Twinky, these furry four legged cats are like family. My mom ended up getting a brother and sister cat and they became mom's kids and were standins for her real kids that had left home. Always rough when they get older and start getting sick. Hang in their and keep us posted.
Tuxedo is still blessing my life and getting up to mischief. She is, though, appallingly thin. She hardly eats anything, but she does enjoy the jelly from tinned cat food (has always refused to eat the solids), occasionally has a teaspoonful of some ultra-expensive pate-type food from the vet, and still has a bit of kibble. I have a small tin of tuna in spring water for her tonight; maybe she will enjoy some of that. It's quite likely that my carpet will enjoy some of that, too, a few hours later.
Late evening, we have a cuddle on the couch. We have a nap for a couple of hours. She likes the cuddle, but I wonder if she likes the warmth too. I have got her a little heat pad, which emits very gentle warmth, and that's wrapped in a soft fleece blanket in her current choice of sleeping location. She seems to like that and spends most of her time there (can't say I blame her in that; it's been very cold outside!).
Her littermate Crypto, who always seemed a smaller skinny cat, now looks large and fat by comparison. She has also become more affectionate and touchable. I wonder what she knows, with her superior sense of smell. The two cats don't have much to do with each other, and seem more to tolerate than enjoy each other's presence. But who knows? Do cats mourn, in some way? Some do, I think.
I have been carefully nurturing Tuxedo and loving her up lots. I have found something she will "eat" and that helps. She likes Felix "Soups for Cats" - only 50g packets of mostly jelly with a few strips/fillets of meat (?) within. Comes in various fish, or meat, flavours. She loves that jelly!!! but leaves all the meatier bits. I also give her "cat milk," which is soya-based, no lactose, and is fortified with various minerals and taurine and other feline needs. She's ravenously hungry most of the time, but only takes liquid stuff, no solids.
Today we visited the vet again. She is now 3kg, has put a little weight on. The vet had a feel around her middle and says that the hard inflamed bit now seems reduced and less firm (this is good). She's had another jab of something that should soothe her inflamed digestive tract, for a longer period this time. I got her home and she ate two packets of the Soup and some of the fillets. I have some B12 vitamin powder which she is to have - 1 capsule alternate days, or 1/2 capsule every day, for a week. She is now yelling at me for more food.
I'm so pleased by this (an answer to prayer), and hope that she will continue to put some weight on and be able to live quite some time yet. I don't think we will get her up to her previous 4-4.5kg, but I am hopeful after today's visit and jab that she will continue to eat more and may take some solids, or at least the pate type foods.
Now to give her some more Soup, and then we will have a cuddle on the couch for a couple of hours.
The downside to this (I don't exactly see it as such) is that her littermate Crypto wonders why Tuxy is getting all this lush soft food and keeps trying to muscle in and nosh it herself. When Tuxy's made it clear she doesn't want the fillets, I let Crypto have them. She is not a very tactile cat, won't be picked up, but likes me to fondle her by her walking under my dangling hand. I wonder sometimes what she knows or understands about Tuxy not being well. Can she smell something's not right?
It is now over two months since the original visit to the vet. The vet had been willing, if not to say keen, to euthanise Tuxedo.
Well now. I am pleased to say that Tuxy is doing well, and it must be going on for ten weeks since her diagnosis. Internet research suggests that cats with the problem she has, if the aggressive version, last on average 40-60 days. She has well exceeded that. With the less aggressive version, prognosis is 6-9 months.
I fed her on "soup" to start with, then liquidised sachets of catfood in jelly, and have now weaned her onto pate-style tinned food. She is partial to Purina Gourmet pate and "melting heart," both expensive though not as expensive as vet offerings (which the cat refuses to eat anyway). Her backbone no longer feels as if when stroked her spine will break through her skin. Her hips feel comfortably though not excessively padded, and not sharply boned. She is developing quite a fat belly (unless she has a tumour that is growing). She sleeps a lot (but nothing new there), her coat is glossy and thick again, and she is bright-eyed. She jumps about onto furniture and can run very fast when she wants to. She pees and poos normally. She no longer throws up all the time, unless she has got fed up of waiting for me to feed her the tasty wet food, and has stuck her nose into the dish with kibble. And then, she always throws up.
So I am very thankful to have this time with her. She is going to be around for some time now, I think. I am not saying the vet is wrong. The cat does have serious health problems. Perhaps the problems were caught in the nick of time. Perhaps she will get worse in a few months. Perhaps, however, she is healed through the power of prayer.
