Sweet Pea update
Okay, so now I have 3 cats. Sweet Pea has been hanging out downstairs, indoors, since the rain started a couple weeks ago. She will sometimes want to go outside, and I do still let her out, but she usually quickly decides that it's wet and/or cold outside, and comes back in.
She has a whole host of medical problems, unfortunately, but we're tackling them, and she's finally showing a bit of improvement. She had a very bad case of fleas and ear mites, and her ears were infected, too. Fleas gone, ear mites gone, and after 2 weeks of antibiotics, ear infection gone. Unfortunately, her hearing did not return.
She's hyperthyroid, and has been on medication for that for the past 2 weeks. She still only weighs 5.8 lbs, so she's gained no weight since she first went to the vet, but she's also at least not lost any weight. I put her pills in her food and she eats them up, no problem, so at least pilling her isn't a traumatic experience for her. Unfortunately, she isn't a good candidate for radio-iodine therapy (which can cure hyperthyroid disease, not just treat it), because she is also has moderate kidney failure.
And then, about those kidneys: she pees, a lot. I mean, frequently, like, every couple hours, but not huge amounts. At least she uses the litter box. Except when she doesn't, and then she will go *next to* the litter box. (hooray for puppy training pads, they make the cleanup a snap.) She is exceedingly picky about the cleanliness of her litter box (or now, litter boxes, she has THREE)... I feel like i spend my days cleaning her catboxes. At today's vet visit, upon describing her behavior, the vet suspects a bladder infection. They didn't see anything in her sample a few weeks ago worth doing a urine culture for, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have an infection. So new urine sample, new blood tests, and the last of her matted fur got shaved off today.
She's taken up sitting on the couch downstairs, and she particularly likes either sitting on Brian's lap, or, if Brian isn't there, in the place on the couch that Brian usually sits. So much for the gratitude *I* should be getting.
She has a whole host of medical problems, unfortunately, but we're tackling them, and she's finally showing a bit of improvement. She had a very bad case of fleas and ear mites, and her ears were infected, too. Fleas gone, ear mites gone, and after 2 weeks of antibiotics, ear infection gone. Unfortunately, her hearing did not return.
She's hyperthyroid, and has been on medication for that for the past 2 weeks. She still only weighs 5.8 lbs, so she's gained no weight since she first went to the vet, but she's also at least not lost any weight. I put her pills in her food and she eats them up, no problem, so at least pilling her isn't a traumatic experience for her. Unfortunately, she isn't a good candidate for radio-iodine therapy (which can cure hyperthyroid disease, not just treat it), because she is also has moderate kidney failure.
And then, about those kidneys: she pees, a lot. I mean, frequently, like, every couple hours, but not huge amounts. At least she uses the litter box. Except when she doesn't, and then she will go *next to* the litter box. (hooray for puppy training pads, they make the cleanup a snap.) She is exceedingly picky about the cleanliness of her litter box (or now, litter boxes, she has THREE)... I feel like i spend my days cleaning her catboxes. At today's vet visit, upon describing her behavior, the vet suspects a bladder infection. They didn't see anything in her sample a few weeks ago worth doing a urine culture for, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have an infection. So new urine sample, new blood tests, and the last of her matted fur got shaved off today.
She's taken up sitting on the couch downstairs, and she particularly likes either sitting on Brian's lap, or, if Brian isn't there, in the place on the couch that Brian usually sits. So much for the gratitude *I* should be getting.