Happy Cat Family

Hello Furriends, Gracie Here!
Had a pretty stressful day today... Imagine my surprise when the morning started to go by and there was no food for me! Everybody got fed but me! Then it happened - meowmy's lunch break was doing you know what! yep - taking me to the V-E-T! It was a quick in-and-out trip though; they just had to steal my blood for another thyroid test. Thing is, they had to give me that zoom-zoom gas so I would sleep (I am fierce), so I got really sick on the trip back home... I was drooling all over the place, feeling really nauseous, and to top it off, I pooped myself! Thank goodness the V-E-T is close by because being stuck in the carrier in a pool of drool and covered in poop, dizzy from all that gas is no fun at all! I got home and ate some food but it took me a little while to get better... I am all good now - not to worry!
Results should be in soon - I will keep you all posted. Hopefully soon enough we are going to have my medication dose straighten out.
By the way furriends, we are only two days away from the photo contest! Have you gone through your compooter and chosen a good picture to submit yet? Make sure to choose a good one! This is going to be fun fun fun! We can't wait to see all the pictures!
Meowmy will not be posting the pictures until the contest dates by the way, until then they will be saved in meowmy's compooter.
Here are the rules again:
Contest Rules:
Love is in the air... Send us a photo of what you love the most: It can be of your favorite hooman, your favorite fur-sibling, an activity you love, your favorite thing to eat, your favorite place to sleep, your favorite toy, etc.

• For a donation of $5.00 per photo your name will be put into a drawing. The winner will receive a personalized gift $20.00 for your pet!! (Prize donated by Gracie and paw picked out by KC)
• Make donation through the pay pal button. Put the name of your pet and your blog link.
• Send photo, no smaller than 1000 pixels in jpg to carolina (@) happycatfamily . net
• It would be great if you could tell us what you love when you send us the picture, so we can use it as a caption! Oh, and don't forget to send us a link for your Bloggie with it as well!
  
• You can enter as many times as you want but each photo must have a $5.00 donation.
• Contest Begins at February 13th 11:59pm, and ends February 20th at midnight.
  
• Winner will be announced on February 23th
• Good Luck!!
  

Hello Friends, meowmy here!
We are very excited to announce The Happy Cat Family Fun-Raising Valentine's Day Photo Contest, coming up February 14th!!! The contest launches our fund raising event to help with the vet bills for Gracie and Bugsy. We hope you participate, we are super excited about it!
To participate you can either click here, on the picture above, or on the badge in the sidebar. You can also click on the "Photo Contest" Tab on our header :) Details of all we have been going through is below.
Mark your Calendars, and Good Luck!!
Pee Ess: It would be super fantastic if you could share this with your friends by simply clicking the "Like" Facebook button underneath this post, or the Tweeter

Bugsy's problems started on October 10th, 2010, when he had a bad UTI and was given a 7-day course of Clavamox. At the moment he started on Clavamox, he started having Diarrhea... We have been fighting it now for 120 days. In these four months we had numerous vet visits, tests, specialized blood tests, several different medicine courses and an emergency visit. Bugsy is now on the last attempt with medications before being referred to a specialist. As you saw on the last post, DiaGel seems to work, but we don't know for certain - after 4 months, being off of it for one day is just too soon to tell. His liver has suffered from all the meds, and now this might be another battle we have to fight. He was also taken off of his stomatitis treatment, and if that affects his liver we might face surgery, complete teethe removal in the future.
Gracie is 12 yrs old and has Hyperthyroid. On Dec. 31, she stopped eating, showing signs of pain in her mouth.  She was taken to the dentist immediately where they found out the problem: the tooth was cracked and so diseased that had created a fistula - a hole in between the mouth and the nose. It was also infected. She had a surgery to have the tooth removed, the bone shaved and a small bone implant put in. The hole was left open to drain. She was expected to have a second surgery to close the fistula, but she beat all odds with amazing results from the first surgery and that will no longer be necessary. For a little while, monthly T-4 tests will be needed to adjust her medication.

