A Short Week at Work

I am blessed to have a supportive supervisor and wonderful co-workers. I am taking Friday off, to have a 4 day weekend. The problem with that, that I never identified until I was in my 40's, is that I try to get 40 hours of work in the lesser time.  This week felt the same, but I had to let some things go.  I am not allowed to work overtime (although I would, willingly paid or not, to a certain extent) so I have to be realistic about what I can accomplish.

On the other hand, I am looking forward to a 4 day weekend.  I do not have any special plans, although I might go to the street fair 4th of July Parade, although my original plan was to watch it on TV.  

I also have some errands to run the next few days, including taking Haiku to the vet for her yearly vaccinations.  

A Most Inauspicious Trip to the Veterinarian

This was a trip to the veterinarian that I dreaded.  It was Taki's turn to get her annual vaccinations, and she hates going to the vet. But today was the day.  I secured her in the cat stroller while I got the cat carrier out.   She did not mind me taking her out of the stroller, but as soon as she saw the carrier, she started wailing.  The carrier was in the kitchen on the floor, and she resisted being put into it.  So much so it took multiple tries, and not until after she had peed on me and all over the kitchen floor.  I wiped up the floor, and sprayed myself with Lysol so I did not smell like cat urine, and went to the vet. 

We had to wait quite a while to get into the exam room.  Once we got into the exam room, Taki did not want to get out of the crate, but she finally did get out.  She cried and occasionally growled, until the technician poked his head in, then she started growling in earnest.  We did not take her temperature, and I told the technician I thought we could manage with just a towel.  The technician popped his head in twice after that, and Taki elevated her protests each time.  Finally when the vet came in, he and technician decided they needed towel and gloves.  We were able to hold Taki down, and she got her two shots, and jumped back into the carrier.  

No one was hurt.  

When we got home, Taki left the carrier as soon as I opened the door.  I cleaned the carrier, and until I put it away, Taki avoided the kitchen. That is typical for her, anyway.  She avoided me and hid for about 2 hours and then she came out and let me pet her.

I hate that this is such an ordeal.  I am glad no one was hurt. I am glad Taki has her annual vaccinations, and she is no longer mad at me.  

Taki's Trip to the Veterinarian 2017

Taki had her yearly veterinarian visit on Wednesday of this week.  We use the Ark Animal Hospital of Lubbock http://www.arkhospitalforpets.com/.  She dislikes being crated and she dislikes being at the vet.  This year was no exception.

She hides when I pull out a cat crate, so I put her in the stroller before I pulled out the crate.  She went in well, but hissed as I locked the door.  She cried on the way to the vet's office, but became very silent in the waiting room.  She was up .2 lb although I have been trying to cut back her available food.  She did not want to get out of the crate, so I took the cover off.  The vet has instructions on her file not to take her temperature, but even with that, she is not very gracious to the vet.  She hisses when they walk in.  This year, the vet said to just turn her backside to him.  He gave her two shots, and did not try to examine her.  I told him I had not noticed any problems, and I can check her teeth and ears at home. 

Although they post a notice to allow staff to hold the animal patients, they always let me hold my cats.  That started with Sake because as bad as she was, she was better when I helped hold her.  So, now, I hold all of my cats while they work on them.

Taki did not stay mad for very long when we got home.  She did not ask for anything to eat at dinner time, but she did allow me to pet on her.  

Haiku at the Vet

Haiku went to the vet 1/2/2016.  I keep the crates in the closet, with towels on the crate floor and the doors open.  Haiku likes to get in the crates and sleep.  But she does not like being crated in, nor does she like being in a moving vehicle.  So, she cries a lot on a trip to the vet.

But she was so good in the exam room:  She let the tech take her temperature, and draw blood.  She let  the vet examine her.  The vet was concerned about how fast her heart was thumping and thought the problem might be thyroid.  But it was not. It is kidney problems.  We have 10 days of antibiotics to give her.  Haiku let the vet show me how to give her a pill, and I have given her two already. She is sleeping a lot more than usual.  I suspect that is the effect of the antibiotic.

