Brighton is in Intensive Care...

I knew ML would get the word out to the CB (even though she herself is recuperating from a recent illness) and already Brighton is receiving lots of healing rumbly purrs! As all of us with cats know, they like to hide their illnesses and things can go from Super to Serious very quickly!

I was away on vacation and my petsitter (and her wonderful husband and their 4 kids) were caring for the kitties while I was away. They know my cats welll and even have a Furrydance kitty of their own, Pixie, so they know their personalities and behavior well. They said he was feeling fine on Sunday, playing with the kids and very 'interactive'.


On Sunday (around 5pm) they came by, and stayed for an hour or so like they always do, and Brighton didn't come downstairs to greet them and play and they found him curled up on the bed in the sunniest room of the house-the guest room. He did play a bit, and didn't want to leave the upstairs to follow everyone around the house as they did their 'cat chores' Someone had vomited but she didn't know who, but made note of it for me.

I got home at 1:00am Monday morning, after spending all day in airports and planes, dreaming of a nice long restful sleep and day off on Tuesday before I headed back to work. But while Brighton got off the couch to greet me and followed me into the bathroom (so I could use the 'litterbox'), he was wobbly and missed the jump onto the sink twice and when I picked him up he growled and leaked bloody urine (mostly blood) onto his fur and me and the floor.

I am an hour from the Emergency Hospital that I trust, but knew I didn't want to take him to the one nearby. I did a quick check of the house, looking at the litterboxes and for any other evidence of blood or vomit and found red pawprints in the kitchen sink and his favorite cat bed was wet with urine and blood.


So I loaded him up and jumped in the car, sped over to The Hope Center
Click here for more info
and they whisked him right back to the treatment room and started their workup on him. His bladder was full and he appeared blocked but the blood tests showed he would have been an anesthetic risk at that point (BUN 230 -- should be around 24; Phosphorus 8.2 -- should be around 4). They started an IV for fluids, gave him pain meds and I waited...

Within a couple of hours, the phosphorus came down enough for them to put him under anesthesia and place a urinary catheter, empty the bladder and I waited some more...for him to come out of recovery. The doctor came up and talked with me after every step of his treatment and I knew we were both worried but I felt he was in very good hands and had 24 hour monitoring and nursing care.



He got quite cold during the anesthesia, and his temp was down to 94 so they had him in a Bair Hugger Warming System
Click here for more info
and I got to visit him before I left at 4:30am and even though he was sleeping still, I kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear and I went home to try and get some sleep, not even sure I could relax enough to do that.

But I took an Excedrin PM and fell asleep for a few hours, not even minding when about an hour into my sleep, the vet called with a morning report. He had made it through the night and was sitting up and pretty alert, in spite of the pain meds which make them sleepy, too.

I drove over to visit him in the afternoon and he was hooked up to 3 'lines'--IV for fluids, Urinary cath and collection bag, and one even on his tail (I forgot to ask what that one was for) and he was wearing an Elizabethan collar to prevent him from chewing out the IV's and urinary catheter.

He looked very sad, and I tried to be strong for him and gave him a nice massage and lots of kisses. The nurse said he ate some canned food and was head bonking them (to the best of his ability in spite of his 'cone head') and I am waiting for an evening report from the vet, although it's now 10:00pm and I hope they don't hesitate to call in fear of waking me! They repeated his labs this evening and I am praying for the kidney values to show some improvement and give me hope for another day.


Update: It's 10:30pm and the vet just called. Some good, some bad news. Brighton's BUN has come down to 130--good news; He is eating--good news; He is not anemic--good news; and he is being a good patient--who couldn't fall for him?

But his Total Bilirubin (a liver test) is elevated and the doctor is concerned about pancreatitis or bile duct problems, though his other liver tests aren't too out of whack. If it's on the rise in the morning, I will need to have an Internal Medicine consult and probably an ultrasound to look at his liver. Also, as he is on IV fluids, they are watching his heart murmur to make sure he doesn't get over hydrated and go into congestive heart failure.

In the morning they will repeat the organ function tests. They won't pull the urinary catheter until his kidney values are closer to normal but I am hoping he will improve enough soon to be able to be discharged and have me do home care on him-sub q fluids etc...but while I know his care is going to be expensive, I feel like I have to try and get him well! He is young--only 4 years old, and he holds a very special place in my heart.

If I have to spend all my income tax refund, take 'kitten money' out of savings and put off my garden improvements and patio...well, it will be worth it to have him still in my life!

I talked to ML a little about doing a fund raiser for Brighton, as I know how much the CB pulls together for cats in need. Right now, I am so shattered by what is happing with him, that I can't really concentrate on much else...writing this post tonight took all my effort to complete but I knew our furrends were worrying and purring for Brighton and I just had to let you all know, and thank you for your thoughts and prayers...

Happurry Birthday, ML (oh, and a kitten update)...

Miles, and all the Furrydance Cats, want to 'shout out' a Happurry Birthday to ML, who gives a whole lotta love and a whole lotta time to keep the CB purring along with all the Mews that keeps us all connected! May her day be filled with lots to Purr about!

This is the last day there will be five Furrydance kittens gamboling round the house...Miles, and Carlos & Zeus are heading off to their new homes today! Mama Coco is ready, and Mama Teri is too...she wants them to begin their new adventure and for them to snuggle their way into the hearts of their new pawrents, too.

She is everso excited about knowing that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, her visits to Pierro's Happy Place will be even more fun now! The CB is such a wonderous place and following Miles and Pierro's life together will be the best purresent ever!

