Cat health update
Due to human health issues I have been remiss in reporting on important cat health issues, but I'm feeling up to it today, so that's four for the price of one. I can type once more!
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I've decided to suspend flea treatment for the time being. I have no evidence that there ever were fleas, and I'm not convinced that the treatment helped Princess. There seems a reasonable chance that flea treatment was bad for me, however, so I'm giving myself a break from chemical bombardment.
Cally
On Thursday 24th Feb I took Cally in to see the vet (Dr Laura, the one I like) to discuss her (Cally's) pain management. She has more Metacam to go on with (where nausea permits) and she's started a course of Cartrophen. One shot per week for four weeks, then on a schedule to be determined. Possibly one per month for four months, but that will be sorted out at a later point. She's had two shots and early on showed some notable improvements in jumping ability and seemed generally more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Actually she has been slightly less bushy-tailed of late, because one of her signs of discomfort is permanently ruffled fur at the base of her tail.
Other pleasing signs include improved tail flexibility and expressiveness. She has her curves back :-)
Tonight she's a bit battered at the end of a Metacam course, but still better than she was at the start of the current round of treatment.
Princess
We cleaned out Princess' ears today for the first time in over a week, as she'd just started to show signs of discomfort. Compared to previous cleans, very little wax came out, so I think we may have broken a cycle of irritation and wax production. We'll still have to flush her out occasionally, but I think we're on top of the problem now.
Pumpkin
Pumpkin has been a bit wobbly on his feet for a very long time. His hind legs swing around in a half-circle when he walks, and when we put him on the floor, he tends to skid a bit before he finds his balance. He doesn't walk in straight lines. Recently I've seen him stumble when he gets up, and lose his footing around corners, so I attempted some diagnostics. For the record:
He showed no signs of discomfort when I felt along his spine.
He has feeling but no signs of discomfort when I felt along his tail.
He can feel all his toes, insofar as he twitched his tail a bit when I tickled them, but no sign of discomfort.
It's *possible* that there's been some loss of muscle tone in his flanks, but he's so fluffy that it's hard to verify. His actual shape under all that fur is a bit of a mystery. Several months ago I started to wonder if he was losing a bit of condition around the hips, but I lack baseline data. He feels heavy, but my perceptions are suspect. If he has lost weight it hasn't been dramatic.
It's *possible* that the recent matting I've been finding in his fur is because he hasn't felt well enough to wash thoroughly, but he's as disturbingly flexible as he's ever been, and unlike Cally (and to a lesser extent Princess too now) he can obviously still reach everywhere. And then some.
It's *possible* that he experienced some discomfort when I flexed all the joints in his legs, but he might have run out of patience by then. He didn't do anythig so obvious as flinch, but he did clearly ask for his foot back. Nothing popped out, but I didn't give it much of a push. Going to leave that to the professionals, assuming they can see past the normal hyperextention.
He did fail to take his weight evenly on his back paws when I suspended him over the floor and put him down back paws first, but once he was on the ground he could definitely take weight on all four paws. It could be argued that the flop reflex simply failed to switch off while I was still holding him. Maybe. I've changed my release technique to make sure his front paws contact the ground first, but he still sometimes skids on his back feet as I release him.
He sits normally.
He plays nicely with toy mice. I haven't risked a full game of Toss The Mouse(tm) on the tiles, but he's been skidding and running into walls for years.
A couple of his really thick front claws were possibly curving back into the pads, but none of his back claws were doing the same. Fortunately he let me trim the front claws without bloodshed, but I couldn't take much off with the tools to hand so I'll get the vet to check them. Which I would expect they'd do anyway.
Yes, he's been relatively flat lately, but no more than I'd expect in this weather. He always perks up when it gets cooler. Appetite again affected by the weather, but he hasn't stopped eating completely, and he was definitely interested in cream cheese last night. And he loves his laxatives.
He's affectionate, but perhaps slightly less sociable than usual. Maybe.
His symptoms come and go.
Is he in pain? I can't tell! Which makes my tentative diagnosis of hip dysplasia somewhat problematic, but it's the best I've got until I can take him to the vet. There's no urgency, so it can wait for Cally's next appointment next Thursday - I'll just make it a double. Maybe he'll need shots too and I'll be able to synchronise.
BTW Have you ever tried to research (geriatric) cat medical problems on the Internet? I'm just grateful that there's nothing vaguely pornographic in my keywords, but boy is there a lot of crap out there. And many plagiarised pages.
There is a tiny matter of finance. If I were a vet I'd want x-rays. Wouldn't you? Of course you would. I'd like to know what's under all that fur, and if in fact he has any actual bones to speak of (we suspect cartilage at best). But that's however many hundreds of dollars for multiple views (plus sedation), and in the short term at least will the information in the x-rays make any difference to treatment? Aaargh. Yes, it might. I've been thinking that whatever he's got they'll probably just give him anti-inflammatories, but what if there's a break? Or he has osteoporosis, or spurs. It would appear that x-rays are inevitable, but I really hope that we're not looking at surgery and the What Price Love? question. $1K? $2K? $5K?