The vet gave us samples of food. Haiku likes the dry kidney food.  Hills Science Prescription Diet Kidney Care http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-canine-kd-canine-renal-health-dry.html.  So far, she has not tried any of the canned food.  She ate good yesterday and this morning, but is not very hungry right now.   

I hope she does better.  She is so sweet.

Sake to the Last

On July 15, 2015, I made a promise to Sake that I was taking her to the veterinarian for the last time.  She ate very little that day, and let me hold her for about 40 minutes before it was time to leave for the vet's office.  She went willingly into the crate.

She was crying and growling as we made the trip.  I am not sure she understood my message that this was the last trip she would have to make to the vet.  She was not happy. 

When we got into the exam room, and took the top off the cat carrier, she was bright eyed and alert.  But she had dropped 2 pound from Friday the 10th, to Wednesday the 15th.  She could no longer sustain her weight, or life for very long. 

When the vet and the tech came into the exam room, and the vet was getting ready to give Sake a sedative, the tech misjudged her, and Sake balked.  The tech and I both held her down for the vet.  They left while the sedative was allowed to work.  When the vet returned to the room, just a few minutes later, she asked "Did I hear her growl at me?"  "Yes," I said.  ("Sake to the last," I thought.  And as I told this story to others, they all agreed.)  The tech and vet both pet on her, remarking how they could not do so during her life.  They then gave her the final anesthesia.

The vet's office called the crematorium and cemetery for me.  The next afternoon, I had a chance to go out to pick out a box.  I told them I did not expect them to have her ready, but I wanted to take care of the box selection.  When I arrived at the crematorium and cemetery, they told me Sake was ready.  So, I chose a wooden box: Sake liked boxes, and so do I.  And, I brought her home.

I was able to fulfill the promise to Sake that she would not need to return to the vet's office again!  I was satisfied. 

Am I sad? Yes.  Do I miss her?  Yes.  Did I do the right thing, and the best thing for her?  I have no doubt in my mind.  

When I went into the hospital on the 17th, worrying about Sake was one less item on my mind.  But less selfishly, worrying about if I was continuing her needless suffering was not an issue.  

Do Haiku and Taki miss her?  Yes.  But they were less upset on the 15th, when I arrived home from the vet without her, than they had been on the 10th, when I arrived home without her, because she had been left a the vet's for sedation and lab work.   

The last few days of Sake's life, Haiku and Taki sat in the living room with her, just watching and waiting, while she laid under the futon.  Without being disrespectful, I hope, to the Hebrew religion, it kind of reminded me of "sitting shivas" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_(Judaism).   

Yeah Ark Animal Hospital

I take Sake to the Ark Animal Hospital http://arkhospitalforpets.ybsitecenter.com/ and check them out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ark-Animal-Clinic/144313622430982?ref=br_rs&rf=374702392598106.

I took Mack there well before 1995, and they treated him so well. He hated to be in a cage, and when I told them that, when he had to stay for a procedure that they had to anesthetize him for, they put him in a room, and called me when he was ready to go home.

With Sake, they have been wonderful. They did not keep her after surgery, because of her attitude.

Sake stopped eating Sunday night, and did not eat Monday.  So, when she did not eat Tuesday morning, I called for an appointment Tuesday morning and arranged for one Tuesday afternoon.  I took Sake in, and we checked in, and the vet tech told me to go to exam 1.  She asked me if I wanted her or the vet to give the injection, and I said it was fine if she did it. She also asked the vet, who agreed Natalie could give the injection.  We opened the crate and Natalie injected Sake before she knew what was happening!  She did not even get off a decent growl!

And because we are a frequent flyer, we do not pay for an office visit, unless something else has to be done.  I truly appreciate that.

The last time I took Sake in for an injection, it was March 28, 2015.  Before that, it had only been two weeks.  This time it was a little over 3 weeks. On the 28th, they changed to a different steroid, and that seemed to help.

