Thursday, February 25, 2010

Day 42

I can't report on the kitties, because I am not with them!!

I made a quick (and perhaps slightly hasty) getaway northbound after an endless month of exams, of which there are more right around the corner!

Thankfully, Laura and Alex were willing to play as cat sitter for my fuzzy children. They've watched ET before, but this is the first time they are watching ET + Lacey AND feeding them raw. Before I left I packaged up about a dozen single-serving raw meals and froze them to make the feeding easier. I know they are in good hands, and it makes me happy to know that they at least have each other to keep company (although Alex makes a great playmate too)!

Thank youuuu Laura + Alex!!

=^..^=

Monday, February 22, 2010

Day 39

Things are busy, so I will just post a cute pic I snapped of Lacey.

She has been laying on my lap while I work on the computer for the last hour. She manages to curl herself up into such a tiny ball.

ET is passed out at my feet :o)

Back to Anatomy.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Day 35

Lacey is much, much better. I don't doubt that she had some type of GI upset, likely related to the Clavamox. Despite acting more herself (curious, less lethargic) she was still off her food. She seemed interested; she would get all excited when I prepared ETs food and fed him, but wouldn't touch the dry or the wet more than just pushing it around with her nose.

I figured out what the problem was.

She was holding out for the good stuff.

She INHALED raw chicken today (first time I offered it to her since she started vomiting). I gave just a few small pieces, as not to upset her stomach with a large meal, and she scarfed it right down. Fingers crossed it stays down. She's currently sitting right next to me on my desk enjoying a very thorough post-prandial groom.

She and ET have been working on their relationship...



I think it's going well <3

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Day 32

Well, Miss Lacey has not been feeling herself lately. She vomited on Friday. I didn't think much of it since cats do just throw up sometimes, but then that same evening she threw up probably a dozen times. She wanted nothing to do with eating and was not herself at all. I decided to take her to the ACCT clinic to get some peace of mind, as I immediately was concerned about a septic infection or an obstruction. She saw the vet, and the vet couldn't find anything in particular wrong with her. Lacey's abdomen was non-tender, she had gut sounds, and did not have a fever. They did give her 100ccs of fluid under her skin to try to perk her back up.

That evening (Saturday) she did manage to eat some dry food and keep it down. However, this afternoon I came home and found that she had vomited in the bathroom, and when I let her out she did it again three more times. Poor little lady.

I'm thinking she MUST have some sort of obstruction, since she has not pooped either. While it is possible she has a foreign-body obstruction (although I try to be really careful, as ET has a tendency to get into things he shouldn't), it also is very likely that she has a very bad hairball, especially since she has been doing a lot of grooming.

I have my last big test tomorrow, then I can be a full time nurse to the little lady. I'm going to pick up some Vaseline to give to her and see if that will help move things along. Of course, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that she is back to herself by the morning!

ET knows she isn't feeling well, and has been really sweet with her. He's sitting outside the bathroom calling to her now, but she isn't trying to get out she feels so yucky :(

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Day 29

After I chose to foster Lacey from ACCT, I realized she had been posted in CL a few days before. I thought about this again and just found the ad and saved it.

It has been nearly 30 days since I rescued her from euthanasia. She's an amazing cat. This photo probably shows her at her near worst, a few days before I got her.

Note the name "Bre." It's cute, but for some reason I don't think it suits her. Still says that on all her ACCT paperwork, though!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Day 28 - A snow day!

Lacey is 10 days post spay, and I was home all day, so she enjoyed this snow day out of her bathroom space. She and ET did a lot of wrestling. I've been sleeping on an air mattress on the floor of my living room due to the bedroom leak, and Miss Lacey and ET have been snuggling on the foot of the bed.

I looked up from my work and caught Lacey licking all over ETs face. They're currently playing (I guess they were upset I saw them).

Monday, February 8, 2010

Day 26

I would be completely insane without my cats. And if saying that makes me crazy, then so be it.

