Kitty Laryngitis

Two weekends ago, we went away to visit my parents (in another city) for about 4 days. We had someone looking after Yoko while we were gone, but for only one day - since she's usually okay on her own.
When we got home, she was making this horrible low scratchy meow at us. She normally has a pretty deep meow (being part Siamese), but this was way worse. After some time at home, we realized that not only was her meow affected, but her purring and breathing as well (would hack really hard and cough if she purred, and wheeze while breathing).
I figure she had been meowing a lot while we were gone, which she often does, which caused her to irritate her voice box. I thought it would clear up in a couple of days.
Six days later, she still had the problem. She was no longer eating her dry cat food, so we went out and bought her some cans of soft stuff. Since she appeared to be in pain, I decided it best to call her doc to have a look at her.
Doc took her (after my begging him, as it was near their closing time on a weekend) and gave her the exam.
Unfortunately, he didn't have very much to offer me. As I had already done research on the condition, he and I both came to the conclusion together that an URI was out of the question - as she had not been around other cats, had never been infected with it in the past, and showed no other signs of it. The damage is fully located in her larynx (he listened to the gurgle with the stethoscope). He said that antibiotics would be useless on her, and could possibly even put more risk on her than help her in any way (since she's an old cat).
When I went home, I did some poking around and found this site, which seems to be bang on the nose to what's going on with her. I've heard of Laryngitis for cats before, but always thought it was a pretty rare thing.
Wondering if anyone has run into this before with their kitty? Yoko is still sick with this, with no signs of improvement after over a week. I've read it could take weeks to get better -- I really hope it does. She looks pretty uncomfortable.

I've put her water and wet cat food dishes beside her bed so she doesn't have to walk upstairs while she's not feeling very well.

Snapped this picture when she turned around had a seat in it.

Silly girl.

Unfortunately, we also found out some other news while we were at the doctor that I hadn't anticipated.

Yoko has also developed a heart murmur, swollen kidneys, and dropped 1.5 kg in weight since her last visit to the doctor.

About a month and a half ago, she got locked in our foster room for several days by a Real Estate agent (an unhappy story on its own.....). She became so severely dehydrated that she could have died if left any longer. She was delirious when we found her. We had to bring her in to have her put on IV to get her fluids back up. She did come back from it, but she hasn't been the same since. I know she has become really boney and her movements slow - so when he told me that she was still dehydrated (even though she has water bowls around the house at all times), I wasn't surprised.

This new information from the vet about her now most likely having kidney disease (has the symptoms), and possibly heart problems, makes me think that that room-locking-in episode had a lot to do with it. I mean, I know she's almost 18, she's not a kitten anymore... but, I'm sure it didn't help towards her health.

We're a bit worried about her. Vet says that this sickness with her throat may be enough to 'push' her organs over the edge, if they're in a failing stage. But, we're holding on that she'll pull through. I'm keeping my hopes up for her because she's been a trooper through many other sicknesses in the past. She's still got a smile on her face and a (crackly) purr to share with the family. We're making sure to give her lots of love and cuddles and spoiling her rotten (hard to believe she can be spoiled even more than she is now :P).

We also plan to have her come with us the next time we travel, just so we can keep an eye on her.

I know that not many people stop by the blog much these days... but, for anyone who's followed and virtually got to know Yok - I thought it would be worth a share for those who care. 

I'll keep up with any updates on her health. And pictures, too, of course. :)