So we used that steroid, again.  And, unlike the most recent past, Sake started eating last night. Not much, but she has free access to food all day, and can eat a little at a time. I suspect that is what she did during the day today, although she ate a little at breakfast time.  She ate a little at dinner tonight, and was just eating again.  So this is good. 

When this problem started in 2013, she would usually respond to an injection within 12-24 hours, but as time has progressed, sometimes it took her 2-3 days to do more than just lick at food. So, maybe this different steroid will help.

I hope.  I just hate that she feels poorly.
 

Cat Chronicles

Saturday was not a good day for my cats. 

To start with, Sake did not eat breakfast.  She ate Thursday morning, but not Thursday night or Friday.  We went to the vet on March 13, and although she did improve after that injection, it was not a great improvement. If she does not improve well, we usually have to return to the vet sooner than later.

I do not call the vet the first day she does not eat, because sometimes, she does start eating again. But, Saturday morning, she did not eat, and she cried and she cried and she cried.  I finally said "I will call the vet right now."  Sake stopped crying, and went to lay on the sofa.  The vet's office staff told me to come in about a half hour after I called, and when I put Sake in the crate, she did not object or complain. 

Sake cried on her way to the vet. When I got there, there were many patients waiting, including a bleeding dog, that they took as soon as they had an exam room open. That was the right thing to do.

When it was Sake's turn, we went to the exam room and took the top off the crate.  Natalie came in, and said the tech who talked to me on the phone did not understand who we were dealing with: he wanted to keep Sake overnight, and asked about extracting her teeth!  He knew the right things to do, but he did not know Sake's history.

When the vet and tech came into the exam room again, Sake obliged us with not one, but 3 hisses, so they could see her mouth.  She let Natalie grab her neck, and we covered her with a towel.  The vet petted her flank, and she did not scratch or scrub with her hind legs. She got her shot, and did not growl or hiss when we put the carrier cover on.

She came home, got out of the crate, and walked around the house, and let me pet her. She did not hide. 

She ate well Sunday, but did not eat so good today.  We shall have to see.

So, being so preoccupied with Sake on Saturday morning, I did not realize the Taki was absent. Until after I got home from the vet.

Well, Friday night, I slept on the sofa, with the recliner up.  So, when I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning, I did not think about Taki.  I know, that is bad. 

So, I fed cats Saturday morning, and mostly focused on Sake's distress.  And, when she laid on the sofa, and I sat next to her, I felt claws on my ankles, but when I glanced down, there was no kitty around.

So, when I got home from the vet, and reconciled Sake, I realized I had not seen Taki.  I hope that does not make me a bad cat mother, but it is what it is.

I opened the sofa recliners, and sure enough, Taki was under the sofa.  She came out, then sat there and looked and went back under the sofa.  She came out again, so I got the flashlight and yardstick out, to get out whatever was under there: It was a green rubber ball and a red ping pong ball.  Hmmmm.

I hate that this happens to Taki. She did not appear distressed. I have learned that if she is in distress, she will cry.  But she rarely does.  She just waits.  She is very patient.

Haiku did not have a bad Saturday.  Except she wants to be on my office chair, and I want to use it when I am at the computer.  Saturday was a busy day for me, and I did not even get on the computer until late in the day.  Haiku had the office chair for herself for most of the day!

Sake

I hate to write something, because every time I do, I have to eat my words, but I am going to risk it.  Since her last injection, Sake has done very well.  She does not eat large amounts of food at one time, but she is eating.  And not just the ground food.  She eats canned food, and occasional treats or dry food.

And, she is more social with the other cats.  She also eats with them, including when I am feeding treats.  So she is not feeling as vulnerable.  She also is asking for attention not just when I am at the table where her food is. 

It has been 4 weeks since her last injection.  I think I will call the vet next week and just ask if she should go in anyway, or if I should wait until she becomes more symptomatic again.  I am very encouraged about how she is doing.

