooter, but the liquid is horrible and produces massive amounts of drooling for 5 minutes. The flavoring smells good, but the bitter is still there and can't bypass the mouth as easily as the pill. No matter how good it sounds, it is a very bad idea. I can not state this strongly enough.
So, back to prednisolone. I really hope she doesn't get the upper respiratory, damn i wished i had an immune system, infection again. If so... Being a grown-up sucks... The card is maxed out now, so she has to stay ok until i get it paid down some. Darn it. She must live longer than it takes to pay for her happy ass. That will put it past my birthday, so guess what i want for my birthday this year.
Callie still thinks she needs to be jealous. She is still wrong. She runs after Cleo sniffing her butt. She's all like, "We eat the same shit, we live in the same house... How the hell do you smell that bad?" She keeps chasing and sniffing as if unable to believe what she smells. Cleo takes offense and swats her sooner or later. Or just gives her "the look." Who knew cats could pull that off?
So, that's all the news. I have now been awake for 24 hours. Gotta sleep soon... Her first dose can wait until i wake up before work. Today is in the running for longest day ever...

In the words of the vet

FYI first: Intestinal lymphoma comes in two flavors. One doesn't respond to treatment, the other will maybe go into remission for a year or two with the meds she mentions. Neither is very good news.

Now to the cut and paste:
This e mail is intended to briefly re-iterate what we discussed on the phone.  If Cleo 
does indeed have an abdominal mass, and given her previous history, it is highly likely 
that she has intestinal lymphoma.  A more definitive diagnosis may be possible by 
ultrasound and aspirate of the mass.  Ideally this should be performed by the 
specialists at Upstate Veterinary Specialties in Latham.  We do have Ultrasound 
capabilities here, and we can try to obtain the aspirate.  Just keep in mind that we are 
not specialists and the detail on the ultrasound is not the same quality.  The cost at 
the specialists will be around 400$, if an aspirate is performed it could be 550$- 600$ 
(roughly).  The Ultrasound with Aspirate here would run approximately $400.  If you are 
interested in pursuing this here, we can schedule it for this Tues or Weds.
If you decide to not pursue further testing, and if the diarrhea persists, and/ or she 
becomes inappetant, or vomits again, You can re-initiate the prednisolone.  Start it at a 
lower dose initially, 5 mg once a day.  If she does not break with an upper respiratory 
infection and if she doesn't respond like we hoped, we can increase the dose.  If she 
does respond well, and if she has a persistent abdominal mass, we can discuss 
adding on Chlorambucil (Leukeran).
I hope this helps.  I really hope that the metronidazole does the trick and that the 
mass was just some fecal material.  Please keep me posted.
Jane

Intestines most foul

Cleo is symptomatic again. The two top contenders for diagnosis (cuz we are not doing biopsies and surgery) are irritable bowel syndrome and lymphoma. Treatments are similar. Prognosis is not. For now, we are going with the anti-inflammatories and will add a steroid if/when it becomes necessary. i hope their hunch is wrong and that mass they felt was fecal matter. At least the meds stopped the vomiting and diarrhea again. For now.

Callie is being a good sport, but a bit jealous. She does not want this sort of attention. We are trying to be optimistic. We are failing.

So, now the flavor of the cat chronicles may change a bit. Along with the smell of the house...

Ileus+Prenisolone=Upper respiratory thing

Well, seems Callie shared her kitty herpes thing with Cleo. So, when the steroids tanked her immune system, she got the world's worst cold. Poor baby was pathetic for almost a week. Of course, Callie came over to see where the weird noises were coming from and Cleo, while trying to hiss (no sense of humor when sick), sneezed in her face. Sure enough, 3 days later Callie had a slightly less impressive sneeze fit and for about 5 days sniffled and slept.
It seems we are better now. I am waiting on the vet to get her papers together to send to the cat food people. I have my part of it ready to go. Will call or email Tuesday. Meanwhile, all is healthy here, aside from an occasional sneeze from Cleo, so group scent work will resume. They will like each other one of these days. Darn it.

The vet's office is checking every day

Every morning i have an email asking how Cleo is doing. I guess it was serious. Cleo is ok. Her tummy is gurgling, but i am thinking that the amount of gas she had built up in there and all the meds are causing that. No vomiting or diarrhea, so i am good with the rest. She is up grooming me early every morning (i could live without that) and eating normally. She is not too into playing yet, but it has been a long couple of weeks, so i understand if she is not up to it. With luck we will have her back to her usual self soon.
She is the smarter of the two. It only took a couple of days to train her to sit and sit up on her haunches for treats. Callie may never get that connection. She is a little dense. My blonde little tortie. I have trained cats before. It usually isn't too hard. Treats and consistency usually work rather quickly. Not so much for Callie.
As soon as everyone is healthy and off meds, i will get Mr. Socko back out and start group scent with these two so that they get better as a team. They tolerate each other ok, but it would be nice to see them get along better.
Since the illness started, Callie has taken to sleeping on my pillow above my head. Not bad except when she starts grooming at 3am and keeps me up.
More news as it happens.

