ChatCatChats

Wednesday

Cat Couch again:

Chatham is on another ten-day round of antibiotics. His urine sample showed that he has improved, but the infection isn't gone yet. So we'll keep on doing what we've been doing, with the addition of trying to get him to move around more. His hind legs are pretty wobbly, probably from lack of use - he lays around most of the time; just getting up to go to the litter box.

Sunday

Cat Couch here:

Today at church, our intern minister spoke about being content and thankful for the important things and not wanting more than food, shelter and loving relationships. She had us do this as a responsive reading:

Meow.

Some humans call the way "the Tao."
All I know is it rhymes with Meow.

Meow is the beginning of all things,
The source of everything I want.
I don't actually need all things,
Although some humans think they do.
Food, shelter, catnip, and mice to catch
Are enough for me.
Although -- I will admit
It's nice to have someone provide these things for me.

I do not know their names -- they are the Nameless Ones.
I just call them "Meow."
Meow. They come. They open the door.
I don't know how they do it.
But they do. They know the Meow.

Through the Meow, it is possible to perceive the Subtle.
Through the Meow, it is possible to get what you want.
The Tao of Meow --
The way to get the best of both worlds.

And when I have the best of both,
I lie down on a simple blanket
And contemplate the profound
Even that which is more profound than the profound,
More subtle than and subtlety
The purr of perfection
Which is the door to all contentment.

Meow.

(this is adapted from The Tao of Meow by Waldo Japussy)

This evening Chatham came down the stairs on his own, looking for food. We haven't seen him come down the stairs yet, so I don't know how hard or precarious it might be. His appetite seems to be good, tho' he's not pooping enough to make us really happy, but we're trying to push the fiber. At least he's pooping some!

We are concerned mostly about his back legs. He's lost so much muscle tone and is weak and wobbly. We've been catering to him, making sure that he can easily get to his food and water, even holding it for him so that he can eat without getting up. Now that he's back up to 8 pounds, perhaps we shouldn't make it quite so easy ... but can we really get a meezer cat to get some more exercise? I don't know.

From the side, Chatham doesn't look bad ...

... but from the top you can see his thinness. But he IS getting stronger - it's getting harder to give him his medicine! He has been struggling more strongly lately. He really doesn't like the taste of this batch of thyroid medicine (we've ordered the other flavor that he liked) and he REALLY doesn't like the current antibiotic. We'll find out by the end of the week how the infection is (or isn't, hopefully!)

Doing Well

Chatham had a good weekend. We couldn't remember when he last had a BM, so we fed him pumpkin (for the fiber, ya see) and he finally produced a couple of small, hard BMs (don't ya just LOVE this?). He seemed perkier after that. Can't believe that he ate canned pumpkin. He's been doing plenty of peeing ... it's the pooping that we were worried about.

Normally we've been keeping our bedroom door closed - the room is set up for him with everything he could need. But the last few days we've let the door stay open as long as there wasn't anything for Salem to mess with. We decided that Chatham wouldn't come down the stairs because he knew his limitations. Well, to our surprise, he DID come down. We found him in the kitchen by the spot where his food bowls used to be.

Today he produced a WHOLE LOT MORE little poops. Wore himself out doing it, too. Lay right down in his litter box, the poor thing was so tired. I did take him to the vet clinic today for a check up. The substitute Vet was there - Dr. Henry just LOVEs Chatham. She felt him up - no more poops inside - felt his hips and back legs (he often holds one at an odd angle) and proclaimed that everything was in the proper place, just old age stuff going on. Keep up the good work, she said. She praised him, even when he was acting up - who'da thunk that a 19 year old cat would cause so much trouble? She had to get April in to help hold him while she was examining him.

Best news is that he has actually gained weight - he's back up to 8 pounds!

Field Trip

My Cat Couch decided yesterday that I had been cooped up too long inside. (I've taken up residence in her and Dad's bedroom. Ahem. Taken OVER their room.) So she wrapped me up in a small blanket, put me in my car seat and off we drove.

We went to the PetSmart store. Cat Couch used the blanket as a seat cushion in the baby-bean seat of a big cart. She pushed me around and we looked at new food bowls. Many people admired me and said very nice things ... especially that I didn't look like I was 19 years old.

Then Cat Couch took a long, slow walk along the fish tanks. The smell was really interesting, and all the colors of the swimmy fish was fun to watch.

I like field trips.

