The News Isn't Good

Sadly, I think Amos will be going away this weekend.  We took him to the vet last weekend and found he has a bad back and hips.  He is unable to walk so the doctor prescribed a steroid to take down the inflammation and provide him with less pain.  He is still unable to walk and now is having difficulties eliminating.  I wish there was a way to get him walking again.  I hate the thought of putting a cat down for a bad back.  He also isn't as old as my cats have been when we had to put them down.  I'm having a problem rationalizing this one.  I know it's a quality of life thing but I can't help thinking he might walk again with some sort of home therapy (exercise).

Cherry has her skin infection again so she's back on her meds.  Sugar has worms now so we need a drontal for her.  Look out St Francis 24 Hour Animal Hospital, we're coming soon!

As soon as I learn more I'll blog about it.

Good Night From Muttzncatz's Place

He'ssssssssssss Back

Damian appeared again.  I was kind of right. He has a new picture now.  I'm a bit concerned though.  He has two shaved spots on his front legs now.  I believe he has had a surgery.  Maybe he had a dental procedure?  It couldn't have been anything too serious because he was only off the radar for one day.

See the difference?  He looks like he's wearing super plush boots now.  His hair looks like it was brushed too.  They're still watching him closely because he is not in the little playroom with the other FIV+ cats. He's in a cage, in what they call meow manor.  I'm thinking he will probably go back to be with the other FIV+ kitties when he's completely recovered.  He seems to get along with them fairly well....in fact he even frequently slept with one of the cats.

Amos is out and about again today and found one of the catnip toys.  He almost rubbed all the hair off his face trying to get all the goodness out of the toy.  He seems to be very happy in the main part of the house.  Fina has a cardboard box that I cut a hole in so she could have a hideaway.  Unfortunately for Amos, he found the box and tried to get in.  Fina set the records straight immediately!  I have never heard her hiss quite so loudly.  He backed out without hesitation and moved on to find a very entertaining small tennis ball to bat around.  I think Fina is still guarding her clubhouse and that incident was about 3 1/2 hours ago. (She may be small but she's mighty!)

Good Night From Muttzncatz's Place

I Just Knew It!

I thought I was done with this subject but it seems that the cat at the Humane Society IS Damien. My son came over Friday for his birthday dinner and I showed him the kitty cam at the Humane Society. He identified the white cat as Damien. So the Humane Society has lied to me again. I was told the white cat came to them from animal control and he didn't have a chip. Damien had a chip already when my son gave him to the Humane Society. Even though I was pretty sure the cat WAS Damien there was a small amount of doubt that made me feel not as bad. Now I'm back to feeling bad because I can't go and pick him up and bring him home with me. Being FIV+ he could infect my other cats. This whole situation has been so traumatic for me. I feel so bad for Damien. Life shouldn't be this hard for him! If I had an unlimited amount of money I would build another room off the house and go get him and another FIV+ cat to keep him company.





On another note..........Amos is gaining more strength every day. I went to the vets today and picked up more of that super rich (ad) prescription food for him. I took him with so he could get weighed. He gained a whole ounce according to his chart. I think someone messed up his weight last time because he was down to skin and bones ( I could feel his backbone). Now he has put on a bit more muscle so his backbone doesn't stick out as much. He's more active and more enthused when the food comes into the room too.




If anyone is in the Portland/Vancouver area you must try St. Francis 24 Hour Vet Hospital in Orchards. They are the best place to take any sick or injured animals. They even see small animals. They also are a boarding facility which is great if you have a special needs animal that might need extra care since there is a doctor onsite 24/7.

Good Night From Muttzncatz's Place

Help!

Again, I am falling behind in my posting.  Victor was back at the vet this week.  He (of all things) has an infected tail.  Whether it started with a flea bite or a cat bite, who knows.  He's on liquid antibiotics and a topical as well.
He doesn't seem to mind the liquid but when I spray his tail with the topical he has a royal hissy fit.  Well...I guess I should know his boundaries by now, right?  Rule number one:  The vicious feral cat will not be touched in any way by human hands.
It seems that Sugar has the same problem and is tearing her hair out in clumps.  So.......tomorrow is vet day for a follow up on Victor and a new appointment for Sugar.  It never ends!  This is a slow path to being homeless.
If we don't find an extra income soon we will be out in the street.
If anyone wishes to contribute I have a Paypal account (Under the name Muttzncatz).  Contact me for instructions.  What am I saying?  I can't even get anyone to sign up to follow my ramblings.  I know somewhere out there is a person or two who would love to help with our vet bills.
Cherry just had surgery for a kidney stone.  That was around $900.00 with all the ex-rays and overnight stays.  Now she is on a special prescription food for the rest of her life.
Just the pet medicines alone that we get every month is enough to keep us broke.  Victor is on a special liquid for his blood disorder and will be for the rest of his life.  Amos is on an antibiotic because of the growth in his nose.  He also takes an appetite stimulant and an immune support pill each day.  Fina takes a special medicine to keep her from getting an upper respiratory infection due to her having only one nostril.  Tanner now has Hypo Thyroid and will be on a daily pill.  Homer has a constant problem with worms and has to be de-wormed about every other month.  He also takes a Calming liquid to keep him from spraying.  The flea treatments each month are almost $200.00.  The dogs are on heartworm meds each month.  I may have left off something, but I tried to give you a picture of what it's like.  Our credit card is nearing extinction.
Well that's about it for tonight's rant

Good Night From Muttzncat's Place

The Vet Update

Took Hunter and Amos back to the vet for a re-check.  Hunter is 100% better and Amos will remain on antibiotics for the remainder of his life.  But giving a couple of pills a day is nothing.  I remember having to give IV fluids to a couple of older cats for a long period of time........Even our Schnauzer had to have fluids for a short time. We have had two pets that were diabetic and had shots twice a day.   All our friends used to kid us that we were running an animal hospital annex.  Even now there's a bag of fluids hanging on the wall in the kitty room.

