Red-Eyed Monday

Over the weekend Aaron and I noticed that there was a little discharge out of Mau’s left eye and that he looked like he kept winking at us. We hadn’t noticed him rubbing at it but we suspected that it was an eye infection of some sort. On Sunday Mau’s eye was looking red, and we noticed that Mau was more yammery than usual that afternoon. This morning we started to see him pawing at his face. We didn’t want it to get worse so I called the vet and scheduled an appointment for him.

Thankfully, all is forgiven.

Mau was decidedly not happy by this turn of events and protested when we put him in the carrier. While he was at the vet’s office, Charlie and Garrus were seemingly confused and wandered around the house, mewing as they searched for their buddy. They trotted into my office and looked at me expectantly. All I could give them were pets and scritches.

When Aaron returned with Mau and prescribed eye drops, Mau scampered off to hide under the bed, apparently upset about his experience. Garrus and Charlie immediately went to greet and check on him. Eventually, though, Mau forgave us for subjecting him to the indignity of the carrier and taking him to the vet. Such is life with cats. Let’s see if Mau will assume his scheduled yammering hours and snuggle session.

You may admire my glorious tail.

Mau’s Vet Trip

After Mau had his surgery, we noticed he had loose stool. At first we thought it might have simply been from all the medications he was given from his surgery and/or as a side effect from the two rounds of antibiotics he had been on prior to his surgery. But it didn’t go away and progressed to diarrhea. It’s no fun for anyone to wake up at 5am every day to a cat having loud-squirting diarrhea. Then one or both of us would have to get up to make sure there wasn’t a mess to clean up. Losing sleep due to cat-related reasons is par for the course but still. Sometimes he vomited as well.

We suspected that the diarrhea was due to the antibiotics and perhaps compounded by Mau essentially transitioning himself from wet to dry food. We added Fortiflora probiotics into his food. That helped a wee bit but he continued to leave sad stools in the Cat Genie. Fortunately his appetite was undiminished and he acted normally, so there were no changes in his behavior or apparent weight loss. But we were concerned and notified APA. Last Friday, Aaron took him to the vet while I stayed at home and worked on homework. Apparently the techs were amazed that Mau hadn’t been adopted yet and fawned over our handsome boy.

Results: Mau gained 1 lb (yay!) and the vet suspected that he might have inflammatory bowel disease, the same thing Boudicca had. We’re treating him with steroids, to which he is responding. We’ll see if his diarrhea stops. If he really has IBD, his owner will need to know and formulate a plan of treatment with a vet so Mau’s quality of life remains consistent. I’m happy to learn that he gained a little weight – he know weighs slightly over 10 lbs. His hips are still bony so he needs to fill out more. When at a healthy weight and filled out, Mau will be a big boy! He’s taller than Garrus and has a generally bigger frame than either of our tabbies do, so with that splendid tail, he’ll be a sight to behold.

Mau is Sick

On Wednesday morning, we received an unwelcome present: cat barf. Mau had puked overnight. Sometimes cats puke and they occasionally cough up hairballs as well. It’s gross and you have to clean it up. It’s the unpleasant part of cat ownership. If it’s a one-time or occasional thing (especially with hairballs with long-haired breeds), it’s not usually anything to worry about. But Mau puked up his breakfast, and vomited three more times after that over the course of the morning. Normally he has no trouble chowing down on the wet food we give him. His stool was also looser than usual, another indicator that his tummy was unhappy. We have no idea why we became sick, especially since he’s been sequestered from Garrus and Charlie.

I emailed the Austin Pets Alive clinic, described the symptoms, and asked if we should bring him in for an appointment. The answer was yes, although Mau was not happy about this decision. That afternoon we put him in the carrier without much trouble but once inside he started crying. He has a most pitiful mew. In the clinic lobby he wanted everyone to know his name most emphatically. In the exam room Mau received intravenous fluids, since he was dehydrated from vomiting, and an injection of Cerenia to him less nauseated and hopefully stop the vomiting. We were sent home with a regimen. We’ll keep a close eye on Mr. Mau to check his progress.

