Happy Cat Family

Hello furriends, Bugsy here!
Things have been quite interesting lately around the house - first of all, meowmy stole our crunchy food from us - COMPLETELY - GONE! Can you believe it? All of the sudden, one day it was there, and the next it wasn't - no more crunchy goodness for us to mounch at throughout the day! The nerves!
Then she had this crazy thought that we are something called carnivores - or something like that. Means that we eat other animals like the one on TV! NEVER in a million years I would thought that!
Anyways, she is feeding us this thing called "Raw meat" three times a day now. And get this - it is ALL we eat. No treats, no crunchies, no nothing! We are now on day 20 - yep, I am counting!! And so far we had a huge animal called lamb, turkey and rabbit.
Frankly, I love it - particularly the lamb- pretty yummy stuff! In the beginning I was not too convinced, and meowmy was being very careful because of all my tummy problems and all.... But now I know exactly where to go at meal times to watch her kill the prey and make it nice and tasty for us.
One thing is for sure - for 1yr and 2 months I had the runs and was not feeling good at all.... All those vet trips didn't fix me.... I was taking a ton of meds and eating some crunchies that had an "ok" taste at best.... It took only 5 days on this new "Raw" diet, as meowmy calls it, for me to be all fixed up, and my poops are all normal and solid. I feel so good I am running all over the place and tearing the house down!
I am also off all my meds! I am only taking one probiotic and my stomatitis medicine.... That one I need to take....
Now meowmy just needs to convince Lucky to eat the meat - meowmy says she is a die-hard kibble addict, whatever that means - I think, she just feels bad for the other critters....
But we are working on it - she is already eating on a schedule (hehe, didn't see that one coming, did you lucky?!), and she is getting the meat as treats, dusted on halo freeze-dry chicken crumbs, which is her favorite thing in the world! Little by little meowmy is increasing the treats for her :) Hopefully it won't take too long for her to join us at the meat room! She doesn't know what she is missing!
Meowmy said my next step will be to try chicken...... it always gave me the runs.... maybe now that my system is better I will be able to deal with it - I hope so! I think it is yummy!

Pee Ess: Thank you so much for your support with Gracie's running to the bridge.... I was looking for her around the house for a very long time, and couldn't understand where she had gone :(
It's been a month now... We miss her so much... I loved her very very much... Meowmy is doing better, and our hearts are healing, but the house is still very empty. Gracie is very loved, and will be forever in our hearts <3

Hi Furriends, Meowmy here!
At last I have some good news... all around! sounds like this is the beginning of a much deserved break for all of us here, finally!
Let's start with miss Gracie: She made a full recovery from her tooth surgery, and we were since she got here working on getting her on the right level of thyroid medication - she was for a long time off meds, then was way over-medicated. Finally her test last week showed she stabilized right where she needs to be: she is now taking 1/3 of the dosage she was taking when she first got here!
We were doing blood tests every 2-3 weeks, and I am sure glad she doesn't need to go through that anymore, as she had to be put under every time and that is always risky for an old gal like her. Let alone the stress of constant vet visits! But now she is doing great, and that is behind her - ahhhh relief!
Now Lucky: After her blockage she was put on a hairball formula, and is eating like a champ. She is still constipated from time to time, but I am managing it with hairball treats as needed. She is doing very well and happy! I am glad she turned that corner - those were some scary days of not eating and being completely blocked... I am watching her like a hawk!
Now our prince boy Bugsy!
I am sure you all remember the months and months of diarrhea ordeal Bugsy went through. All the meds he was given took a toll on his little body and affected his liver - his ALT level went way up and kept escalating so he had to be completely off drugs, even of his stomatitis treatment. Yesterday we went to the vet for his liver panel, and he checked all clear! All his numbers are good - ALT and enzymes -all good!
He is now back on his stomatitis meds and has a dental scheduled for Monday, as being off meds made his gums suffer and now we need to bring him up to date on that. But he will be a-ok.
He still has soft poop, but not diarrhea, and certainly not explosive liquid diarrhea like he was having before.
His vet examined his belly and said he could feel no gas and he showed no signs of pain - he was not jumpy like he was before during examination. Also, during his diarrhea he was rapidly losing weight, and he has gained some weight back - even though he is overweight, that is a very good sign given the circumstances - a sign that he is absorbing the nutrients better.
So, the vet said for now, no meds - just continue with the probiotics and change his fiber to pumpkin - he read some studies that pumpkin works better than psyllium.
Hope went for her annual/vaccinations and checked in with flying colors. The vet said he could not hear the murmur she was once diagnosed with. He even tried to listen with a pediatric stethoscope. His protocol is to do only the rabies annually and the distemper vaccine once every 3 years - I like that.
So furriends, there you have it - for once I have great news all around! whew! All I want is a healthy 2011!
Now if you can spare a few purrs for Bugsy's dental on Monday, that would be great - I am sure in my heart he is going to be just fine though.... He is my boy,the love of my life!
Thanks for reading and for being there for us!

