Wordless Wednesday

Monday Munchies

Hi kitties! It's Lishy here. You might remember our feeding tower that we love love loved. Here are some pictures of us chomping on our dental crunchies before Fui had his furs stolen and started his special food trial. We had a great time hunting our foods out of the tower. We whack each other on the heads when we're eating out of three seperate bowls, but are always very co-operative with the tower.

Suey and I like to stand on our tippy toes and stick our heads in the hole. I swish foods out the sides into the bowl, while Suey eats it straight out of the tower. Fui prefers to swish food out the sides on to the floor. The tower is away in the cupboard at the moment, and we are stuck with boring bowls. Suey and I get locked away to eat in the spare room while Fui is locked away with his special food in the study. Hopefully it gets to come out again soon.

Don't Laugh at Me

So, my mummy told me I would look handsome even if I was completely bald, so I decided to be brave and show you my haircut.

It's a little bit dramatic but is also a bit interesting because the tabby patterns on my skin are visible.

It's hard to see in these pictures, but my mum and dad and me have also had a good look at my man-nipples and the 'waterline' in my ticked furs where they change from black to white. When I clean my bald bits, it sounds very scratchy. I was a bit freaked out having them touched at first, but don't mind now. I got to keep the cool black stripe down my back though, which keeps me a bit toasty. I have some peach fuzz on my neck now where the fur is starting to grow back. Luckily we only have a week of winter left in Melbourne, so I won't get too chilly.

Please don't laugh at me!

-Fui

Wordy Wednesday

Hey everybuddy,
I'm back from my day at the v-e-t with the worst haircut EVAR. They shaved off all my belly furs, and up my sides too, and also both of my forearms!!! And I already had my neck shaved!!! I look a bit ridiculous, to be honest. I'm still working up the courage to let my mum post a photo of what I look like now. She said it's educational, but I'm not sure.While I was at the vet I had a new blood work-up done, x-rays and an ultrasound. Nothing showed up on the ultrasound or x-rays to tell us why I have been vomiting bloody stuff up. My blood results also looked good, with no sign of anaemia, which is good news. The vet had a few possibilities to talk to my mum and dad about. There is the chance I had an ulcer in my tummy, and when I was put on strong antacid medicine with my antibiotics it had a chance to heal quickly. She also thinks it's possible I have developed a dietary intolerance, so last night I started a two week trial of hypoallergenic food. The last possibility she raised was small cell lymphoma which we are trying not to think about. The trouble with small cell lymphoma is that it is difficult to diagnose, and even if it is the cause of the problem it wont necessarily show up on an endoscopy. Our vet said a two week wait would not affect the prognosis if that is the problem, which is why she recommended we try the food trial first.

Hopefully we'll have some proper answers soon!

Mancat Monday

Hey everybuddy,
We had a nice sunny weekend here, so we got to spend some time out in our garden. We all love to go out there, and chomp on the grass.

Fui is off to the referral hospital tommorow. Our vet encouraged us to go as we can get a second opinion, and they also have the high tech equipment that allows for advanced diagnostics if the specialist vet believes it is required. The good and bad news is that he hasn't vomitted in a week, and he has been quite bright over the weekend. It's good because he has been brighter and not vomitted. It's bad because he hasn't vomitted so we can't see if the gastric bleeding is continuing. His last blood results were a bit anaemic, which suggests it might be ongoing. He has done some nuclear poops though! Even Suey the Serial Bum Sniffer steered clear of him!

We are actually quite looking forward to the specialist appointment. One way or another we should get some answers which is what we've been wanting. We're just hoping she is going to say that in her opinion it was some kind of irritation in his tummy from something he ate that is now healed up.

Whicky asked whether Fui had any x-rays taken. He did have one done the day after his first bloody vomit. It showed (and we use this word very carefully but it's the word our vet used) a mass that our vet believed was a hairball, and some gas. She couldn't see any foreign objects.

Now, it's time to nom some more grass!

Fui Friday

Hey dudes,

So, we still don't have a whole lot of answers. We thought it was looking like I had pancreatitis, but the latest tests were leading away from that. We're waiting on one more round of results and then our vet will probably refer us off to the university. I also had a test come back saying I was FIV+. I tested negative as a kitten and had an FIV vaccination, so we're hoping it is the leftover antibodies from the vaccine. When our vet was speaking to the lab they were a bit concerned that I tested positive years after the vaccine, so this weekend they are doing further testing to try and determine whether it was the antibodies or the virus dna that the test picked up. We do think it's very unlikely that I am actually FIV+. I have never been in a fight or received a fight injury, so the only way I could have been infected is from my catmum. For me to be positive now would have to mean that both me and Suey had false negatives on our test, which is unlikely according to what we've read. But we're still feeling the stress a little bit.

Our lovely friend Miss Huffle Mawson is celebrating her 1000th post, and is holding a commentathon. She is donating 25 cents to the RSPCA Vic for each comment, and is hoping to reach 1000 comments. Please go and visit her, and leave a comment. She is one of our very favourite ladycats, and if you haven't met her already we know you will like her a lot.
http://hufflemawson.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend :)
Fui.

Thoughtful Thursday

Hi kitties!
Thank you for the happy blogoversary wishes that you left yesterday. Our 'distracted' mum forgot. It's been three years and one day since we started our blog. When we started, it was just me and the tabbyman, and we lived in Townsville with our foster sister Evie. It was in looking for information on other Devons like Evie that we came across Daisy's blog, and thought it could be a fun idea to keep a diary of our fosters.