A few hours after we returned home, Mau appeared to have decompressed enough to come out and ask for cuddles. He climbed into Aaron’s ask and was positively delighted to be brushed. There was much showing off of his tail, licking, and air biscuits.

Monday with Mau

In an effort to try to make Mau more comfortable, the APA vet prescribed him a painkiller and an antibiotic. We were quite pleased that we were able to mix these liquid medications into his food, which he ate without a problem. Hopefully these help him.

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mau didn’t stink! I picked him up and he smelled like mostly normal cat. I didn’t sense an overwhelmingly fetid whiff of bad breath! Amazing! I hope that’s the antibiotic at work.

Mau does not like being sequestered, and I don’t blame him. While he spends a good chunk of the day sleeping like any other cat, he mews pitifully for attention when he’s awake. I decided to help him embark on a mini-adventure by picking him up and bringing him to my office. I shut the door so he couldn’t get out and the boys could not get in. This experiment had mixed results. He got to explore and briefly settled for lap time but did seem a bit overwhelmed after a while. He also started asking most persistently for food. Mau is a sweet old man of a kitty but has a low threshold for hunger!

Look at that curious, handsome face!

“Outside!” I’m not sure if Mau ever looks out the window in Aaron’s office.

Mau found a hiding spot under one of my bookshelves.

Mau thought I could not see his magnificent tail.

Update on Mau

On Sunday Aaron and I took Mau to his vet appointment. He walked right into the carrier but once he realized Aaron shut the door behind him, Mau was decidedly upset about it. He complained a bit when carried and in the car but became quiet in the waiting room.

One of the vets looked him over and diagnosed him with severe gingivitis and multiple abscessed teeth. It is likely that he will have most, if not all, of his teeth removed. Because his teeth are rotting, that is why his breath smells like death. We just have to wait for a slot to open up so Mau can have his surgery. Also, judging from the age and condition of his teeth, it looks like Mau is older than I initially thought. Rather than being 10, he’s 15 years old! He is a sweet old man and a good houseguest.

He hid and slept under the desk after we brought him back from the vet. Poor guy.

On the bright side, Mau is eating wet food well. Both he and Garrus eat about 1-1.5 cans a day! It appears that since Mau was surrendered to the shelter in May, he has gained about half a pound of weight. We spend time with him every day, brushing him frequently and providing comfy laps and scritches. He is most grateful for any and all types of attention and responds by being most affectionate.

I also recently learned that Mau and his housemates came from a hoarding situation, which shed light as to why all three had significant dental problems. The oldest of the three went into foster care and recently passed away in his sleep. The female, also older than Mau, has one eye, if I recall correctly, and chronic bronchitis. When I gave the shelter director an update on Mau, she thought that he was lucky to be in our house. Aaron and I genuinely hope that we can help him get healthy and find a loving home in which he can live out the rest of his life, preferably most of it in someone’s lap and purring.

We think that Mau may be a Himalayan or possibly a Balinese cat! Look at that sweet face!

Mau did not want me to read my book (pictured on the desk) and instead wanted me to devote all my attention to him. After all, he takes lap time most seriously, even more so than Boudicca did!

Garrus’ Checkup

This morning Aaron and I took Garrus to the vet’s office for his annual wellness exam and vaccines. We also wanted to get his nails trimmed (we have not had success yet doing that at home), check his weight, and investigate why he (1) abruptly switched himself from kitten kibbles to wet cat food and (2) lately he has become unusually finicky, seemingly nervous, and occasionally won’t eat the wet food we offer him. We suspected that he had lost weight and that his teeth were behind the recent behavioral and dietary changes, as he had dental issues before.

Getting him into the carrier was the first obstacle. He immediately suspected something was up so he hid behind furniture. Eventually we were able to coax him out and I picked him up, but he soon panicked and became a swirling mass of claws. He raked my shirt, tearing several holes in it, and scratched my chest, arm, and hand. Okay, my mistake, I should have grabbed and secured his front and hind legs so he would feel safer and couldn’t scratch. We ultimately used the towel burrito method, upon which he gave up and let us put him in the carrier. (He protested with one mournful cry-meow and a few sad squeaky chimpanzee meows after that.)

