more Buddy

Buddy went back to the vet on Saturday for another inspection. He keeps looking like he's not feeling so great and appears to be losing weight, even though the scale indicates otherwise.

The vet took some blood and did some x-rays. She confirmed that his kidney values haven't changed, they are still slightly high, just a bit over the normal range. I was happy the values are steady and not rising. With his vomiting and not wanting to eat, I feared the numbers might be worse. We've switched his food to kidney diet in hopes that helps.

A few years ago, we did an x-ray of his belly and learned then that he has arthritis in his lower back. It was time for another image. This one showed continued degeneration in his back and it showed his knees are actually much worse off than his back. That probably explains why he takes the stairs so slowly. Movement like that probably causes pain. We've started him on a different pain killer in hopes it helps him manage the pain a bit better.

Purrs for my precious Buddy are appreciated

FREEDOM!

Not long ago I introduced you to the SureFlap Pet Door, a programmable cat door that I installed on the back porch to keep Oliver and his family secure at night. All was going well for a time, until I started coming out in the morning to feed them breakfast and discovered Oliver was gone.

It took some time to figure out how he achieved his escape. The video tells the story.

With Oliver escaping whenever he wants to, he's been getting in more fights. Oddly, I haven't heard the fights, but he's covered in cuts, scratches, and scabs. With the SureFlap Pet Door rendered useless, now I need to come up with another plan! Mouses!!

That Oliver is one clever cat! Since he's perfected his technique, he's gone on to teach Pierre and MK how to open it. So now all of them can come and go as they please. I plan to ask the manufacturer for recommendations on tips to keep clever cats from using their claws to open the door. I hope they have an answer! Oliver!!

Gromit crosses the bridge

A few weeks ago I shared that my dear friend Lisa's chocolate lab, Gromit was battling cancer. I'm very sad to report that Gromit crossed the rainbow bridge late last night.

Gromit and Lisa

He passed surrounded by many friends who loved him dearly. The time was like an active lovefest - both beautiful to celebrate his life and heart wrenching to say that final goodbye.

Please keep purring and praying for Lisa as she grieves. Her heart is shattered.

Gromit - Thank you for your beautiful heart and kind spirit. You had such a love for life and a delightful soul. Your ability to make Lisa's face beam with joy was a true gift. I can picture you now, pain-free in heaven with your tail wagging like mad as you try so hard to patiently wait to be reunited with your beloved Lisa. Rest now Gromit and know you are loved and missed by many.

mighty Rose

Rose claimed the stack of my sweaters on the dining room table as her throne. She didn't even move when I sat down at the table to have breakfast! She never lets humans get that close! Every so often we see signs of her coming around.

A few years ago, Rose spent about 6-months working on her hiss. She would go into the kitchen or another room that was empty and she would hiss - over and over again, hiss... hiss... hiss... She tried out different sounds and volumes until she got the one she wanted. She would also try out the various hisses on the other cats after dinner. She would finish her dinner and hang out in the middle of the living room and wait. Any cat that walked near was subjected to her terrifying hiss.

All that practice has really paid off, as now her mighty hiss has the power to keep Theo from stealing her food.

Rose is the only cat in our colony who successfully keeps Theo from stealing her food and she does it with her mighty, well practiced hiss. 

Practice makes perfect!! Go Rose!!

homes still wanted

Tramp, Patches and Bert all went back to the weekend adoption event on Friday. Tramp and Patches are looking a tad less frightened. Bert is still pretty chill. May this be the weekend they all find their forever homes!

I'm so in love with Mork and Mindy!! How in the world are these two adorable kittens still in need of a home?! I sooooo want to take them home!

It took everything I had to resist Mork's tummy!

And on a completely different note, someone had some fun painting on the back of my garage Thursday night. Not very original if you ask me, rather plain. Who wants something so boring facing the alley? Not me. 

I thought it might look better if I spruced it up a bit. So I scavenged in my garage for spray paint and then letter my inner-grafitti artist out. Sadly, I only had a "holiday" green and a tiny bit of gray. I really wish I had some holiday red to go with the green so I could have done something more festive.

Happy Weekend!!

I heart my cardiologist

Thank you everyone for your kind comments and purrs for Buddy - they have warmed my heart and helped me hang on in the time of unknowing. Thank you, thank you!!

Since my Wednesday schedule was light and I wasn't feeling all that great, I decided to work from home for a little bit. Willow decided she would assist me in my work.