The other cat, Crypto, gets a little annoyed at me. She likes the tasty wet food, too. I often catch her in the act of trying to sneak some from Tuxy's bowl. Kibble is no longer her choice of food. She declines my offerings by hand of fragments of ham, chicken or fish, which she always liked before. Hard to explain to a cat that her littermate is on a special diet and she herself is not. Sometimes, I give her a little treat of a sachet of wet food. She gets playtime if she emerges from her lair. She's a strange creature.
And now, here we are, 16 months from the original diagnosis. I think for Tuxedo the end is close.
I went away on holiday for several weeks, and a trusted friend, that she knows and likes, came and catsat for me - in fact, he moved in due to illness in his own home. Tuxy was okay at first but after a couple of weeks started pining for me. I left a 3-3.5kg cat and came back to a 2.2kg cat. That's a huge weight loss. Every bone in her body can easily be felt. There's no muscle tone and her back legs are wobbly. She did start eating again, but only the "soups" and jelly stuff that she likes, and a bit of kibble, which no longer seems to make her regurgitate within minutes. More solid food, like the Melting Hearts soft food, is a bit too much now. Took her to the vet last week, is now 2.55kg, but her belly is huge. There is clearly a growth that is growing almost visibly. She is very weak and going up the stairs is now difficult, but she has been able to get to her little tray (upstairs, in the bath, cats' choice).
Yesterday, however, I found several little pats of poo behind my couch, and a large wet patch. I'd decided if she became incontinent, it would be time to go. She's not exactly incontinent, because she can go where she chooses rather than just anywhere, but it's not the proper place and she knows it. There are litter trays now where she'd messed.
Sounds like I'm talking myself into the final, horrible, decision, doesn't it? So hard, because she's quite perky and her eyes are bright, her coat good, and she is sweet and affectionate.
She lies on my chest at night, on the couch. Last night she snuggled down, fidgeted a bit, gave a large sigh, then was silent. I thought she'd died there and then (would be my preferred choice) but no, she re-settled and started purring contentedly whilst being stroked gently. Today, as every day, she's demanding soups, catmilk and a bit of kibble.
How to explain to Crypto?
Prepare for sad news. You catlovers here will know and understand.
Oh Twinky that’s tough to think about. I’ve never had to put a cat down - but having adopted rescued dogs we have gone through the agony of is it time? when we see them having issues in their older years. The vets we go to are really sensitive to both our needs / bond and that of our fur-mate. As with humans we should think about their quality of life too. It’s a tough call . It’s funny how there is such a bond - and even when they’re gone. Tonto and I on occasion will recall something odd, distinctive or tender about any of the dearly departed paws - they still live in our memories.
Thanks, T-Bone. Yes, same with any pet. Heartbreaking, when you've loved and cared for them for years. I remember family cats from when I was little, right to other cats I've had that I've had to give away because of my own circumstances. There's a thread in In Memoriam>Pets called RIP Twinkletoes - he was such a personality. And he really saved me by loving me and just being there, when I was desperate post-TWI.
They're a good vet practice, send condolence cards when pets have died. When I took Tux recently, they were sensitive to where both Tux and I "were," and gave me some steroid tabs to stimulate her appetite. Thing is, it's not her appetite, but her choice not to eat solid foods. She does want food!! Yells loudly for it. Then just looks at it. This now-skinny cat has a lump the size of a large grapefruit in her stomach; sticks out very oddly.
Vet suggested a "review" appointment two weeks later (I think they wanted to euthanise her then), which I didn't accept. TBH not sure she will actually last that long. The steroid tabs don't seem to be helping, neither does the Vit.B12 given x2/week.
Our furry friends and our furry family have shorter lives, and often leave ours much too soon for our tastes. (Also true for many humans, but moreso for our fuzzy family.)
Tuxedo had a happy home, and knew she was loved and cared for. If there's anything else to offer, I don't know about it. She will be missed like we miss so many of our friends.
So now my beautiful girl is in the ground, wrapped in a plain linen or cotton pillowcase. She's under a mature, beautiful, pink Queen Elizabeth rose, and over the top of her I have put a new hellebore, very pretty, white face with pink spots called "Spring Promise Conny." Around the hellebore I have put some clumps of snowdrops (now seeding but they were lovely a few weeks ago) that I've uplifted from where they've spread elsewhere in the garden.