Lucy at a no-kill and ileus for 1200

So, updates are in order. First, Lucy has safely been navigated back to The Annex, which is a no-kill outreach of the local shelter. She will be safe until she gets a forever home. Phew. For the record, i do not believe in euthanasia at all ever. Taking her to the shelter was a calculated risk that kept me up nights. They don't kill often, but her history as a biter was against her.
Second, reglan and prednisone are helping Cleo. She has a 2 week injection of antibiotics on board which should take care of the gastroenteritis that shut down her intestines. I now know more about ileus in cats than i ever thought possible. She is getting closer to her old self, taking over her old perch and being affectionate and all. She actually passed some stool today, which is an amazing feat for her. My husband is glad plan D never had to be implemented. The vet thinks that the stress of the other cat being here for 5 months and not exactly friendly plus a reaction to the cheap food we had been trying to substitute the last 3 months were the culprits. Perfect storm. I am working on seeing if the cat food people might reimburse us some of the over 1200 we have spent on this so far... Good luck. Who knew Del Monte made cat food? Me either...
Callie seems to be a little jealous, but that is a big misunderstanding because she doesn't want this sort of attention. She continues to play with deftly maneuvered string toys and chase unseen objects while staying less than 6 inches from her favorite human of the moment. Cute little spaz.

Make that 2 Million And Ileus

I learned a new word today. Ileus. Cleo has that. It means the peristaltic action that moves food through her gut like a conveyor belt has shut down and everything is full of air and liquid and swollen, but nothing is moving. Which explains the smell and lack of appetite and output.
They gave her a couple of shots to try to get things going again. Pray it works, because the next steps are more invasive and Dave says that he won't do exploratory surgeries to see what is wrong so there can be more surgeries to fix it and... We are up to $900 so far. He is done at $1000.
For the few who have watched Emergency Vets on Animal Planet. Loved Alameda East. Anyway, Untreated, this can result in the intestine swelling and telescoping into itself (intussusception) or twisting around itself so parts are strangled. Either of these can cause death. Also, ileus is not a primary disease, so it is possibly being caused by something we haven't even found yet, if the food wasn't the cause. Somehow, i doubt that it is at this point. The saga continues. Watching the litter box hopefully...

The Million Dollar Cat

Cleo just cost 495 we don't have 2 weeks ago and is still sick. My husband, who loves her and refers to her as his daughter is now saying that she is going to either go to a shelter or be put down because the vets can't figure it out and we can't afford more tests and special food. She is still vomiting, has the worst smelling diarrhea ever (not as much, but nothing solid) and i think probably an obstruction or impaction going on. Her butt smells horrible. I can hear her tummy gurgling from across the room. None of this is good. I say we let it go and see if she beats it or it gets her. Dave is tired of nearly vomiting while cleaning the litter box (the other cat actually did when she went over there - i think it was the smell) and cleaning the carpet several times a day. So am i. Anyway, i think she is done going to the vet. Time for fate and karma to take over.
Anyone want a slightly used black Maine coon? Loves belly rubs and laps. And vomiting...

Hysterics

Well, that sucked for both of us. I sat in the parking lot petting Lucy for about 15 minutes until i could get it together enough to bring her in. The process was less than 5 minutes. It seemed remarkably mundane for something so emotionally charged and life altering. And then she was gone to a cage in the back and i was carrying the empty carrier back to the car. I couldn't drive right away. I was crying too hard. She was a good girl, but she just couldn't find a way to relax here or tolerate the presence of the other cats in "her" space. It was all about dominance and territoriality. I understand why her forever home hasn't found her yet, but i feel betrayed by the shelter for saying she got along well with other cats and i feel that we all betrayed and let her down. This is going to take a while to get over. For both of us. I did do some Buddhist stuff for her before she left. I really hope they guard her and find her the perfect place. Even if i asked for her.
Time to go get busy before i get all hysterical again. Be well, readers.

And then there were two

The pheromones and behaviorist strategies have failed with Lucy. Any time any of the other cats enter "her" room, she defecates (middening is the technical term) or sprays the room. There are no words for the stench. So far we have managed to contain it by keeping the room closed, even when in use, but all other means have failed. The other cats have taken to the group scent and the pheromone diffuser and even try to groom her sometimes. She dislikes this a lot. The biting is no big deal. She is actually starting to like being pet, but she simply can not tolerate the other cats. It is too much stress. So, after striking out with the rescues, she goes back to the shelter. I sincerely hope she gets back to the Annex and gets the human she deserves. I am crushed. But, it is getting worse, not better, even after following all the behavioral techniques i can find.
I will miss her. She really deserves better.
If you have no other pets and have patience and know that all beings deserve a chance, let me know. I will be trying to check in on her from time to time.
Tomorrow will be a long sad day for both of us.

