The Second Half

Friday Cat Blogging: Happy Birthday, Pinchita!

Happy third birthday to our sweet, darling kitty, Pinchita!  You may recall that Pinchita is the cat we adopted from Aruba a couple of years ago.  She had some medical issues shortly after arrival here, the most discouraging of which was a lymphoma diagnosis and a prognosis of one or two months to live.

Fortunately, she's still alive and doing well!  The diagnosis at that time was not definitive bc that would have required a biopsy and Pinchita was in no condition to have an endoscopy to get the tissue.  She still hasn't had a biopsy; we've avoided it bco her continuing good health.  Since she's been thriving, we haven't wanted to subject her to the endoscopy.  And, if I recall correctly, her abdominal ultrasounds have improved since that first one that suggested intestinal lymphoma.  She's been on prednisone since that initial diagnosis, just in case she really has lymphoma, but her dose has been continually tapered downward as time goes on.  I believe she's currently receiving 1/2 mg every third day.  At some point and unless she has problems, she'll go off it entirely and we hope she'll do well without it.

We really don't know when Pinchi's birthday is...we though she was a kitten when we first met her: she was so tiny at 4.75 lb.!  (We weigh her weekly and she's now at 9.7 lb., just over twice her arrival weight.)   A more thorough examination told us that she was a full grown (albeit undrenourished) adult and pregnant!  We lump most of our cats into two birthdays, March 15th (yes, the ides of March) and September 15th, based on what we think is closer to their actual birth date.  If we have no clue, we lump them in on March 15th.  So, since we think Pinchi might have been slightly older than 1 year old when we met her, we put her birthday as March 15, 2009.

She is, of course, still positive for the feline leukemia virus, so she continues to reside in separate quarters:

She's a social being so she shares the room with Leo the rabbit.  In the above picture, she's standing in victorious posture on top of Leo's cardboard castle.  There's a screen door on the room, for two reasons:

1. Bco of her sociability.  Her positive feluk status means she can't come in contact with uninfected cats or their things.  But she still likes to see them and they watch her sometimes, too.  The screen isn't a 100% effective barrier; we are considering making the bottom half plastic or glass.
2. It allows for better heat and a/c circulation.  She could stand the poor circulation, but it was uncomfortable for us.  Plus, once the bun arrived, we wanted to make sure it didn't get too hot or cold in there for him; he's more sensitive to temperature than she is.

As an aside, we could give the resident cats the feline leukemia vaccine, but it's not nearly as effective as we'd need it to be to feel comfortable letting them mingle.  Also, there's the risk of vaccine associated sarcomas, which are overwhelmingly fatal.

Here she is in one of her cheesecake poses:

Is she or is she a fiiiiine looking cat?  You know she is.

Friday Cat Blogging: Lizzie's Feeling Better

So just about the time little Leo was doing poorly, Lizzie became ill, too.  She had a couple of days in December where she stopped eating and started vomiting.  These are alarming signs, especially from a cat who has been robustly healthy and very much a cat's cat, and certainly signs that should be treated immediately.

Our regular vet is a housecall vet, but this kind of issue needs a visit to a vet facility bc, at the very least, an x-ray will likely be required, possibly an ultrasound as well.  We had an appointment to bring her in around mid-day, but, early that morning, we decided not to wait any longer and brought her into the emergency vet at Animal Emergency and Referral Associates in Fairfield, NJ.  Several of our pets have been there before, either for emergency reasons or to see the specialists there.  If she needed surgery to remove something or some kind of tricky treatment, we wanted her treated there.

We were especially concerned about surgery  to remove an obstruction bc we thought she might have eaten a chicken feather.  Lizzie loves cat toys that have feathers attached to them.  Since we have chickens, Kevin gave her a couple of feathers that Sandy had dropped since she was molting at the time.  She went bonkers over them and first started showing symptoms the same day she got the feathers.

The ER vet thought the x-ray might miss a feather.  I later showed an actual chicken feather to the Internal Medicine vet, who thought it would have been noticeable on the x-ray.  The feathers on the toys were different from Sandy's feathers in that the former were softer, lighter, more pliable.  Sandy's feather looked and felt stiff, like a small quill feather for writing.

Lizzie stayed overnight for observation, tests, fluids and some hand feeding.  She was eating on her own the next day and, since there was no identifiable problem, she came home.  She's been doing very well since then.

We have no idea what the problem was, which I find a bit disconcerting.  I like to have as much information as possible wrt our pets' illnesses so that we can make the most informed decisions wrt their care.  I also like to know if it's a one-off thing or if it might recur.  In this case, it looks like we won't know what caused her to get sick.  I'll surely take a healthy kitty, if I have to choose between that and an answer, and hope it was just a bug or something like that.

Despite the funny looking eyes, here's Lizzie feeling better and hanging around at the top of the stairs, as is her wont.  She particularly enjoys sitting about two steps down and staring at the gap in the trim left behind by some contractors who ditched us toward the end of the project.  I think she hears things from there and is lying in wait for The Thing That Lives in The Wall.  I think there was something(s) living there at one point, although I think they moved on when the roof was replaced and sealed up tight last year.  But kitties have long memories for these kinds of things and, actually, I trust a cat's judgement wrt these matters over mine.

