They unwrapped the leg and removed the cast and I was so fearful at what they might find. BUT it looks so much better! Hard to say that when you look at the photo, but remembering what it looked like before the amputation it is like night and day! He got a pretty new blue cast. He will in a cast for about 6 months-
If you want to see the foot before they cast it- click below
I set up a second vaporizer for Zavan- poor kitty- I have snot from one end of the bedroom to the other! I put him in a carrier and covered him up good and scrubbed the floor and shelves and stripped the bed. I put old cat blankets on the bed and underneath a rubber sheet. He’s dripping and sneezing, but he is eating using the litter box and wanting love. he’s still really weak but he is inquisitive and a bit upset with me when I touch his poor nose to put drops in them and put ointment in his eyes.
I’m just pulling for him and doing all I can. My one cat Pippi who a vet told me had FIP and would die (this was months ago) I argued with her and told her she was wrong- she turned out to be wrong and I put Pippi on doxy suspecting she had bartonella and she is fine today. Her eye still erupts from time to time, but she is active and loving and alive. She wasn’t as old as Zavan or in as bad shape, but I am still pulling for this drug to work its magic.
I left the big cage open and he decided to sleep inside of it
Thankfully, he does come out to eat! So there is still hope he can pull through this-
This morning, although his eyes look better, he has bubbles coming out of his nose. He shows no interest in food- he just wants me to love on him. When I tried to assist feed him some pureed baby food, he spit up large amounts of mucous. He spent the better part of the night hugging the vaporizer and his tail switching tells me that leaving him alone for now is the thing to do.
Mike goes to see the vascular surgeon today but I should get the results to Zavan’s bloodwork today and have a clearer picture of what we are looking at here. I also am going to ask my feline specialist to take a look at him later in the day.
He is such a love- but his boneyness is alarming. He has a sweet disposition- but when he tires of you- you better look out! LOL That tail switching means business. Sometimes just letting them be in the dark alone is good because some cats have amazing regeneration properties- but again something has caused him to drop alarming weight- he should be at least 12-14 pounds as he is long and lanky.
It’s going to be a busy day will try to keep everyone informed. By the look of my in-bin I am not the only one who has fallen in love with this Chocolate Boy!
3:30 update: The blood tests indicate Zavan has bartonella and is extremely anemic-at the very edge of needing a blood transfusion but not quite there yet. It is a flea-born disease and cats who carry it also give humans who have low immune systems cat scratch fever.
There is a specific blood test to prove that he has it, but it is prohibitively expensive and so we are just going to put him on Doxcyclycline the wonder drug. The problem comes with the fact that Zavan can’t swallow pills because his throat is so inflamed and even liquid is a challenge. We are looking into a Doxy patch to see if anyone in this area can make such a creature. That would be wonderful! He could have the medication without the stress of pilling and holding him to squirt liquid into his mouth.
I just got home from the doctor’s and Mike will be admitted to the hospital on Friday where they will remove a growth that no one seems to know what it is, nor have they ever seen anything like it before- and we just got back from the vascular surgeon and he is scratching his head. They will rush it to pathology and let us know the results as soon as possible-
(OK God, you can stop any time now- my prayer life is very strong!) 🙂
Zavan is 8.8 pounds. He had a normal temp. His teeth have a bit of an issue considering his malnourished state. He might have to have two teeth extracted but not right now. OMG he was so full of fleas! That’s the first thing I treat when a cat comes here, but he was trying to so hard to breathe and was so dehydrated, I concentrated on that instead! (Bad Mary Anne) as my granddaughter would say! He blew snot all over the table (and the tech) I felt so sorry for her, but I had to laugh- Dr. Steve was inserting two qtips into the nostrils to run a cytology and the tech bent down to watch closer and “SPEW!!!” all over her face. I had to laugh because he blew snot on my hair last night! He does not have cancer in the nasal passage which was a fear, he does not have a fungal infection which was another concern. What he is blowing is white blood cells that are built up in his nose.
