Happy Cat Family

Hi, Bugsy here!

Our rabies shot expired (Lucky's and mine), and meowmy is going out of town soon, so she decided to take us to the V-E-T... The reason? A nice lady is coming by to take care of us and give me my medicine, and meowmy is afraid of me biting her and being thrown into kitty jail! Silly thought! I kept reminding her that I am a laid back Ragdoll..... a raaaggddooolll, but apparently she didn't care much, she took us regardless. I couldn't believe it!
Anyway, off to the V-E-T we went! We got our vaccines and exam by the nice lady vet. Then uncle Jim checked out my mouth to see how my Stomatitis is doing, and to see if I need another treatment or just the daily meds, and he also checked Sissy Lucky to see her improvement with the procedure she had.
Uncle Jim said I am doing really well, and I do not need another treatment YEY!!! I just need to keep taking my meds every day, and I will be just fine! Meowmy and I are so happy! No anesthesia, no needles... No pain! My mouth is great! Sissy Lucky's mouth is also doing really well! 
I also lost almost one lb!!! Another good news! I went from 20lbs to 19.14lbs. The vet and Uncle Jim were very happy about that! Keep in mind folks, I am a Ragdoll, so I am very big, but I do have some junk in my trunk I need to lose :). Uncle Jim said he wants me to lose another 3lbs then go from there (I think he is out of his mind!)! Meowmy thinks I lost weight because I am eating more stinky goodness and less dry food - I love Hope's Stinky goodness so I just go for it! Meowmy says it is good for me anyways because of the moisture and all... Thanks goodness meowmy got a job, that stinky goodness is expeeeeensive!
After the consult both Lucky and I got our butts shaved! Sissy Lucky pooped herself so stressed she was… poor baby so embarrassing! I got mine shaved because I have a furry bum, IBD, and a big belly – those three things do not go together folks!
So everything was good at the V-E-T… The only thing meowmy didn’t like was that they didn’t have purevax vaccines, and she tried really hard to get them to get it… She will make sure to do that next year, although we did get the 3yr rabies vaccine, so at least we don’t need to worry about that for a long while now!
So folks, it’s all good on our neighborhood here! Happy Sunday!

This past week has been very difficult for meowmy...
Sissy Lucky stopped eating, and then meowmy found a mass on Bugsy's belly. ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Being unemployed, and barely having anything in her wallet for food and bills for the next couple of weeks, this was no piece of cake for her... Meowmy was very very sad, and didn't know what to do... She spent a lot of time on bed, didn't really wake up, for anything, just to give us food and change our litter box... We sure did give her lots of purrs and headbutts, but we never seen her so sad...
She does have a credit on Bugsy's Dentist office, which is also an animal hospital, and had to make a very difficult decision - to cheat on Bugsy's dental stomatitis treatment (Bugsy won't need this credit for a couple/few months), and decide if these things they are going through right now are indeed an emergency "worthy" of touching that $$$.
They do have insurance, so that money would go towards paying the deductible and some of the bill, and would be replaced ASAP, when the insurance check was received...
Anyways, The vet was only available on Saturday, but the vet tech, who is VERY good, told me to bring them both in to look at them, he would help me to make a decision.
First Lucky - She has a cross bite, and basically her bottom teeth are punching holes through her top gum. So she stopped eating because it was too painful to do so... poor baby! What they will do is they will file/sand and cauterize off the excess gum on the top of her mouth, so that there is enough space to close her mouth without her teeth punching holes on her gum. Her surgery is scheduled for the 23rd... Meowmy is super worried, as she only eats dry food, and she will need to eat stinky goodness for about a week... She hates it! Meowmy is worried about her not eating... Right now she is on Pain medication 2x/day so that she can eat comfortably. 
Lucky's surgery is not going to be covered by Insurance, as it is a dental procedure, and Insurance does not cover dental...

Anyways... Now the really worrisome news...