Go for Broke

After coming within a minute of returning her, I spent $100 I don't have on pheromone crap that seems to be helping. I still avoid being in the house. Sorry bout that, other cats. I just hate being there. Too much mess and vomit from Cleo and too much anxiety from Lucie to have any reason to feel at home. But, she didn't go to the shelter. Dave is talking about replacements when they die. I may have to kill him if he tries.

Because they are not worth this. Because they are stinky messy things. Because I can't afford them. Because one was iffy, two was bad and three is hell. 

No whisperer in the world has written anything to change my opinion of them yet. All books do is tell me I did try everything and none of it works when you have two jobs, a house and a garden and a husband who won't work on the animals he says he wants. 

So, I give up and so does the blog. When the pheromones run out, we'll see who stays.  

Oh, Crap

The struggle goes on. Callie slept on the bed Lucie has claimed. And so she pooped in the middle of the floor in that room in protest. It was so stinky... Grrrr.....
In other news, the scent sock puppet has been hard at work and the cats are starting to treat it as they treat me. Cleo loves it, Callie approaches with trepidation and affection, and Lucie just bit the hell out of it. While purring. So i gave her a catnip sack and she licked it and allowed me to proceed.
This could take a while.
All hail lord Luciefur, ruler of the man cave. Going to have to come up with a cave for Callie, maybe. Pain in the ass. Pull one string and more knots appear. And so it goes.

Sock Puppets

My morning inspections have turned up no out of the box action since the creation of the cat cave system. I am hoping this lasts longer than the record 5 days stretch. It has been a long 4 months of carpet shampooing and enzymatic cleaners. And i am really done with it at this point.
Now for the aggression. Hence the sock. I have begun the group scent establishment practices. Put sock over hand. Pet Cleo. "Yay, petting!" Sit on couch. Up comes Callie, who notices "the monster" immediately. Pet with other hand while leaving sock hand absolutely still. Wait until she is chilling and not looking. Sneak in some petting with sock. Head to bedroom to approach Jaws. Sit on bed behind Lucie. She likes this best, i think. Scratch forehead and side of face with sock hand. Allow sniffing. Get all happy that no biting happened. Present sock to Cleo. Apologize for the hurt look in her face. Pet her while leaving sock next to her until she purrs. Pet with sock on the sly. Soon she doesn't seem to mind the contamination. Attempt to recapture the moment on the couch with Callie. Callie is just happy to get me away from Cleo, so doesn't seem to notice the sock. Enjoy go me moment. Head to work.
Come home to the usual rush at the door. Callie is first, jumping onto the back of the couch for her petting. Lucie comes running to check it out and maybe allow a little petting while rubbing my leg. Then Cleo gets off her perch and bitch slaps Lucie on her way to my shoes. All three of the girls were abandoned declawed on the street, so they have issues, but can't really kill with the front paws. This is a good thing. Cleo sharpens her non-claws on my shoes (always does this before Dave or i leave and when we get home), sits until i pet her, then heads off to grab a snack on her way back to her perch.
It's her house.
And back to sock puppet time before bed. This may take a while. Currently, as i type this, Callie and Lucie are chasing each other around, playing modified tag. This just started about a week ago and involves no growling, hissing, meowing or puffing up of fur, so i think maybe they are not fighting. They just chase from one end of the house to the other. then reverse poll positions for the return run. From now until about 2am. Beats the fights that happened at the apartment when Callie and Cleo were acclimating. Those two did better when we moved here about a year ago. Neither had home turf and they seem to have worked out a system, although they are not friends.
Time for me to try to sleep through kitty aerobics.
And come up with a name for the sock puppet. I have a feeling he is going to be around for a while... Unless Lucie kills him.

First day readings

Well, looks like I have some learning to do.
I traded out some stuff in the room Lucie claimed. I put her favorite blanket under the corner stand, giving her a nice cave that smells like her and added a sprinkle of catnip to lure her in so she finds it. Also, her favorite toys are strewn about. I moved the litter box from the scene of the crimes to a more workable spot. I have high hopes that Lucie will accept the new turf and not feel the need to mark it. Also, perhaps the other two will get the hint. That may be a stretch.
The cats remain largely suspicious of the book itself, but they're scared of everything, so no worries.
Next comes group scent establishment to hopefully reduce anxiety and aggression.

Cleo with her "stay off the perch and no one gets hurt" look on.

