This Litter Business...

Toro: is a FAILURE! I dun like the white stuff in my litter. It must be dangerous and I dun wan to get in it. I will NOT get in it everrrrrrr....

Megat: is okay although I dun think I should poo in it...yet.

I decided to have various levels of the recycled newspaper pellets (clumping) in the 4 bins as I noticed Toro would not get in any bin if he could help it. He would tip toe into the biggest bin gingerly and only if he could step on the clay, NEVER on the pellets. Tanaka and Bujang would step carefully over the pellets and would tolerate some of it on their feet. Megat does the same for the big bins. Step only on clay!

So I decided that I should line the bins with the pellets and put clay over them. In my human brain, I thought if the boys dig up the sand and meet a few pwllets, they would take it in their stride. Result: In your dreams san! They were more suspicious than ever and Toro decided he would not even step in the bins. This is very bad news for a UTI kitty!

So finally I decided only clay in the biggest bin, some pellets (from the 2nd trial) in 2 bins and only pellets in Megat's bin in his cage. Once this was configured, I heard frantic sounds of clay being overturned by a mysterious kitty. When I looked into the bin, I saw one small clump of pee and a whole mountain of sand on it. I guess the industrious amigo was trying to see if there were mysterious white stuff underneath.

So the result is poo only in the clay bin, stray clumps of pee in the 2 mixed bins and Megat's bin has a clump of pee in it this morning. He did visit the clay bin this morning though. My decision then would be just to have the pellets in Megat's private bin as he sleeps in his cage and if he is breathing in clay dust, more of it would have to be from this source.

But we shall see. I think this will be a long-drawn experiment.

Too Fat?

Possibly. Everyone has commented on the fact that Megat has put on a lot of weight. I worry that this would contribute to his asthma, not to mention worsen his kidneys. However Dr L was not worried about it even when I mentioned this the last tme we saw him in March. He is more of a handful now that he can use his weight to his advantage whenn it comes to catching him for his meds.

Oh Dear Megat!

I only cough sometimes....some of the time...really...

Megat's prolonged asthmatic coughs have not abated as he had already coughed 3 times in 1.5 months. These were the long prolonged coughs that only asthmatic cats have. I had witnessed this twice and grandma once. We had already removed the wool rugs but I noticed that the two times that he had coughed, he was near the litter. So possibly the dust from the clumping litter is a source of his discomfort. We have begun vacumming the area more often from March but we will have to vacuum the areas more often, like every day it seems. We will see if this would decrease the coughs - that is for the remaining days of April until May, he should be more comfortable.

His diet remains the same as before he started coughing - his special diet kibble Walthams Renal, some tinned food which he lves and which I want to be able to give him and he sometimes eats the boys kibble too (which is not Walthams). I do not think I should give the boys the Walthams Renal although they all prefer this. But this would indeed cut down on the different tyoes of kibble that he gets to eat.

As I am at work, I usually put out kibble for them so they can eat what they want throughout the day. This has worked quite well as grandma would not have to entertain each and every cat at their own time.

Is there anyone with an asthmatic cat who can help us in figuring out source of irritants?

Is It Time?

I can see everything from here...away from the 'stuff'...

Ooohh....when will the treats come...its still too long...

If I stare into nothing, the treats will come...

What treats?? I am the one who has to eat this 'stuff' and you guys get the treats? No fair san!

Megat looks pretty vexed every time he takes the supplements but he takes it in his stride as do we all. We have been doing this for 10 months already and I think we will have to do this for a long time still. The boys will try to sit as closely as possible to Megat as everyone gets treats right after. Megat had his asthmatic cough once already, some time at the end of March. His respiratory meds is mixed with the rest of his supplements so he does not taste it. It does taste pretty strong by itself.

Goodnight Monday

I wud like to say that feline asthma is no fun.
But fur tonight, I have enough of Monday...

Decision - Cat 1: Rug 0

Are you sure about the rugs san? Do we really need to give them away? I like to roll on them.

Megat and Asthma

Megat relaxing at home...

This wool carpet (the whte and brown one also) may be the culprit...

Dr L checked his chest and indeed he has a 'little' asthma. I heard the wheezing sounds through the stethoscope. "Sounds like me," I said. So he had Megat take a chest xray - one from the side and one that shows all of him. Indeed there was a little liquid in his right lung. Dr L gave me some homeopathy meds for respiratory ailments for him. he had to take 1/2 a capsule in the morning and the other 1/2 at night. Of cos he threw it all up, followed by his usual supplements!

I was glad I decided to tell Dr L about his coughing. Dr L was rather puzzled as he did not wheeze so much before and asked me if I had changed his diet. I did not change anything. So possibly the only change is the wool carpet that I had bought last year and now I am looking at the new one I bought last Sunday with a fair amount of suspicion. He did get all those coughs when we got the wool carpet last year. There would be dust and mites in carpets, no matter how much I vacuum them. Megat and the rest of the boys like rolling about on it though so I told grandma that we might have to give the carpets away if he does not get a little better in 3 months. Grandma was not as upset like I thought she would be.

On another note, there are other changes that we saw from the xray. His liver is a little rounded and one of his kidneys is a little smaller. But Dr L says this is because he is an old cat and things change. Other than that there is nothing else that is wrong and there are no mysterious spots of lymphoma anywhere.

I was a little horrified when Dr L said we needed the xray to see if he had cancer cells in his lungs! WHAT! The I remembered that lymphoma can come back in a second! The news about a 'little' asthma was a welcome relief although now that I read about feline asthma, there might be anxious days ahead.

Btw his right cornea is a little constricted but Dr L said that wewould monitor that. Our next appt should be 4 months from today but I opted for three months as I may not be able to make it on many days in July as I have exams to conduct. I am also a little anxious about the asthma and the constricted cornea.