All of my cats are falling to bits. I'm falling to bits. Husband is overdoing it, but otherwise well.
*
I've decided to suspend flea treatment for the time being. I have no evidence that there ever were fleas, and I'm not convinced that the treatment helped Princess. There seems a reasonable chance that flea treatment was bad for me, however, so I'm giving myself a break from chemical bombardment.
Cally
On Thursday 24th Feb I took Cally in to see the vet (Dr Laura, the one I like) to discuss her (Cally's) pain management. She has more Metacam to go on with (where nausea permits) and she's started a course of Cartrophen. One shot per week for four weeks, then on a schedule to be determined. Possibly one per month for four months, but that will be sorted out at a later point. She's had two shots and early on showed some notable improvements in jumping ability and seemed generally more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Actually she has been slightly less bushy-tailed of late, because one of her signs of discomfort is permanently ruffled fur at the base of her tail.
Other pleasing signs include improved tail flexibility and expressiveness. She has her curves back :-)
Tonight she's a bit battered at the end of a Metacam course, but still better than she was at the start of the current round of treatment.
Princess
We cleaned out Princess' ears today for the first time in over a week, as she'd just started to show signs of discomfort. Compared to previous cleans, very little wax came out, so I think we may have broken a cycle of irritation and wax production. We'll still have to flush her out occasionally, but I think we're on top of the problem now.
Pumpkin
Pumpkin has been a bit wobbly on his feet for a very long time. His hind legs swing around in a half-circle when he walks, and when we put him on the floor, he tends to skid a bit before he finds his balance. He doesn't walk in straight lines. Recently I've seen him stumble when he gets up, and lose his footing around corners, so I attempted some diagnostics. For the record:
He showed no signs of discomfort when I felt along his spine.
He has feeling but no signs of discomfort when I felt along his tail.
He can feel all his toes, insofar as he twitched his tail a bit when I tickled them, but no sign of discomfort.
It's *possible* that there's been some loss of muscle tone in his flanks, but he's so fluffy that it's hard to verify. His actual shape under all that fur is a bit of a mystery. Several months ago I started to wonder if he was losing a bit of condition around the hips, but I lack baseline data. He feels heavy, but my perceptions are suspect. If he has lost weight it hasn't been dramatic.
It's *possible* that the recent matting I've been finding in his fur is because he hasn't felt well enough to wash thoroughly, but he's as disturbingly flexible as he's ever been, and unlike Cally (and to a lesser extent Princess too now) he can obviously still reach everywhere. And then some.
It's *possible* that he experienced some discomfort when I flexed all the joints in his legs, but he might have run out of patience by then. He didn't do anythig so obvious as flinch, but he did clearly ask for his foot back. Nothing popped out, but I didn't give it much of a push. Going to leave that to the professionals, assuming they can see past the normal hyperextention.
He did fail to take his weight evenly on his back paws when I suspended him over the floor and put him down back paws first, but once he was on the ground he could definitely take weight on all four paws. It could be argued that the flop reflex simply failed to switch off while I was still holding him. Maybe. I've changed my release technique to make sure his front paws contact the ground first, but he still sometimes skids on his back feet as I release him.
He sits normally.
He plays nicely with toy mice. I haven't risked a full game of Toss The Mouse(tm) on the tiles, but he's been skidding and running into walls for years.
A couple of his really thick front claws were possibly curving back into the pads, but none of his back claws were doing the same. Fortunately he let me trim the front claws without bloodshed, but I couldn't take much off with the tools to hand so I'll get the vet to check them. Which I would expect they'd do anyway.
Yes, he's been relatively flat lately, but no more than I'd expect in this weather. He always perks up when it gets cooler. Appetite again affected by the weather, but he hasn't stopped eating completely, and he was definitely interested in cream cheese last night. And he loves his laxatives.
He's affectionate, but perhaps slightly less sociable than usual. Maybe.
His symptoms come and go.
Is he in pain? I can't tell! Which makes my tentative diagnosis of hip dysplasia somewhat problematic, but it's the best I've got until I can take him to the vet. There's no urgency, so it can wait for Cally's next appointment next Thursday - I'll just make it a double. Maybe he'll need shots too and I'll be able to synchronise.
BTW Have you ever tried to research (geriatric) cat medical problems on the Internet? I'm just grateful that there's nothing vaguely pornographic in my keywords, but boy is there a lot of crap out there. And many plagiarised pages.
There is a tiny matter of finance. If I were a vet I'd want x-rays. Wouldn't you? Of course you would. I'd like to know what's under all that fur, and if in fact he has any actual bones to speak of (we suspect cartilage at best). But that's however many hundreds of dollars for multiple views (plus sedation), and in the short term at least will the information in the x-rays make any difference to treatment? Aaargh. Yes, it might. I've been thinking that whatever he's got they'll probably just give him anti-inflammatories, but what if there's a break? Or he has osteoporosis, or spurs. It would appear that x-rays are inevitable, but I really hope that we're not looking at surgery and the What Price Love? question. $1K? $2K? $5K?
All of my cats are falling to bits. I'm falling to bits. Husband is overdoing it, but otherwise well.