Toro Update- Hospitalisation Day 3

Toro was looking well when I left him today, at about 7.30 pm. He had eaten some wet food and drunk a lot more water as I brought him our water bowl. He is not used to drinking water from a bowl as we have drinking fountains for a few years already, which he prefers, but I am glad he remembered.

He wanted to look at what was up but he realised the jump was not something he wanted to do. It was very quiet on Saturday afternoon and the dogs were all asleep so he felt safe enough to venture out of his cage.

Toro contemplating life...

I brought him a feather that Cousin R found two days ago. He was much more interested in it as it was kept with the catnip :)

His blood test on 29 July

His blood test today...

The indicators for kidney issues (or kidney failure as the vet calls it) were a little better but not so much better that he can go home. She said it was the practice that if the 2nd test shows a a number that is comparable, then they might allow him home. We are of course hoping for the indicators to improve in the days to come. The vet Dr S said his kidneys were very very very very bad. I think 4 very bads are just the same as 1 very bad though. I guess he had to tell me the naked truth so I do not have unreasonable expectations of what medicine can do. :(

I read that Persian cats were predisposed to kidney stones and some may even have them in the kidneys from young, about 30%. This is no consolation of course. It would be good to know from the very beginning though.

Toro Update - Hospitalisation Day 2

Toro having his first meal of the day - of Walthams Renal

He allows us to brush him and stayed put quite long until he was satisfied with his fur...

Yes! I am all ready for the night san...

What are you doing? This is NOT my favourite toy!

Toro in hospital, having food from home instead of hospital food...

Dr T called me at work to speak about toro yesterday but I was not able to speak with him. One of the staff said that Toro was not eating and that he was not so alert. I was not so worried as I knew Toro would spent half the day asleep if he was home until i come back from work and so told him this. He sounded relieved and asked if I was coming to see Toro with food!

Toro was looking well and ate the Walthams Renal readily in his own bowl. He complained several times as he ate so I guess he was not very sick. Then we spent the remainder of the time playing with him and brushing his fur, which he enjoyed.

Dr T called me again at about 10. I did not speak to him at the hospital as it slipped my mind. He said they would do another blood test for him on Saturday (today) and the earliest he could return home is Sunday, if all is well. The only doc at the hospital today would be Dr L and so if I can get him it would be better. If not, then Dr Lim would tell me if Toro could go home and that would be Sunday (if his indicators show a marked improvement only) Dr T said he was quiet and I told him that Toro is usually very laid back in the mornings and afternoons and would only play late afternoon with the amigos. I also told him that Toro is a finicky eater and would only eat what he is used to, the way he wants it and to always give him fresh food (even kibble) in the morning.

I will be seeing him later today and we will see what transpires. Thank you for all the thoughts and advice for Toro yesterday.

Toro Update - Hospitalisation Day 1

...an old pic of Totoro

Toro is now in hospital, on an IV drip. He has a catheter in his leg so the fluids will be given continuously. His blood test found his creatinine levels to be 20 and his BUN to be 120. He had an xray and the vet found white dots in his kidneys which he suspected to be calcium deposits. He was also dehydrated. His bladder was ok so he was not blocked. He has acute kidney failure.

The vet could not find what was wrong as his diet did not warrant such results. Then he spoke about melamine and I told him that Toro ate Nutro before and that was found to be contaminated with melamine. But then Bujang and Ms Akira also had Nutro and I now think I should bring both cats to the vet to get some tests done.

The vet was not optimistic about his chances of recovery but we would know ore after his ultra sound, which would be done on Tuesday.The vet said Toro would have to be in hospital for a few days, at most a week.

I will be seeing him tomorrow with Cousin R with his bowl, his pillowcase blanket and his toy. I think I will bring the Walthams Renal as his kidneys are already compromised. Thank goodness I brought his stuff toy with me and now at least he has that in his cage.

Update:
Hi Katie. Where can I get Roots- Purification? Is it a liquid that I can put in the drinking water?

To the vet we go...

Toro has been under the weather for the past 3 days. It started with him vomitting on 3 mornings last week. I could hear him in the early hours and then I would find brown patches of half-digested kibble on the mat in the bathroom. He is a good kitty as he always does this in the bathroom or close enough to the bathroom. However, he had since stopped vomitting but now he is a very subdued kitty whose habits had changed quite drastically from the happy rompish blur kitty of before to the now rather subdued one.

