Hope for Liver Shunt Cats

The Newt Saga, Part 18

Thought we were home free last night.

Her Awesomeness, his beloved vet, re-assured that the Neomycin probably was not the culprit. Could be a combination of the impressive hairball and the acupuncture points, as those points can sometimes cause increase in appetite, or vomiting. She called Newt her little overachiever for scoring on both counts.

So back to last night. Around1030 PM, he began foraging, counter stalking, climbing, jumping, playing, bright eyed and bushy tailed (well, as bushy as his ratty little iguana tail can be). Cleaning, pouncing, seemingly fully back to all-normal.

The true test – is the Starving Jackal Piranha Hyena going to snap up his food with gusto?

Poured him a bowl of holistc canned food, and left it on the counter while placing the remained in the fridge. Heard a thump, then growls and grunts and slurps of contentment. Cat Daddy and I were both thrilled to see our hungry little boy perched halfway up the stool, with his front paws raised up on the counter, greedily gulping great gobs of goodness.

Hooray! Fist Pumps and High Fives of Happiness all around. Woohoo! Pookie Bear was back to his loudly slurping, chomping, food-crazed self! We can relax now.

Note to self “When are you EVER going to learn that nothing is certain with your little one?“

After he spent a comfortable night on my feet, I get up to find him once again moderately drooling.

Now to determine if it was the canned food that set him off, or what. It seemed logical to offer it to him at the time, as it contains far less protein than the straight chicken he’s dined on for the last 18 days, but then again, we know how sensitive he can be to food. ::sigh::

Once again, am wracking my brain and feeling guilty that this is my fault. Even though many of the other shunt cats have had very good luck with this food, Newt is not like the other cats in so many ways. In my joy at seeing his voracious appetite return, I probably should have made him wait the extra five minutes it would have taken to fresh mixed his normal home cooked meal instead of letting him have the canned food. It just seemed like a good idea at the time. And oh, how it did my heart good to see how he relished it.

Going to massage his liver meridian, and work those liver points again today. He ate most of his chicken breakfast, came out and helped me do the dishes, helped me clean the litter, and then wandered back to nap with his One True Love.

In other news, his vet has confirmed what Cat Daddy has been saying for months now – Pookie has gotten FAT. He’s not obese or critically overweight, but once he stabilizes, he’s going to go on a diet.

His poochy pouchy is now pudgy!

Oops! And here I keep telling Cat Daddy that I am eating much healthier than he does because I eat what Newt eats. Fresh veggies, chicken, a bit of cream (for my coffee).

Hmmmmmm maybe it wasn’t the blizzard of 2010 that made us gain weight after all

Oh, Puke!

Literally.

Pookie had a pukey this morning. Two of them, in fact.

Unmistakably his, as evidenced by 1) the fact it occurred in his room sometime during his breakfast; and, 2) they consisted of gobs of chicken. No trying to determine the Anonymous Vomitor this time, no sirree bob. Two piles, looked as if it was the entire contents of his chicken snacks over the last three days. Divided into two (2) groups, close to each other, and with a rough estimate of approximately one (1) US cup of chicken, plus a rather impressive, perfectly formed, tubular hairball, approximately two (2) US inches long and.75 inches in circumference, pretty tightly packed. Unlike the Anonymous Hairballer’s pitiful, random offerings of semi-solid squishies, this one was quite impressive.

No, I did not measure exactly, and no, I did not preserve it for the Hairball Hall of Fame. (But I was tempted!)

This came out of nowhere. After his acupuncture yesterday, he spent most of the day quietly snoozing on the bed or in the sunny window. Not really drooling, just seemed to be in his usual post-acupuncture afterglow. Around 10 PM, he really perked up, began wandering the counters, foraging for snacks, waiting impatiently every time the fridge door opened, coming to us and begging for food. Eyes bright, alert, seemingly normal. Ate his two chicken snacks with gusto, and without waiting for the newly customary hand-fed offering of a pinch or three to get him going.

He spent the entire night at my feet in the bed, did not crawl down into his nest in the closet, seemed a bit sleepy this morning, and wanted his hand-fed chicken pinch or two, and then he began to eat.

All good news.

And then, puke happened. Now he looks like he’s drooling a bit, little tongue slightly distended, eyes tired, but is sitting upright in the sunny window looking outside.

Am wondering if the Neomycin may be a contributor. My biggest concern is what seemed to be such a vast quantity of barely (if at all) digested chicken. It definitely seemed to constitute the last five or six snacks, so approximately 18 hours worth?

Will be sending this to his vet, and anxiously monitoring him for any change.