Another Trip to the Vet for Sake

So, I brought Sake to the vet today:  she never started eating well since her last injection, but she ate.  Until Sunday.  She woke me up early, wanted breakfast, but no matter how many options I tried Sunday, she did not eat.

She was not happy about going to the vet.  We did get her to hiss so the vet could look at her mouth. They gave her two injections:  an increased amount of corticosteroid, and a Vitamin B12 injection.  She did not even react to the first injection, but she protested when the vet tried to find a muscle for the second injection.  Eventually, she was restrained and the injection was given.  She did not react to the second injection.

She was very upset today. But, I know she is already feeling better.  She moved into the living room for a while tonight.   In the past, she has liked laying on the afghans I have on the sofa. However, most recently, her world has been restricted to the garage, the kitchen and the dining room.  Oh, she goes to other parts of the house, but briefly and restlessly. Tonight she spent some time just laying on the afghan that was draped from the sofa onto the floor.  That is a good sign.

A Trip to the Vet

The last time I waited until Sake had totally stopped eating until I took her to the vet, she had lost weight, from 8.2 lbs, which has been her illness base weight (she used to weigh 13 lbs) to 6.5 lbs.  I had waited too long to get her into the vet.

So, when I took her in 10 days later because she was still eating poorly, her weight had rebounded to 8.2 lbs.  They gave her an antibiotic and B12 shot, but the change in her appetite was minimal, and she started hissing and growling at the other cats, especially Taki. 

At first, Taki took it as a game, and chased after Sake.  I chided Taki. That helped some, but sometimes, Taki still wants to play chase. Recently, although she does not feel well, I have also chided Sake for her ill manners.

So, I called the vet, and they agreed that although Sake was eating some, since it had been 4 weeks, it was time to get her in for a steroid shot.  We went this morning.

Sake went into the crate without a problem. She did not want to get out of the crate at the vet's office, so I just took off the top.  The tech came in to take her temperature, and I told her not to do that.  She realized why (this tech had not worked with Sake before, but knew of her.)  However, Sake let Tonya, the tech, pet her.  This is very unusual. Was Sake that sick, or did she sense something in Tonya, I do not know.

So, when Dr. Lee came, she, too, was able to pet Sake.  She came back with the steroid injection and while Sake became upset when the vet was trying to find a spot to inject her, she did not explode. 

We put the top back on the crate, and Tonya reached in to pet Sake.  That was okay for a split second. Then, she slapped Tonya. But, while she was being ugly, she was purring. 

The vet told me they have started doing laser treatment for stomatitis, which is what Sake has.  They have tried it on two patients.  It was effective for one, but not the other.  With those kinds of odds, and Sake's attitude, the vet said she is not a candidate for laser treatment at this time.   I agree. 

However, if over time, there is strong evidence that laser treatment is helpful, it might be worth sedating Sake to do the treatment.  But that is not even a bridge that is on the horizon.

I told the vet and the tech that Sake no longer runs and hides when we get home from the vet, she lets me pet and console her. So, there are some positive changes in her ugly behavior.

Sake was more active and alert tonight.  I could not tell that she ate anything, but with three cats and so many selections available, it is difficult to monitor. I could limit the selections, but it would still be difficult to monitor when I am not home, so I rather they have the selections

Am I Being Played?

That Sake is ill with a mouth infection is well documented.  The Monday before Labor Day I took her into the vet because she seemed to just barely eat over the weekend, although it did not feel like her weight was down (it was not.)  She objected strongly to being crated for the trip to the vet, and when she said "aaah" (hissed), the vet said her mouth did not look as bad as it had. 

Since then, her eating habits have not varied much:   She eats a little at meal time.  When I am not home during the day, I do not know what she does, but she does not show up at meal time as if she is very hungry, sniff the food, and leave. She may or may not show up at meal time.  Because she prefers her food fresh, I wait until she shows up to put it out, and she usually eats something, even if it is a small amount of something.