It's not the best place for a hellebore, in full sun all day (they prefer shady/semi-shady places) but it's okay for the time being. But I fell in love with it because it's so pretty. Like Tuxy was. Might have to move it later in the season when I have something else nice to put in its place.
You can see Tuxedo's photo in my ?avatar? is it; she's the front one with white toes, whiskers, ear tufts, bib and little oval splodge on her nose. Yellow eyes
The other cat is Crypto, all black except for a very few white hairs under her chin. Green eyes.
I'm still bloody miserable, but I feel better for having given her a beautiful resting place. Which of course I will see every time I go up or down the garden path.
So now my beautiful girl is in the ground, wrapped in a plain linen or cotton pillowcase. She's under a mature, beautiful, pink Queen Elizabeth rose, and over the top of her I have put a new hellebore, very pretty, white face with pink spots called "Spring Promise Conny." Around the hellebore I have put some clumps of snowdrops (now seeding but they were lovely a few weeks ago) that I've uplifted from where they've spread elsewhere in the garden.
It's not the best place for a hellebore, in full sun all day (they prefer shady/semi-shady places) but it's okay for the time being. But I fell in love with it because it's so pretty. Like Tuxy was. Might have to move it later in the season when I have something else nice to put in its place.
You can see Tuxedo's photo in my ?avatar? is it; she's the front one with white toes, whiskers, ear tufts, bib and little oval splodge on her nose. Yellow eyes
The other cat is Crypto, all black except for a very few white hairs under her chin. Green eyes.
I'm still bloody miserable, but I feel better for having given her a beautiful resting place. Which of course I will see every time I go up or down the garden path.
what a beautiful resting place !
btw, you also described Crypto - and that sounds more like our cat - he's 4 years old, all black and has yellow eyes.
they give us so much love...and they draw so much love out of us.
I was out for a walk today, spending time looking in people's gardens. And several had this hellebore, some in profusion. So I'm guessing this is a hardier variety.
Empty coming in tonight. No little mew from Tuxy. And Crypto jumping off the dining table (pesky critter! she knows not allowed) and running off to hide.
An early night tonight. One without a cuddle with Tuxedo. :((
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Rocky
So sorry. I had a cat for several years. He came down with bowel problems too. He's been gone for 7 years now. I miss him.
Hugs.
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Twinky
Thank you, Rocky.
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penguin2
Twinky, these furry four legged cats are like family. My mom ended up getting a brother and sister cat and they became mom's kids and were standins for her real kids that had left home. Always rough when they get older and start getting sick. Hang in their and keep us posted.
Hugs
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Twinky
Thank you, Penguin2.
Tuxedo is still blessing my life and getting up to mischief. She is, though, appallingly thin. She hardly eats anything, but she does enjoy the jelly from tinned cat food (has always refused to eat the solids), occasionally has a teaspoonful of some ultra-expensive pate-type food from the vet, and still has a bit of kibble. I have a small tin of tuna in spring water for her tonight; maybe she will enjoy some of that. It's quite likely that my carpet will enjoy some of that, too, a few hours later.
Late evening, we have a cuddle on the couch. We have a nap for a couple of hours. She likes the cuddle, but I wonder if she likes the warmth too. I have got her a little heat pad, which emits very gentle warmth, and that's wrapped in a soft fleece blanket in her current choice of sleeping location. She seems to like that and spends most of her time there (can't say I blame her in that; it's been very cold outside!).
Her littermate Crypto, who always seemed a smaller skinny cat, now looks large and fat by comparison. She has also become more affectionate and touchable. I wonder what she knows, with her superior sense of smell. The two cats don't have much to do with each other, and seem more to tolerate than enjoy each other's presence. But who knows? Do cats mourn, in some way? Some do, I think.
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Twinky
Some good news.
I have been carefully nurturing Tuxedo and loving her up lots. I have found something she will "eat" and that helps. She likes Felix "Soups for Cats" - only 50g packets of mostly jelly with a few strips/fillets of meat (?) within. Comes in various fish, or meat, flavours. She loves that jelly!!! but leaves all the meatier bits. I also give her "cat milk," which is soya-based, no lactose, and is fortified with various minerals and taurine and other feline needs. She's ravenously hungry most of the time, but only takes liquid stuff, no solids.
Today we visited the vet again. She is now 3kg, has put a little weight on. The vet had a feel around her middle and says that the hard inflamed bit now seems reduced and less firm (this is good). She's had another jab of something that should soothe her inflamed digestive tract, for a longer period this time. I got her home and she ate two packets of the Soup and some of the fillets. I have some B12 vitamin powder which she is to have - 1 capsule alternate days, or 1/2 capsule every day, for a week. She is now yelling at me for more food.