Bugsy has a tumor. It is not an abscess, it is a tumor... He said it needs to come out, as it is attached to the muscle, and it has a very nonuniform shape; it has a lot of edges, and it is under the skin, not on the skin. So, he is schedule to have surgery on the 22nd. Meowmy is freaking out to no end.
WHY????? WHY this has to happen to our boy? Our poor sweet boy, sooo sweet, the sweetest of the kitties...
He told meowmy to not freak out, that the doctor will make a small incision, and when he takes it out, he will decide by the shape of it if it needs to go to biopsy of not. We do think we would feel better if it goes to the biopsy regardless... We would not like to wonder about something like that... 
We just hope, pray and hope it is not the "C-word"... We don't know what we would do...
It is on his belly, close to his chest, about an inch in size. We do notice that he doesn't like when we touch it... Which is kind of strange to us... 
So, yes... in the end they did end up being emergencies, and Bugsy still needs to carry on his stomatitis treatment, of course... That is a lot of bills, but most of all, a lot of worries for meowmy... We just want my babies healthy... We just want next week to come, and go, and never to come back again... 
Please , please send vibes and prayers to our babies, our boy and girl... they are what keep meowmy going every morning... They are all meowmy's family here in the US... They are furry, but are her kids... 


Pee Ess: Thank you so much ML and KC for coming to our rescue... You have no idea how much that means to us...

Good Friday Everybody! Bugsy Here!
All is well here in Happy Cat Family Paradise! Hope continues to get better every day, eating more and more each meal... She is still addicted to that Fortiflora thing, and meowmy is concerned about weaning her out of it in a couple of days... Oh Boy... That little girl trained meowmy well... For Some reason humans like to think they are the smart ones... yeah, right!
By the way, did you guys notice I now have a yellow beard??? Yep, before meowmy bought our Klaw Kontrol bag, let's just say she just had a very bad aim... Well, it is not all her fault really, she says I am a very BIG and STRONG boy! Anyways, as you can see, say good bye to my majestic, sparkly white mane, and say hello to my funky yellow Hollywood-style beard!
Well, I'll have this look for a little while - meowmy is trying to figure out a way to get rid of the stain... Do you guys know a way to remove tough stains from white hair? Meowmy already tried ACV and Rubbing Alcohol (the vet told meowmy about the alcohol), but neither really worked... Meowmy is looking for a really good shampoo, if you guys know of something, drop her a note!

Oh, one more thing! We found this really funny kitty, who likes to make a perch out of his meowmy's head! Can you believe it? Funny kitty!

Meowmy betrayed me so badly, I am having a very hard time soulseaching for forgiveness!
First she served me a last meal and locked me at the room at night with no food and no water for a looooooooong time you guys!
Then in the morning, when I was SO hungry, she overdid herself in the betrayal department:
She shook a bag of treats, and instead of giving some, locked me up in the carried and took me to the VET!
And this was not the regular vet.... They put me in the gas thing, gave me injections, put a tube in my throat...
I am telling you... this is the ultimate betrayal... Be aware of the bag of treats you guys - they are not always what they seem to be!

Hi, Mom, here!
I am so sorry, sweetheart!
Mommy loves you so much, and yes, I feel very very bad for doing this to you, but you HAD to go to the doctor... It is the only way to get better... You got to trust mommy, ok?

Alright folks- here is the update:

I had the BEST of news today!!!!!!
Bugsy responded amazingly well to his treatment, AND DOES not need extractions (at the moment, anyways!)

His gums went from a horrible Stomatitis level, to a border line Stomatitis/bad Gingivitis!!! Don't take me wrong, he DOES have stomatitis, and will have it for the rest of his life, but the inflammation is WAY, WAY down.... The goal of this treatment is to put him in remission - there is no cure for stomatitis as of yet... But this is a revolutionary and unique treatment that seeks to put him in remission for life, or while in treatment... It has great success.

There are no lesions around his throat, no lesions on the roof of his mouth, and the outside of one side of his mouth is already PINK!

He just needs to take his meds once a day as we have been doing, and we will be going for a follow up visit in three months!
I am IN SHOCK! This is THE BEST thing EVER!!!!!!! No surgery for him... No pain killers... He is already eating.... His Resorptive lesions do not have nerves exposed, so he does not needs to have extractions right now It is ALL fantastic news!!!!!

Here are the pictures of his way better mouth!

