LostWoods Blog

First, a Kali update. Kali is doing better – no discharge in the last couple days. She’s still on antibiotics and will be for awhile, but later this week she’ll be going to stay with Fin until after she’s bred. Whenever that might be…

Second, Fantasia is doing awesome. She has her bladder control back and is getting around much better. Deb reports that Fantasia is able to move her tail more and can go up and down the stairs now, too. Here’s a quote from Deb’s email:

“She was so proud of herself the first time she made it up the stairs that she immediately started yanking my pantleg and meowing… she never does that.  I just think she was so excited to be able to do it again, she had to make sure everyone knew that she is back in full force.”

Now on to a brag or two…

Beau became a Supreme Grand Champion Alter in TICA a few weeks ago. We thought he’d made it, but weren’t absolutely sure, so we waited to announce it until Brenda got the confirmation in the mail. Whoo-hoo! Beau is now a Grand Champion (as a breeding cat) in CFA and a Supreme as an Alter in TICA. We knew he was special from the first time we saw him. 

Dawnflower earned her Champion title at that same show. Go, Dawny! Both of them will be shown in Denver the weekend of August 8th. 

I also got a surprise notice from TICA in the mail the other day. Basia was the best Black (brown) mackeral torbie with white in TICA for the 2008-2009 show year. She was also the Best of Breed NFC in the TICA’s Northwest region. Others in the LostWoods extended family who earned RW and IW awards for the season were:

ForestKatz Aby N Disguise of Aradia (Fish’s baby) – 4th Best Kitten in the Mid-Atlantic region and 3rd Best NFC Kitten internationally. 

LostWoods Majestic of Foresttales – 7th Best Alter in the Mid-Pacific region & 2nd Best NFC Alter internationally.

LostWoods Coyn – 10th Best Alter in the Southwest region.

ForestKatz McAllen (Torianna’s baby) – 3rd Best Kitten internationally, Best Kitten in the South Central region, 20th Best Cat in the South Central region, and Best NFC Kitten internationally.

ForestKatz Mr Wickett of KSNorskatt (Torianna’s baby) - 25th Best Cat internationally, 6th Best Cat in the South Central region, and 2nd Best NFC Cat internationally.

And while he’s not out of Fish or Tori, I’ll add a brag for ForestKatz Gabriel of AZWegie as the 5th Best Cat in the Southwest region and 3rd Best NFC internationally.

Yep, wegies kicked some butt!

Kali is about the same today. She got her first dose of lutalyze this afternoon and tolerated it well. She’s still grumpy and obviously in pain — hates to be picked up — but she’s also active and more than happy to see me when I check on her or sit on the floor petting her. For a few days she’ll remain isolated for her own comfort and safety. I don’t want her hiding from me so I can give her the medications that she needs to get well.

I don’t really have a lot to say tonight, so I’ll just leave it at that. Pictures in the next few days, though. Promise!

I was happy to get good news from Deb this morning about Fantasia. She had a good night was more active this morning, although she still doesn’t have bladder control. But she was steady enough to get in the litter box by herself and she’d found a toy that she took to Deb, wanting to play. Deb posted a comment to yesterday’s post, so if you haven’t read it, take a minute to do so.

But after that, the day took a downturn. I went into the pantry to get tea this morning and Kali was under the step stool. I greeted her and she didn’t respond, so I reached down and touched her tail, getting a growl in response. That is so not Kali. So I moved the step stool to check on her, picking her up. She was growling and obviously in pain. I then noticed she had some bloody discharge on her back legs and after a quick exam, I came to the conclusion that she has pyometra.

For the non-breeders reading this, pyometra (or pyo) is a uterine infection. Female cats sometimes develop it when they cycle too much without being bred. I’d been planning to breed Kali next month after Kefira’s babies were born — trying not to have too many kittens in the house at the same time. Now I’m kicking myself for putting it off.

Anyway, I called and took her down to the vet clinic. They fit in some x-rays which confirmed that she does indeed have pyo.

Oh, back to the pyo explanation… There are basically two forms — open and closed. In open pyo, the infection is draining from the uterus. Messy, but a good thing. In closed pyo the infection has no way to get out and almost always it requires a spay as treatment. With open, a combination of prostaglandin therapy and antibiotics is nearly always effective. The girl is then kept on a safe antibiotic until she is bred — usually as soon as she cycles again.

Kali has open pyo, as shown by the discharge I saw this morning. She is on two different antibiotics and the vets are trying to get the prostaglandin we need to give her to assist with the treatment. Many large animal vets have it on hand all the time, but small animal vets are less likely to keep it. So they’ve contacted another vet here in town and hopefully we’ll have it in the morning. In the meantime, the antibiotics should at least be keeping things from getting worse.

Kali is home and I have her confined to the laundry room for now. I went in there a little bit and she was sleeping on a blanket. I sat on the floor and petted her for awhile and she purred — much better than the growls I was getting this morning.

Now to close on a better note… A short, funny story about Buzz. Ken’s friend Rob is here visiting and has been putting his dirty clothes in a grocery sack in the guest room. About the middle of the afternoon, I heard the rustling of plastic and wondered what the cats were up to now. Moments later, here comes Buzzy into the living room dragging the grocery sack full of Rob’s dirty clothes. She was calling to her kittens with great pride, “I’ve killed something for you! Look what mama has killed!” The bag was bigger than her, but apparently it deserved to die… Cats!