I'm so pleased by this (an answer to prayer), and hope that she will continue to put some weight on and be able to live quite some time yet. I don't think we will get her up to her previous 4-4.5kg, but I am hopeful after today's visit and jab that she will continue to eat more and may take some solids, or at least the pate type foods.
Now to give her some more Soup, and then we will have a cuddle on the couch for a couple of hours.
The downside to this (I don't exactly see it as such) is that her littermate Crypto wonders why Tuxy is getting all this lush soft food and keeps trying to muscle in and nosh it herself. When Tuxy's made it clear she doesn't want the fillets, I let Crypto have them. She is not a very tactile cat, won't be picked up, but likes me to fondle her by her walking under my dangling hand. I wonder sometimes what she knows or understands about Tuxy not being well. Can she smell something's not right?
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Rocky
Glad for the good news.
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Twinky
It is now over two months since the original visit to the vet. The vet had been willing, if not to say keen, to euthanise Tuxedo.
Well now. I am pleased to say that Tuxy is doing well, and it must be going on for ten weeks since her diagnosis. Internet research suggests that cats with the problem she has, if the aggressive version, last on average 40-60 days. She has well exceeded that. With the less aggressive version, prognosis is 6-9 months.
I fed her on "soup" to start with, then liquidised sachets of catfood in jelly, and have now weaned her onto pate-style tinned food. She is partial to Purina Gourmet pate and "melting heart," both expensive though not as expensive as vet offerings (which the cat refuses to eat anyway). Her backbone no longer feels as if when stroked her spine will break through her skin. Her hips feel comfortably though not excessively padded, and not sharply boned. She is developing quite a fat belly (unless she has a tumour that is growing). She sleeps a lot (but nothing new there), her coat is glossy and thick again, and she is bright-eyed. She jumps about onto furniture and can run very fast when she wants to. She pees and poos normally. She no longer throws up all the time, unless she has got fed up of waiting for me to feed her the tasty wet food, and has stuck her nose into the dish with kibble. And then, she always throws up.
So I am very thankful to have this time with her. She is going to be around for some time now, I think. I am not saying the vet is wrong. The cat does have serious health problems. Perhaps the problems were caught in the nick of time. Perhaps she will get worse in a few months. Perhaps, however, she is healed through the power of prayer.
The other cat, Crypto, gets a little annoyed at me. She likes the tasty wet food, too. I often catch her in the act of trying to sneak some from Tuxy's bowl. Kibble is no longer her choice of food. She declines my offerings by hand of fragments of ham, chicken or fish, which she always liked before. Hard to explain to a cat that her littermate is on a special diet and she herself is not. Sometimes, I give her a little treat of a sachet of wet food. She gets playtime if she emerges from her lair. She's a strange creature.
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Twinky
And now, here we are, 16 months from the original diagnosis. I think for Tuxedo the end is close.
I went away on holiday for several weeks, and a trusted friend, that she knows and likes, came and catsat for me - in fact, he moved in due to illness in his own home. Tuxy was okay at first but after a couple of weeks started pining for me. I left a 3-3.5kg cat and came back to a 2.2kg cat. That's a huge weight loss. Every bone in her body can easily be felt. There's no muscle tone and her back legs are wobbly. She did start eating again, but only the "soups" and jelly stuff that she likes, and a bit of kibble, which no longer seems to make her regurgitate within minutes. More solid food, like the Melting Hearts soft food, is a bit too much now. Took her to the vet last week, is now 2.55kg, but her belly is huge. There is clearly a growth that is growing almost visibly. She is very weak and going up the stairs is now difficult, but she has been able to get to her little tray (upstairs, in the bath, cats' choice).
Yesterday, however, I found several little pats of poo behind my couch, and a large wet patch. I'd decided if she became incontinent, it would be time to go. She's not exactly incontinent, because she can go where she chooses rather than just anywhere, but it's not the proper place and she knows it. There are litter trays now where she'd messed.
Sounds like I'm talking myself into the final, horrible, decision, doesn't it? So hard, because she's quite perky and her eyes are bright, her coat good, and she is sweet and affectionate.
She lies on my chest at night, on the couch. Last night she snuggled down, fidgeted a bit, gave a large sigh, then was silent. I thought she'd died there and then (would be my preferred choice) but no, she re-settled and started purring contentedly whilst being stroked gently. Today, as every day, she's demanding soups, catmilk and a bit of kibble.