I am a 1000% believer in this treatment!
I got there blind, with my heart on my throat, expecting the worst... Then They handed me the camera, and the doctor came down to tell me all the good news... I could not believe it! He went from a Stomatitis level 2.3, to a level 1! Level ONE!!!!!!
So today he didn't even need the steroid shots they first gave him (local, inside the lesions) the healing was so good, they could forgo that! , or desensitizing treatments for his resorptive lesions, as the nerves are not exposed (finally could take a good look at that)- All they had to do was some extra cleaning, as they were able to do it deeper this time due to less inflammation !!!
And he is as good as new!!! I could not believe when I saw the pictures...
I was assured by his dentist today that his level of pain is minimal now
While before it was awful!
I can not tell you how happy I am today... Just a BIG HUGE relief! HUGE!

Lucky will be helping me reviewing the Klaw Kontrol Bag today, as I had already used it on Bugsy in the morning, and wanted to use in a second subject to make sure it worked as well on her as it did on him.
*** Of course, the cat is dot included! ***
Ok, seriously now... This bag is AWESOME if you have a cat difficult to administer medicine to, and you need to do it on a regular basis, which is my case. I can not stress how AWESOME it is.... Absolutely AWESOME.
For those  who don't know, Bugsy is an 18lb Ragdoll, who is very hard to give meds to... and I mean... very hard... When I found out that I was going to need to give him meds 2x a day for 14 days, and then once a day for life, I went into a depression. Seriously.
On the first day home I had to take him back to the doctor to give him the meds, as I couldn't do it... He is not mean, doesn't bite, but he is extremely strong, and will not let you give it to him. He has got a will.
So, when I saw this bag online, I thought it just might be my salvation.... boy, was I right or what???
The bag is made of nylon, and has one top zipper, two side vents, two from side zippers for the front paws, an adjustable collar, and a bottom-back zipper, that allows you to pull the tail, and access to the butt for temperature taking.
To put the cat in the bag is not hard at all - you just open the top zipper, put the cat in, close the collar first, then pull the zipper closed.
By the third time I used, Bugsy already knew what to do - once I laid the bag open on the floor, he would just lay on the top of it, perfectly in place, and I would close it.

To give meds, you would leave both paws inside of the bag (I forgot one paw out in the picture, sorry), so your hands would be completely free - one to hold the head, and the other to give the medicine, in my case with a syringe. I do it sitting on the floor, with him on my lap, facing the other way (he is facing the same way I am facing).
OMG OMG OMG - This has been a Life saver! I can not tell how much easier this bag has made both of our lives! It is SO much quicker, easier, less messier, less traumatizing to give him his meds that it took a huge strain out of our relationship. In turn, he is a lot less stressed out, and hanging around much more.

When cutting nails, all you need to do is pull a paw at a time through the respective zipper, and go for it!
Kitty might complain and try to get off, but will not be able to do so... You can then do it very quickly.

The bag on the picture looks big on Lucky, because it is big for her. This one is the XL, for Bugsy, who is 18lbs. I do however feel I can use it on her without a problem; for Hope on the other hand, it would definitely be too big.

At first I thought the bag ran a little on the smaller size, but now, I don't know if it is because I am getting better at putting it on, or if it gives it a little, but it is fitting better on Bugsy.... On the first day it was tight tight. It says it fits a 25lb pet, but I am not sure if it does. This is the only reservation I have.

Another thing: It is made of Nylon, not Iron, so the one or two claw do go through sometimes... No biggie... I see no damage to the bag so far...

All and all, I can not recommend this enough if you have a cat, and you need to give medication on a regular basis... I can not imagine the world of a difference this bag must make if you nave to give SubQ fluids for example... It is truly a great item. I am not sure how long it will last yet, but so far it has proven itself well worth it! For paws up up up!
The bag comes in Small (5-10lbs), Large (10-15lbs) and X-Large (15-25lbs)

Woohoo!! We Survived the first two weeks!!!

And why is that such a big deal, you might ask? Well, because for the first 2 weeks meowmy had to give Bugsy his meds 2x/day, and he is an 18lb big and strong kitty!
Because of this meds routine he was getting so traumatized of meowmy ... He couldn't even see her, and he would just run under the bed... so sad! It felt as though she only got him to give him meds... It was becoming a very sad relationship; She is SO relieved that is over now! Now he will only take his meds once a day, and that sounds SO GREAT! We are all very excited!!!!!!!!

