Happy Cat Family

- Meowmy, Is it Springtime yet? I miss the sun... Laying out on the grass... 
- No Bugsy, but hang in there honey, the sun will be here soon enough, after all we live in Texas, the Sunshine State!
- Well, good point meowmy!

Happy Monday Everybody!!!

Pee-sss: Sissy Hope is feeling better... Not all better, but much better... I think she will be 100% tomorrow or so! She is now only eating stinky goodness - NB LID for the time being, just until her tummy gets settled, and getting Bene-Bac everyday... Once she gets all better, meowmy will give her stinky goodness of different flavors...
She trained meowmy well that one... No more chips on her diet - she will be back on S. goodness 100%.

Hi, Lucky here!
I am taking the computer hostage today, and making this Sunday all about me! A Lucky day! I was reading this blog, and it seems that lately everything has been about brother Bugsy and sissy Hope... Sure, they have had their share of healthy problems, but even though I am healthy, I deserve attention too... 
I know, poor sissy and bro, I love them, but I just feel a little left out... like a middle child, do you guys understand me?
See, for a while I was the first kitty in the household..... I was special... Like the first born! 
Do you think my cuteness can make me special again?

Hi, Meowmy here!
Lucky, my love, my dear... I am so so sorry you feel neglected on the blog! Meowmy promises she will do her best to give you more attention, ok? You are very very special, and meowmy loves you very much! You are the best kitty I could ever wish for! <3

Hi folks, Hope here!
You read it right - I took TWO baths today! NOT ONE, but TWO, TWO! That is why I am protesting by hiding under the bed, and meowmy will not see my cute face tonight outside AT ALL!
Here is what happened folks, I am so mad! So mad, I tell ya!
Well, a week ago or so I decided to not eat any dry food anymore - only eat stinky goodness... You see, I ALWAYS only ate stinky goodness, only recently meowmy started transitioning me to 50/50.
Anyways, meowmy noticed I was boycotting the dry stuff, and forced me to eat it, and then... Bam! I got the runs! I got it bad too! I got the runs all over my bum, my legs, and I was running around the house all pooped and stuff... Well... W-H-A-T did she expect from me, folks? It is her fault!
So she grabbed me, and gave me my first bath.
She also gave me some powdered stuff to make my tommy feel better (meowmy says it's called bene-bac)...
Well... A while later... There I go again... Bam! More poop! Oh, meowmy was so mad, I ran around spreading poop everywhere... On the cat tree, the window sill, the cat bed... Until that she got me again!
Folks, TWO BATHS IN ONE DAY! What is wrong with this human! That is torture!
But you see, I am better than her, Not only I protest by hiding under the bed, but I spit all over her bath! Just to make sure she she knows WHO is the boss here! Shesh!

No shame here, it is Friday, and we kitties are taking a three-day-kitty-weekend! Woohoo! After all we most definitely deserve it!
Poor Bugsy, BTY, can you notice on the Picture how his mane is sooo dirty? He used to have this very glamorous, Long, fluffy and sparkly white mane, and now the only royal thing that is, is a ROYAL MESS!
Poor guy!
You see, every time meowmy gives him his meds, he fights, and shakes his heads, and besides all the foaming - we have seen meowmy missing her "target" more than once! It is quite funny actually - she wears his meds sometimes!
They are both getting much better at it, but we are afraid the damage has been done... Bugsy is now a Colorpoint! Hey, at least he has no Boogers, as he insisted in proving in today's photo-shoot, as you can see below!
Have a good Friday Everybody,
~Lucky

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!!!

I simply couldn't resist them sleeping in the exact same position.... so cute!

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.......