How to explain to Crypto?
Prepare for sad news. You catlovers here will know and understand.
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T-Bone
Oh Twinky that’s tough to think about. I’ve never had to put a cat down - but having adopted rescued dogs we have gone through the agony of is it time? when we see them having issues in their older years. The vets we go to are really sensitive to both our needs / bond and that of our fur-mate. As with humans we should think about their quality of life too. It’s a tough call . It’s funny how there is such a bond - and even when they’re gone. Tonto and I on occasion will recall something odd, distinctive or tender about any of the dearly departed paws - they still live in our memories.
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Twinky
Thanks, T-Bone. Yes, same with any pet. Heartbreaking, when you've loved and cared for them for years. I remember family cats from when I was little, right to other cats I've had that I've had to give away because of my own circumstances. There's a thread in In Memoriam>Pets called RIP Twinkletoes - he was such a personality. And he really saved me by loving me and just being there, when I was desperate post-TWI.
They're a good vet practice, send condolence cards when pets have died. When I took Tux recently, they were sensitive to where both Tux and I "were," and gave me some steroid tabs to stimulate her appetite. Thing is, it's not her appetite, but her choice not to eat solid foods. She does want food!! Yells loudly for it. Then just looks at it. This now-skinny cat has a lump the size of a large grapefruit in her stomach; sticks out very oddly.
Vet suggested a "review" appointment two weeks later (I think they wanted to euthanise her then), which I didn't accept. TBH not sure she will actually last that long. The steroid tabs don't seem to be helping, neither does the Vit.B12 given x2/week.
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Rocky
So sorry for what you and Tux are going through.
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penguin2
I'm sorry Twinkie. I still recall my Siamese cats Buttons and Patches and tell stories about them.
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Twinky
Breathed her last a few minutes ago. Relatively peacefully at home. Now just curled on my lap. My heart is breaking.
Thanks for sharing this last sad journey with me.
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T-Bone
Rest In peace, Tuxedo
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Rocky
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WordWolf
I'm sorry for your loss.
Our furry friends and our furry family have shorter lives, and often leave ours much too soon for our tastes. (Also true for many humans, but moreso for our fuzzy family.)
Tuxedo had a happy home, and knew she was loved and cared for. If there's anything else to offer, I don't know about it. She will be missed like we miss so many of our friends.
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Twinky
Right now, I'm just plain miserable. And tired. I held her close on my chest all night long, talking and trying to soothe her.
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Twinky
So now my beautiful girl is in the ground, wrapped in a plain linen or cotton pillowcase. She's under a mature, beautiful, pink Queen Elizabeth rose, and over the top of her I have put a new hellebore, very pretty, white face with pink spots called "Spring Promise Conny." Around the hellebore I have put some clumps of snowdrops (now seeding but they were lovely a few weeks ago) that I've uplifted from where they've spread elsewhere in the garden.
It's not the best place for a hellebore, in full sun all day (they prefer shady/semi-shady places) but it's okay for the time being. But I fell in love with it because it's so pretty. Like Tuxy was. Might have to move it later in the season when I have something else nice to put in its place.
You can see Tuxedo's photo in my ?avatar? is it; she's the front one with white toes, whiskers, ear tufts, bib and little oval splodge on her nose. Yellow eyes
The other cat is Crypto, all black except for a very few white hairs under her chin. Green eyes.
I'm still bloody miserable, but I feel better for having given her a beautiful resting place. Which of course I will see every time I go up or down the garden path.
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Rocky
If it looks anything like this one, it's beautiful. Thanks for sharing with us, Twinky.
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T-Bone
what a beautiful resting place !
btw, you also described Crypto - and that sounds more like our cat - he's 4 years old, all black and has yellow eyes.
they give us so much love...and they draw so much love out of us.
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Twinky
That's the one, Rocky. Hellebores have such variety, huge range of colours and shapes. But this one I hadn't seen before, and really liked it.
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Twinky
I was out for a walk today, spending time looking in people's gardens. And several had this hellebore, some in profusion. So I'm guessing this is a hardier variety.
Empty coming in tonight. No little mew from Tuxy. And Crypto jumping off the dining table (pesky critter! she knows not allowed) and running off to hide.
An early night tonight. One without a cuddle with Tuxedo. :((
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penguin2
Twinky, sorry for your loss.
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