Friday Cat Blogging: Sunning

The sun has made some furtive appearances in the last few days and the cats are all over any chance of sunning themselves.  Here's Lizzie in the window:

 
And here's Ed getting some of that solar action:

 
It was still humid when I took these pictures; it's since cooled down which means the cats can sun themselves and take in some nature smells.  Mmmmm.

Friday Cat Blogging: Two Peas in Their Cozy Pods

The kits have so many beds strewn about the house, yet they seem to each have their favorites.  It varies seasonally, too.  The knit wool one is a favorite of all during cool weather.  The beds in general are less popular during hot weather or when the heat's on.  They love roasting themselves on the radiator covers during winter.

This picture is of Dolly and Lizzie in their respective beds, or "boo boo beds", as they've come to be known.  Nothing to do with boo boos/injuries; it's just a term the doctor used once and it stuck.  I think they also like that these beds offer a bit more privacy, seeing as they're tucked onto the coffee table's bottom shelf.

 

Friday Cat Blogging: Stormy & Kits, Guest Cats

This past summer, a stray cat showed up at my ILs' (Jack and Fern) house.  A very pregnant stray cat.  She promptly settled in (with a little encouragement and housewarming on Jack and Fern's part) to a cozy spot in a small, intimate entryway between interior and exterior doors.  She had her kittens within a couple of days of arrival.  Unfortunately, one kitten did not survive, but six did.  Her she is with her kittens:

 
And here's a pile of fresh kittenhood:

 
The requisite shot of the kits having a snack:

You can't tell from the photos, but apparently Momcat is small, ~5 lbs.  You can tell that she looks exhausted and, dare I say it, catatonic?  The kittens have all been placed in homes and Momcat -- since named Stormy -- has been vetted, spayed, etc.  Turns out Stormy is a very sweet, affectionate cat.  Jack and Fern hope to keep her, but the resident cats, Misty and Willow, and Stormy have yet to reach An Understanding.

Some cats take to other cats (seemingly) effortlessly, but I'll guess that the majority of cats need adjustment time.  We've been pretty lucky with our cats' introductions.  How we've introduced new cats depends on their history.  E.g., we adopted the late, great Nosey at 1.5 yo.  He had been with a shelter (or the shelter's foster parent) for almost that entire time.  Bco some health problems, he had an extensive medical history with lots of tests being performed.  Bc we knew so much about his health status, we didn't feel it was as important to keep him separated from the resident cats for health reasons.

We weren't sure about interpersonal (you know what I mean) reasons, i.e., would he and the other cats get along?  So we confined him the first night he was here.  We let him out for a supervised meet-and-greet with the others the next day and things went so well that he was out ever since.  He even began sleeping in his usual spot (between our pillows) that first night out.

Wrt all the other new cats that joined us after our first three ("The Originals": Archie [deceased], Dolly and Smudge [deceased]), there was always a confinement period.  When Stashy and Clara (both deceased) joined us, they were confined for several months in the kitchen.  Although we adopted them from the same shelter as The Originals, there was a four year gap in between adoptions.  We asked for and covered certain tests before going ahead with the adoption of Stashy and Clara.  Part of their confinement period was to allow time for illnesses to develop that might have been missed with those first tests, so they were retested a couple of months into their confinement.  After about 6 months and successful testing, we began integrating them in with The Originals.

It helped that the kitchen doors look like French doors, i.e., they're almost all glass.  They were able to see and smell each other the whole time.  We did a lot of the usual suggestions, e.g., trade the different parties' bedding so that they get used to the smell of the other cats.

It also helped that Stashy was particularly affable and that Clara stuck to Stashy's side.  The Originals were pretty easygoing, although there was never any question that Archie was alpha cat.  We didn't realize how old Stashy was at first, but it turned out that he had neither the energy nor the inclination to stage a coup d'etat.

We did pretty much the same thing when introducing Edison, Miles, Lizzie and Pinchita, except that Pinchi's testing turned up feline leukemia, so she remains confined to Kevin's Man Room.

Even though some of the cats were confined for several months, the introductions that finally took place went fairly well.  Edison is on Prozac, mainly for inappropriate urination, but also bc he was sometimes overly aggressive towards other cats.  Right now he's Top Cat and in fine physical form; none of the other cats can physically match him at the moment and he could be a bit much for the others.  He seems sensitive to changes in the feline social stratum, i.e., it seems stressful for him, so we're not keen on adding cats to the resident population.  We don't want him to stress him further or need to up his meds.

I think Miles and Lizzie would be fine with other cats.  Lizzie especially seems open to other cats.  I think Pinchita would also be fine with others cats.  She socialized with other strays in Aruba, but her contagious illness prevents her from being with our uninfected cats.

Dolly's 17 yo and I'm afraid she probably won't make it to 2012.  I think it would definitely be stressful for her if we were to add another cat to the mix so that's another excellent reason for not increasing the feline population here.

So, for the time being, no new cats until (and if) Edison can handle it.

