inside cats

Full Leyendecker update

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The handsome boy has not cooperated with getting his picture taken, so you’ll just have to do with these two!

Is that adorable or what? 💖

We got a call from the vet fairly early in the day, and we were told we could come get him any time. They had kept him overnight again because they had seen a very small amount of blood in his urine bag before removing the catheter, but during the night, without the catheter, he’d had a large and normal pee, so he was good to go home.

He is now on three medications, including a pain killer and a smooth muscle relaxant. The general consensus is that he’s basically stressed out with so many cats in the house. We talked about focusing on adopting him out after he’s done his meds, etc. He will be on one of those meds, in decreasing amounts, for 30 days in total. They started him on it at the clinic, so this evening’s dose was his third day on it. We also got a bag of special diet dry cat food and several cans of wet cat food. If he is on it long term, we can switch to a cheaper branch, but can’t mix brands – so no dry cat food in one brand, and wet cat food in another. For now, he stays on the special food while he is on his medications. One of the things the vet noted is what with fixed males, they tend to get blocked more often in the spring and in the fall, so those are times when we will have to keep an extra eye on him.

The staff apparently all fell in love wit him. He was extremely chill and friendly, and did not act at all like he was sick. “He doesn’t know he’s blocked” was how the vet put it. Which does make it more challenging to keep an eye on him! They want him back in a couple of weeks for new bloodwork to check on his kidneys, because of his off-the-charts high potassium levels they found when they first tested him.

So we need to keep a close eye on him, and that means keeping him in my bedroom/office, and he is not at all happy about that. There is no way we can keep him on different food without isolating him, either. However, since he wants out, keeping him isolated is adding to his stress, which isn’t going to help his recovery any!

Nosencrantz and Butterscotch, meanwhile, are not happy with him being here, either, so that’s not going to help their stress levels any. He, on the other hand, it content to ignore them.

He used the litter box shortly after we got home, which was a good sign. After we gave him his evening meds, though, he went to the litter box, used it a bit, then went to the closet and tried to pee there, then went over by the water bowl and tried to pee there! He started yowling again, too. Hopefully, once the muscle relaxants and pain killer kick in, he’ll be able to use the litter box again without trouble. It will be a while before the discomfort ends.

As I write this, he is on my bed, chilling.

Hopefully, it will be a quiet night tonight. We shall see.

The Re-Farmer

Quick Layendecker update

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The boy is home!

He did very well overnight, without the catheter. The way the vet put it, he didn’t know he was blocked. His behaviour was totally normal.

Which means the entire staff fell in love with him. 😁

They also called him a miracle cat, because his potassium levels were so high, it could have killed him. I suspect his large size helped with that.

He is isolated in my bedroom with Butterscotch and Nosencrantz for now, and one of my daughters is spending the “night” with him. Which means I don’t have access to my office for now. I will do a proper update, this evening.

We are so happy he did so well!!

The Re-Farmer

Blocked – Updated!

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Oh, the poor baby boy!

I just got back from the vet clinic – without Leyendecker.

Our first surprise is something you can’t see in the photo. When we went hunting for him to put him in the carrier, we found him under a shelf in the basement. Well. Not really a shelf. The inside of an gutted antique radio in the basement where a speaker used to be. It had been used a nest when he was a kitten. The basement is cooler, and where most of the litter boxes are. When he came out of the shelf, his white fur was orange! Especially his paws were bright orange. I’m thinking rust, maybe?

Anyhow, we got him in the carrier, then my daughter carried him up the stairs for me, since I can’t do stairs well at the best of times, never mind while carrying this big boy. I got to the clinic about 15 minutes early, but they were running behind, so we ended up waiting about 45 minutes before going into the examination room. Poor boy yowled for most of the ride in, and much of the time in the waiting room, too.

My daughter had sent me a list of the symptoms they saw that I read off to the vet when she came in. One thing the girls noted was the first time it started. He had been using the litter box, though they couldn’t tell whether he was trying to poop or pee. By the time I finished reading the list, I think the vet had already figured it out. She gave his abdomen a feel and, almost right away, said he had a blocked urinary tract. She could feel his bladder. The poor thing probably hasn’t been able to pee for days!

