Finally Friday

Even before I kew of his lymphoma, I had wanted to blog about the fact that Megat has been much more aggressive in wanting attention from me with very hard and insistent headbutts wherever I am. I took this to mean that he has grown much in confidence and was now no longer afraid to ask for attention, much like my other cats, who would actually either head butt, yell or insistently paw at me to give them attention NOW. I had just read the Fanny Syufy Feline Telepathy. It could be him telling me to please pay more attention to his condition :) or it could just be him asking for more affection. It was an interesing perspective.

Note: I would not be posting anything this weekend:) Cousin R is coming to take care of the amigos and the WildBunch and giving Megat super extra attention.:)

Chemotherapy

Oh well..what must be done, must be done...

Dr MP called this morning to tell me that Dr FP would take his case. Our first appointment for hematology tests will be Tuesday 2/6. Dr MP wished us well and made the appointment for us. So although I know Megat will not be well , I hope he will be well enough to have a longer, happier life with no pain.

Goodnight Wednesday

Games

The hunted...

The hunter...

The hunter being chastised by me for trying to harass Ms Akira ...

The sleepy head who doesn't care two bits for the saga...


Not all is dire in the amigos house :)

Wednesday Naps

Tanaka catching up on his many naps...

Bujang napping beside me at the computer. Eventhough he is not a lap cat and would not sit close to me, he would make sure he sits where I am, just far enough to be his own cat and near enough to tell me he is about :)

Chemotherapy

I called Dr MP this aftrenoon to discuss the possibility of chemo. She said she had spoken to her colleague about the case and as it stands we need to do a hematology test to see if Megat is a good candidate for chemo. If his FIV is not active, it would be possible to do the chemo. She would also speak with Dr FP about Megat's condition as they work closely together and as she herself is leaving the practice, she nees to ask Dr P if she would take the case. Dr FP had done Megat's first ultra sound and so she would know his case a little. Dr MP would update me about her discussion tomorrow.

Tuesday Cheer

We are very pleased to have got this award from our furriends sen_chan, tama_chan, tom and #1 in France. Of course we would like to give the award to Dowager Spencer, Mera, Hat and Max. This is a nice cheery award to get today. We appreciate it :))

Ultra sound results: Lymphoma

I suppose it is possible to be outwardly fine and stll have lymphoma growing iside of you....

His ultra sound today found tht his spleen has swollen to the size of a dog's speen and it is dark. A cat's spleen should be the size of a tongue, the vet said and Megat's spleen is swollen and abnormal. His liver his also swollen and enlarged. THAT was what I felt 2 months ago and what she had felt last saturday. The vet said, with his history of FIV and kidney problems it is 99% that he has lymphoma, incurable and if untreated he has about 4 months more.

On the plus side, he is calm and unhurried as usual and because of the calmness that he has always displayed, he would be a good candidate for chemo which will allow him more years, although the vet has never yet treated a cat with chemo before. And he feels no pain which is more important at this point.

On a negative side as though lymphoma is not negative enough, Dr MP will not be his doctor as she is taking leave indefinately. I think that means she is quitting the practice- next Tuesday is her last day. That would make it 4 vets that I know in 5 years that this practice has been taking care of my cats, have gone and quit. I do not know the reasons but I guess people move on to other things.

When I was at the vet, I was not so calm and collected as my words seem to be here. I cried and cried although at the back of my mind, I know there might be nothing that I can do for Megat. They gave me tissue and cups of water. I am quite thankful that Cousin R decided to come with me today and so I was not by myself when I got the news although I was not able to tell her then.

Dr MP said before she leaves she would consult with other doctors to see what can be done. She also said we could use steroids although if I should decide on chemo, steroids would mess it up for us. Megat had his first ultra sound in dec last year, then I felt the mass 2 months ago. So that meant in 2 months, his grew his extremely agressivelymphoma and in about 4 months he might die from it.

Milk thistle

Maybe I should get it san..what do you think?

Thanks Anoymous for the information about Milk thistle. I got this from a site http://www.petwellbeing.com/cat-liver-disease-p64.cfm

Description
Milk Thistle for cats: Nature’s treatment for liver disease
Milk Thistle is a highly effective herbal remedy, well-known as an effective treatment for liver disease in cats, dogs and humans alike. It has no equivalent in conventional medicine.