Aside from that, he is doing great! No longer on pain medication, eating normally, and we think his teeth are already much better. We am sure he is in some pain, as he still has to deal with his resorptive lesions (curretly treated/desensitized) and with his stomatitis, but he is handling well, and to avoid the side effects, meowmy made the executive decision to stop the pain meds.
Before the treatment, he had a hard time eating wet food - it would bother his gums getting stuck in it, and he would have these bruxism episodes, trying to clean his teeth, and then just give up after eating a couple of bites.
I am glad to report that he is eating his dry food normally, but he no longer shows this problem with the wet food (bruxism trying to clean his teeth), which makes us believe his teeth are not bothering him as much We are feeding him now more wet food, finally!
The medicine he is taking also addresses his IBD, so since he started, his poop has been wwwwaaaaaaaayyyyyyy better too! Yuppie!!! Yey!
The only thing he needs more is more energy - we are sure it has to do with the pain... We hope the better he feels, the more active he will be
We will go beck on the 16th for a follow up, then in another 2 months...
We hope we can have at least his resorptive lesions extracted on the 16th - we will see, it will depend on his progress...
For now he is doing amazingly well!
Vibes for my baby!!!

Today was day four, and Bugsy is doing much better!
We were having a hard time taking his meds, but I was told he should get used to it with time. For the first two weeks he is on a medication 2x a day, plus pain medication for a few days.
After that he will be on medication once a day for life.
Because I had a lot of trouble giving him the meds in the first morning after the procedure, I called the vet told me to bring him in... They are soooooooo nice in there! I read once about them (from another patient, in a forum) "once you walk through those doors you are family", and that is the truth.
They taught me a technique to give him the meds, or what to mix it with to make it appealing (canned pink Alaskan salmon)...
As I was leaving, he said: Carolina - I don't want you to worry about a thing... You won't spend another dollar here... Anything you need for him, you got it. Monthly meds, all his treatments, boarding, surgery... I can make him feel better - you worry about getting a job and your life, and we take care of Bugsy... we know he is your baby, and we will take care of him for you..................
Now, how NICE is that????
I just couldn't believe it... I hope we can do the Teeth removal before the 6 months they initially predicted... We will see... For now he has a 1-month appointment, then a 3-month appointment. Depending on how he is then, the surgery for the extraction will be scheduled.
I am just soooo happy that he is on his way to a better life...
I also feel so fortunate that I found such wonderful and caring group of people. Not only these are fantastic doctors, but they really do care more about the animals then the money... I am so lucky...
I can totally say that I have a very deep respect, admiration and gratitude to both my vet and my dentist to the care they have for my babies!
The medicine is quite messy, Bugsy is becoming a colorpoint cat, instead of white! But hey, if that is the worst thing, we deal with it, right?
He is also a bit down, and I think it is because of what he has been through... He is hiding a little more, and keeping a certain distance from me :(... For example: He will sleep on my bed, but not right by my face... On the first night he didn't even come on the bed.
I just don't want him to associate me with painful stuff and meds - I want him to associate me with feeling better! I hope he knows meowmy loves him...
I think his behavior has to do a lot with the depo-medrol shot too; even though it was a local depo shot, I think it still affected his behavior... It has an awful effect on his mood, the poor thing :(
Anyway, I am just elated that he is being treated now, NO MATTER WHAT, and that he in wonderful WONDERFUL, kind and skillful hands... God, those people are AMAZING!
If anybody needs a vet dentist in the Dallas area, I can not recommend them enough.

I thought he had Immune Mediated Gingivitis... What he has is actually quite worst - Lymphocytic Plasmacytic Stomatits. It affects his whole mouth and throat... It is also quite advanced - on a 0 to 3 scale, he scored 2.3.
Not only that, but he also had several root exposures, Resorptive lesions, and Periodontal Disease Stage 4.
He will need multiple dental extractions once his gingival tissues heals. They couldn't do now as it would be too painful for him to bear.
He was given local shots of an antibiotic (Perimino TAA) and depo-medrol, as well as had a dental cleaning, polishing, and desensitization, as well as Ora5 Chemical periodontal disease treatment. His meds contains antibiotics.
He will need to go back in 30 days, then in 3 months - depending on how he is, plans will be made to extract his teeth. They think he will need at least 6 months of daily treatment before his gums are ok to withstand surgery/dental removal - for now they are so inflamed that the healing would be extremely painful.
The good news is that they said I should start seeing a difference on him in about a week or so!
As far as the anesthesia, he did great, and came right back up when it was over... They didn't give him too much though, as they noticed right away his gums were way too inflamed to deal with surgery.
He is up right now, and there has been no hissing here...
He didn't want to eat wet food - went straight to his dry food... go figure ... Thank goodness his dry food is super soft and it melts away very easily!
I will keep you all posted - I think this will be interesting, since it is such a new treatment!