Hi Furriends, Lucky here to give a healthy update on effurybody in the house!
Let's start with the most impawtant kitty in the group - you guessed it: me! I am doing GREAT! Meowmy fed me with that syringe thing until Sunday night, then she started feeding me some yummy num-nums and I loved it! I am eating all on my own now! I was afraid I was going to get the runs like brother Bugsy because she changed my food just like that, but nah - didn't get it - I guess I was so plugged up and constipated my belly just averaged thing out inside... Purry cool, huh? The only special treatment I am getting is now I have a set time to eat, since Bugsy and Hope can get really sick if they eat my food. Meowmy says she is training me to be fed on a schedule - sounds scary, I know. Now I eat 4 times a day - in a month she wants me to eat only two. T-W-O. She says I better re-learn to snack on my brothers food or else I will just have to wait for meal time! I am going to rebel! Thing is, meowmy travels and auntie Kelly only comes in twice a day so... Oh, yeah I am also getting something that is called Vaseline every other day so I don't plug up again with the hairballs - yuck it is disgusting!
Ok, now onto Gracie, her update is super quick! Gracie is doing great too... Meowmy and the V-E-T are working hard on adjusting her thyroid medicine, and she goes to the doctor to have her blood stolen effury 2-3 weeks to check on her levels and adjust the dose. When she came here, she was WAY over medicated, taking three times as much medicine as she is taking now! She is going back to the V-E-T next Wednesday. She made a full recovery from her tooth problem, but in the last visit her doctor said she will need a dental sometime soon, her teeth are kinda nasty, she probably never had a dental before that poor girl!
Bugsy: Bugsy is doing good, but his poop is "iffy". I tried to make meowmy explain what that means, and here is what she said... "Iffy" means that it is not really diarrhea, but it is not really formed. It got formed after DiaGel, but now it is kinda mushy. Sorry for being gross furriends. Meowmy is not taking him to the V-E-T just yet because she wants to make sure what "side of the wall" he is going to fall on. You see, when he was having diarrhea, it was explosive liquid diarrhea, and it is definitely not like that anymore... We don't know if he is dancing the samba on the top of it and smashing part of it or what is going on... We just want to make sure before starting him on Steroids or taking him to a specialist. All the meds he took affected his liver, so he has a liver panel scheduled for March 25th. Also, because of that, his dentist took him off his stomatitis medication, so his gums are getting worst - he will need a dental as soon as he gets the all clear from his V-E-T, and hopefully at that time he will be able to go back to his treatment (I bet he will not be happy about that). Because of all these things, meowmy wants to be really really sure of what is going on before moving onto any kind of drugs again.
Anyways, although not 100%, things are WAY better around here, and meowmy doesn't seem so freaked out anymore. At least there is no crisis going on at the moment. Let's hope that from now on all continues to get better - meowmy deserves a break! I am doing my part - I promise to tell my brother and sisters to do the same!
Thanks for checking on us furriends!

Hi Furriends, Meowmy Here!
For those who don't know Gracie's story, in summary, we are trying now to adjust her thyroid meds. She came to me on November 1st on what I thought to be a very high dose of Methimazole - 7.5mg 2x a day. She was gaining weight nicely, which she needed, as she was almost skin and bones, and there were very high vet bills with Bugsy and her very unexpected surgery, so I had to wait to take her for a blood T-4 blood test (which her new vet said was ok and safe to wait).
A month/few weeks ago I took her in for a a blood test - sure enough, she was way over medicated... Her new vet immediately lowered her dose to 5mg 2x a day.
Then last Friday I took her in for yet another T-4 test to see how she was adjusting to the new dose. Well, lo and behold, she was still overmedicated. The vet again Lowered her meds to 2.5mg 2x a day.
I am furious with the old vet, that means she was taking at least triple of the dose she was supposed to be taking! At the same time just glad that she is with me and not seen by him anymore. She will have another test in 3 weeks. Aside e from that. our little old lady is doing FANTASTIC!!

Now onto Bugsy:
He continues to have formed poop! After four months of daily diarrhea, many different medications, on their own and combined, LOTs of vet visits, many many tests, a visit to the e-vet, etc, DiaGel, a diarrhea gel recommended by TCS's member Kody's mom (and approved by my vet), finally did it! He was on it a week twice a day, more precisely, 6 1/2 days (we had to stop for 2 1/2 days in the middle to wait for shipping as we froze and there was no shipping to our home). He had a total of 13 doses. 24 hours after the second dose there was a HUGE improvement.
His last dose was five days ago, and so far so good! He does not have solid poop, but it is formed. Warning: I will get graphic now, so if you get grossed out by poop stop here. His poop is rope-shape, but relatively soft. Nothing like diarrhea, but if he steps on it, it will get smashed. If he doesn't it keeps the form. During these four months, the best he ever got was a cow-pile, never formed poop. Whenever we stopped a medication, by the next day he was right back to explosive watery liquid diarrhea. So, this is truly dramatic.
FYI, Bugsy never in his life had solid poop. He always had formed, but soft poop, kind of what he has now. So he is now "at his normal". His stomatitis meds do help a lot with it, but he is out of it until his next liver panel in March, so I can't count with that help now. If his liver numbers are ok then, he will go back on the meds.
In discussing with his vet, all his history, his tests and the fact that he never had solid poop indicate that he might have a very mild form of IBD (which is in line with his other vet's beliefs), but we can control that with Diet, fiber and probiotics like we did in the past, especially since he did not respond to prednizolone.
So, this looooooooong post is to say that........... (unless things change) He is fine and........ finally dismissed of any further treatment until next month when we go in for the liver panel! yey!
Now I will pray things don't change, and that his liver panel comes back normal... He needs to go back into his sotmatitis meds ASAP! For now it is excellent news though!