Meow-ry Christmas Everyone! ♥♥♥

~~~kittykye=^..^= and Family

I see you eyeing my smiley cookie....

Warmth

Every once in a while she'll take a break from the heated bed (yes, in front of the fireplace!), to lie on the floor to cool off. Most of the time it only takes a couple of minutes before she's right back there, snoring in the heat. That cat loves the warmth like I've never heard of!

Living amongst the many, many colourful toys

But, she doesn't seem to mind one bit.

A test

Trying to see how to post from my iPad.

Cat Stuff

In response to Catherine's post -- I, too, have this mug! Small world!

Also, I wanted to show the awesome shirt I bought from icanhascheezburger.com at their LOLmart :

I can't help but laugh at poor little Maggie over at Love and Hisses every time I wear it. That Mama cat is a champion in my book! (This post, especially!)

(Sorry the shirt is so wrinkled... I just took it out of the dryer and who has time for ironing, really?)

Hurray for summer!

And napping in the warm, sweet air that wafts in through the window :)

Turning 17

Yoko turned seventeen years old on April 24th. She is still as youthful and beautiful as she was when she was a kitten.
She amazes me every day with how terrific she is. She really is the best cat anyone could ever ask for. :)

Yoko and The Boy

I'm totally surprised at how well Yoko has been dealing with the introduction of a new baby in the house. I would think that a large majority of cats would freak out in some way or another, but she's really accepted it with ease.

The first couple of days, when we decided to lock her out of our bedroom, you could tell she was a bit peeved and confused. But luckily, I had my Mom staying with us, so Yoko just warmed up to her during that time instead.

Then after testing the waters a bit with a slow introduction of the baby, it only took a short time for her to act like she didn't even notice he was there. To the point of wanting to come up on my lap and almost walking right across his face.

When we realized that there was going to be no issues (other than a bit of jealousy and demand for attention from us), we allowed her to come back into the bedroom again. The baby sleeps in a bassinette, and knowing that she wouldn't be interested in going in there to harm the baby, she was welcome to sleep with us again.

Now there's always a fight for a position on my lap instead. Most of the time the baby wins, as I'm usually in the middle of a feeding. She does occasionally score the spot if the baby is having Daddy time though.

The crazy thing is, is that she's really shown respect for the fact that he's here now. After a couple of weeks of just ignoring his presence, she has now really warmed up to him. She wants to cuddle with him just like she wants to cuddle with us. Wrapping her arms around him and falling asleep with her chin down on his lap, and even giving big slurpy kisses on his head! 

Doug and I are still very cautious of her, of course, because she has big whopping claws that could accidentally slip at any time - so the two are never alone together in the same room. But, it's not uncommon to see the four of us cuddled on the couch watching a movie together (usually with both baby and cat in my lap).

Yoko really is the best cat anyone could ever ask for. She may not be great with the kittens, but she knows that this little man is here to stay.

The only thing that she probably doesn't like, is when it's time for a feeding and the screaming commences..... then she's no where to be seen. ;)

Elliott Update

Thank you for you for all the support I received regarding little Wesley. He is certainly missed, and it's nice to see all the people who will remember him.

I did leave out information on little Elliott (L) from my last post though.
While Wesley had suffered most of his life, Elliott has also had his share of problems too. He hasn't been as sick as Wes, says Ann, but he hasn't always been the healthiest kitty either. She still takes him to the doctor to have him checked out. But, from what I make of it, he seems to be doing okay.

She sent me a quick snapshot of him from her cell phone after I spoke with her that I'd like to share. :)

 

He's so big now! 

She says that he has a bit of an aggression problem, probably due to the CH. I've always thought he was much tougher than Wesley was, though I always cracked it up to be that he took after Rosie's wild and anti-social ways (maybe it's also part of it). But she was told that the CH possibly has a hand in it because a) he gets frustrated that he can't walk when he wants to play, and b) he was never neutered because his 'boys' never really descended properly. 

I hope to have more updates on Elliott in the future. I've also asked her to send me some pictures of Wes in his last days so I have them to remember him by (but I haven't got them yet.. which is understandable, as she's a busy woman).

I will make sure to post anything that comes in though, if/when I do get it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, it's spring (well, maybe not "warm" spring in Northern Ontario :P). Don't tell Doug, but I'm getting the kitten itch lately. I haven't heard from the shelters this year, but it could be because the Petsave coordinator knows we were expecting a baby, and I'm not on the SPCA list this year. 

I wonder if I'd get in trouble for showing up at home with a litter? I can handle a newborn and 6 kittens! 

...somehow I think I'd end up with my bags packed. But......maybe I'll mention it and see where it goes. ;)