Mylo Needs Your Help

Friends, Newt’s cat shunt friend Mylo in Sandford Hill, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent UK has gone missing and needs your help desperately.

He has been missing since Sunday and his mum has put up hundreds of flyers, the radio has run an ad, the paper is supposed to run an ad tomorrow. Mylo is an orange and white tuxedo tabby, very small (2 kg), with the the stereotypically copper-coloured eyes

As a liver shunt cat, Mylo is on medication, and sadly, his latest vet results arrived today, indicating that his liver has deteriorated even worse, so it is critical that he be located. Her vet told her that Mylo’s worsened liver may have caused him to wander off and die. As you can imagine, she is devastated by this comment.

You have generously shared your love, your Reiki, your Hope, your well wishes, positive vibes, and everything else with Newt, and I humbly ask that you now do the same for Mylo.

We are sending healing and love and Hope for the Greatest Good to Mylo and his mum, and hope that you will do the same.

The “Eyes” of March

Well, well, well.

Happy Birthday, little New New! Two years old today!

Who would have ever imagined that the scrawny, dirty, abandoned, runty, one pound kitty baby who was going to “die any day” would be celebrating his second birthday as a sleek, glossy, muscular, ten pound, brute of a little cat?

The past year has gone by in a blur of overall, excellent health for my little Pookie Bear. A few bad days, but overall, a glorious journey of joy, Hope and celebration. Every day that Newt shares with us is another gift, another miracle, another reason to celebrate the mystery of life, and the courage of the kitten with the heart of a lion.

Newt has brought untold joy and sadness to Cat Daddy and me. But isn’t that true of all love? The heart-singing joy of good days, the heartache over the bad days, and the reminder to celebrate each day to the fullest, and to cherish the treasure of time spent with those you love.

The 15th day of March, the Ides of March, a festival honouring the Roman god of war and battle – Mars. Our little Newt has waged a ferocious battle against his portosystemic shunt and has proven to be a warrior of the highest caliber. Defying the odds, confounding logic, and soldiering on – winning, day by day, the war against his liver shunt.

In the peaceful, easy days of his robust health and well-being, it is easy to relax one’s guard against the insidious, merciless, mercenary lurking beneath his robust exterior. But one look into his mystical, glowing copper eyes brings back the tragic reality of his constant, ongoing war against the disease.

Beware the Eyes of March, indeed.

Fingers and Paws Crossed

Newt had a pretty stable day today. Minor drool this AM, ate breakfast, lunch and dinner snacks. Not full veggie/chicken mix meals, just chicken, but at least he ate. Slept peacefully most of the day in his nest. (No, not the crochet cat bed work in progress, but rather his very own, red feathered, Newt Nest.

Eyes bright, active when out and about. In fact, he’s foraging the counters right now, searching for morsels of yums. Minimal clumsiness, no ataxia, diarrhea in the litter, so it seems the Lactulose has finally kicked things into high gear. Backing off now on the dose.

His new antibiotic prescription should be in tomorrow. His vet is switching him to Neomycin, after having been on the Amoxicillin for a year. As I understand it, the Neomycin is not absorbed from the intestines so it should be more effective than the Amoxicillin at keeping the gut flora off-kilter and better to minimize ammonia production. Oh, and yet another reason why we love our vet? On her own, she had the pharmacy compound the Neomycin in Newt’s favorite flavor … CHICKEN!!!

I seem to recall that at least a couple of our shunt cats are on the Neomycin. A couple are on Clavamox, and a couple are on periodic antibiotics instead of daily. Amazing how the varied approaches are being tailored to each cat’s situation.

Dare we hope that perhaps Pookie will be stable and able to enjoy his birthday tomorrow?

Day 13 – A, Roller Coaster of Rapid Cycling HE Symptoms

It has been 13.5 days now since Newt hopped on the HE roller coaster. Actually, probably a bit longer, as we noticed pre-episodic symptoms a couple of days prior. But the drooling commenced at 6PM on 28 Feb.

Overview, to date:
The only way we can describe it has been that he is rapid cycling between HE symptoms associated with his liver shunt (drooling, lethargic, inappetance, clumsy, agitated, crouchy, purring) to almost back to normal. Mild to moderately symptomatic for an average of 12 – 18 hours, then almost normal for 12 – 18 hours.

Not once full blown crisis as in the early days, (with major drool, dehydration, masssive lethargy, violent agitation, complete disinterest in food) and yet, not fully back to the normal Newt of the past glorious and wonderful year.

All possible triggers, however remote the probability, have been analyzed and discarded.