It seems like one bad or frustrating thing after another has been happening these last few days, on top of my 8 exams in 6 days, 3 of which are cumulative finals.

My apartment decided to start leaking after the 30" of snow we got over the weekend. I woke up yesterday morning to rain falling from my ceiling fan. Needless to say, it has been a mess and a disaster. Today I disassembled my room, part of which involved standing my mattress up on its side. Well ET, always one to lighten the mood, thought that this mattress fort was probably the coolest thing he's ever seen. He ran up it, down it, across, clawed on it, jumped out from beneath it, he was in kitty paradise.

And now, after a pretty crappy day, he's lying on my lap. Granted, its almost dinner time so he probably has an ulterior motive, but I'm enjoying his warm comfort, and his purrs.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Need a laugh/reality check?

I came across this amazing, hilarious, and probably very truthful site on a forum. Here are some of my favorites...

How to Tell if your Cat is Plotting to Kill you

(click on the picture for the whole image... not sure why it's getting cut out!)



Day 25

Lacey: she is doing great! I have been feeding her quite a bit actually, and I think she is really starting to put some weight on. Her personality is also starting to really show. I think her antibiotics are working, and now she's feeling a lot better. I thought she was feeling better before (when she recovered from her URI) but now its becoming clear that she was far from 100%, and now she's doing great! However, her "feeling her oats" translates into lots of meowing and bathroom escape attempts. I try to let her out for a bit each day with ET when I'm home, but they want to play so much, and her incision is still healing. Monday will mark a week post-spay, but I think I'm going to wait until the end of the week to try her out for longer periods of time.

ET: Fabulous, as always. He is such a great buddy. He's sitting right with me now on the couch, he's always close by. I think he appreciates me more when I spend some time at home after being gone many long hours on campus. He's really the best, and I've had him almost 6 months!

More pictures, soon, hopefully, when I have a free minute (rare).

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Day 21

Quick check in- everyone is well. I'm spending ridiculous amounts of time at school studying, but I just came back from feeding ET and Lacey a late lunch. Lacey is SUCH a champ. Her incision looks great, and she is tolerating her antibiotic very well. She's still coned- although I take it off to feed her- and she's adapted to it!

Hopefully I will have a moment this weekend to snap some more pics!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Post-Op

When I dropped Miss Lacey off at PSPCA Erie Ave this morning, I asked them to do another check up of her mammary gland. They said that they would, and asked if I wanted them to call me. I said that it wasn't necessary for them to call me, unless something was wrong.

Well, they called me at about 4pm.

My stomach dropped when I saw their phone number pop up. A very nice tech was on the phone and asked me if she had had kittens recently. I answered their questions, saying she was at least 6 weeks without kittens. She handed the phone to the vet, who turned out to be a vet that I've worked with in the past. The vet was very friendly and instantly assured me that her spay went well. She said, however, that her mammary gland was loaded with infection. I guess they were able to express quite a bit of pus while she was under anesthesia. The vet was concerned, but optimistic that 2 weeks of Clavamox (cat amoxicillin) would clear the infection. She said that I need to keep a very close eye on her behavior, because these type of infections can quickly spread to the blood stream and cause systemic problems.

I put her in the bathroom and she immediately wanted out!! A good sign. She was still a little wobbly, so I gave her only a small amount of wet food. She ate some wet food, had some water, and kept going back and forth until she ran out of wet food. I left her alone for about 2 hours and just now went back to see her and give her some more food. Her pupils are still dilated, but her incision site looks good and she seems herself, very lovey. Although, she is in a cone!! Hopefully she won't have to keep it on long, but I'm going to make her keep it for at least a day or so. Then I will give her an opportunity to behave and not lick her incision site and see if she can go without.



ET missed her all day, but is pretty unhappy with the fact that she is back in the bathroom, but I think she is even more peeved. Right now she is scratching at the door, ugh!