She has been getting chicken, and eating at it  She has stopped eating beef liver, but continues to get chicken liver, which she eats at.  Haiku likes chicken liver, too.  I discovered Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Liver, http://www.fancyfeast.com/gourmet-cat-products/ and the cheddar meals.  She really goes for the Gravy Lovers Chicken and Liver.  Which makes sense, since I am giving her chicken and chicken liver. I add the cheddar meal for variety.  Sometimes she chows down. Sometimes, no.  But I know Taki and Haiku have started invading her space on the dining table and sharing in her foods.

Sake has been grooming more.  She also has been more active, chasing around the house, asking to sit in the garage.  She hisses at Taki when Taki tries to invade her space while Sake is eating (when she was really sick, she just walked away.)  She is also asking to eat on the kitchen floor with the other cats, and not away from them, as she had before.  And, if she is interrupted while she is eating, she is not easily frightened off, as she had been for a while.

She is still matted, and not as fluffy and chunky as she had once been.  But, I think she is doing better. We will be going on 4 weeks since we have been to the vet. This is good. But in the past, her eating as turned off, as if a switch was thrown, which could happen any time.

But, she is doing better.  She woke me at 5:30 this morning, so I fed all the cats before I went back to sleep.  At about 7:30, everybody wanted treats again, and they got them.  About noon, I sat down to eat lunch. Sake joined me on the dining table, checked out what I had, did not want what she had, but after I finished lunch, she ate.  She did the same thing at dinner time tonight. (She does not usually get to sample what I have.  Haiku will eat right off my plate, even if it is inappropriate for a cat (too spicy), but Sake does not.) So, I am not sure this delaying action is all about. Today, I fed Sake 5 times. She ate some every time. And during the week, when I am at work, most of the chicken and chicken livers have been disappearing, along with some of the canned food she likes.  

I hope she is better. 

Taki's Trip to the Ark

The veterinarian I use is Sonja Lee, DVM, and her associates at The Ark Animal Hospital http://www.arkhospitalforpets.com/ in Lubbock.  If I have not told you the story about why I use them, I will, some other time.

But, today, I had to take Taki in for her yearly vaccines.  Since Sake has been going in so frequently for her mouth infection, the vet tech asked me about her first.  I told her she had not eaten during the week well, but her eating had improved over the weekend.  So, then we put Taki in an exam room.

Well, this adventure did not start well.  Taki is super sensitive about any changes in the aspect of the cat carriers, so I decided not to move them before I tried to load her into one for the trip to the vet.  That was a mistake.  She overpowered me and ran away, but into the computer room, where I could contain her, and capture her, and take her back to the crate. But, before I did so, I changed the aspect of the crate so it was still not really visible, but I could get her into it. Or so I thought.  The second attempt was not much better than the first.

I decided I could not disguise my attempts to put Taki in the crate, so I put it on the bed. Take had fled to the spare bedroom, but because Sake was under the bed, staking her territory (God bless her) Taki had little place to hide that I could not access.  I got her into the crate.  She cried  and complained all the way to the vet's office. She became surprisingly quiet at the vet's office.

When we got into an exam room, she did not want to come out of the crate, but after the vet tech left the room, I was able to remove her from the crate (They were okay with taking the top off the crate, no exam, and just vaccinating her.) Unlike Sake, Taki is not vicious about her visits to the vet. She is just scared, and I can manipulate her to behave enough so they can examine her before they give her the yearly vaccinations.

And, so they did give her a precursory exam. She did some hissing, and when the second injection was done, she growled and howled.  We let her get into the crate, and that was that.

When we got home, and I let her out of the crate, she let me console her.  And, when I got home from work tonight, she was at the garage door, waiting for me.  No longer angry or upset.

I hate that the cats are so upset by going to the vet. But the folks at The Ark Animal Hospital do everything they can to accommodate my wayward pets. For which I am grateful.