as i type this i am awaiting word on a sick little girl. she has been at the emergency hospital since about 1:30PM today. she has an enlarged liver and spleen and it isn't looking very good. her 2 brothers are sitting beside me as i wait for the call. in fact i think i am driving back to the hospital, for the 4th time.

Sickapie: genebone697: This is my brother's boy Baxter. He spent most of the week visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Mom said that he comes out of hiding to snuggle with her in the recliner each night. Otherwise, the only sign that he is there is all the toys that are scattered all over the living room each morning.

He will flop over like he wants his tummy rubbed but don't fall for it! He shreds anything that touches the grey fur between his white bikini top and bottoms

[fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net image 640x480]

/sorry for the blurriness, this is him holding still

Aww! Handsome boy!

/My Sophie and Olivia look away AS SOON as I click the camera.

I have a whole series of pictures of him from last month when he spent the weekend at Mom and Dad's place. One of the back of his head. One of his tail. One of his side and back leg. One that I think is the kitchen towel rack with what I think is his tail in the corner. Lots of 'action' shots. Finally got one picture when Mom picked him up and held him.

Mike picked him out of the litter because Baxter has 'character'


Baxter's baby picture; he is the grey boy on the left

FissionMan1: OlderGuy: Yup.. you have a family.. been there, yada yada.. first, get them checked out and get Momma spayed.. saves repeat issues.. if you don't wish to have such a large family, ask around to find possible good homes, after the kittens are weaned and big enough to adopt.. then accept that you're keeping Momma.. I think the quote is " cats find you "... tis' a truism..... you have officially been declared a good person, with the 'cat' of approval.. (unless you found a seal)..

Someone should photoshop a 'good deed of the week' seal for Caturday. Winners get free TF subscriptions for a month? Was that blatant enough?

tigerose: FissionMan1 I just realized that You are the poem I wrote earlier tonight..definitely cue the Twilight Zone music...

Which poem was this?

angrycrank: Oh my! Amazing how kitties, especially mama ones, know how to seek out suckers kind souls. Who knows - maybe beautiful Calvin's spirit told her where to go.


I'm thinking that you're right; Calvin did this. He always had me pegged as a sucker. Thanks for the medical advice. I don't really have the funds to get these guys checked out, so I will probably be dropping them off at the local Humane society on Monday. I will do what I can between now and then. They are currently sitting on a warmer with Ms. Fission keeping momma calm so they can latch.

If the Humane Society has a foster or feral support program, possibly they will help you out with the vet checkup since it keeps the cats out of their shelter (assuming you're willing to foster them for a few weeks until the babies are big enough for homes.) Or there may be a cat rescue in your region that can help. If there's any possible way for you to foster them, I'd encourage it - kittens may be the best thing on earth to have around when you're having a tough time. The 2 fosters I have right now have helped get me through a week that sucked beyond words.

What_Would_Jimi_Do: as i type this i am awaiting word on a sick little girl. she has been at the emergency hospital since about 1:30PM today. she has an enlarged liver and spleen and it isn't looking very good. her 2 brothers are sitting beside me as i wait for the call. in fact i think i am driving back to the hospital, for the 4th time.

Oh no! Hope things go well for your sweet girl

Well, I'm outta here - good night all! The furless housebeast (aka babby) is sleeping peacefully, so I'm going to get a few hours of much needed rest.

FissionMan1 - in the depression-era "hobo code," didn't a drawing of a cat symbolize that a kind soul lived there? I'm too tired to google that. . .but maybe your boy marked your house as a place of welcome for felines in distress. . .something to think about. :)

Good night everyone. Good to be home and feeling better, and good to be back on Caturday! Thanks again, Tigerose!

OlderGuy: An all-of-a-sudden question on a medical situation.. Scooter, a neutered male cat about 6 years old, stood up with a blank look, growled, turned around and thick drool started coming out of his mouth. went on for 30 seconds then he yowled a few times and then just stood there.. now seems normal... something happened, I don't know what.... any ideas?

I also think that this sounds like a seizure. There are multiple things that cause seizures in cats (poisoning, infections, trauma, tumors) so a trip to the vet is a good idea. My cat had seizures caused by a brain tumor.

Q_J: I don't know how much I'll be in the thread this week. It's been an ugly week for me.
Mom started complaining about a charleyhorse in her right calf last Thursday.
It gradually involved her entire right leg and up into the small of her back.
She is unable to walk unassisted because of the pain.
It finally got bad enough that on Monday, she asked me to take her to the the ER have it looked over.
(Her primary doctor is closed on Mondays)
She's from a generation that goes to the hospital for one of three things...

1 - Visit somebody
2 - Have a baby
3 - Die

The first two are not operative options, and we were hoping #3 was a slim-to-none option.

They only gave her an x-ray, and decided she probably has a pinched nerve and gave her some pain pills..

The next evening, she was in enough pain that she begged me to take her back.
(It was late, so we didn't have the option of going to a satellite clinic)
We got there to discover that there was over a 6 hour wait just to been seen,
So, we went to another hospital.

