livershuntcat, Author at Hope for Liver Shunt Cats

Fish Filching Fiend

Little brat broke into the “food safe” and ate eight times his normal amount of fish last nite! He’s okay so far this morning, but monitoring closely.

We had prepared cod for his upcoming meals – at least 1/2 cup of it. Some for yesterday’s snacks, and the rest to freeze for later. We placed it in the “food safe,” also known as a bigass, glass cake dome, which has worked very at preventing Pookie’s pilfering.

Until last night.

Totally my fault. Was motivated and productive yesterday, clearing out excess crafting supplies to donate. (An aside – do any of you know any animal rescue groups, or struggling owners who may want supplies to make things to raise money for their pet’s care? Please let me know! I really prefer to have my stuff go to help liver shunt kitties, or rescued animals, if at all possible.)

In my rush, I may have not gotten the cake dome flush against the stove, and possibly a small sliver of entrée was left – just enough for a mangy tabby’s little lizard toes to slide underneath, crack open the safe, and gorge on the contents like a deranged and starving piranha.

I left for the dog park to sneak in some knitting at 9:55 pm. When Cat Daddy got home at 10:07pm, the dome was slid across the stove, and fish flakes were scattered across the stove, the counters, the floor, the Newtster …

Yes, I smelled his breath!

Not surprising, as that boy inhales his food, and can clean out a full bowl of food in seconds. Ten minutes would be a veritable eternity for him to burp, slurp and gorge himself silly on whatever he happened to find. We’ve already had to put safety locks on the cabinet to keep him from breaking into where The Dog’s kibble is kept, and move any appealing items in the fridge up on the top shelves (and yes, we have caught him clinging like a limpet as he climbs the shelves to get to the good stuff!) So, a valuable lesson – Schnookie is a safecracker!

His usual protein per meal is approximately one (1) US Tablespoon. We’re estimating he ate at least eight (8) tablespoons. Immediate direct dose of Lactulose, followed by another dose three hours later. Needless to say, he did NOT get his midnight snack last night.

Yes, I confess, I punished my Pookie by sending him to bed without any supper!

Monitored closely through the night for any signs of trouble. He was fine, but I wasn’t LOL.

So far, he’s okay today. I, on the other hand, am a bit groggy and nervous, but hopeful that today will be normal for him.

Scaling Mount Refrigerator

Mount Refrigerator Most of our cat liver shunt friends have commented on their kitty’s appetite extremes. They seem to roughly fall into two categories – the Ravenous Rogues, or the Finicky Fussbudgets. Guess which our Pudgy Pookie is?

While diagnosed as a kitten with probable brain damage, (later rescinded as his HE symptoms got under control), Newt had no problems with food finding. Once he located a food source, he would return again and again to see if he could snag more snacks.

As we began implementing Newt-rition 101 and began cooking fresh meals for him, he soon discovered that the Source of All Good Things was Mount Refrigerator. We learnt very early on to ALWAYS do a fridge check!!! Especially when he was a wee kitten, it was too easy for him to hide behind his veggies. Now, it’s a bit harder to miss the ten-pound tabby swinging from the vegetable crisper.

Some cats come when the can opener beckons. Newt comes thundering into the kitchen when the fridge door is opened. Not only does he peer into the fridge, lately he’s begun climbing it!

Note his little lizard toes clinging tightly to the bottom shelf as he
scales the precarious cliff wall to reach the summit, containing the forbidden
fruit of Other Cat’s Food!

Pizza Pilfering Pookie

Little brat jumped on the stove and licked the pizza where I’d left it cooling. Fortunately heard the odd sounds in time to intervene before he managed to eat the whole thing.

I’m pretending not to know that he LICKED MY PIZZA!

Cat Daddy gently corrected me – “It’s Newt’s pizza now …”

So scoundrely Schnookums is resting after his pizza-licking dessert, nestled in my arm and making satisfied little Newt grunts while I nibble on his lizard toes.

I lub him.

Happy Howl-o-Ween Rant?

Hope that those of you who celebrate Halloween had a wonderful time. Me, not so much.

Oh, Newt was fine! His costume was that of a healthy, happy, slightly poochy-bellied, adorable cat with mesmerizing and exotic copper-coloured eyes.