Even though she zonked out on the job, the purrs never stopped.

Everyday Willow gets more affectionate.

After over an hour of Willow's hard work, I had to get up so I could take Buddy to the cardiologist. Willow wasn't happy about ending her work day so early, but she managed.

The cardiologist's office is a good distance away, so I left really early and thus got there early. Buddy got to hang out with me in the car as we waited. He doesn't get frightened by unfamiliar space (or much of anything for that matter). So, he was happy to get to leave his carrier and explore the car while  we waited.

Then the time came to meet with the cardiologist, Dr. Woodfield. He explained to me how things were going to go and then we got down to business. He first listened to Buddy's heart.

Listening to the heart sounds

Then came time to look at Buddy's heart using the magic probe. I'm thrilled that he didn't need to shave Buddy's soft tummy furs. My regular vet always shaves off a bunch of furs to do an ultrasound. Maybe the extra schooling required to become a cardiologist teaches them how to work the ultrasound over the furs?! Maybe next time I'll request for my vet not to shave and see what happens.

Dr. Woodfield, using his magic wand to peek into Buddy's inner-workings

The results showed that Buddy's heart is in good shape. He doesn't suspect heart disease but believes the murmur is coming from old age. Apparently, it's not all that uncommon for older cats to develop a murmur as the heart ages. I'm so happy to hear this news! We don't need to do anything unless something changes in his vitals or his symptoms! Yahoo!!!

I really liked this vet, in fact, I liked him a lot. He's really down to earth and there is no hidden magic. I loved that he did the exam and ultrasound with me helping out. I got to be there to hold Buddy and comfort him, although, I'm not sure he needed any comforting, he was more curious and not the least bit frightened. As the cardiologist worked the ultrasound, he explained to me what he was seeing, which was quite different than what I saw. He saw various chambers of the heart and flowing blood, I saw psychedelic abstract art in motion.

I learned Dr. Woodfield's wife, Dr. Wilford, was the founder of Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project (our local amazing low-cost, high volume cat spay/neuter clinic). How awesome is that!! She's since moved on to do TNR advocacy on a nationwide level and is assisting with TNR research.

Full disclosure: the last two pictures of Buddy getting examined were a reenactment. Dr. Woodfield graciously cooperated with reenacting the exciting parts of the examination for the sake of you, all my devoted blog followers. Even though the actions occurring in these images were staged, the images on the ultrasound screen are authentic.

Thank you again everyone for your purrs and kind words. You all are an amazingly awesome community, thank you.

wait with hope

Knowing that Buddy has a heart problem that could cause him to experience a life threatening blood clot at anytime has left me feeling uneasy. I don't have enough information about the problem or any possible solutions to do anything to help him. As much as I have been working on surrendering such things, feeling powerless to help my cats causes me great distress.

All weekend, I felt like my anxiety was being held in check due to needing to wait to get more information from further diagnostics. The cardiologist I was referred to has a private practice and works out of several offices in nearby cities. First thing Monday morning I called to make an appointment and got voicemail, so I left a message and waited for a return call.

Tuesday morning Buddy turned up his nose at his breakfast. That combined with not having received a return call from the clinic boosted my anxiety level as I had to face the familiar feeling of being powerlessness over these matters. Not wanting to accept that powerlessness, I started doing research on other cardiologist options but learned from other rescuers, the specialist my vet recommended is indeed the best one around. This meant more waiting and each hour of waiting brought more acute feelings of anxiety - rapid, shallow breathing and tension in my chest. Even though I was working my calming strategies, the anxiety stayed near.

Late afternoon on Tuesday, I received the call I had been waiting for and amazingly, the cardiologist had an opening for Wednesday afternoon, so I jumped on it. Buddy's going to visit the best cardiologist in the area later today. Yea! Instantly my anxiety level dropped. I'm still worried about him, but knowing there is a plan gives me hope.

Interesting that the theme of Tuesday morning's devotion was "wait with hope", something that does not come easy for me. Waiting in the face of feeling powerlessness over something really important to me causes me distress, not hope. The longer the waiting time, the greater the distress. Also interesting that Monday morning, my Wednesday afternoon schedule completely cleared out. I went from having several meetings to no meetings, which of course caused me stress due to the reduction of income. Little did I know at that time that those meetings would have conflicted with the only cardiology appointment available this week. Maybe someday my faith will grow to the level where I can wait with hope.

Meanwhile, please purr for Buddy as we learn more about what's going on. I'll let you know what we find out.