At the vet’s office, Garrus behaved quite well. Dr R and a tech put a towel over his head and placed him on his side in order to trim his nails. (Both remarked that his fur was “bunny soft”.) He didn’t protest or wiggle when his vaccines were administered or Dr. R examined him. He had indeed lost half a pound of weight since he had last been seen. She quickly determined the issue underlying his recent eating behavior: his gums and teeth were severely inflamed due to stomatitis. We first learned that he had this issue soon after we began fostering him in August 2017, and his dental pain then necessitated emergency dental surgery with five teeth resected. Dr R recommended resecting the rest of his teeth, with the exception of his canines. She also noted that his heart murmur may indicate heart disease, which would complicate anesthesia. We needed to determine with an echocardiogram if he had heart disease before we could do anything with his mouth.

Rather than bringing him back tomorrow for the ultrasound and again on Tuesday for surgery (Tuesday is set aside for surgeries), we opted to do it all in one shot. We scheduled an appointment for next Tuesday for an echocardiogram to check out what’s going on with his heart followed by dental surgery.

Dr R also explained the possible treatment plans for Garrus if he does indeed have heart disease. The usual treatment for stomatitis involves steroid therapy and antibiotics, but steroids could push his heart. None of us want Garrus to go into congestive heart failure or suffer complications because of heart disease or dental surgery. I am naturally worried about my Gentleman Cat but am hopeful that we can find successful methods of improving his quality of life and health.

After we brought him home from the vet’s office, Garrus settled down to a well-deserved nap.

Boudicca’s Recheck

Over the last two weeks, Boudicca has had intermittent diarrhea and bouts of appetite loss, and recently she had been straining quite a bit in the litter box. Aaron noted that she appeared to have lost weight as well. When I picked her up to put her in the carrier, she felt incredibly light. Since Tuesday was the vet office’s surgery day, I scheduled to drop her off in the morning so Dr. R could see her when she had a free moment (Dr. R is very popular). As usual, Queen B behaved herself in the cat ward, talking up a storm and making dancy paws whenever a tech stopped by to give her any attention.

In the afternoon I consulted with Dr. R. It turns out that Boudicca actually had been rather constipated, hence the straining. This isn’t the first time that this has happened but I had been caught off guard by the diarrhea. She had indeed lost a pound since February. While she responded well to the anti-inflammatory and the vitamin B-12 injections, she did not respond to the steroid, which indicated that she did not have inflammatory small bowel disease. So that leaves cancerous small bowel disease, such as small cell lymphoma. While of course I was incredibly concerned about this turn of event, I knew that this was a possibility due to our previous conversations.

Ultimately, I DO NOT have to say goodbye to Boudicca just yet. First, we have to deal with her constipation and find a balance there. Second, the anti-inflammatory improves her quality of life. Third, she is still perky, talkative, interested in engaging (i.e. snuggling), and demonstrates doglike traits like she has all her life. If she was lethargic, withdrawn, shuffling around, and recoiling from me, that would indicate that she was in pain and not herself anymore.

Following Dr. R’s advice, we gave her ¼ tsp Miralax mixed in with her wet food (apparently Boudicca is fond of Friskies Seafood Pate) and, after a couple of doses, she is no longer constipated. Her appetite increased and she is very vocal any time she thinks we are in the vicinity or preparing to give her food. Her Meower Mouthiness cues the boys, so then it becomes a party. (“Excuse me, may we have some of whatever Her Majesty is having too please? We would be most grateful!”) We distract them with toys and/or treats so they don’t come to investigate and inadvertently make Boudicca food insecure. (We have noticed that Boudicca prefers to not only eat in private but with me as her escort/bodyguard. She will often stop eating if she notices either Charlie or Garrus nearby, even if they are just walking down the hallway.)

Nevertheless, we will continue to monitor Boudicca’ hyperthyroidism, small bowel disease, and weight. Now that she is eating kitten kibble and small portions of wet food (we were encouraged to give her whatever she would eat), perhaps she will gain a little. I want her to be comfortable, happy, and as healthy as possible. I am cherishing the time I have left with my sweet, googly girl.