We’re staying the course with increased Lactulose, have offered him the holistic, low protein canned food in addition to his normal, home-cooked meals, hydration is still good. In fact, he was drinking like a camel last night (in and of itself a bit alarming). Finally caught him urinating today, huge relief there.

Working all points anywhere around the liver meridian, stomach points, liver points, heck am just massaging / acupressure anywhere I can get my hands on him in hopes of stimulating something to help him over the hurdle. He’s accepting Reiki periodically, but not drawing heavily. Only a couple of times did he want massive quantities, and then, only for a short duration.

This morning, he was drooling, but showed much interest in the canned food, only to eat a mere US Tablespoon of it. Turned up his nose at the creme fraiche. A bit of the wobbles, and a bit clumsy, but landed neatly on the counter to help me wash dishes. Also helped me clean the litter pans, sweep and mop, and initiated play with the Lactulose dropper. Once again napping with his One True Love on his bed.

Am headed out to teach a Reiki for Animals class this afternoon. Cat Daddy is on duty until he leaves for his gig, so at most, Newt will be unmonitored for an hour.

His awesome vet has called in a new Rx; going to try another antibiotic.

Many thanks to all for their continued encouragement and support. I can’t stress enough that he’s so far, not critical – not even nearly as episodic as we’ve seen him before. This is just so puzzling, to be bouncing up and down, mid-range, for so long.

Day 13

Typing one handed – Pookie is demanding drooly snuggles.

No drool from around 630 last night until about noon today. Ate chicken for breakfast and lunch fairly eagerly. Went wading in the water bowl -a first. Half crouchy, but scratched at post and gnawed on his OneTrue Love. Insisted on posing for pics of current crochet experiments.

Intermittently wheezing little wheezelets.

Not taking his meds as well as usual. Can’t say I blame him; he’s usually eating them with his food, and this AM of four ml syringes was a bit much – 3 Lact, 1 amoxy.

Got him some tofu, now I just have to figure out what to DO with it!

Roller Coaster Ride, Day 12

915 AM
Newt had 24+ hours of upswing, much better, but still not completely back to “normal.” Appetite still not his ferocious starving Jackal, but ate all of his mini snacks.

Back to drool and clumsy this morning. Still direct dosing meds, hydration still good.

630 PM
Drooled pretty steadily most of the day. Seems to have tapered off a bit in the last hour. Doesn’t want any food besides his chicken. Looking a bit scruffy, but hydration still ok.

He’s sleeping in his box now.

Vet suggested seeing if he will eat tofu, and to increase his Lactulose some more. And to give him a rub from her – particularly along the liver meridian Off to find my Four Paws, Five Directions book to refresh.

Woohoo Warmer Weather

Enigmatic Newt is still on his merry go round. Seems to be upswinging since midnight last night. No drool, decent appetite, but … you knew there was a “but,” didn’t you? He’s half crouchy, not attacking his snackies with his typical gusto, and still quiet.

So, not a “bad day” but not a great day for him either. Going on ten days now for him, being “half in, half out.” (Any Constantine fans out there? LOVED that quote about cats LOL) And so goes another cycle in the life of a liver shunt cat.

Am being naughty today. Very close to finishing tax prep, and was not going to start crocheting the cat bed for WARL to celebrate Petey’s adoption until finished. But, had to get a tire repaired, and no sense waiting there doing nothing, when I could create something, right? So I bundled together four skeins of various black and white yarns – Lion Incredible ribbon, Fun Fur (I think) some fuzzy thing with no label, and some leftover homespun. Grabbed my bigass speed hook and went to town. Already have about six inches completed from this pattern. Cool! Now I think I’ll take the dogs to the park so I can crochet in peace. Will finish the tax crap later today, I promise!

Am really enjoying Ravelry (maybe why the taxes aren’t done?!?!?) and was excited to find several knit / crochet – alongs for animal charity. Combine that with meeting Petey, and I’ve been itching to create a snuggle, a bed, something more challenging than a toy to donate. Am hesitant to do the snuggles, because my edges are always crooked. So, working in the round seems to be the answer, at least until I learn how to do this correctly. But, the fun fur is very forgiving, and the cats won’t care if I have crooked edges and dropped stitches, right?

Oops, gotta go, Newt is demanding snuggles.

Petey Got a Home!

Yay, Petey !!!

Just got word that Petey was adopted over the weekend! He went to a great home with another cat, and a dog. Woohoo so VERY glad to hear it.

Many thanks to all of Newt’s friends and fans from around the world for sharing Petey’s info, as well as your prayers, healing energies, and everything else you were doing to help him.

Now I really must finish my tax prep so I can reward myself with crocheting a cat bed to donate to Washington Animal Rescue League in Petey’s honor and to celebrate his adoption!