The active ingredient in Feline Milk Thistle is called silymarin. It effectively:

- Prevents toxins from binding to the cat’s liver
- Helps the cat’s liver to regenerate
- Scavenges free radicals
- Stabilizes liver membranes

Milk Thistle also stimulates the production of new liver cells in cats, replacing damaged cells. It is an excellent restorative, any time your cat is ill. It supports her liver and helps her recovery. As an anti-oxidant, silymarin is even more effective than vitamin E.

Feline Milk Thistle helps combat the toxic side effects of drugs like:
- Chemotherapy drugs
- Chemical heartworm medications
- Antibiotics
- Corticosteroids
An all natural, herbal product, feline milk thistle is safe for long-term use.

There were also reviews from pet owners who had found milk thistle to be effective for their cats. However, it seems the liquid form is better than the pill form. How do I go about getting some for Megat? Megat is getting fibre from pumpkin which also regulates his bowels.

Time to sleep

zzzz..goodnight sunday...

Decision

I fink it is the best decision for the old aunty

Thanks for all the advice you gave about the incident that concerned the aunty. We decided that the old aunty should not at any time confront the man as she is always on her own and she goes about feeding the cats after everyone has gone home. So if he shouts, she should ignore him. Then we will all go to the police to make a report. We wish to thank st and all the help with the TC. The auntie is greatly relieved and knows that she has help when she needs it. The 4 from the wild bunch are of course clueless about the saga and all are well and fat. We now have 3 as from te original 4 - Minah, FatBoy and Putih. We have our sometime guests Billy Boy and now the gargoyle of a cat Lala. But Lala has since disappeared and Billy Boy does not come as often. He is a little thinner but not skinny so I think all is still well with him. He has either decided to hang out in his old precinct or maybe his owners have decided to sequester him, which would be better. Gargoyle Lala I am not sure about.

Sunday Thought

When is dinner. I am so hungry san...

Vet Results

The vet says I am doing well...and that san should continue with what she has been doing..

Outside of the vet's premises. Its clean, green and grassy. We sat on this patch for a short wait for the blood test.

san and me on a mat outside of the vet's...

san took my pikshur with my brown doggie...

I showed san my war wounds. san said I look nice wif the red bandages..hmmm

zzzz....

The vet MP welcomed us cheerily and asked me for some general details about Megat. She said she had read his history but would like to now some other things. So after all that was over, she did a one through physical checkup and was disturbed at the mass that she felt on the side of his body. She said it could just be his colon or intestines as it was at the same side. It could be poo also inside his colon. I told the vet that I had felt the mass 2 months ago but was told that it was his intestines. Vet MP said that she understood why this could be the case and explained to me the reason. Hmmm...

So after that we discussed his diet (ravenous) his pee (normal) his weight (losing weight). She told me about hyperthyroidism and old cats and said she would do the test to be sure. I was very glad to see that Megat had put on some weight (finally!). He is now 3.65 kg instead of 3.5kg. Hurrah! so it could not be hyperthyroidism as it seems cats eat revenously but lose weight rapidly.

She then told him he should give her enough blood for the tests but Megat's veins are very fine and she did not get enough from his hind leg. She then decided to get the blood from his neck veins and Megat very quietly allowed her to examine his neck. He seemed very resigned to all the prodding. Then she decided that she should try his front leg as his neck veins were very fine too. She was pleased to see that Megat gave up enough blood for her to do 2 tests from his foreleg and she said she would make a note of that in the computer as there was no indication of this. "You are so good. I can't beleive it," she told Megat.

So I asked her to check again for the mass and she did. She felt the mass again and told me that it would be better to have an ultra sound just to see if indeed there was a mass and what it would be like. So we made an appointment for next Tuesday.

Anyway his results are within the normal range but a little higher than previously. His TP has remained constant at 8.2 and his PCV is 26.2% from 25.5%. She said the numbers for the PCV is that way because of his FIV. She did not recommend Eprex though and I forgot to ask her about it. I would ask her on Tuesday for sure.