We’ve been there often enough that they know we have limited funds. In fact, I have zero budget for any of this. My daughter said she would pay for it. Now, paying for the check up is one thing, but the procedure averages about $900-$1000, depending on how bad it is. And it would be done tonight. The alternative, if we couldn’t afford the procedure, would be euthanasia. I messaged the family right away, and before I finished telling the doctor that my daughter was paying for it and it was up to her, I got the okay.

All those commissions she’s been working so hard on are coming through for Leyendecker.

Once the vet got the okay, she quickly weighed him – he is 8.6kg/19 pounds – then rushed off with him to their kennel, while they prepped to put him under and get a catheter in him. I waited until someone else came in with the authorization form to sign.

Right off the hop, we’re at almost $475. They’re authorized for a maximum $1000, with a request to phone us if it might go over. I don’t know what my daughter’s budget is, but it will take a few days for her to transfer the funds from her PayPal account. The fortunate thing is, we haven’t finished doing our monthly shopping, so I can actually cover the amount until her transfer clears and she can send it to me. Meanwhile, my husband has even transferred some funds his dad sent him for his birthday to help contribute!

We will get a call tonight when they are done, to let us know how things went. He will spend the night at the clinic and, if all goes well, we’ll be bringing him home tomorrow, though from what I’m reading online, they tend to be kept in hospital for several days, because the catheter is left in for a while. We will find out more when they call us tonight. I think they’ll be able to give us the total damage by then, too.

One thing is for sure.

Leyendecker is now off the adoption list!

The Re-Farmer

Update: I just got off the phone with the vet a little while ago. Leyendecker was just waking up when she called. The procedure went well, though they did have some issues getting the catheter in because he’s such a big boy.

The good news: they found NO crystals in his urine at all. Which means the cause was along the lines of muscle spasms and stress, not a UTI. So far, he is recovering well, but he will stay with them for a couple of days, with the catheter in. When he comes home, it will be with a muscle relaxant and some pain killers.

The not so good news: his bloodwork was pretty bad. His kidneys tested off the charts, as did his potassium levels. This would be because he was blocked for so long. Usually, at those levels the heart simply stops. They want to test him again after a couple of weeks to see if he has permanent kidney damage.

Once he’s back home, I’ll try to isolate him in my office/craft room/bedroom. With Nosencrantz and Butterscotch still refusing to leave the room, I hope that works out. They don’t get along normally, but if he’s recovering from surgery, that may change. Keeping him here will allow me to monitor him and make sure he’s actually urinating properly. We’ll also be able to monitor his food and fluid intake and, hopefully, reduce his stress.

When I commented that he was off the adoption list, the vet actually said he would do better in a household with fewer cats. Which is true. It’s just difficult to justify after spending so much money on him and, frankly, there are other cats in our household that I think are more adoptable. The problem is, people aren’t adopting these days. All the shelters are full with mostly surrendered cats. The alternative is to start sending some of the fixed indoor cats outside, and I just don’t like that idea at all.

Meanwhile, we will do what we can for him.

The Re-Farmer

Look who’s back! Also, a trip to the vet booked

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Last night, as I headed out to do my evening rounds, I was quite happy to see Potato Beetle was back! I left the sun room door open while I did my thing, and he went straight in to his private dining area, and stayed! He was quite content for me to close him up in the sun room for the night.

This morning, he really wanted attention…

Dang, that boy is sharp!

He had no interest in leaving, though. I left the door open while doing my morning rounds. I came back to find him lounging on the swing bench, with kittens! He didn’t stay long enough for me to get a picture of them together, though.

Unlike some of the other adult cats, he and the kittens get along just fine!

On another note, I did a bit of a rush on my morning rounds, so I could call the vet clinic when they opened. Layendecker has been behaving strangely for a few days now. I don’t see him often, but the girls tell me he’s been very lethargic. The alarming thing is that, every now and then, he will suddenly start making this horribly distressed wailing sort of meow. Even the other cats will come running to see what’s going on, when he does it. About the only thing we can think of is that he is feeling some sort of intestinal distress. He doesn’t seem bloated or gassy, that we can tell, but one of my daughters observed that when she tried to palpate his abdomen, he would start panting. He clearly doesn’t like it, and doesn’t like being picked up, either.