Caring for a Geriatric Cat

Greetings everyone! I realize that I have not updated Purry Home Companion in a while. I have been alternatingly busy with graduate school and a bit under the weather lately. Additionally, Boudicca, being a nearly 18-year-old cat, has needed a lot of care to stabilize her health (namely symptoms stemming from small bowel disease) and closely monitor her quality of life. Last week I was alarmed when Boudicca’s appetite markedly dropped and she refused to eat her wet food (which has her medications mixed in), both of which are most unusual for her. She will be seeing the vet this week for a re-check.

I had just finished brushing Queen B when she sat like this on the window seat. I liked the way the sun shone through the window and illuminated her ears and whiskers.

Given Boudicca’s age and health, I have had the difficult conversations concerning her quality of life and knowing when it will be time to say goodbye. Having these conversations and making these incredibly difficult, poignant decisions are the most challenging parts of responsible pet ownership. In 2017 I made the hard decision to say goodbye to my 16-year-old cat Nala, whose quality of life had markedly declined due to increasing arthritis, which in turn complicated her diabetes. In some ways, I think saying goodbye to Boudicca will be harder since she is my first cat who has truly been my own and, after all, she chose me to be her human. She has always been my sweet girl and I will miss her VERY MUCH. (Cue tears welling up as I write this.) Because the idea of saying goodbye sometime in the future has been in the back of my mind, I have been making concerted efforts to spend as much time with Boudicca and cherish the time I have left with my googly girl.

Boudicca and I recently enjoyed a three-hour lap time session. She has always been a very enthusiastic reading buddy, lap warmer, and snuggler. Her eyes appear very green here too!

However, as I write this, we are not quite at that stage. We figured out why her appetite decreased: she apparently decided to be abruptly finicky about her wet food. We discovered that she prefers Friskies Salmon Pate. We were able to get her to eat something else when she did not want to eat wet food, and we were able to get medication into her in order to control inflammation, nausea, abdominal pain, and keeping her regular. Her appetite has since returned and now she gets very talkative whenever either of us is in the kitchen, because she automatically assumes that we will give her more food. (Either that, or she forgets quickly that we give her wet food twice a day. She still steals kitten kibble from Garrus even though she has her own bowl.) With that said, she has had accidents this past week–so messy and so much cleaning! She is not grooming herself very well, so I brush her regularly and will have to bathe her soon.

Caring for older cats (i.e. mature, senior, and geriatric cats) involves many factors related to health and what to expect at each stage. Aging affects cats in different ways; some will be rather frail at age 11 while others are still robust at 18 or older. Behavior can change in elderly cats. In Boudicca’s case, she is fussier about food, sleeps more, grooms less, talks less, and can be insecure around Charlie, whereas in the past she was quite confident and untroubled by the presence of other cats (Nala, neighborhood cats outside) and dogs. She requires a lot more vet care and medication due to her health problems. Nala and Boudicca aged differently with certain symptoms appearing at some stages with one but not the other. Caring for a senior cat has been a learning experience for both me and Aaron through our experiences with Nala and Boudicca. We are balancing being solicitous with Boudicca’s needs while meeting the needs of Garrus and Charlie, who are respectively six and two years old and have very different energy, nutrition, and health needs.

Googly cat is quite googly!

Update on Boudicca

This past week has been stressful. Boudicca became ill again, obviously having issues in the litterbox and, more distressing, her appetite noticeably decreased. She hunched over a lot and backed up when I tried to pick her up, something she has never done before. I took my girl to the vet for an abdominal ultrasound on Tuesday. She has intestinal/small bowel disease, which may or may not lead to cancer. One of the symptoms of this illness was constipation, which in turn led to the loss of appetite and abdominal pain. This is one of the challenges of responsible pet ownership: senior cats can develop more health issues and require more veterinary care. Thankfully, however, she is doing much better due to a cocktail of medications to stabilize her so that she has a healthy appetite and doesn’t have any litterbox issues (either constipation or diarrhea).

We have been able to mix her medications into wet food, which she eagerly awaits twice a day. Every time she sees one of us taking a small plate out of the cupboard she assumes it’s for her and gets very verbal about it. This, of course, alerts the boys and prompts Charlie to give his two cents in a number of ridiculously cute squeaks.

