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Shew! What a day.......no, week it has been! I am very happy to be home. This is the second time this week I have been held hostage and carried away to the v-e-t. However, this time it was a lot more pleasant and shall I say.....a bit of a relief. This new vet really listened to my problems, took a very thorough history, examined me, etc. She spent a good 30 minutes with me! Upon palpitating my tummy she said my intestines felt a big thickened, and given my history and current problems she thought it could possibly be inflammatory bowel disease. She wanted to rule out the thyroid, so she stole some of my blood and ran the T-4 test. The results showed that I am very close to being hyperthyroid, so we are going to re-run the test in a few months.

I was given an injection for nausea while I was in the office and was sent home with 3 medications! That is a lot of pills to swallow, but I am willing to take them if they make my tummy feel better! One pill is for inflammation of the intestines (prednisolone), one is for nausea (reglan), and one is to fight infection and also has anti-inflammatory effects in the bowel (metronidazole.)

I am very happy with my vet experience and was not as bad as usual. If I do not show progress in a few weeks I must go back for more tests. Please keep purring and purraying that this is the cure and I start eating again soon. I think the nicest thing the new vet told me, was that she would not give up on me. That made the lady and man servants feel very happy!

The outpouring of purrs and support from ya'll is so heartwarming. Thanks so much for all the comforting comments, we appreciate every one! We are sorry we haven't been by and visited ya'll much this week, but we will be back very soon!

I Want Action

Update on Cal

Cal has reverted back to sick, vomiting kitty, who will not eat. The lady has done lots of research online, and found that vomiting could be a symptom of a number of illnesses in cats. A friend asked if maybe Cal could be suffering from inflammatory bowel disease, at first the lady wasn't too sure, but looking at the symptoms, there are so many similarities. Vomiting, excessive thirst, weight loss, decreased appetite, etc. What really caught her attentions was that it can occur in cycles or the cat can have flare ups and remissions. Since Cal has been to the vet 3 or 4 times in the past year for the same symptoms, maybe these are flare ups of IBD.

Cal is going to another veterinarian today at 4:00 for a second opinion on his condition. We are going on day 5 of not eating or vomiting up what little he has eaten. This cannot go on through the weekend. We can no longer take the wait and see and let his stomach settle approach, we want action.

Please purr for Cal and pray that this next vet can get him feeling better again.

Getting Better

Update on Cal

This photo was taken 10/24/07, it was just after he came home from his dental cleaning and he was still a little tanked. The vet had to give him extra juice because he was being such a little stinker. He weighed 14 lbs that day. Today he is weighing in at only 9lbs.

Cal did not eat anything yesterday. He didn't vomit anymore since the update yesterday.... until this morning. This morning, Cal ate about a teaspoons worth of wet food and not 20 minutes later it came right back out.....on the rug. So once he was finished expelling his breakfast he was given a 1/4 tab of Pepcid AC. Afterwards, the lady went to Pet Smart and bought two different kinds of cat food for sensitive tummies, some acidophilus, and Bene Bac.

Cal with his favorite person in the world, the man servant. This photo was from 10/28/07.

Cal went right for Royal Canin Digestive Special 33 cat food. Before she could pour a little bit in the bowl he stuck his head in the bag, this was a good sign. She only gave him a small amount and he ate it! After he ate she gave him some Bene Bac. So far he has held it down, hopefully the new food agrees with him. Now she can return the other bag she bought.

Thanks to all for the comments, purrs, purrayers, suggestions, etc. We have some great friends and wonderful support!

**The lady wants to know why cats choose to vomit on rugs and not on a slick (easy to clean) surface. She has 3 small rugs in the whole house and the rest is hardwood/linoleum. She says it doesn't matter where we are, if we start puking, we will run to the nearest rug. hehehe**

With A Little Help From My Friends - Update On Cal

**Update on Cal**
First we would like to think all of our friends in the blogosphere for their purrs and purrayers for Cal. It means so much to us!