My car got dropped off at the Shell station on Mill plain in Vancouver.  I can't run the heat or the air without the idle dropping and almost killing the engine.  Hopefully I will be able to use the heat on the way home from there.  By the time I got the car there today my nose was below zero.  It was super chilly today.  I don't think we got above 42 degrees.  My husband followed me there and then we took the cats to the vet.  After the vet we went to BI-Mart to get my hair coloring.  I came out of the store and was looking for my Trailblazer until it dawned on me that it was a red pickup I was looking for.  I must have looked really dumb standing there with a blank expression on my face.

This week I start cooking for Thanksgiving. I'll be starting with the corn pudding.  This dish was created during the depression as a meat substitute.  For anyone interested here's the recipe:

Grease a 2 quart oven proof casserole dish.

In the casserole dish empty

1 can of cream style corn
1/4 lb butter melted
1 small jar of chopped pimento's
1 can pitted black olives sliced
1 pint tomato sauce ( 16 fluid ounces)
1 cup yellow corn meal
2 eggs beaten
1 1/4 cup milk
1 medium onion minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika

Stir all ingredients until blended.

Cook at 325 degrees until the center is firm ( a knife should come out clean when inserted into the center)
If you make this ahead of time....don't let the center set.  On the day you wish to serve this dish just put it in the oven again at 325 degrees and cook until the center is set.  This dish will also freeze well when fully cooked.
This is a big favorite in our family...I hope you enjoy it with your family as well.
Good Night From Muttzncatz's Place

I'm still here...They haven't beaten me down yet

Sorry......I've been busy with dentist,  doctor and vet appointments all through October.  I'm still not done.   I'll be doing doctor and dentist appointments all through January.  Amos and Hunter have been to the vet several times.  Hunter had a Urinary infection which he must have had for a very long time since he decided to urinate on the carpet in front of me to show he was sick.  There was blood in it.  He just finished a two week round of antibiotics.  He had lost weight and had a dull look in his eyes.  He is now pretty well back to normal and is eating like a little piggy.  Amos, we have determined, must have a growth in his nose.  We have tried every antibiotic we can find and the infection keeps coming back.  We can't afford to have a cat scan on him (at his age) I think we need to just make him comfortable.  I hate to think about saying good bye to another fur child but I know we don't have too long.  The hard part is that Hunter is actually older than Amos.  Though neither one is young...like older than 13 years........It's still too short of a life for my animals.  My cats usually last close to 20 years.  Anyway...I don't want to think about that now.

Thanksgiving is coming very fast.  I shopped  today for all the goodies to cook on Thursday.  I'm not looking forward to all the work but I sure am anxious to see my grand daughter and her significant other Randi.  Misty assured me she would be here for Thanksgiving dinner this year.  Then there's Christmas.....
Oh Lord!  More worry about what to get for everyone and lots of work to do both in decorating the house and yard and then cooking the meal again.

I have my husband's family gifts bought. Now a couple of gift cards and I'm done with buying.  Well maybe not...I still have to get my husband a big fat gift.  It's so hard to buy for someone who hates everything you get for him.  I can even purchase something he said he wanted and he would never use what ever it was because I gave it to him.  I swear I'm not making this up!  Well enough of that.......

I'm hoping for Snow close to Christmas this year.  I love the Christmas lights with snow all around them.  I'm not crazy about the new LED lights though.  They aren't as bright and showy as the old ones.  My husband is going to put them up tomorrow morning I think.  That means this week I will have to put up the huge wreath on the front of the house and the lights, ornaments and topper on the Blue Spruce in the front yard.  Oh, I almost forgot....the air-blown Snowman on the side yard too.  I never got out all the decorations last year so I think I'll start early this year.  I always feel guilty when I don't put them all out.  I don't feel guilty however.....when it's time to put things away because it's a lot faster without all the extra stuff.

I went out to lunch with an old friend of mine last week and we had the best time.  She gave me some advice about our current flea problem.  She uses Cedar chips in her dog run and it keeps the fleas to a dull roar.  I think after the holidays we need to do the same thing.  Our two girls are both California girls and DO NOT like to go potty in the muddy dog run.  It's bad enough that we have made them come to a colder and wetter climate....but now we expect them to use a muddy bog instead of soft green (dry) grass?????  How uncivilized!  I'm hoping that the cedar chips or shavings will entice them into using the dog run again.
Have a pleasant one today
Good Night From Muttzncatz's Place's