He very cooperatively sneezed about 52 times during the exam! Mostly in succession. There is edema built up under his third eyelids pushing his third eyelid to be visible and that is just from sinus pressure.
They did a CBC and a Thyroid check because he is so skinny-results will be in tomorrow morning. They deflead, dewormed and gave him a Covina shot. I am to put ointment in his eyes three times a day. He has a yeast infection in his ears, so they gave me drops for that. I needed more syringes and needles so they included that and Zavan was quite the gentleman. When he simply had enough of poking, prodding, scraping and handling, he would reach out with one front paw and one claw, grab the arm of the person messing with him- not draw blood- but stop the activity and look up as if to say- “Hey, can we take a time-Out?” This leads me to further believe that this cat is pure Burmese. Strays don’t do that- they attack with vigor not refinement!
I had to go and get some L-Lysine in the hopes that some of this URI is feline herpesvirus- I got some vicks to put on his throat because his tonsils (did you know cats have 21 tonsils) are all inflamed. I got more vaporizer the good stuff not the generic and he is home, in the bedroom lying on the bed looking at me as if I have betrayed him!
I left him alone last night with all the doors shut and this morning when I went in to check on him, he hadn’t moved from the spot near the vaporizer. He did get up to greet me and head bump me. I spent just a bit of time with him- then made sure to scrub up good and change clothes before going out of the room and saying hi to my crew. He sneezes in rapid succession and I gave him my sweatshirt to lay on and it was covered in snot and discharge. Whatever he has got- it has him in a tight grip. There was no way he would have gotten better in a stress-filled shelter. Here he has a chance, I just don’t know what type of chance he has at the moment, as he is really quite ill- But I have already fallen in love with him! Who out there is surprised at that revelation? LOL
It’s 7:00 now, his appointment is at 10:00 He is sick enough that I will leave him in the car until they call my name. I have a heated blanket I can cover his cage with- I can’t risk getting any other cat that might be in the waiting room sick.
He arrived earlier this afternoon and he is in rough shape. Thin as a rail, heavy with discharge from the eyes and snotty nose. Thankfully, the discharge from the eyes is clear, the snotty nose not so much. Not green though which means that even though he was in the animal shelter for a week, he doesn’t have the dreaded animal shelter upper resp. disease!
The man who brought him to me was absolutely a delight! He has flipped for this kitty and who can blame him. This kitty is so friendly- and he has burnished brown to his fur makes me wonder if he is Burmese? The fact that he is chipped, although the chip is 12 years old and the owners have moved, makes me believe he just might be a pedigreed kitty. His teeth are in decent shape-his gums could use some unprocessed honey on them to soothe them down a bit. I will pick some up tomorrow. He is eating a bit, but with all that snotty nose stuff it is surprising he is eating at all! I set up the vaporizer and when I went back into the room he was lying so close to the machine that was percolating like mad (I added salt so it would steam quicker) his nose was almost touching the steam! I have never seen that before-
I am taking him to my vet tomorrow bright and early and asking for a CBC to be done and to have a general exam and probably they will give him an antibiotic shot. Thankfully, I just bought a new bag of fluids because he is so dehydrated. Think good things for this beautiful boy- I will give him the bedroom tonight by himself and sleep on the couch.
Yesterday, I called an old, old friend of mine. We lost touch when she moved back East from California and the last time we talked was over a year ago. She was excited about her move back then, going to be with a man she thought she knew and loved. But sometimes, dreams turn into nightmares and her life became one.
She has smoked since I have known her (she was 16 when we first met) she is 57 now. She told me in the year that she has lost touch- and she did it deliberately because she was so overwhelmed, she was diagnosed with COPD, Emphysemia and chronic bronchitis. They found an inoperable tumor on her lung. She said she also has fybromyalgia and just last week, her esophagus closed on her and she could no longer eat! When they went in with a tube and a balloon to stretch the passage- they perforated her esophagus and now she is bleeding. There was some mention that the lining of her stomach is now coming through her esphagus but she wasn’t clear about that. We talked about old times, dances we went to, boys we had crushes on- her daughter, my family. We just went back in time for a brief moment. I told her (because she was croaking could hardly talk) that anytime it got rough for her to say anything- to just say bye and hang up and I would understand. She said it was glorious to talk to me, that she needed to say some things and that she would never give up, never surrender.