My heart is on my throat... I left my baby at the dentist today for his dental surgery... He will be back at 3:30 - 4pm...
I am so worried about my baby... please please send me all the vibes you can possibly send his way .
After today he will be put on medicine for life - once a day/ proprietary blend/cocktail, (already available pharmaceutical meds). I trust them - people come from all over the US to get their cats treated with them.
As far as the dental, they use Isoflurane and gas for anesthesia, and also pre-IV for fluids and full vital monitoring... They also do a pre-op blood test; so as far as safety, I feel I got all basis covered...

I just feel like I betrayed his trust by taking him there first thing in the morning and putting him through so much pain... My baby boy...
Please please send him vibes...
Today is also his Gotcha day :)

I got the FULL money to pay for Bugsy's gingivitis treatment on my job hunting trip to Las Vegas!!!!
Not only the trip was AMAZING on the professional standpoint, with quite a few opportunities, and a couple that are looking REALLY good, but I brought the $$$ to pay for my boy's treatment, and he is already scheduled to go in on Monday!!
Here is briefly what happened, as I haven't slept for the last 72 hours, and my brain is not working to tell in details...
Long story so bear with me - it is AWESOME!!
A long time customer of mine, from a large account (from when I was in the business) took me to dinner with his group and the sales reps, and after that they decided to make me company, as I needed to hang out awake until 4am to leave to the airport (had checked out of the hotel room I was sharing with a friend, and had no room to go back to).
Because it is Vegas, these guys started to give me shots of tequila and lemon drop - lots of people were there, and the alcohol was running loose and fast, and I was afraid of getting sick on the plane, so I told them we should walk around the casino for a while and drink some water to detox...
James, my customer, wanted to play the slots machine, and I told him how bad I felt to watch throw that $$$ away as my kitty was home in need of surgery, and I didn't have the means to pay, or a job to save from... He started to ask about what kind of surgery, how soon did he need it, and we started a conversation about Bugsy. He also asked me how much I needed - I said $350, as it is going to cost me $400,but I already got $50.00 in donations through my site and a friend. Then he made a bet with me - He said:
Carolina - I am going to put $100 in this machine (quarters machine); you keep pushing the button... if by the time we get to $50 it hasn't paid anything, we walk.... But if I win anymore than $400, I will give you the $350 you need.
At that EXACT moment the machine started flashing "Call the attendant" - he had won $1,350!!!!
Right there and then he gave me $350,00 and we were both SO HAPPY!!!!
I was THE HAPPIEST PERSON IN THAT CASINO!
Now, you tell me, what are the odds of that happening????
He then asked me if we could celebrate, and about 6-7 of us drank and danced the night away until 4am - and I did NOT get sick!

***James - YOU ARE THE BEST EVER!!! THANKS FOR SAVING MY BABY'S LIFE! - I WILL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL!***

I got back in Dallas and I already called the dentist, spoke to the manager and she kept her deal of 1/2 price
Bugsy is scheduled for Monday 9:30am.
I am in meowmy's cloud heaven!!!!
All the vibes are appreciated for my little boy's procedure and treatment - I will keep you guys posted, as I know there are others here with cats with gingivitis, and his treatment will not involve a dental removal (new treatment in trial with the FDA).
Vibes please!!!!
Oh, the job hunting was phenomenal and I do think I will get a job out of that trip - not only that, but an excellent one, but that is a whole other post, and I am super pooped right now!
***I would also like to thank from the bottom of my heart for the donations made through paypal right here on the site:
JP Quirke
N. Brown
S. Frowling
All of you made this possible, and I will be forever grateful.......