Cal is so glad to be back home from the vet visit. The vet performed a blood chemistry panel, which checked his glucose, liver function, kidney function, etc. It all came back normal! Yay! The vet said it was probably a sensitivity to his new food. The food upset his tummy and caused him to vomit so much that he began to vomit up a little blood. This is probably from irritation in the lining of the stomach or esophagus. Cal is down to 9 lbs, he was 14 lbs this time last year, so that worries me. He was his usual bad boy self at the vet, which makes it hard for him to be throughly examined. He was given an injection of Metoclopramide (Reglan) for nausea and vomiting. He vomited again when we got home, but hopefully the injection will start working soon and he can eat again.

I know some of you are lucky to live in areas where you have access to holistic veterinarians, in these parts we don't have any nearby. I would much rather use something natural to help cure Cal of his tummy upset. Does anyone out there have any advice for some good remedies for cats with sensitive stomachs who vomit frequently??

Thanks again for all the purrs and purrayers!

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Cal and Maizy Grace

It was a great weekend for fall bazaars and yard sales. Look what the lady got for $3 from a yard sale over the weekend. It was a baby doll bunk bed. However, when she saw it she automatically thought, that's a cat bed!! It needed a little bit of work, like plywood to go across the slats so we don't fall through and a little spray paint. Then she made removable mattress covers out of pink towels and ribbons.

She also bought an old, very dirty, bench for $5. She cleaned it up and put on a new coat of paint and pillows across the back. It is used for storage and extra seating in the living room for humans, but to us it is just another cat bed. She purposely did not add cushions to the seat of this one to make it less enticing to us kitties. We can just knock down the pillows and use those as cat beds.

We have about 6-7 actual cat beds in the living room alone and plenty others scattered about the house. However, no matter how many beds we have we would still rather nap on the counters and the sofa. We have heard a rumor that they might remove the pool table in the loft and make it a whole cat play/napping area for us!

**BREAKING NEWS......Cal is going to the vet this morning at 9:45. He began vomiting yesterday and this morning the vomit was pink (blood tinged.) We are hoping the pink vomit is just caused from an irritation to the lining of the stomach from vomiting so much. We believe the vomiting began because he is sensitive to his new food. We did the gradual switch like you are supposed to, but he may be allergic to it. I will post an update after the visit. Cal is a notorious bad boy at the vet. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst, they have him as a 12!**

Good Day Sunshine - Award

We received this wonderful award from Kitty Limericks! Thanks!!

Here are the rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog
2. Link the person you received your award from
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Put links of those blogs on yours, and
5. Leave a message on the blogs that you've nominated

And the nominations are:
Cat Banter with Kimo and Sabi
Sweet Praline
Manx Mnews
Kattonic Cats
Meezer Tails
Island Cats
House Cat Confidential

** We would also like to thank everyone for coming by and wishing Cal a happy purrthday! We have great furiends!**

Gimme Shelter

The lady was sitting on the couch on Saturday night watching tv in the dark, when she caught something out the corner of her eye and it totally freaked her out! It was the orange intruder kitty staring at her through the window.

Here is Cal watching her from the window

They gave her food, water, and a bed on the porch. She ate the food then went down stairs. She likes to sleep in the garage so the man opened the door enough where she could go in and he moved the bed down there. He is very brave to let the kitty sleep down there with his fully restored 1969 Chevelle.

Nom nom nom nom

She only comes around a couple of nights a week and never during the day. They saw her on Friday on the other side of the neighborhood in someone's yard and assumed that is where she lives, or maybe they just feed her too? She really seems to be well fed. The man named her Holley, not Holly, but Holley as in Holley carburetors?? Yeah, we don't know either!

They are going to do a little research and ask around the neighborhood to find out if she belongs to someone. If not, off to the vet she goes to make sure she is spayed and get her vaccinations. Maybe then she can be relocated to a barn.