McCoy and Keegan’s daughter Fantasia — an absolutely beautiful and sweet kitty — is sick. Right now we don’t know what the problem is. Deb came home and found her paralyzed in her back legs, with loss of bladder control. She took her to the emergency vet and they did x-rays and bloodwork. The bloodwork showed a high white count, but the x-rays didn’t show any real abnormalities. Fantasia was exhibiting pain symptoms on part of her spine, so they thought perhaps she has meningitis. They gave her pain meds, antibiotics, and a steriod shot for the inflammation around her spinal cord.

Yesterday Deb too her to her regular vet who referred her to a neurologist. Yesterday afternoon they sedated her to do a spinal tap and myelogram. They still have not ruled out meningitis, trauma (although the myelogram didn’t show anything — it’s possible that the only thing left from the trauma is the inflammation), or lymphoma. They should have the results of the fluid testing sometime today.

Fantasia has regained some function in her back legs — she was able to walk yesterday afternoon, although Deb said she was like “Bambi on ice”. She’s still at the hospital and is alert and happy to be watching everything that is going.

Please say some prayers for Fantasia and Deb. I didn’t write about it here, but Deb lost her Maggie to a brain aneurysm last week, so she is already in tremendous pain. It just seems like almost too much to bear to think of her losing Fantasia, too.

As for me, I’m doing very well. Next week I’ll go back to work part time for a couple weeks, then full time after that. I get tired when I try to do too much — which is nearly always. Okay, my amazing healing powers seem to be linked to my determination that I am not going to lay around waiting to get better — I’m going to get better RIGHT NOW! I am sensible about what I do — as in I avoid the lifting and twisting that would keep me from healing, but everything else is fair game.

Brenda and Grant were here this past weekend and it was great to see them. We did a little sightseeing — not as much as we’d have done had I been completely healthly, though. McCoy went home with them on Sunday. Now Ken’s friend Rob is here for a few days. So I’m busier than you might expect for someone who is recovering from surgery, but it does help pass the time!

Allegra and Seely now have homes. Allegra will be going to live with a couple here in Helena. I think she is absolutely perfect for them — the wife is especially in need of Allegra’s loving personality. Seely will be going to live in Idaho, probably sometime in September. We need to work out a time when we can meet his new mom and dad and between their plans for August and ours, it will likely be September before that happens.

Kefira is looking very pregnant. Two and a half weeks til the babies are due. Yes, the kitten cam will be back. She’s been something of a witch to poor Danica, but the past day or so, she seems to have calmed down a little. Hopefully, she’ll learn to co-exist peacefully with Dani, because I do not want to have to shut either of them away from the family. Dani is finally getting more comfortable with everyone, although she still thinks the best place in the house is the top of the refrigerator.

I’ll have some pictures later this week of Allegra and Seely. Right now I’m off to do some errands.

My Corliss Cutie left yesterday with Lyz and Pete, his new mom and dad. They will be a great home for him and he has a big brother, Iggy, to help him get used to his new home. as promised, here are a few good bye photos.

Buzzy was standing beside him, grooming him and saying goodbye as we talked. This morning, she was calling and calling for her kittens. I think she misses Fayne and Corliss and wonders why she can only find two of her babies. I told her they were big kids now and are all ready to be loved by other families. And that she can go back to being a carefree young woman for a little while. She’s already been acting like that. She’s silly and playful and loving… just like she was before she had to be a responsible parent.

Fayne’s mom has sent me a few cute pictures of him since he left. Rather than post them here, I’m going to put a link to Dr Jennifer’s new blog:

http://www.toloveacatblog.com

I’ll also add it to the blogroll on the side bar so you can find it again. The pictures are there, too. Fayne is fitting in very well with his new buddy, Lil Jerry. Just as we’d hoped, they have become friends in no time at all.

Brenda is on her way to pick up McCoy. She and her son, Grant, left yesterday, but ended up spending the night along the way ’cause she was tired and had a bad sinus headache. So I’m waiting for her to call and say she’s in town, so I can give her directions to the house. Should be any time now. They will stay for a couple days and visit. It will be nice to have them here. We’d originally planned a couple days of sight-seeing, but some of the things we planned aren’t doable for me right now. We’ll have to settle for some short, in-town stuff instead.

Dr Jennifer and Rick got home from Seattle today and Fayne is now home with them and his new furry family. The first report back says he seems to be adjusting well. Hopefully his new brothers and sisters will agree with that!

You know me… if possible, I like to get one last litter shot before the fur babies start leaving. So today I scooped them up from their naps and took pictures. I tried to put them all in the basket, but well, that ship has sailed. They don’t all fit! Guess I’ll have to use this basket for pictures when they are about half this size.

It is a pretty good basket for just Fayne by himself, though.

Corliss leaves on Thursday afternoon. I think Allegra and Seely have homes now, so I’ll probably be posting their goodbye photos soon, too.

As for me, I’m doing really well. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning where I hope the doctor will agree with that. I still have an appalling lack of energy — needing to sit down and rest for an hour after walking to the mailbox, for example. But I’ll get that back as time goes on. I’m taking very few pills for the pain — only one all day yesterday. Two today, but I was trying to do to much and was reminded of why I’m supposed to be resting. So I think I’ll go do that…