So...here's the last photos of the kittens...bye bye and fare thee well, little Frootbats!





and a short Meowy movie!

Frootbat Friday-Kitten Edition!

All's well at the Furrydance house...hard to believe just a week ago almost all the kittens were feeling poorly and Teri had a very stressful weekend. Now, everyone is back to feline fine!


Today, Teri is going to Annapolis, to kitten-proof Hiro's new home. He is not moving in quite yet, another couple of weeks to go (due to vacation and work contstraints for everyone) but he gets to go for a visit today--that should be fun!



Then on Sunday...Miles is going to head off to his new home with Pierro! All the CB has been waiting for that big Gotcha Day!! Pierro lives about an hour from Furrydance, so Teri will drive him out and help get him settle into his new digs. Then on the way back, she will deliver Zeus and Carlos to their new home and stay and visit for a while, helping them kitten-proof their house, too.




Then Teri can come back home and relax a bit, with a happy feeling of knowing three more Furrydance kittens are starting their new life with some very extra special families! And Coco can relax, too...and Kiki will be very happy also, as she said the kittens were getting on her last nerve (she's kinda got a short fuse...unless they are HER babies).


Disco will miss his wrassle companions, so it's kind of nice that all of them aren't leaving at the same time and that he will still have Hiro and Bosco to play with for a few more weeks! Brighton's kinda 'over' the kittens, and would rather just snuggle with his buddy, Disco.

Wordless Wednesday

Ps: all the kittens are drinking, eating and all is well in the litterbox, too! Yay!

Oh, and for all of you who so sweetly asked how our mewmie is doing...she, too, is back to 100% feline fine! Just like this kitty!



and then, while surfing YouTube, I came across this...



which was made even better by this...

Mini-Mancat Monday....Kitten Update

Things are once again full of smiles here at the Furrydance house! Although Miles was doing great on Sunday, got to have his IV catheter removed (and that splint and bandage) and he was eating, I figured both he and I needed the rest, so I left him at work (the vet--that's where I work and why I have such a great relationship with my vet, hahameow). Dr E gave him sucralfate yesterday to sooth his tummy and this morning when I got in to work at 7am, I was never happier to see normal poop in his litter box and all his food eaten up!

Needless to say, he had cabin fever and luckily we could shut the french door that lead to our 'cat suites' but because it's all windows and we could see each other, well...almost every time he asked for attention, of course he got it. I had to laugh when Dr E said when she checked in on him Sunday, he leapt out of the cage, right up on her shoulder. Not a surprise to most Cornish Rex owners but most vets don't see them in their true light when they are at the vets!

And as you could tell from the photo yesterday, Bosco and Zeus and Carlos were all back to eating on their own and maybe had 80% of their pep back...but they still had the squirts. They have had no more vomiting and tonight when I got home, they were back to their normal level of activity--busy! And they all wanted dinner, right now!

So I fed them, scooped the boxes and didn't find anything as loose as yesterday and then I gave them their Cerenia injections and a capsule of sucralfate each and I am hoping by tomorrow, that they all will be feeling as good as Miles is today! Hiro somehow avoided picking up whatever they all had, and all the adults are still fine, too.

I hope I have a very, very uneventful week and if all looks good, we are hoping that Miles can finally move into 'The Happy Place' and soon thereafter, Zeus and Carlos head to their new home, too. Thanks to the 'Purrin Up a Storm' committee out there in the CB, I know we were all in your thoughts and hearts and it's that caring that makes the burdens easier to carry!

Simply Sunday Morning/Afternoon...Kitten Update

It's 10:00am and I haven't heard from my vet yet about Miles (I bet she's thinking she's letting me sleep in) but on the home front...Hiro is still fine--eating and normal poops; everyone is active again; Carlos and Bosco are eating on their own-Carlos eagerly, Bosco not quite as eager; and Zeus is much better but not interested in eating on his on yet.

I scooped the boxes this morning and didn't find any diarrhea, but of course some haven't been eating much so they may not have enough wastes to make stool yet. And there has been no more vomiting. I gave everyone their Cerenia and sub q fluids this morning, even to Carlos although he is eating on his own--can't hurt and will help boost him up. I am feeding them 5cc of RS Recovery food and they are taking it by syringe readily. I will do that every few hours for Zeus and Bosco today.

RS Recovery

So, I am feeling pretty good this morning about the kittens and will feed them every couple of hours today and hopefully by tomorrow all of them will want to eat on their own. Depending on what my vet says, I may put them on a highly digestible bland diet called EN for a week or two, while their tummies heal up, adding a prebiotic to aid in digestion. So they may go to their new homes with this food that they will transition off gradually. Here's links to info on EN and the reasons for using it:

Purina EN Feline Formula

GI Diet Info from Cornell Vet School

I called my vet and she was over at the hospital at 7am this morning and Miles had cleaned up all the food we had left him--Recovery (about 2 tablespoons), DM dry (about 1 tablespoon) and his fluid line was still running and he wanted ME-OUT!

She is going back at noon and removing his catheter and depending on how my day goes today, I may just leave him there til I go back to work tomorrow. He still has diarrhea, greenish and I forgot to ask her if we need to repeat any labwork but I think I will do that tomorrow just to verify all is still within normal limits.

So, good news today...I am soooo glad! Now it's 2:30pm and I put some food down to see who wanted to eat...and all the kittens did! Yay!


And while surfing around looking for diet info, look at this cool coffee table I found...



Cat Hammock Coffee Table

Update: 5:55pm...We B Eatin' On Our Own!