Hi Furriends, Bugsy here!
You read it right! Today marks 120 days that we are fighting my diarrhea... Can you believe it? 120 days! Whew! That is a lot of soft poop right there! But there are some good news, and I am here to ask you to send some good, special, extra strong purrs my way these next couple of days furriends, because I will need all the vibes I can get!
For the last week my V-E-T has had me take this thing called DiaGel, a natural gel for diarrhea. I was going to start a new steroid treatment last week, but an online furriend of meowmy from The Cat Site told her about DiaGel, and meowmy discussed with the V-E-T. He said it was good for accute diarrhea and he was almost sure it wouldn't work for me, but nonetheless it was worth trying it because if it did work, it would spare me from steroids... DiaGel is usually used in a single dose (and it is very expensive too, $12 a dose!), and sometimes it is used for up to 5 days... The V-E-T decided to do a 7-day course with me, twice a day. Well, lo and behold, it worked! For the last 4-5 days or so, I have had formed poop! Formed poop furriends! Wow!!!
The thing is, my last dose was tonight, and nobody knows what is going to happen... I really need to hold my own without Diagel so I don't need the steroids... Please, please furriends, purr hard for me! Purr really hard for tootsie poopie from now on!
On another note, I am also off of my Stomatitis medication until March when I will have another liver panel to check if my ALT levels have returned to normal. My gums are starting to get bad, so a dental might be in order soon... I don't want that :( After March I will go back into the medication and will run another test after a while to see if that medication affects my liver too - if it does (the V-E-T doubts it, but meowmy wants to be on the safe side), meowmy says she might talk to my dentist about surgery... We will see... I hope not.
Anyways furriends, I will leave you here so you can start purring! Purr for tootsie poopsie! ooommmmm
Thank you furriends,
Bugsy

Hi Furriends, Gracie here!
For those who know me hai! For those who don't, nice to meet you!
I think this is my very first post furriends! Finally I was able to get the compooter from Bugsy's hands! Whew, that was hard!
Did you notice that we have a brand-new header? And did you notice me in that header? Yes, yes!! I am in there! Meowmy said that the order is not by importance by the way, but by order of arrival - Lucky arrived first, then Bugsy, then Hope, then me... so that's why I am last in there.
Also, I even have my very own page if you want to get to know me a little better! It is here: Gracie's Page
I hope to see you around, I promise to steal the compooter a little more often from now on!
Happy Sunday furriends!

Hi Furriends, Bugsy here!
Ok, let me just tell you... Time to defrost the land big guy up there! We are all stuck in the house, there is tons of the wet sticky white stuff outside, the windows have been closed since forever, and we are just over it! Well... I gotta say, it was funny today though - The mailman finally showed up to pick up a package (was waiting for him since toosday!), and as soon as meowmy opened the door, Lucky dashes outside... imagine the shock! She was so confused! All the cold and the sticky white stuff on the floor! Meowmy said that she just stood in there, "frozen" like the weather, with a blank look on her face, as though she was asking what in the World is going on here? Where am I?
There you go Lucky... Good lesson for you to not run away like that you silly girl!
Here is a picture of our courtyard... underneath this fluffy white stuff there is a good 2-3" of solid ice... and that is the problem! The roads around our home are closed and meowmy is running out of hooman food... I just hope she doesn't eat our food! Oh nos!

PeeSS: My health continues the same, meaning, I still have the runs... I will give a better update tomorrow... I am ok besides my poop problem though; I just wanted to take a little break from talking about health issues so much...
Hugs,
Bugsy

Hello Furriends, Gracie here!
Meowmy had an awful migraine today and spent the day on bed, so I offered to cover for her at the office... It was a busy day! It makes it harder not having opposite thumbs, but I was able to answer the phone with the help of the speaker key and my beautiful meow-meows, and most importantly, I kept the seat warm and comfy for her tomorrow.
It's been fun, in fact, I am not really sure I want to give her seat back... I look pretty good in it, don't you think?

Hi Furriends, Bugsy here!
Today is Thankful Thursday, so I wanted to make a special post about my bootiful Coogar - Miss Gracie! I am SO thankful she is here with us! Furriends, I don't know what it is about her... I but I think I am in love... truly, madly, deeply in love with her! I know she is much older than me... But hey, if Ashton and Demi are still going strong after all this time.... why not Bugsy and Gracie? Unfortunately she refuses my advances and hisses and hisses whenever I get close... But you know what they say about opposites attracting... I don't know furriends,but I think all this anger might have a touch of love behind it! What do you think? Should I keep going, or just give up on loving my special cougar? Look how beautiful she has become!

Hello furriends, Hope here!
It is so cold outside, you can't believe it! I think we are not in Texas anymore! I think a wind blew us away just like in the Wizard's movie and took us to the North Pole! My goodness furriends, Brrrrr... Brrrrr... With the wind it feels like 0F outside!
Thank Goodness we have a warm home with lots of blankets and each other to cuddle.... But I feel sorry for all the little furry critters out there, kitties and woofies... Furriends, let's purr and purr extra hard for them these cold days!
Hugs,
Hope~

P.S.: Meowmy wants to say happy birthday to her daddy! Happy purrfday grandpa Roberto!