Me? thanks to my cycle coming for the second time in less than a week, obviously I was costumed as an angry, menopausal woman. Spent the day whining and moaning under my heating pad, bemoaning my ill-fated womanhood, and cussing about hormones and the apparent diminishing lack thereof. Raiding the cupboards for scraps of chocolate and potato chips, and seriously considered ripping the stuffing out of one of Newt’s toys so I could have some catnip tea.

Don’t get me started on my epic Halloween rants! Years of stories, I gots ’em – similar to several I’ve heard from others. The “Hey” people, the fully-grown and bearded men, the non-costumed, pillowcase people, the “I don’t like that kind of candy,” and “I WANT more candy” brats, the “after 10PM beating down the door with ALL the lights in the house OFF” idiots, and on and on. Add to that, a neurotic, hyper-vigilant watchdog who barks. And barks. And BARKS – non-stop.

Almost all of our neighbors have also stopped participating, due to the ongoing trick or treater frustrations we’ve had in our neighborhood over the years. I think there were only two lights on in the whole street last night.

Strangest part of the evening was the 5PM doorbell ring. Too early for trick or treat, I thought. I ignored it. Then, pounding on the door. WTF?!? I forgot my self-imposed rule to NOT answer the doorbell for any reason, stomped down the stairs, tripped over the barking dog, angrily threw open the door, and yelled “WHAT?!?!”

It was as if Obi Wan Kenobi had waved his hands, saying “These are not the trick or treaters you were looking for.”

Not the trick or treating toddlers one might expect, but … wandering evangelists?!? At the very start of the witching hour?

Conservatively dressed and polite young women. Both were wearing some sort of Jesus church name tags, but, I could swear that one of them was wearing a small *tiara*.

I blinked.

I blinked again.

These were not the normal prosthelytizing visitors we usually get. Oh, yes, the earnest, “Jesus loves you” opening salvo, followed quickly by something about being saved (sorry, all I could think of at that moment was that I wished I had saved more chocolate in my emergency stash), and when I mumbled a “no thanks, I’m busy,” more earnest insistence that Jesus REALLY loves me.

“Uhm, yeah, right … sorry, I’m busy.” (Busy being an angry menopausal woman!)

Didn’t have the heart (or presence of mind) to blurt out the first words that came to my lips… “Hey, great costumes!” Still am not sure if they really WERE evangelists, or very clever Trick or Treaters. But it sure was the most unusual Trick or Treat thing to ever happen at our house.

Usually I make a costume for me and the Dog and we escape the worst of it while trick or treating at the pet places. Alas, everything was closed last night so we huddled under darkness. Only one small group of TrTers came by – nobody knocked; nobody barked; and, I sat quietly under the heating pad and ate an entire tub of chocolate frosting.

Ahhhhhh bliss.

A Poem for Newt

Once again, I am overwhelmed by the compassion and support of Newt’s friends and fans around the globe.

While celebrating yesterday’s excitement over Cat Liver Shunt Support Group celebrating its first Birthday / Anniversary, Newt was having another rough day. Not nearly as bad as last weekend’s episode, which resulted in the 3AM trip to the ER for precautionary fluids, but moderately symptomatic nonetheless.

On top of the ever-present anxiety induced by another round of drool and lethargy, I was dealing with a puking cat, an abscessed tooth, an out-of-town Cat Daddy, an incessantly barking dog, a bout of doggy diarrhea, and a last-minute set of major changes on the current project.

I was tired. Whiny, achy, emotional, frightened and frustrated. And … just tired.

So very, very tired.

But I was not alone.

With the well wishes for Newt winging their way across the globe, and a wonderful, empathetic pep talk from “the best friend I’ve never met,” I found comfort and encouragement, and the strength to soldier on.

Our little group has developed such a sense of community – of family – it’s wonderful and amazing, and so welcome – especially at times like these.

And to top it off, an extra special surprise arrived today.

There is a cat on our group, a very special older gentleman named Pingu, age ten, who has been medically managed for the last five years. He has experienced several major setbacks of late, but through it all, his mum is always welcoming the newbies, and leading the cheering and support when we need it.

Today, upon hearing that Newt was still episodic, she emailed him a Get Well Poem that she’d written.