The only worrying thing is his ALT which is 122 (normal 20-100). She said this could only be because there is something 'active' in his system. So it would be better to do the ultra-sound as if I had felt the mass for a few months, it could not be his poop. But the good thing is he is not in pain and goes about his business as usual. There is no hyperthyroidism as well from the blood test.

So finally she said that he is doing well and we should just go on as we have done. "He is not sick," was what she said and its true in a way.

All in all we are quite pleased to have her as our new vet as she is thorough and asks many questions about Megat and his habits as well as his present condition.

The new place is much bigger and now they have 2 rooms. They even have space for an ultra sound so I am grateful for that as I do not have to bring him to the hospital and stress him out.

11 year-old doggie for adoption

Boy Boy is 11 years old and recovering from a skin ailment
His eyes are not wide open because he got bitten by fleas..

But the rest of him looked well and healed...

I was waiting for the results of megat's blood test when I was offered a curry puff (by the people at the vet) and I gratefully ate it. Then as I was reading Letters to My Daughter by Maya Angelou, which I recommend highly, I was offered some water. It was very kind of the people at the vet to offer me something to eat and drink. I was sitting on my mat outside, on the grass with Megat. Then I saw an old lady on a bicycle with 2 dogs- one on a leash (BoyBoy) and one not. She spoke to the vet assistant and then she saw me sitting. She offered me her dog!!

"Is that a dog?" she asked. I told her that it was Megat and when she saw that Megat had a brown toy doggie, she said that Megat was very lucky and I must love him very much. She then launched on sad tale of a dog that was as good as abandoned. This dog, BoyBoy used to belong to a young couple who then abandoned him in the care of their father. But the father was very old and cannot take the dog out. So he paid the old lady to take care of his dog but the lady herself is not able to take care of the dog as she has not been paid for its care - food etc. The lady also took the dog to the vet and got him meds to take care of his flea problem using her own funds.

It seemed that the dog was a victim of flea bites and his eyes were so swollen that he could not see. She brought him to ARC and now his skin was better and indeed I saw that his skin was clear of fleas. He was very clean and the only evidence of flea bites was the fact that the doggie could not open his eyes wide.

The lady said that the owners wanted to euthanise him because they wanted to move house but she offered her help. But now she could not take care of this dog as she has her own dog to tae care of and it is getting very expensive to keep 2 dogs.

She asked me if I wanted the dog but I told her that was not possible as I have 5 cats. I can just imagine the amigos' shock if I appear with a dog and anyway I can't have a dog in the house. I did say I would try to publicise this offer to people and if anyone wants to adopt such a nice dog, I would tell the vet and they could get in touch with her.

Throughout the whole conversation BoyBoy was very well-behaved and stood still. He did not bark or anything and she said he was very active too.

So if anyone knows of anyone who would like a rescue dog, please post a comment. Thanks.

Sitting wif san on Friday night...yawnzzz

I sat wif san after dinner. san was reading her book. san read to me a little. It was a detective story about a policeman but it was furry longggg...so..

I decided to tell san that I was not interested and wanted her to stop. san didn't but she gave me somefing to play wif. It was...

a nice orange (like me) paper. It flew about. THIS was much better...

I tried to eat it but it didn't taste furry good. But it crinled about and made a good noise. san was still reading and oh well..how long can a cat be interested in a piece of paper?

Ho hummm....

I decided to see what was under my blankie..

It was nice and warm and much better than san's book...

zzzz....so much better...zzzz

Thursday portrait of the amigos

Against the backdrop of dangerous Wednesday, the amigos are all in their usual poses...

Bujang trying to fit in a house that seemed to small for him...

Totoro finding calm and comfort under my old cupboard...

Megat on the lookout for trespassers...

Tanaka with his cheetah friend thinking about the good life...

and Ms Akira sound asleep in the computer room...

Thank God that all is well with us. We wish everyone, furry or not, well as well :)

Community Drama

Minah...today she is sans collar!
FatBoy

Well the drama happened yesterday. The old auntie was harrassed by a man who told her he would 'sue' her if she feeds the kitties. He also asked her why she didn't just bring the kitties home instead of feeding them downstairs. To her credit, the auntie told him that she has been feeding the community cats for a long time and since she didn't litter and always picks up after herself, she didn't see why he should be upset.