FYI, here are some links about introducing cats to each other:

• Introducing New Cats to Other Pets from the HSUS
• Introducing Your Cat to a New Cat from the ASPCA
• Introducing  a New Cat from 4Paws Rescue Team

 

Friday Cat Blogging: Undercover Cat

 

 

Pinchita likes to snuggle under the covers.  Here she's snuggling between Kevin's legs and under a blanket.  Football season's started and this is how Kevin and Pinchi will spend much of their time together over the next few months. 

Friday Cat Blogging: Miles, Between a Hot Place and a Hot Place

Oh, where is a kitty to sit?  To cobble together some warmth on a cool spring evening?  Miles found a perfect spot: between the radiator and the electric fireplace.  Our niece, Gabi, declared him a genius when she first met him a couple of years ago.  More and more, I'm convinced she's right.

 

Friday Cat Blogging: Cats & Yarn, Purrfect Together

Aaaah, the eternal love affair between cats and yarn.  I suppose it's a bit one sided, seeing as yarn is inanimate, but that doesn't seem to stop cats from loving yarn.  Their love will not be denied.

Predictably, my cats are unpredictable when it comes to yarn.  Sometimes they'll behave themselves around it and other times they'll try to devour it.  Here Edison is showing admirable restraint, possibly because he knows he looks damn well against red.  Apologies for the picture quality; they're from my cell phone.

 
I was knitting a vest for a niece and he jumped on my lap.  Apparently, he'd had an exhausting day because he immediately settled in for a nice lie down.

 

Friday Cat Blogging: Snugglebuddies

Ed and Liz are good snugglebuddies.  Here are a few pictures of them enjoying the warmth of the knitted wool pillow cover made just for the cats as well as of the sun through the window.

 
Ed looks a little possessive of Lizzie.

 
Relax, buddy.  That's it, relaaaaxxxxx....

 

Friday Cat Blogging: Pinchita's Ultrasound

Quick summary: Pinchita joined us in May, 2010 when she accompanied us back home from Aruba.  She was a little scrap of a thing and we expected she'd need some time and care to bring her health up to speed.  Turns out she had some big problems.  While some of those problems cannot be fixed, she's doing quite well, considering.  The last update is from October, 2010.

We have since retested her for feline leukemia and she is positive.  So she remains separated from the other cats, although she recently acquired a roommate in Leo the rabbit.  Turns out that feline leukemia, however, is the least of her worries.  Shortly after arrival here, she was also diagnosed with intestinal lymphoma, based on the results of ultrasounds performed at the time.  This diagnosis was not absolute; only a biopsy finding cancerous cells would be definitive and she was too ill at the time to consider anesthesia and an endoscopy.  Last year's ultrasound showed considerable inflammation and enlargement in several different areas.  So the diagnosis was made based on what was seen in the ultrasounds.  Her prognosis was 1-2 months; perhaps 6 months if she's a truly exceptional case.

So she's been treated with prednisone since then and has done remarkably well since then.  Our regular vet (who is housecall and, of course, doesn't do things like ultrasounds, surgery, etc. when she calls) has been slowing reducing her prednisone dose.  She has more than doubled her weight; she was 9.84 lb. at her most recent weigh in and was looking rather like a bowling pin.  She recently crested the 10 lb. mark, but I think having a roommie to keep track of has helped keep her weight in check.

She recently had another ultrasound; this time, we had a different vet do it so as to get a second opinion.  I can't read an ultrasound image to save my life, but apparently there are no signs of lymphoma at the present time.  Neither our regular vet nor the vet doing the second ultrasound have actually seen the original images (which reminds me to call that vet to get them so I can pass them on) so they can't comment on last year's images.  It is possible that Pinchita does have lymphoma and it's currently being managed positively.  Apparently, because this particular lymphoma is incurable, one wouldn't say that she's in remission.  It's also possible that whatever suggested lymphoma in the first place was actually caused by something else.

There was something in the most recent ultrasound that suggested a possible prior bout with pancreatitis.

Overall, this was very good news indeed!  Outwardly, she certainly appeared to be doing well enough that we expected her innards look better these days.  The vets cannot say for sure, however, that she doesn't still have lymphoma.  And it sounds like if:

• she does have lymphoma
• and her treatment was altered too quickly

that her health might decline due to the resurgence of the lymphoma.  This would be especially bad news because it seems that, in this illness, once you lose ground it's very difficult--practically impossible-- to regain ground.  And the patient would likely die not long after beginning to lose ground.

Soooooooooo, we're treading very carefully with her prednisone.  Although we have decreased it, it's being decreased very slowly and after months of staying at the previous dose.  We haven't done anything as a result of this most recent ultrasound.  She'll have another ultrasound in a month or so and compare those to prior images.

If she doesn't have lymphoma, that would be fabulous news because she can live a good long time with feline leukemia which means she'll live a good long time with us.  And that makes me exceedingly happy.

Here's a picture of Pinchita's adorable belly; it's from a few months ago.

 
And here's a picture from just last night, showing her suede-like belly due to pre-ultrasound shaving.  Although she's usually one for a good belly rub, it appears she does not like people fussing with her shaved belly!