He now prefers sitting by himself in the bedroom, preferring to be near his litter than anywhere else. He is not interested in Da Bird (which used to be his toy of choice) much and does not ask me vociferously to go to the toy cupboard to take it out and play with HIM. He now sleeps by himself in the rug near the bathroom instead of on his blanket in bed and does not rush out in the morning to eat the treats first. Rather he would stroll out after the others and would just sniff at the treat before ignoring it and moving on. He does not even come to me in the evenings to request for the brush. He does not run about roaring at the shadows at night in the living room. And more than anything, he does not go to grandma to be cuddled.

But he pees and eats his canned food like always. He has just turned into another hermit (like Ms Akira) and would choose solitude rather than people.

So this evening I am bringing him to the vet so I can rule out anything medical first. I hope things will look up for the little guy!

How to make a collar

I guess now I can try to make cat collars with breakaway buckles. I just realised last week, after many years of throwing old buckles that I can try to make my own. Probably have to buy webbing from someplace and a sewing -machine. I can borrow the machine I guess. We'll see lah

Goodnight Sunday

The Wild and Wilder Bunch Weekend

Fat Blackie of the Wilder Bunch eating dinner...
She is built like a tank!

Blackie and TK have a truce of sorts although an uneasy one...

Blackie was looking at 'her' house...to see if the human occupants were home...

She is a beautiful kitty and lives outside of M's flat. I don't know if M allows her inside at all. But at least she is safe from the vagaries of the void deck.

This little mynah came at my rings. I was calling for Minah but she didn't appear. I was surprised to see it and even more surprised when I saw that it was following me about.

Finally Minah came to claim her dinner...

Yes dear human. The birdie comes sometimes to share in my dinner kibble...

As I was giving Minah her kibble, I heard some clinks coming from her tin bowl. I turned round was was even more surprised to see a mynah (I don't know if it was the same one) steal some catfood. It flew off immediately and as I don't know if it would come back, I decided to clear up. This had certainly been a Sunday of surprises.

Putih now hangs out near the other end of the block. I was told because there were now more abandoned unsterilised cats around this block, that came out at night. So she did not feel safe in her old haunt.

She ate but continued to stare at something or someone...

It was Blackie keeping an eye out for this motorbike...She looked well suited with it too :)

TK was looking very well indeed. He had filled out and his fur was no longer patchy.

He is actually quite a handsome cat!

Just Because

And how did they do it in Alcatraz?

Easy Peasy Sunday

The boys were very relaxed this Sunday. Toro preferred to complain that he was hungry and Megat preferred to play. Now that he is a little roly-poly, he preferred to have the lure brought to him rather than his usual slip and slide technique. I did not insist as he coughed a week ago and he had a full 1.5 minutes of trying to get his breath. Bujang as usual, was in his Escape From Alcatraz mode :)

Hello Sunday.

I am glad it is quiet san. This is what Sunday should be.

Harnesses r Us

Tanaka watching mynahs on the wing...in his purple jacket.

The 3 boys have soft walking jackets
We also have a black one for Bujang. So we have all the 4 colours :)
These are from http://www.hdw-inc.com/walkingjackets.htm

This jacket is fastened by velcro. They come in snazzy colours and designs.
This makes Tanaka look like some Disco Dude
This is from http://www.joykatz.net/walkingjackets.htm.
Bujang has a black leather one and Akira has one with psychedelic cat patterns

Someone asked me at the entry about harnesses and which ones I prefer. The amigos have a variety of harnesses, both with buckles and velcro. I personally prefer the colours of the velcro ones but would stick to the walking jackets for safety sake. I am just not comfortable with the idea of walking my cat, near a street with velcro jackets.

This is NOT to say that the velcro jackets are unsafe. Bujang has escaped twice from the walking jackets. If he desires and wants to desperately, he would back up and pull at the leash and in this way, had twice gotten the walking jacket off. But these jacktes are secure and could be wrapped around the kitty closely. Just ensure that the kitty is comfortable with it before the walk. So if anyone desires to walk the kitty using a harness or jacket, they have to keep a close eye on the kitty and not ignore a sudden tug at the leash.