I know Boudicca is feeling better because she has been seeking us out for attention, especially when we sleep. Several nights I have woken up with a very purry Boudicca sitting on my chest or claiming half my pillow. Occasionally she has successfully executed stealth snuggles! I am happy to see Queen B feeling more like her usual sweet, lovey, and quite googly self.

After her vet visit, Boudicca happily reclaimed her box and spent a lot of time keeping me company in my office. She is an excellent supurrviser!

Recuperating

After spending much of the day at the vet’s office on Tuesday and feeling very crummy, Boudicca understandably needed time to decompress. After I brought her home late Tuesday afternoon, though, I was not sure if she would continue to have accidents until the antibiotic started to work its magic. One of the techs also noted that the boys might act aggressive or oddly around her because she smelled like the vet’s office, so that was something to watch for and prevent if it occurred. (Sometimes cats can pick on a sick cat or a cat returning from the vet.) In order to deal with this issue, I briefly separated Boudicca from the other cats and confined her in the bathroom, equipped with food, water, and a litter box. She had not eaten much that day and had been probably stressed out for much of the day, despite the techs and vet giving her assurance and affection when possible. She needed a break.

Although she did eat, drink, and use the litter box (no accidents), Boudicca was decidedly unhappy about being confined. She pawed under the door, and this action, combined with her persistent meowing, brought the boys over. I found the boys having a committee meeting in the hallway in front of the door, staring intently underneath the door frame and reaching their paws beneath. I’m not sure if they thought it was a game or not. Then Garrus–of all cats!–surprised me by pulling a Houdini move and springing Boudicca out of the joint. Jailbreak! I still have no idea how he opened the door because he has never demonstrated this talent before or since. Suddenly I had all three cats barreling down the hallway, with Boudicca in the lead, hissing her displeasure and her tail semi-poofed. When Boudicca tore out of the bathroom, Charlie thought, “Oh it’s time to chase! Yay! I love this game!” Boudicca promptly turned into Bette Midler a la Winifred Sanderson in Hocus Pocus, emphatically not game for such shenanigans. When I appeared to intervene, the boys scampered off to the bedroom, left Boudicca alone, and furiously repolished their halos for the rest of the evening.

The following day (Wednesday) was unmistakably calmer. We had no issues giving Boudicca her medication because we disguised it in a dollop of wet food, and the treatment seemed to kick in right away. She spent most of the day catching up on much needed sleep. She was so involved in her sleep that I could nearly see the z’s floating off of her.

Throughout the day I checked on her to see how she was doing. Every few hours she got up to nibble at her food, take a drink, or visit the Cat Genie, and I wanted to make sure she wasn’t having any problems or that the boys bothered her. Thankfully, both Garrus and Charlie figured out that Her Royal Highness had been under the weather and needed to fully recuperate, and in order to do so, she needed her space. They respected that like upstanding Gentlemen Cats that they can be. However, whenever I checked on Boudicca, Charlie would appear out of nowhere and squeak up a storm. Apparently he had a lot to say about something and wanted me to know! I made sure that both the boys got some attention so they wouldn’t get jealous.

On Wednesday afternoon I decided to sit on the couch and read one of my library books. I do this fairly often, and Boudicca is my dedicated reading buddy. She was already snoozing in her spot on the couch so I took my seat beside her. As I sat down–before I started petting her–she began purring in her sleep. It was so precious. Eventually she distracted me from reading by doing this:

I could tell that she was feeling less gunky when she turned upside down and slept like this. About an hour into my reading session, Boudicca woke up and, while quiet and polite, very determinedly insisted that I make my lap available for her.

“Maternal parental unit, I decree that it is lap time now.”

Boudicca claimed my lap and shortly thereafter I had to contend with feline paralysis. I was not allowed to move unless it was to pet her, give her kisses on her forehead (she asked for several so I had to oblige), hold her close, and tell her that she was a sweet, pretty girl and that I loved her. Cue copious amounts of purring (over two hours) and air biscuits. Very happy kitty!