Goodbye my feline friend

Today we had to say goodbye to Trouble. It was so hard.
He was 20 years and 7 months old.
Even though I only had 7 years with this cat, he became my buddy real quick. Smart, funny, a great communicator and a total brat. That's not all. He sat with me all day when I was sick. He woke me up when I fell asleep downstairs in front of the TV and led me upstairs to bed. There was always a warm spot at the foot of my side of the bed, and he would let me put my feet under the covers under him during winter to keep them warm. He kept me sane when the husband was out of town, which was every week.

Now, my feet will always be cold. But I will always have wonderful memories of the only cat that has kept my heart warm these seven years.



And I thank you for being Jason's best friend for the past 20 years. You made our family complete.

I hope they have your favorite flavor of Greenies up in cat heaven.

I miss you Trouble. I just wished I could pet your head for one last time....Goodbye my feline friend.

Trouble gets to be on the wall of fame

Our neighbor, who is a very talented artist, offered to draw a portrait of Trouble.
She enjoys painting animals and has a lovely studio in her home.
This really looks like Trouble... except in real life, he usually almost always has a furball hanging out of his mouth.

Thank you Suzie !

Remember our wonderful groomer who so graciously rescued us and a sticky cat and did not want to accept our money?

Well, I ordered a print from this lady in Canada and it came in the mail today! I'll get it framed and will give it to the wonderful groomer this week.

Trouble gets into trouble again

We have been struggling to keep fruit flies out of the house this summer. They seem to like congregating around Trouble's food bowl and it's been really annoying. To him and to us. I've placed two bowls of apple cider vinegar and managed to trap a few fruit flies but the problem still persisted. We finally bought a sticky indoor fly trap and that did the trick. Bye bye fruit flies.

Then....

We came home pretty late last night and saw that the cat food bowl was upside down and across the hallway and the metal stand was flung in another direction. That's pretty unusual. Looks like something only an angry or distressed cat will do.
And then we noticed the missing sticky indoor fly trap.

Oh shucks.

So we find the cat, and true enough, that trap was stuck to his back side and tail and he was one unhappy cat. It was a struggle just pulling that thing off from him. Being a long haired cat, it was a total mess. He had like two dozen dead fruit flies stuck to his fur, and it was a total sticky mess.

We put him in the bathtub, put on our latex gloves, got a bottle of cleaning alcohol and cooking oil and a rag and tried washing the stickiness off. Did not work. We threw him in the shower, washed him off with shampoo. Did not work.

It left us with a terribly annoyed and pissed off cat.

Jason called the groomer (it was almost midnite now) and left her a message telling her we have a crisis.

This afternoon, the very nice groomer called and told us to bring Trouble in. She told me to stay and help her hold him down while she clipped his hair to get the sticky mess off.
It was tough. Trouble was hissing and he had his fangs out all the time, yelling and cursing us.

After the ordeal, the very nice groomer sent us home and did not want to accept our money.
She's an angel that groomer.

So we're home now. Trouble is not sticky anymore but he sure looks funny with a patchy haircut.

Trouble's little excursion

Early Monday morning, we made the trip to Huntersville for Trouble's Radioactive Iodine treatment. Trouble was a little edgy and nervous in the car so I sat in the backseat with him and had him on my lap. He was wide-eyed and curiously looking out of the window, and finally settled down back in his cage and took a nap.

We were greeted by a team of very friendly staff at the hospital. We waited till all the other five cats who were undergoing the same treatment arrived. There was a Moe, Peaches, Kat and I don't remember the other two. The assistant came and spoke briefly to us individually. We said our "goodbyes" to Trouble and told him we'll see him soon and she took Trouble inside to the"examination room" while the cat owners were ushered upstairs for a briefing by the Doctor who was also pleased to answer any questions that we may have.

Each cat will be staying in a "Snyder Kitty condo" in the facility which is separate from the hospital, has his own food (we also brought him 4 cans of wet cat food), and is allowed a "comfort" item (we gave him a fleece blanket), which because of contamination can not be returned.

At 4pm, Dr Tom called and told us Trouble was doing well and he received the therapy treatment on the same day. Because he had involvement of both lobes of the thyroid gland, he needed a 2.66 dose of the ¹³¹I, which is a mid-range.

Today, Nicole, another assistant called and told us Trouble has been eating well (both wet and dry food), drank 1/4 of his water and has normal bowel and urine movement. And she said he is quite a talker.

They will call us again tomorrow to advise us Trouble's radioactive levels. If it's in the safe range, we can go pick him up tomorrow after 4pm.