I bought both the velcro and walking jackets online. I have yet to see anything like these in Singapore stores.

FatBoy Then and Now + Update at cat sitter

FatBoy now...

FatBoy in 2008

I was looking at my earliest blogs in an effort to answer a blogger's questions about harnesses - the buckle vs the velcro kind and chanced upon these pics of FatBoy 2 years ago. Then he was fat (hence his name) and thick-set. Of course these days, he has grown very much thinner due to his kidney problems.

But I hope his stay at the cat-sitter would have a small effect on him. Medication on the recommended daily basis should have a positive effect. I called R to ask her about him and she said he was ok but he was noisy. I think after 8 years of being outdoors, it would be very hard on him to suddenly be indoors 24/7. R looked surprised at the amount of medication he had but she took it all in her stride.

FatBoy had quite a send-off last on Monday 19th and the auntie shed some tears although she knows he was going to the sitter. There were also several people from NEA who were sitting at the void deck and so they were also there to witness his going off to the sitter. All in all, there were 6 people who knew him and about 3 people from the NEA (who did not want to tell us why they were there. But it had to do with mosquitoes and aedes).

We will be seeing FatBoy next weekend as R has to be at a cat show this Sunday. I told R that if FatBoy gets along with PD, we would bring them both back at the same time and PD can stay at FatBoy's block.

Update:
R called me to say that when she give shim the SubQ, it would be ok but then after some time, his cage would be wet with water. She said it was not pee and it did not come from his water bowl. We were both worried at the idea of fluids in the cage. It also surprised me as I had not seen anything like this happening after a SubQ, even with Megat. I called the vet and the vet said that a possible reason could be the water seeped out from the injection site through the hole made by the needle. Or the skin had burst because of water pressure. The advice is to make sure to hold down the skin at the injection site for a minute to encourage the skin to close up and to massage the water away. I guess this has not happened at the void deck as he needs to walk about and by the time he rests, the water would have seeped away from the injection site. Of course I am not at the carpark to witness many things.

I am only thankful that he gets constant care. He is eating his renal kibble as he has no choice and drinking a lot. The drinking is because of the kidney problems of course. I think he might be able to put on weight because of the dry food too.

Question for ck
Hi ck. Does it smell like urine? The cat sitter says it does not. But if this happens and it doesn't smell like urine, maybe 250 ml a day is too much for him. Then I would need to ask the vet again about the amt per day.

Where did you cat pee today?

TV & Movie Spoofs
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Thanks to Wildrun for showing the video, which I enjoyed this rather sad Tuesday morning as FatBoy, who used to pee only on grass is at the cat sitter.

Goodnight Sunday

zzzz...

FatBoy Sunday

FatBoy refused to get out from under a car even when I showed him the food that he liked. He sat and refused to look at me. The auntie made a lot of noise and wanted me to get a long branch to encourage him to get out. She was quite desperate so I finally had to squat and pull him from under it. He was light and so it was easy.

So I gave hm his 2 clicks of growth hormone and the auntie's friend helped me to squeeze out the fluids for the SubQ. I told the auntie (who was hard of hearing) to relax for abit as all the noise was very hard on my nerves. I explained to her the whole process and what was going to happen tomorrow and she kept quiet so we had 30 minutes of quiet for FatBoy.

Then he ate a little and wanted to get out of the carrier so I let him out. The auntie said she would give him more food later if he asks for it.

I think we would all take a picture tomorrow as I expect quite a send off for FatBoy. He is much loved!

On Rainy Sunday

Sleep seems to be the best thing...

in any position!

FatBoy Saturday on Sunday

FatBoy came out immediately when he heard the ring...

FatBoy looking a little thin ...

Meds that he has to take everyday..

from right - The Alutab (green) for phosphates - 1/2 in the morning and 1/4 at night, or if he hates tablets, then its 2.5 ml of suspension. The Apo-K for his potassium - 1/2 a tab daily and finally the 2 clicks for the growth hormone.

I gave him the 2 click without Cousin R's help because he sat very docilely in the carrier. Today, Sunday, I will try again and then will also try to give him the SubQ myself.