Callie bobbing and weaving so the book can't attack her.

Lucie being her antisocial psycho self. Her ears are forward in the "dare you to touch me" position. Pass.

Speedy Delivery

The book has arrived. Dave and I will be jumping in and working on us to help them starting tomorrow. Working today and, well, it's really nice outside and...
First impressions were:
Cleo loves it. Especially the bottom front corner.
Callie is curious, but not loving it yet.
Lucie didn't bite it.
Later, Cleo and Lucie both had nervous vomit moments. Probably unrelated. Callie remains her silly self.
Will keep you posted on the side effects of the use of the book as we move along!
All future posts will reference this book.


And the three cats who drove me to it...

Meet the Castaways

Recently, I won a copy of The Cat Whisperer, a book i have hoped to read and apply for a long time now. My husband and i have three rescued, variously traumatized cats.
This was a natural for me. I preferred cats to people most of my life. I would sit in my grandfather's barn for hours observing and making friends with barn cats. I would watch how they interacted. When they blinked, how they approached each other, how they played, how they established who the boss was, etc. I was a statue mostly. The youngest would get curious first and start to use me as a playground. Eventually, i could move and no one would freak out. This took time because the mothers were very skiddish. I learned a lot back then, but that did not prepare me for the sorts of dysfunction that has occurred.

The first of our merry band is Cleo, a lovely black probably maine coon who came to us about 4 years ago. A coworker rescued her from the streets. The story goes that her owners were evicted, the landlord did the 30 day lockout and then opened the doors. Out ran Cleo and a dog. It took 3 days for them to get her into a have a heart trap with food. She came to us underweight and very scared. She vomits when nervous and hates anything that startles her. She developed her kidney problems then, i think. She was thrilled to have a home, but remained a pet bed for a long time. At this point, she is the Queen of the house, However, she remains a pet bed whenever we have company to this day.

Two years later, the very nervous Callie came home from a shelter clearance sale. She is an abandoned tortie who was about 18 months old when we got her from the streets by way of the shelter. There were wars of epic and cosmic proportion as both vied for our affection. And as she figured out that Cleo in her litter box does not assume an invitation to sneak attack. Using information found on the internet, i was able to reduce the aggression with distraction and multiple everythings, so that the fights became occasional swats over the next year. She dislikes being held much. One of the first things she did when i first held her was slice my neck side to side with her back claw. Ouch. She is incredibly insecure and has to be on top of either me or (if i am unavailable) my husband. Preferably on our shoulders or across our chests (while sitting, which makes for interesting acrobatics), just don't actually make her feel trapped or officially held. She is slightly more social with company.

Then Lucie (sometimes called Luciefur) came last Christmas eve. Things went logarithmically bad. She had her own room. We introduced scent. All seemed not bad until the genie was out of the bottle. At first, she observed. Then, not so much. She was on the short list to be euthanized at the shelter. She had already been quarantined once for biting a worker. If she did more, it was curtains. She was declawed (all the girls came that way - part of the sympathy vote, i suppose) and very overweight. She was obviously terrified in the box of her 4 month cage home next to the big sign about biting and nervousness. But, her behavior when moving around was scared, not dominant and definitely not aggressive. Impulse buys can go in unexpected directions, but the other two had worked things to a science with some guidance and lair creation. Why not...
The biting continued whenever touched anywhere but the face and even then when she is done with you. This is not a huge issue and one that we are patient about with her. We just stay calm and move back to a distance where she feels safe again. She almost never bites hard, just a quick strike with her teeth that doesn't leave marks or anything. The exception is if we miss the early warning signs, startle her or pet her from in front of her face. There were a couple of fights, but those are mostly gone. She and Callie chase each other around, but in a tag kind of way. Boxes and bowls are not crime scenes.
I wrote begging for the book when the defiling of the man cave/exercise room got to be too much. At first, she was soiling the carpet in the room she originally was kept in. I figured she didn't like sharing. I deodorized, closed the room off for a few days and did some strategic cat bed and toy placement with treats and catnip placed here and there. Problem went away. Go me. The other room had always been sparse. I figured, since it had been unclaimed by anyone, the lack of cat in one room so the humans could have room to play would be ok. I was so wrong. Lucie started soiling that. I tried what i did before, but it continued. And the biting got worse. Blood was drawn while purring continued. (Even more frustrating because she doesn't groom enough and won't let us help out by petting or brushing, so she is a knotted short hair grease ball). She is getting more bold and controlling of everything, which is stressing out Cleo, exacerbating her vomiting, binge drinking of water, and confining her to the top of her favorite cat perch. The bottom of her chin is red from marking everything repeatedly. We were considering giving up. I work on a psych floor. Living on one was too much even for me.
And here we are. Welcome to kitty rehab. Please book, arrive soon!