Since then, we have moved to Sydney and now Melbourne, and found our new brother Lishy Lewis von Kittenpants. Of the 68 foster kitties we have had, 55 came to us while we've been running the blog. We've had 3 mums with litters (Stella, Dahlia and Galaxy), 1 adult on her own for behaviour rehab (Evie) and 10 newborns with their mum (Elijah, Ellie, Angus, Pablo, Daisy, Lily, Gus, Benny, Jonathan and Lewis) and 4 newborns that needed handdraising (Harry, Hermione, Freddie and Georgie). The rest ranged between 4 and 14 weeks on arrival. We have had 8 angel kittens who did not make it to their forever homes, but will always be in our hearts. Then there is Lishy, who while he came here as a foster is not counted in our numbers, as we know he was always meant to be one of us.

We love being part of such a lovely blogosphere, and have made so many wonderful friends. Here is to another three years and one day!
Love Suey.

My Update

Hi everybuddy.
I spent a very happy weekend hopped up on some special pain killers. I thought I spent some time riding a unicorn, but I'm not sure if that actually happened.

We have also been able to rule some things out. My diabetes test was negative. My toxoplasmosis screen was also negative. I also got my results back from my Upper Respiratory Disease PCR swab, which showed I was negative for Chlamydophila felis, Calicivirus, Herpesvirus, Bordetella bronchisepta, Mycoplasma felis and H1N1 Influenza Virus (yep, they tested me for Swine Flu!).

We have definately ruled out my lungs as the source of the bloody fluid, as I did a bloody spew the other day with lots of grass in it (sorry if that was indelicate).

I am being a super awesome very good boy at taking my antibiotics and anti-acidic tablets. Today I went back to the vet for another check (after hiding under the bed- mum realised afterwards that she wears the same pair of old jeans whenever she goes to the vet, and I figured that out!). She stole some of my bloods to run another blood panel and see what my levels are like. Except she chose the Old Cat profile to run. I am only four and a half! Mum says it just means that they do a wider screening, but I was still unimpressed.

We still have a long list of things we're checking for, but we're getting closer to an answer.

I do want to have a little brag though, I was a super awesome very good boy for the vet when she was taking my bloods. Not a single little hiss of rowl or paw swat. My little brother could learn a thing or 2000 from me, that's for sure!

I think that is the most words I have ever written :)
Love Fui.

Floofy Friday

Hi kitties! Check out my tail! Isn't it specTOCKular!? Hahaha. I had to get a worming tablet today as I might like to clean kittens a little too thoroughly. But don't worry, I gave mum some good wounds to nurse! She is feeling pretty lucky that the tabbyman is a good boy at taking tablets, because he has a few of them to take this weekend. He is still feeling a bit low and vomiting up some interesting things, and is quite tender in his tummy area. Today he started on a course of antibiotics and tablets that make his tummy less acidic. He also started on some pain killers, which have made him a bit of a space cadet. We're checking in with the vet again on Monday and if he hasn't had a big improvement she will look at referring us off to the big uni vet hospital. Thankfully he is still pretty happy in himself, and loves his cuddles. We're still waiting on two of his test results, but even without them our vet is confident that we can rule out any lung problems, which is AWESOME!!!

Have a happy weekend :)
-Lishy

Tabby Tuesday

Hi everybuddy! We don't have much news on my tests yet as one of them has to go interstate and one overseas. But we do have one bit of good news. The heartworm test came back negative! We were very happy about that, as it was a very scary prognosis if that was the problem. I'm doing pretty well, I'm a bit quieter than usual and am not eating quite as much, but am otherwise acting pretty normally.

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments. I am such a lucky tabbyman to have so many great friends :)

Thank You

Thank you so much to all my friends for the lovely messages you left on my mum's post. My mum and I are very thankful for all the positive energy and love that you sent out into the Universe.

I had a bit of a rough day yesterday. I had to stay at the vet all day and be anaesthatised for the tests. Because I'm a bit of a boofa, they had a bit of difficulty getting me under properly. They shaved all my neck furs off to do some blood tests, and I also had a deep throat swab and some x-rays. The x-rays didn't give much away, except for what looked like a hairball and some gas in my tummy.

After needing quite a lot of medicine to get me anaesthatised, I took quite a long time to wake up. I was only allowed home because mum has worked as a vet nurse in the past. It wasn't until the early hours of this morning that I really started to come out of it. Mum, dad and Suey were very happy when that happened. So was I, because it meant I was FINALLY allowed to have something to eat!!!

We will get my results back early this week, and then figure out where to go from there. Hopefully we will have answers soon.

In the meantime my mum has put a picture of my special friend Gingerkins up next to my bed so that I have sweet dreams (but in a very mancatly way).

Again, thank you so much for all your love and kindness. I am giving you all a great big cuddle in my imagination.

Love Fui.

A Favour to Ask

Hi everyone. It's the mum here. I was hoping you could spare some purrs for Fuifui. He brought up some blood-stained liquid today. We've had him at the vet, and she was pretty convinced it came from his lungs, rather than his tummy. When she ran a dipstick test on the sample at the vet, it didn't have the characteristics expected from vomit- it was alkaline and didn't smell. He is booked in for a series of tests tomorrow. We don't yet know what those exact tests will be as the vet wants to discuss it with the lab first. The vet has told us to be ready for an x-ray and a deep swab of his throat, so anaesthesia is a likelihood. She was also quite keen to send him off for an endoscopy, which she can't do at her clinic. We're all pretty freaked out here, and are very much looking forward to this time next week when we should have some answers.

He's a special boy, my tabbyman. All he wanted to do was give the vet some loving when she was giving him a check over. He wont be happy in the morning when he finds out there is no breakfast for him, but at least we'll be on the way to getting some answers.

Wordless Wednesday

Mates on Monday

This is how we spent our weekend. And most of today. Lazy, us? Why would you say that? :)