Tanaka showing interest at other cat's meds. I bet he won't be so curious if he has to take them himself!

I thought FatBoy would not appear on Staurday so quickly but I was pleased that he proved me wrong. he had dinner and then some more post dinner meals. So he ate 2 cans of Tuna Flakes and Chicken. He drank some water from the bowl but then took a walk in the drain to drink some rain water! But there is nothing I can do about that. Then he walked across the grass and sat looking at the night.

FatBoy will go to the catsitter tomorrow and there would be a bevy of aunties waving him off. i hope they don't stress out, stress him out or stress me out with interminable questions. I'm sure the auntie would ask again if I was going to put FatBoy to sleep and to ask me not to. That question, although very natural, stresses me out more than any other question!

He would be at the cat-sitter for a month and if he and PD get along, we can bring them both home to stay at FB's block since both are males. of cos PD can stray to Minah's block or even find his way home again to his own house but for sure he can't go back to Putih's block at all.

FatBoy 3rd Review

He has definitely lost quite a bit of weight from 4.5 to 3.8 in a space of one month...

He was none too pleased at being prodded...

I had to tell him its ok with the thermometer...

The news is not cheery at his 3rd review. His weight loss is a serious issue and he is as light as air. The vet did a simple test for his PCV which has risen to 41% and his TP is 8 g/dl. This is better than the 9.8 g/dl from before.

I told the doc that he hates his suspension and asked for something else less foul for a kitty. The vet recommended Alutab but this could be an uphill task. The vet also recommended Somatotrophin Injections, a growth hormone that may help him to put on weight. This, it seems is a growth hormone that people give to kids with kidney problems. Since Megat's meds are all human meds, I thought FatBoy deserves the same chance. It is very expensive though but it would last us 2.5 months. I give it like I would give the SubQ so that is not too frightening for me. I am willing to try anything as I thought with 5 home cats and 4 community cats, I should know what is available for them.

I am sending him to R's next week for baby sitting ,to see if daily SubQ and medicines would have a significant effect as I can only give this to him on alternate days. If he gets better, we would bring him back and if the effects are minimal, we would still bring him back. I thought I should do all before I make any final decision.

The vet says though with such a significant drop in weight, he might not live much longer. I know this to be true. I had to be very firm with the auntie and her friends yesterday about the possibility of having to put him to sleep if he gets worse. I think I was more tired of this than dealing with FB. Her friends kept telling me that the auntie is sad when she thinks of him being put to sleep but I had to tell them that better for us to be sad than a cat to be sad and in pain. This of course is my rational mind talking. I know it would be hard for me to make such a decision but I have learned from Callie's case (the community cat that died of Ataxia) that I have to make it for the kitty.

Family Spat

Toro the Blur one

Megat the Gangsta Kitty

I do not know why Megat has decided that harassing Toro would be the be all and the end all of his existence. One the reasons could be that Toro is the only kitty who seemed afraid of him. Tanaka shows no fear of any one, any cat or anything. Bujang is too big for him and Ms Akira is seldom seen outside of her abode.

Yesterday, after his meds and lingzhi he walked towards Toro with great purpose and determination. I saw him and decided to tell him to stop. He stopped for a bit and decided that as I was far away from him, that it would probably be worth it to give Toro some slaps- and he did! He cornered Toro between the carrier and his cage and proceeded to box him several times, stopping only when he saw me getting nearer to him. I managed to scoop him up and reprmand him and he was immediately put inside his cage. Thankfully it was already 9.45 pm and bedtime was at 10.00 so he had no time to plot anything else as all the kitties know bedtime and wait for it.

Grandma's 2 cents is that Megat is taking revenge for the many times that we had rescued Toro from being beaten up by him. We all of us know Toro's "Don't beat me up or I will tell san" cry and almost always it would be when Megat is on the verge of beating him up.

Apart from some of Toro's fur flying, no blood was shed :)

Rest In Peace Little Kitty

This kitty used to peer at Bujang and I when we go for our walks

We say a little prayer for the kitty in the picture who used to look at us curiously on our walks. It seemed he was hit by a vehicle. He was an indoor kitty left to his own devices and allowed to run around the estate.

Rest in peace little kitty. I bet the cars would always stop for you where you are now.