A Special Poem for Newt ( as he,s poorly!!XX)
Reprinted with Permission from Gayla Lamb

I know this wonderful handsome cat, he,s gorgeous , his name is Newt
He has a wonderful mum and a wonderful dad and he,s just incredibly cute!
But he get,s these days, just like his friends when he feels all yukky and sick
So extra cuddles from his mum and his dad i think could do the trick!
It,s sad to see , to have to watch to see him sleep and drool,
To know he feels so awfully sick when he,s usually so bloomin cool
He,s Newt the cat, well he,s the man, a dude to all his friends,
Whatever he says whatever he does yay Newt sets all the trends!
We love him to bits, and we hate to know he,s having some really bad days,
And that we all want to help as much as we can in all our different ways!
So sending him hugs sending him love and sending extremely good vibes
From Pingu and me and Sharky too and all the rest of the tribexxxxxxxxxxxxxx

GET BETTER SOON NEWTxxxx

Folks, I got shivers when, a few moments after reading her poem to Newt, the drool stopped, he ate a bit of lunch, had a drink, a bath, and then, curled up comfortably to sleep.

Never underestimate the power of friendship, love and Hope.

Happy Birthday, CatLiverShunt.org

Just a quick note to say Happy Birthday to us. Our little support group – www.CatLiverShunt.org – is One Year Old today, and like any kitten, my, how we have grown!

From our very basic beginnings of an experiment in trying to provide real-time communication between shunt cat owners, and a group effort to assemble anecdotal information on caring for our shunt kitties, and through some growing pains, we have grown to include 62 members from around the globe, representing: Guam, Taiwan, Canada, Australia, Spain,Scotland, England, the Netherlands, and 22 of the United States.

WoW!

Among other things, as a group, we have:

Assembled a data repository of 147 discussion topics pertaining to the care and comfort of our special kitties, and our shared sense of community.
Unearthed interesting tidbits previously un-noted in research papers on the condition (such as the changing eye colour).
Generated a wonderful list of the various types of food and treats.
Compared various medication and treatment options.
Analyzed differences in symptoms and how to recognize oncoming episodes.
Celebrated our cats’ successes and milestones, and mourned setbacks and losses.

Cat Daddy and I are so amazed and humbled by the warmth, camaraderie and overwhelming support we have seen on this site. We thank each of you for your efforts to share information, love and Hope to fellow owners. Special thank yous to members who have made donations to help fund the site, and to our European Moderator.

And the true thanks goes to you – each of you – who have contributed and been a part of our group. Knowing that there are others just like us -dealing with drool, sticky Lactulose and odd behaviors, juggling schedules, coordinating menus, fretting over treatment/surgery options,and, generally being totally smitten with your kitten – has been a lifesaver.

Together, we have achieved what previously had never been attempted or accomplished. We are no longer alone!

Happy Birthday to Us!

On Newt and Nerds

Newt has been having a period of medium days. Not quite normal, but not quite symptomatic. He has been tweeting fairly regularly, and he had his first international video chat (the first Transatlantic Cat Liver Shunt Conference!). Too bad he wasn’t feeling quite up to his normal self.

He refused his chicken breakfast today, after being all cuddly, flirty and normal last night. Direct dosed 2 ml Lactulose, and he is now in his newest nest, right here under my computer. While he was lounging, I took one of those silly online quizzes.

Alas, Cat Daddy is right. He has always lovingly called me his “Geek Goddess” (silly boy) and now this quiz would seem to agree with his assessment. Apparently, I am an “Uber Cool Nerd Queen.” Am not sure if I should be excited or bemused. I mean, I know I have some pretty geeky tendencies, but had no idea they were that strong LOL.

To maintain my newly acquired status of “Uber Cool Nerd Queen,” I am compelled to point out that a more etymologically correct spelling, sans umlaut u, ist “ueber.”

::snork::

Site Upgrades, Transfers and Changes this Weekend

Finally looks as if we will be making the big changeover this weekend. Keeping all paws crossed for a smooth transition.

This is a test of the Donate Button for PayPal as we make some new and exciting changes to the Cat Liver Shunt Support Network.

Experimenting with ways that you can help us to help other owners of cats with liver shunts, and increase awareness of the condition.

Phase 1 of the major overhaul is complete.

Newt is on Twitter !

Visit Cat Liver Shunt

Nico Needs You

Hot and Sweaty Greetings!

We have been without power for the last 21 hours, and may not have electricity until tomorrow night. Am having internet withdrawals, and am going crazy not being able to access our little Cat Liver Shunt support group. (This is what happens when you have it on 24/7 – you forget your password!)