This is the first time Trouble is away. The house seems kinda strange without him around. This morning, I imagined hearing a sound that could be him vomiting then I remember he is not here.
Out of habit, I still close the gate to my office upstairs when I leave the room, and then realized I need not have to because Trouble is not here. I still hear him meowing, and realized it's just the neighborhood kids playing outside. Turns out I am not the only one who thinks those kids sound like our Trouble.

Trouble has Hyperthyroidism

Trouble just got back from the doctor's. He's been diagnosed with a late stage of hyperthyroidism. Both his thyroid glands have been enlarged to the size of a lima bean. That is rather big for a cat. He has most of the symptoms present in a hyperthyroid cat:

• Increased Appetite
• Unexplained Weight Loss and loss of muscle mass
• Irritability or Nervousness
• Frequent Vomiting
• Unkempt-looking Coat
• Diarrhea
• Excessive Thirst (polydipsia)
• Weakness
• Lethargy

So we have 3 options :
- Anti-thyroid medication (Tapazole (methimazole), 5 mg once a day for the rest of his life) with regular tests to monitor hormone levels, so dosage can be regulated.
- Surgical removal of both the thyroid glands.
- Radioactive iodine treatment

Like all medicines, Tapazole may cause certain side effects and prolong usage may cause liver damage.
And because of his age, it is not advisable for him to go through surgery. As both glands are involved, a second surgery is necessary. We'd rather not succumb him to that.

I am inclined to try another option which is natural herbal remedy but there is only one website that sells it and all the reviews and comments are from that one particular website. Good reviews no doubt. But Jason is skeptical.

So that leaves us with the last option, Radioactive iodine treatment.

Advantages:

• Provides a permanent cure in 95% of cases.
• Safe
• Minimizes stress to the cat.
• No serious side effects

Disdvantages:

• Very Expensive (Thank God we've finished our Christmas shopping this year)
  
• The subsequent development of hypothyroidism is a possibility, but it can be treated with thyroid supplementation.
• Special home care is required for 3weeks after release from the hospital to comply with radiation safety requirements. We are to avoid any human radiation exposure from the cat by limiting contact by not allowing the cat to sleep on the same bed or rest on a person’s lap. It is also advisable to spend only the time necessary for basic pet care during the first 3 weeks after release and to use rubber gloves when changing the litter box during this time.
  
• Pregnant women and young children should not spend time with the cat during the first 3 weeks after treatment. (I guess any desire (if any) of wanting to become pregnant will be put on hold for me)
  

The doctor wants us to start him off with the Tapazole and go back to see her after 2 weeks for more tests. We can then decide our next course of action and see if Trouble is a suitable candidate for the radioactive treatment.
Today's visit to the doctor left us $335 poorer. We definitely need to start saving up for Trouble's next big adventure.

The moose and the cat

Trouble and his new best friend

Trouble : " But I wish he would stop staring at me "

Trouble got jabbed...maybe

I took a moaning whining cat to the vet yesterday for his rabies jab. The poor cat didn't know where he was going to and he probably thought I was taking him to some foster home because he had just seen me put two luggages and filled two boxes in my room. (He cried when he saw the luggages)

The vet assistant took his weight but Trouble refused to get his photo taken. Kept turning his head away from the camera. Then she told me to wait outside whilst she took him inside for the doc to give him his jab.

Less than 5 seconds, she brought Trouble out again and said it was all done.

I did not see it and I did not see a doctor. So I don't know for sure if Trouble had actually received a jab.

Anyways, being trusty, I paid and left.

Meowsplosion

The day began with an early morning whimpering, and a loud wailing sound from Trouble. Trust me, it was loud. I was in the bathroom and he was outside in the yard. And if I could hear that cat wail from all the way upstairs in my bathroom, it has to be really loud.

I rushed downstairs, barely pulling my pants up (but I did, mind you) and called for Trouble. Could not find him. No sign of him anywhere in or out.
Oh no.. he's gone. The big bad hawk must've snooped down on him and swept him off into the sky and dropped his poor remains into some pig barn.

Then I saw his little head and he ran towards the door begging to be let in. But there was no sound from him. I let him in and he was shaking and panting and his little tongue was sticking out. He tried to say something but nothing came out from him. I have never seen him so shaken before. Actually, I have never seen a cat panting like a dog before. I didn't know what to do. He still had no voice.

After 15 minutes or so, he calmed down. And he could meow again and his little tongue was no longer sticking out.

I am still curious as to what scared him so. Don't you sometimes wish cats could talk?

Trouble hasn't asked to go outside since this morning.
It must be that big bad hawk.