In the last test they did, she said they found several suspicious lumps in her throat and they biopsied them- they were cancerous.
Her plate is more than full, her knight in shining armour has long galloped away with another lady. She is alone and my heart aches for her.
Someone asked me yesterday why I thought all this stuff was coming down on me and Mike. She wanted to know if there were any bright spots in my day- and there are so many- 21 to be exact, all with four legs and a tail and purrs that can at times power jet engines. It has taught me what is important in life and that is people who I love and who love me back. Not people who just want all the gory details and then say they will pray and never do- but people who matter, who I have taken so for granted for a very long time.
I sit here with Tover in my lap. He is purring away and looking at me with such a wide-eyed innocence. You would never know His Royal Blackness is still a tomcat- but he is- I slid McKenna into his neuter spot this week and this tom is as mellow as butter. He believes it is his mission to be on my lap at all times and he and Dexter have quite the war at times figuring out who gets mom’s lap first! Tover usually wins.
Another black cat will arrive today- he is a senior and by what I am told, he has never had much of a life. I will change that if I can. I will show him that his house is safe (if sometimes crazy) that no one will hurt him- his bad teeth will be taken care of, his URI will be addressed and he can live here in comfort until I find him that home that I know is out there.
Never Give Up, Never Surrender because if you do- you give in to despair and that is no way to live.
But my phone won’t stop ringing. I am getting another cat tomorrow. Surprise! Surprise! He is black, he is 12 years old and he has a 2 day death sentence hanging over him at a shelter in Portland. I told the gentleman I have the room- McKenzie and McKenna have both been placed so I guess God just doesn’t want me to NOT have a black kitty or two running around!
The gentleman will be bringing him tomorrow afternoon sometime- and no one has even named this poor boy!
I had to be rushed to the Er today. My B/P was off the charts and after speaking with me at length, my doctor informs me I am stressed! No really? LOL He was appalled at what was going on with Mike and he said for me to take it easy for awhile. Not sure how that is going to work out. But those were his instructions. I felt so funny and the only way I could describe it was when someone who is playing around, throws you in a pool of water and then holds you under a bit to long? I felt heavy and numb and was having problems catching my breath.
I am now on two drugs both are supposed to take the edge off. One, I take two of when I feel an anxiety attack coming (which is what the doctor said I had earlier today) The other, I take 1/2 tab for 6 days then one tab a day afterwards.
My kitties are supposed to keep my blood pressure down! I had a long talk with them this evening.
I wanted to say thank you once again for those who contributed to the last fees of the IRS regarding CATS Inc., I am $40.00 short still, but that is so much better than being $100.00 short that I was before. I’d get mad about their new fee increase, but it would do me no good. They have be over a barrel (as my dad would say.)
McKenzie is now in a new home and the woman just loves her so much! I also put McKenna into another home temporarily. I had to get her out of the room where her kittens were born (and passed). She was going crazy looking for them and I knew if I could just get her away from their smell, she would settle down, and she has. She is a in a very large dog crate at a riding stable nearby. She will get spayed on Friday and then be released on the 15 acres in a few days time after the spay and join the other animals at this riding and rescue facility.
I just received a notice from the IRS regarding CATS Inc., Apparently on the day that I filed the last fee for the cat sanctuary they raised their rates! I now owe $100.00 more before they will process my paperwork and make me legal.
I don’t have it folks- If I did, I would gladly pay it and be done with it. If anyone can make a donation to the button on the sidebar of this blog to help me raise the monies- my cats would be grateful and honestly so would I-