The community cat downstairs would be Minah- a quiet and sweet-looking calico although she has a 'devilish' side as well. Sometimes FatBoy would come to dinner and breakfast downstairs as well as he is always hungry and has long decided to go where the food source is and not wait for the food to come to him:)

It ended with the auntie asking the man for his name and reason for him to be there. But the man just took her picture with Minah and left saying again that he would 'sue' her if she continues feeding. Of course she became quite anxious.

Since I was not able to feed the cats these last few weeks, it was Cousin R who had related this incident to me and I had told Cousin R to tell the auntie that no one can 'sue' her for anything and she was not going against any law of the land. Instead the residents should thank her as she would sometimes (and all of us would do this as well) pick up all the litter left behind by others as we are afraid the cats would eat something dangerous and get sick.

Of course I became rather anxious too and had asked ST if there were complaints about the cats around our set of 4 blocks and was greatly relieved to be told that there were no complaints at all. I had advised the auntie and had volunteeresd to bring the auntie to the police station to make a report as she was the one harassed by the man and would be able to tell the policeman what actually happened. She was greatly relieved as well as she is very fond of the 4 cats and all other sometime-guests that we have. However she told me that she would not want to make the report at this time. I do not want to make her more anxious but told her that the next time, we would all go to the police as we do not want anything to happen to her and the cats.

I hope that this was a one-time incident but we have decided to tell the other residents to look out for this man as well. The residents here are very fond of Minah as she is very pretty with a sweet voice and they are familiar with her. I think they would be on the lookout if they know that a total stranger has been around threatening an old woman and a harmless kitty. I do not think the man is a resident in this block as well.

I stare; You stare

Ms Akira was all on the alert as ...

Tanaka was looking at her as usual. He sat for quite abit just looking at her. "Doesn't you neck hurt?" grandma asked him but he was not in the mood to answer anyone :)

Be Well Good Friend

Spencer's pic courtesy of cat_aunty

We would like to wish our good friend who has been working long hours during these trying times of the flu to rest well and to recuperate under the watchful eye of Dowager Spencer :) She would make sure that all is well under her watch.

Appointment at the vet

Megat's review will be this Saturday 23 May at 0930 hours. Our vet has moved from EP to Tampines and I have to find the site this Saturday. It seemed that amigos vet Dr SLM had also moved...to Australia. Oh dear...

I asked the manager (I assumed it was the manager) who the attending vet would be. He said MP and when I asked him if she was new, he very curtly said 'NO." More oh dears... I wonder why he was so grumpy about it as I told him I had never heard of this vet before. So I had to fill him in on Megat and why he would be at the clinic. He took down notes (I assumed) and then asked me curtly when I would like the appointment. I wonder if he even likes animals to be so grimpy at the vets.

It is not that I am picky but I would really like Megat to have just one physician. He has had several beginning with Dr Su, Dr L, Dr K, Dr I-am-afraid -of your-cat Bujang and Dr SLM(the one who can clip Bujang's nails with great courage). When Dr Su had to go to Australia, she had informed me and had introduced me to the new vet Dr L. She had also briefed Dr L on Megat's condition and what she had done with him. I thought this was the way to tell pet owners that their pets would be taken care of. Dr SLM has been seeing him more frequently these days. He has had 3 years with this practice and they have been nice to him. He is the only one of my cats that has to go for frequent reviews while the rest go for annual checkups only.

I don't think I should go to another practice just because the office manager sounded grumpy as he may have had a bad day, like everyone else. However I should think that the practice should inform the clients if the vet who has been taking care of their pets should be MIA or that the whole practice would be moving to another premise. Then the pet owners would be able to make an informed decision as to what to do best.

The old premise at EP would be taken over by another vet practice, or so I was told by the PL people. We will just have to see what happens this Saturday with Megat and Dr MP. I am sure it would be alright. A grumpy office manager and bad surprises should not be the determining factors when choosing a good vet. We just have to meet the vet herself...but still...

A recipe for disaster in pictures

...and with one bloodcurling scream, she sent him scrambling out of the room. She chased him out for good measure. 1 for Ms Akira, 0 for Megat.