An arrival and a departure...

Spring is already just around the corner.
And on sunny March 8th, as I sat in the kitchen, I was reminded of my CH boys.

That day marks their one year anniversary of life. I remember sitting there a year ago March 7th, waiting for Rosie to pop at any time. When that evening, little Oscar was born. After a very difficult realization that Rosie was not interested in her kitten, we took it upon ourselves to help him out by putting him in a homemade incubator box and getting him a bottle to feed.

The next morning, two more little squirts were born. Wesley and LH (later named L, then Elliott).

We tried to put them all with Rosie, but only L was accepted....
That night, we lost Oscar... and poor Wesley struggled with seizures. At that point we didn't know what was wrong with them. But we did everything we could to save them. As weeks passed, I was able to hand-rear Wesley, while Rosie took care of L.

After three weeks of feedings and cleanings on my holidays, I had to go back to work, so Doug would come home on lunch hours to take care of Wes. We found out that Wes was a very sick little kitten, and food would go straight through him. When CH was diagnosed, our shelter manager suggested putting them down, as their quality of life would be terrible. There was a great deal of argument on this blog, and I was bombarded daily by emails from CH cat owners, and it went huge.

We decided to take it upon ourselves to hold onto them and find an owner for these little guys. After searching through all the CH blogrings, communities in Ontario, and facebook site, we very luckily found a very caring woman four hours south of us willing to add the boys to her CH family. We jumped on the opportunity and decided to drive our boys down, where they would have a fur-ever home.

Both kittens still could not walk, eat, or bathroom on their own, and little Wesley still showed many signs of neurological problems, but she worked from home and had the time and effort to look after them. We could not believe our luck.
And of course, when we got there and met her and her fur-family, we knew they had the perfect home. I was so so so happy.

We got many phone calls and the occasional email (one with pictures) with updates on our boys. They were still struggling, but they were getting by. I posted videos in a previous post of them playing.

When I got sick from my pregnancy in early December, I lost touch with her. And it wasn't until March 8th, on their birthday, a couple of weeks after I gave birth to my own son, did I think to email her to wish them a happy birthday and to see how they were doing.

Days went by and I got no response. Until this past weekend.

She apologized... as she couldn't bring herself to email me... and it took great courage for her to muster up a phonecall... to let me know the news.

A few weeks prior to my email... our little Wesley had passed over to Rainbow Bridge...

He had become so sick, and his seizures had become quite bad. She rhymed off various things that he had been diagnosed with (aside from the CH).... which I only half listened to, as I just sat there in shock and sadness. His little body, even though about 6 lbs, just couldn't handle it. He really was a sick little guy from the beginning, and well, while I'm not terribly surprised with the news... it severely breaks my heart.

I debated on the post here, but I know I had so many people follow the story, I think it only seems fair to tell you, so that he can be remembered... That sweet little face will always be in my heart.

And, I can't help but think that there may be a part of him in our new boy, as around the time that Wesley passed was the exact same time that our Andrew was born. Maybe his spirit passed by Rainbow Bridge right into our boy. I know that he's certainly sweet enough to be.

 

 

Good bye sweet Wesley

and Hello sweet Andrew

 ♥

--------------------------

~To read about our new babe, click here.

The New Site

Well, I've got it started. It's still in "basic" stage, as the banner and overall look will need some TLC. But, it's given me a start for my posting right now, if anyone is interested.

Visit here.

Haven't forgot about this place either. Will be getting a post in soon :)

Hmm.. What to do?

So, for the next little while I'm going to be debating on what to change about this site, and where I should start with my new site.

Not that many people are visiting right now because of my absence, but if you are stopping by and things are looking a bit crazy, it's just because I'm starting to make some changes.

It also may get stuck like that for a while, since our little guy is due to make an appearance in about 2 1/2 weeks, but I will try to accomplish what I can before then :)

I'm home now on bed rest until that day, so I'm hoping that I'll get the time in that I want.

Back soon! :)

 A handmade Yoko stuffy for the baby.

(made by Mom-in-law)

Just a quick Hello!

To say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (belated!) to all you wonderful folk out there.

I would have posted sooner, but I've been hospitalized since mid-December (don't worry, everything is gonna be okay now).

My New Years Resolution is to start blogging again. Both on Crazy Cat Lady (with a blog makeover) and a new blog that will be coming for my little bundle to be (only 7 weeks to go!).

I haven't stopped reading all of your sites. I'm still here from a distance, checking in with you all every day :)

So, I hope everyone has a wonderful 2011! I'll see you soon :)

~kittykye