Made it to the library where they have air conditioning – woohoo, and doing a fast email grab to check and see what’s going on with the shunt babies. Newt is fine, lounging in the cooler areas of the house. We have iced his chicken and his ricotta in the fridge, so he’s good to go.

However, one of his new friends, Nico in the Netherlands, is in crisis. Nico is newly diagnosed, and from the email, it sounds as if he is in a severe hepatic encephalitis episode, and the vets are having difficulty bringing him out of it.

So, dear students, colleagues, fellow shunt cat owners, friends and loved ones, please send your vibes, healing energies, Reiki, prayers, whatever you care to share to little Nico. Your support has helped several other liver shunt cats, so am humbly asking for your Love and Hope to help Nico.

Will post again, once the power comes back on, or I can rig up a hamster wheel and generate some power.

The “Tour de Fits” Continues

Newt has had a couple of half-drooly, half-normal days. Today he has been in fine form with his spotted belly self – sleeping peacefully, foraging for leftovers, and then, eating barely half of his snackies. The last several days he’s been refusing to eat his veggies, so we’ve been back on the chicken / cheese routine, with a bit of cream he thoroughly enjoyed today. Hope that tomorrow’s fresh dose of Cheap Chicken Friday will entice his appetite back to normal. Or perhaps I shouldn’t fret about his “diet,” as his vet did indicate that Sir Chubbs was getting rather hefty.

Work on the next project for Major Corporation has been delayed. Again. Taking advantage of the downtime this week to continue with other client projects, juggle in teaching a Reiki for Animals class, and force myself to try to learn how to operate the spindle.

I mean, come on, if I can wield a skil saw and various other power tools (vroom, vroom!) surely I can handle rotating a small piece of wood to turn fluff into string. Right? Uhm … riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Part of my decision to participate in the “Tour de Fleece” (TdF) was to challenge myself. The premise of the TdF is to spin yarn every day that the Tour de France cycles. Today we were challenged to spin something difficult, as the cyclists face the Tour’s toughest mountain stage.

My mountain?

I attempted spindling. In public. Invited by an expert local spinner to bring my wheel, plus “any other fiber or projects” for “show and tell” and seated NEXT TO yet another real spinner, who was pounding rapidly and effortlessly on a cute little hitchhiker. (Note to non-spinners, she was not engaged in any wrestling ring maneuvers with freaky thumbed-out dudes. “Hitchhiker” in this case refers to an adorable little lightweight, easy to transport bit of portable spinning machinery.)

Knowing how frustrated and embarrassed I’ve been with my furtive fondling of fiber, spinning alone, behind closed curtains, or under cover of darkness at the dog park, you may understand how attempting to spin, in public, in front of real spinners, no less, may have been a wee bit of a challenge for me. A veritable mountain out of mohair, if you will.

(::giggle:: Mountains out of mohairs – sorry, had to see that again!)

I didn’t “tell” much, but I certainly “showed’ how not to spindle. I flaunted my novicity. (is that a word?) Made no attempt to try to and hide the mess – err, faux yarn – under the table. Arms flying side-to-side while attempting the long draw and control the frenzied hyper-twist without scrunching of face. Ubiquitious swearing was limited to non-verbal expressions – merely a few grimaces and grunts. Had roving slung from shoulder to shoulder in a festive garland of spinning celebration, and luscious pooflets were flying in my wake.

I managed a whole three feet!!! Roughly an inch a minute! At this rate, I’ll have completed one spindle of yarn sometime within the next 30 years!

Fortunately the real spinner was too engrossed in her smooth flying finish to even notice the pesky novice peering rudely over her shoulder, trying to figure out just HOW in the nine hells she made it look so .. so .. so easy! Did not drool on any of the real spinners’ yarn, or accidentally kick any of the other spinning wheels in residence. No real spinners or knitters were whacked with the wayward flying spindle.

And no one pointed and laughed! Well, I think I did hear some stifled laughter when I gasped in astonishment and blurted out that the last couple of inches actually looked like something resembling YARN!

Woohoo, yay, me!

Additional difficulty – carting the wheel up and down stairs, across a hot parking lot to knitting meeting, then back again. No luck with the first possible modern, temporary replacement part needed, but many words of admiration on Virginia’s elegance and beauty.

Not to mention a delightful discussion of how one spotted runty little tabby cat has continued to enrich my life with new and interesting paths and people. And poofs. Soon to resemble something akin to yarn.