I was able to get an appointment for him this evening. The clinic has greatly extended their hours, since the lockdowns and restrictions got lifted. I imagine they have a lot of catching up to do and, like with clinics and hospitals for humans, a lot of animals didn’t get the treatment or diagnosis they needed. As a “medical facility”, they are still required to require masking, but when I’ve told them I can’t wear one the first time I went in without one, they haven’t said anything to me, since.

Hopefully, whatever is wrong with Layendecker will just need some simple treatment, but of course, we worry. On top of that, I don’t have the budget for it. My daughter is paying for today, and we’ll see what the diagnosis and treatment ends up being.

Oh, my daughter just sent me a list of the symptoms they noticed. That will be useful at the vet’s. Interesting. Apparently, the first time the yowling started, he was in the middle of using the litter. It doesn’t look like he’s eating, either, though he does seem to be drinking.

Poor Layendecker. I do hope things work out well for him!

The Re-Farmer

Well, at least one will be done

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Crud.

One of my daughters and I had just loaded the 3 cat carriers into the van for their appointment with the vet, when my other daughter came running out.

She had just found the cat food bin in the basement had been knocked off the shelf, spilling kibble all over the floor.

Which means Tissue and Big Rig would have eaten during the night.

I went into town with all three, anyhow. Once parked near the clinic, which wasn’t open yet, but I had a signal. I texted the same person who contacted me the first time we tried this, even though I wasn’t sure she even had a shift today. As I was messaging her, I did see someone unlock the door and go in, though.

I did get a response saying that they would typically reschedule, due to the risk during anesthesia. Potato Beetle was alone in the sun room, though, so he was good to go. Then she asked if I was at the clinic. I told her I was parked outside. Next thing I knew, the woman I saw going in was waving to me at my window! 😄

She took Potato Beetle in with her. We’ve been there often enough, he remembered my daughter’s name – all the cat files are under her name in their system. Her computer wasn’t even up and running, yet, so she wouldn’t be able to check him in. She told me I’d get a phone call from someone else later, and we could do the paperwork over the phone, and the ladies will be rescheduled.

Well, at least Potato is getting done, and we’ll soon be able to let him out of the sun room. He will only need 4 days for recovery. After that, when it’s time to put Tissue and Big Rig for their fast again, we can use the sun room to isolate them.

One out of three is better than none!

The Re-Farmer

Butticcus Spotticcus

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Cheddar has a thing about invading my butt spots. Usually, he takes over my office chair. At night, he tends to jump onto the bed and WHOMP himself down against my butt. I’m so used to it, it doesn’t even wake me up anymore.

One morning, however, I found he was not alone!

Nosencrantz was managing to snuggle both our butts!

They seemed so perplexed that I got up.

The Re-Farmer

Cuddles

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Last night, I got horribly ill for some reason. I have no idea what triggered it, but it was very painful and unpleasant. I spent most of the night in the bathroom, unsure which end of me was about to explode.

Thankfully, whatever it was responded to some good ol’ Pepto, and I finally got some sleep. I woke up to this.

Nosencrantz had actually been lying on her back, paws in the air, but moved when I managed to reach my phone to get a picture.

She kept trying to cuddle me throughout the night. Such a sweetie! It’s too bad I had to move her every time I had to get up! I like to think she was trying to make me feel better. 😊 Now that I’m up and about, she’s ignoring me. 🤣

Whatever it was that hit me, I haven’t completely recovered. I feel weak as a kitten right now, get dizzy easily, and have been very nervous about eating anything. The girls were sweet and took over most of my morning routine for me, but it sounds like one of them is now not feeling well, either. It’s not whatever hit me, though.

We finally have a day where it’s not too hot to work outside, and here I am, unable to do the manual labour I want to do! *sigh*

The Re-Farmer