They got us in, drew blood, and did a Doppler ultrasound on her leg to see is she might have a clot.
The doctor there said it's probably a pinched nerve and gave her stronger painkillers.
Ultimately, we got back to the house around 3AM and it took me about 20 minutes just to get her
up the steps and into the house. I finally got to sleep around 5:30AM and got awakened at 8:30.

I've been a step-and-fetchit'n fool since Sunday.
Needless to say, I'm a tuckered out Jellyroll and the rest of RL has been beating me about the
head with blunt instruments.

I'm really not holding up well under the strain.
Prayers, thoughts, and good vibes are all welcome at this point.

My mom had something like that last August. It started in her low back and went down both legs in a couple hours, sort of like sciatica gone completely out of control. She was crying and writhing around (terrifying) and was also unable to walk unassisted, so we took her to the hospital at like 2am.

She was in the hospital for almost THREE WEEKS. They had her on Neurontin (since it seemed to be nerve thing) and Oxycodone because the pain was beyond comprehension. The drugs barely helped and she started getting atrial fibrillation from the stress, so they put her on an IV beta blocker to smooth things out.

She saw a neurologist, a cardiologist, and an infectious disease guy and none of them could figure it out. She had 2 spinal taps and 2 MRIs. No sign of bacterial infection, but a very tiny jump in white count, which can indicate a virus. But they could not isolate any virus. They drew blood to test her CRP (a marker of inflammation) and it was something over 60, when normal is less than 1. WTF!?

With the pain somewhat managed, they sent her home after a couple weeks with drugs. She was doped up pretty seriously and it was really scary to watch her beg for drugs - she's a strong, independent psychologist and seeing her like that freaked me out.

Things gradually subsided bit by bit but she had residual neuropathy in her feet for months and felt like things in her legs just didn't work right. She started yoga a few months ago and last week was the first week she got back on her treadmill. She can't walk for as long as she used to and still has some tingling in her toes from time to time, but it's slowly lessening. Nerve damage, I guess. They never did figure out what was wrong with her.

Anyway, your mom's symptoms made me think of that story. I hope things go better for your her! Sorry for rambling.

sherpa, your Calvin picture made me blubber shamelessly. And Dragon looks exactly like my sweet boy Robbie, who crossed the Bridge a few years ago. I don't know how to post pictures though, or else I'd prove it. I still blubber shamelessly over him and his sister Tandy, who crossed before him. If I had a flower for every time I thought of them, I could walk through my garden forever.

So much sad on Fark this week. My thoughts and hugs go out to everyone who needs them.

/too overcome with the sup-sups to crack wise about dust, etc.

neener neener: OlderGuy: An all-of-a-sudden question on a medical situation.. Scooter, a neutered male cat about 6 years old, stood up with a blank look, growled, turned around and thick drool started coming out of his mouth. went on for 30 seconds then he yowled a few times and then just stood there.. now seems normal... something happened, I don't know what.... any ideas?

I also think that this sounds like a seizure. There are multiple things that cause seizures in cats (poisoning, infections, trauma, tumors) so a trip to the vet is a good idea. My cat had seizures caused by a brain tumor.

I am going to third this. I would def take him into his regular vet first thing in the week if possible.

Hello guys! I have been lurking all weekend but unable to post due to "babysitting" a dear freind who just had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled. I just didn't have the heart to leave him in the barracks all alone with no one to take care of him. My condolences to those with sick kitties/ parents , and those who have lost kitties to the rainbow bridge.

Hugs and skritches to you all

Thank goodness Obama didn't eat the dog or the kittens wouldn't have stood a chance

sherpa18: FissionMan1: My poor kitty Calvin died on Tuesday I miss my kitty. :-(

I'm sorry for your loss. [i415.photobucket.com image 458x640]

Thank you sherps I am keeping this picture.

angrycrank: FissionMan1: Well Farkers, after posting about my poor kitty Calvin earlier today (thank you for all the well wishes guys, it made me feel much better), guess who showed up on my doorstep this afternoon?

[i161.photobucket.com image 640x480]

[i161.photobucket.com image 640x480]

Momma cat was walking around out front, and after a short inspection of some gooshy food, she was in our apartment. She wouldn't stop meowing, had large teets, and was generally restless. We put a harness on her about an hour ago and she led us to 4 very healthy (minus one eye infection) 3 week old kittens. What am I to do???

Oh my! Amazing how kitties, especially mama ones, know how to seek out suckers kind souls. Who knows - maybe beautiful Calvin's spirit told her where to go.

Have you had babies before?

Update: Kittens are probably 2x the size today. The eye infection may not actually be an eye infection. I think it was just crust from this one opening its eyes late. We will see how it develops over the next 12 hours. There are no vets or local shelters open today except emergency services. Unlike yesterday, they have all found their voices today and are all generally moving between the warm spots and cool spots. Looks like success! Now to find owner/adopters/suckers!