Hello furriends, Meowmy here!
Friday I took Gracie back to the vet as she was still not eating well and it was concerning me there could be something wrong besides the medication (she had been over-medicated for thyroid)... Gracie would be an impossible cat to force-feed, so I wanted to get an appetite stimulant if all else was ok. By Friday she hadn't eaten well since the Saturday before :(
The vet ran a CBC and the results came back stellar - everything was perfect, not one number off range; GREAT for a 12-13 yr old little lady!
Her vet examined her mouth, which is good, told me to continue to give her temptations hairball treats as a laxative since she was constipated for the last few days, and put her on an appetite stimulant. I also grabbed some cans of Hills A/D.
As soon as we got home she gobbled down some A/D - that food is really great for kitties who are off food... I don't know exactly why, but it beats Fancy Feast by much!! I gave her appetite stimulant for a couple of days just to be on the safe side, but then she became TAZ-Gracie
I had to take her off of it.
For now I am feeding her A/D and Kibbles, and she is eating well. I am also continuing the Temptations Hairball treats.
Not this Wednesday, but the following she will have another T-4 test to check her levels and see if we need to lower her medication even more, or if this is ok for now.
Nothing really new going on with Bugsy... He is still having diarrhea, and yesterday marked 110 days. He was weaned off of Sulfasalazine and did not take any medication Sunday; today, Monday, he starts a new steroid called Budesonide. We are all praying this will be the one that makes a difference! He is doing great aside from the diarrhea though, and for that we are thankful! He is eating well, playing, running around, and not acting sick at all... That is what keeps me going... That is what helps me keep the faith!
I am sorry furriends if all we do is post health updates, but these two kids, especially Bugsy, are going through a long journey towards health; Gracie due to a long time of neglect, and just now having proper care... Bugsy due to a bad digestive tract that was thrown off with Clavamox and for some odd reason he just can't seem to get back on tract.
We will get there for both of them though, I have faith we will!
Thanks for all the purrs, prayers, and good wishes furriends, have a wonderful, Healthy Monday!

Hello Furriends, Hope here!
It's been a long time furriends! With all the health problems with Bugsy and Gracie, sometimes I feel sister Lucky and I are a bit in the background around here... So, today I decided to take over the compooter to give their health updates and also leave you with a picture of me, so you don't forget who I am!
Here are the updates, let's start with Gracie:
Meowmy got the results for the T-4 tests we ran Saturday...
She always thought she was way over-medicated - Her old vet, who we left and never looked back, put her on 3 (THREE!!!!!) Methimazole pills a day; at the time she was just 7lbs!
Because she was steadily gaining weight, which she needed, and doing well, and also because meowmy was pretty kinda broke with all Bugsy's issues and her surgery, she waited until this past weekend to have the test done - of course she had discussed with the new vet waiting and as long as she was eating and doing well, the V-E-T thought it would be ok to wait.
This week however, her appetite started slowing down, which is completely out of the ordinary for her. She went from being a great eater to being finicky even with Fancy feast. When looking at the side effects of Methimazole, one of the first ones is Lack of Appetite - Bingo. Her mouth has been checked, so it is not it. She doesn't have diarrhea... She is not stressed, or lethargic... Her thyroid numbers, below, can shed a light:
T-4 NG/DL Range 0.7 - 2.6 Gracie: 0.3
Free T-4 TMOL/L Range 9.0 - 33.5 Gracie: 3.9
T-4 Overall Range 0.8 - 4.7 Gracie: 0.8
Below, on the back, there was a note that said something along the lines of "Numbers below the range in cats almost always represent over-medication".
The V-E-T called meowmy and told her to immediately lower her medication to 2 pills a day, one in the morning and one at night, and that her appetite should increase in a few days time. Since she is not eating well, we should take her to the V-E-T for an appetite stimulant on Friday too... She will also have her blood stolen for another test in two weeks to see if her medication needs more adjusting.

Now onto Bugsy:
Bugsy felt nauseated last night furriends, I thought he was going to throw up all over the bed! Luckily he didn't, Yuck! The V-E-T called for a follow up and told us with this news and the results of the blood test, it is time to wean him off of the Sulfasalazine. So, from Wednesday through Saturday he will take 1/2 dosage, Sunday he has a day off, and Monday if he still has the runs he starts the new Steroid Treatment.
Then in a couple or few weeks he goes back to the V-E-T for more testing.
Whew! Thank Goodness at least Sister Lucky and I are healthy furriends, I tell ya, if just dictating the updates makes me tired, imagine taking care of those two high maintenance babies! (Meowmy says shosh Hope they are your brother and sister!)
Have a wonderful Thursday Furriends!