Sunday

Meow
Some humans call the way "the Tao."
All I know is it rhymes with Meow.

Meow is the beginning of all things,
The source of everything I want.
I don't actually need all things,
Although some humans think they do.
Food, shelter, catnip, and mice to catch
Are enough for me.
Although-- I will admit__
It's nice to have someone provide these things for me.
I do not know their names -- they are the Nameless Ones.
I just call them "Meow."
Meow. They come. They open the door.
I don't know how they do it.
But they do. They know the Meow.
Through the Meow, it is possible to perceive the Subtle.
Through the Meow, it is possible to get what you want.
The Tao of Meow--
The way to get the best of both worlds.
And when I have the best of both,
I lie down on a simple blanket
And contemplate the profound__
Even that which is more profound than the profound,
More subtle than and subtlety__
The purr of perfection
Which is the door to all contentment.
Meow.

Sunday update

Cat Couch here:

Hubby stayed home while I and our Girls went to Marching Band Championships yesterday. DH called to say that Chatham had a good day - ate a little more and didn't fall over once. Still wobbly, but we'll take any encouraging signs. Perhaps the new medicine is beginning to work (he sure doesn't like it!!).

Meanwhile, our bedroom has become a haven for Chatham. I'm off today to find items to make it even easier for him to get up and down off the bed.

Update

Cat Couch here:

Chatham's bladder infection is no worse, but also is no better. He's on a new antibiotic now, hopefully this will do the trick. Unfortunately, it's a liquid and he really hates it. Even putting it in tuna juice didn't work.

He seemed okay after that last emergency vet visit, but then the next day we noticed that his back legs seemed weak. This has gotten worse. He has trouble walking on very soft surfaces (such as the litter in the box or the bed if the bedding is not stretched out flat. So far he has been able to get down and up from our bed (we've set up "steps" of a sort) to visit the box (we've put one in our bedroom), but we're worried that soon he won't be able to. It is so sad to see him stumble and fall. Yesterday he shook his head and actually knocked himself off his own feet.

Today my husband is going to see if he can find a way to make a ramp or small steps so that Chatham can get up and down from our bed, since it is his preferred spot. We've also put the card table up back between the window and bed, so that when the afternoon sun is on that side of the house he can lay in the warmth.

We did ask our regular vet about his legs - there is a different, stronger arthritis medication available, but Chatham's liver can't take yet another thing to process at this time.

And yet, Chatham seems clear-headed and communicates with us. His purrs have gotten softer, but are still there when we lay down with him. He is trying to adapt to walking with his current handicap.

Thank you all for your concern and well wishes ... they certainly help.

ANOTHER emergency trip to the V-E-T

Cat Couch here:

Last night around 8 pm I noticed that Chatham was walking like he had a "load in his pants". I examined him and saw that his penis was extended and an angry red color. While we were calling the emergency (after hours) vet clinic, he managed to pass two large BMs.

Dr. Lee said that there was a small amount of urine in Chatham's bladder. He wanted to hydrate him and observe him to see if he could urinate on his own. Our fear was that he had a urinary tract blockage (he's had it before. The odd thing was that I know he had been using the litter box successfully during the day). Dr. Lee said that if Chatham didn't pee or if they couldn't manually express the urine, that he would have to catherize him by 4 am.

The difficulty in this was Chatham's age - at 19 years old, we were afraid that he would never awaken after the procedure. The Vet said he could do it without the anesthesia, but that would be horrible!

So we left Chatham at the clinic and hoped for the best.

I called at midnight to check his progress. They said that they were able to express urine, so they felt that they would not have to do anything but observe until 6 am, when we would have to come and get him. (They would have called at 4 am if they felt like they had to do something.)

Chatham came home this morning and went straight to his litter box and PEED a long, steady stream (makes me wonder how much fluid they got in him!). He then demanded food.

So far today he seems fine. We need to get a urine sample in to his regular Vet to see what's up.

Doin' Good

Cat Couch here:

Chatham seems to be much, much better lately. He is eating and drinking again. He even came downstairs and and went to his window bed for a while.

We needed more of his thyroid medicine, so I took him to the Vet's office to have him weighed - I was nervous about how much he might have lost because he had eaten so little earlier in the week.

To my surprise, he didn't lose any weight at all!

We're continuing to monitor him closely, but hopefully the infection is clearing up. We've still some days of antibotic left, so we'll know better when we go in for a follow-up.

Thanks for all of your well-wishes and concern. I'm sure that it has helped.