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

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!

Hi Furriends, Meowmy here -
Gracie went for her post-op check up Saturday and she is doing GREAT! So Great in fact that she won't need a second surgery! She had such fantastic results from her first surgery, and her mouth is doing wonderful - for now that's all she needs! They said it is always a potential problem, and she might need to have a second surgery in the future, but for now she is a-ok!
We also re-tested her T-4 values as we (both I and the new vet) think she is grossly over-medicated - she takes 3 methimazole pills a day! The results are in, but I am waiting for a call from the vet to discuss. I will post as soon as I know.

Bugsy on the other hand... We went for a liver and kidney panel on Friday as Sufasalazine, his current medication, can affect the liver. Well... The results are not too good - he will have to be pulled from the medication this week in a few days. On his previous test his ALT was 165 of a high normal of 132. This time his Alt was 207 with a high normal of 100 (different labs).
His vet wants me to pay very close attention to his appetite and call him Wednesday - until then he will be taking it. All the other enzymes and kidney values are normal. He is stopping on Wednesday/Thusday because that's when we end his food transition... He wants to keep him on it until then.
Next step will be a newer Steroid, called Budesonide. He said it has much less side effects than pred and other more common corticosteroids, and it is very good; not really used as a first choice due to cost; it is very expensive. Oh well... I am just crushed right now... Just crushed...
We will keep checking his liver values often and if it doesn't go down we will do an ultrasound to see what's going on...
Please send my boy some purr and vibes... And if you can send me some too, I would appreciate it... My heart is on the floor right now, I am just so so sad... I have been going through this for 104 days, and it is just killing me... I just don't know where to get strength from to keep the hope up sometimes... Sorry to be a downer... Today was a sad day for me... I just want this to be over and my boy to be ok... :(
Thank you for listening friends!

Yawnnnn.... Hello furriends, Bugsy here!
Thank you for all the gotcha day wishes guys, really appurreciate it! I had a very nice day, meowmy made sure of that! She gave me sooo many extra hugs, squeeeezes and kisses that by the end of the day Lucky and Hope were jealous already! Luckily Gracie didn't see it as she stays in her office, otherwise I would get triple hisses from then on!
Furriends, it is so cold outside! So so cold that meowmy hasn't even opened the windows lately! I know some of you live in the white land where that fluffy wet stuff falls from the sky, but here in Texas this cold is not that normal... It is 27F right now, and tomorrow it is going to warm up to 45 or so... We miss having the windows open, but at the same time it is quite cozy laying on bed too... Yawnnnn....
I was all excited to tell you some good news furriends, but it backfired on me, quite literally actually! Well, the good news is, I had 2 days of good poop! Yey! After 98 days of diarrhea, that is really good news, and meowmy thinks the new medicine is really working!
The bad news is the diarrhea is back, and worst than before, much worst, but there is a reason for that - Let me explain:
A few weeks ago meowmy noticed that we started getting finicky with our dry food - all of us, me, Hope and Lucky... We all eat Hills Z/D, as it is All Hope and I can eat... So meowmy noticed we were eating less and less. She thought it was a bad bag, so she bought a new one, from another place... Same thing happened - no good, we still didn't like our food... So, meowmy bought another one from another vet clinic, and sure enough the same thing happened. Then meowmy weighed all of us, and all of us had lost weight - I am down to 16.4lbs (from 18.3 on 11/08 and 16.8 just a month ago), Lucky is down to 11.4 (from 12.5 a month ago)... So meowmy got on the phone with the V-E-T and asked him if it would be ok to change food to Royal Canin.
Meowmy is changing the food very very slowly, but as you can imagine, any change will affect my system... But for meowmy, her biggest worry is to have me eating well, as she always says, "I can deal with diarrhea, but I can not deal with Fatty liver disease" whatever that means, I agree with her!
The new food tastes SO yummy!!! I can't wait to be eating ONLY that one! It is the Royal Canin Hypo Allergenic HP 23. Strange, we are all vegetarians now, but it sure tastes good! We love-it!
Anyway, meowmy hopes that once we are done with the food transition I am going to be fine since this new medication proved to be actually working... We are all hoping this was just a bump on the road. We are going to call the V-E-T tomorrow to see if we need to refill the medicine. He will need to steal my blood for a liver test though as this medicine can affect the liver and needs to be closely monitored (Sulfasalazine).
As far as Gracie goes, she is going to the dentist Saturday for a follow up and for a T-4 test to check her thyroid levels. Then we will schedule her second surgery... Should be in the beginning of February or so... We have high hopes for her, since she had a wonderful recover from the first one!
Thank you for reading furriends, and sorry for the loooong post! Have a wonderful Friday!