My Siamese cat, "Twist", in vet hospital.

[Navy Chief]

Viva Twist! Glad to hear he is doing better, Chief!!!!

Kent

The hard part now will be to get him to drink enough water. I ordered a pet drinking bowl. Stainless steel, with removable attached electric pump with filter. Had a similar product years ago, but was plastic. Cats really are attracted to drinking from such bowls, so am hopeful it will help. If he doesn't drink enough water, I would have to resume those injections, and I really do not want to do that to him! NC

[ColoKent]

The fountain worked with Mugsy (our old cat), but you will have to clean the bowl/pump combo religiously, or the Twist might get an acne looking thing on his chin (happened to Mugsy).

But the fountain did dramatically increase how much water the cat drank.

Kent

[Navy Chief]

The fountain worked with Mugsy (our old cat), but you will have to clean the bowl/pump combo religiously, or the Twist might get an acne looking thing on his chin (happened to Mugsy).

But the fountain did dramatically increase how much water the cat drank.

Kent

I did some reading on how to make my own filters for replacements. I know from previous experience that the factory ones are ridiculously expensive.

[WND]

We got back from the vet. Twist's blood work results indicate his kidneys levels have improved a lot. The phosphorus value apparently takes longer to get results, so the vet will call later with that. But for now at least, we can suspend the IV saline injections, thankfully.

Twist has not gained weight in the past week, but he hasn't lost any either. In this case, just maintaining is good.

I am thankful to God Twist is doing better. I am happy to still have him with me.

GOOD to hear Chief !!

Bill

[Crusader]

Great news NC . It really sounds encouraging . We've lost two , the last one was 18 years old . Our oldest to date . I love cats and they are truely real family . I grew up with dogs so as an experiment my daughter brought a Black Lab pup over last year and all hell broke lose in the house so we canceled the idea of having a coexistence of the two . I know it's been done millions of times but I'm not skilled and knowledgeable to pull it off .( I might add not patient enough too )

Hope for the best for you and your family with Twist

Rich (still have 3 cats at home)

[Navy Chief]

I've never mentioned the other three cats we have (that my wife had when we got married). There's Frank, who is blind in one eye, has luxating patellas, is diabetic, and has scoliosis of his spine. Then there's Bitte, a very small female who is quite timid, and lastly, Cedric. Cedric is the alpha cat. Until we (I) began giving him liquid anti-depressant every day, he would attack all the other cats, including Twist, several times daily. He still does, occasionally, but not near as often. Frank is 15, Bitte is around 13. Cedric and Twist are both 10. So we have quite a menagerie. Try to imagine what it was like, moving here from Fort Myers last July! Until this past February, we also had a rescued Doberman, named "Hyde". He was about 10 when he died in the vet office (had a heart attack right after a EKG). We were right there when it happened, but it was still quite a shock. The vet tech walked him into the examining room. He walked over to get petted, looked at me, then my wife, laid down and died. His poor heart gave out.

Oh, almost forgot. We also have a 20 yr old Cockatiel named, "Spike". He used to talk, but no more, for some unknown reason. He does, however, whistle a LOT, including part of the Andy Griffith TV show theme song.

Our pets are such a comfort, yet a huge heart break when they leave us. NC

[Navy Chief]

Here's the rest of the gang, excluding Spike.

Cedric the Wonder Cat (bully)


Frank


And Bitte

[KellyB]

I don't suppose you have stopped to realize that you are outnumbered by black cats, have you?
If I were the cockatiel living among all those cats, I'd keep my mouth shut, too.

I'm not surprised that we all love our pets, but I am often surprised at how deeply attached we become.
Glad to hear Twist is on the mend.

[Daveroo]

Chief..im still "pullin" for twist...and i hope that new fountain will work...id really like to know about it..i want one for Dori.she just doesnt drink enoough...bothers me.

and the comment above about how hard people can take the loss of a pet,when my Halley passed i cried (im embarrassed to say that,hard to admit for me..any way i cried two days..was so hard to get up in the mornings and have her there.

when she died,i put her on my desk,which is where she laid when i was on the puter..she wanted to be near me,so i bellied up to my desk,,she leaned up against it,laying..she looked up at me and gave me a slight meow,so i started pettin her..still looking up at me,she made a "sighing" sound'.put her head down..and just stopped breathing...i didnt get excited or try to make her breathe again or anything....i just sat with her leaning against me..with my tears flowing...shoot now im sad...hope all of you have a great weekend.

[Navy Chief]

I was pleasantly surprised when Twist jumped up on our bed this morning, and wanted under the covers. That was characteristic of him, prior to his getting sick; so I am hopeful this is a good sign NC

[browngib]

Chief, I am going to seem like an interloper, but I am now the owner of a Sheltie "Rob Roy MacGregore". We had a Female "Sandi MacTavish" who was hit by the local vet in his truck coming from a neighbor's p[lace. She died instantly, but is never far from our hearts. Before we started with Shelties, we raised Pure Bred Persian cats. 2 lived 19 years and were part of the family. I know exactly what you are going through and just wish you all the success and pleasure of your "Twist". Keep on truckin.

Gib

[Navy Chief]

Chief, I am going to seem like an interloper, but I am now the owner of a Sheltie "Rob Roy MacGregore". We had a Female "Sandi MacTavish" who was hit by the local vet in his truck coming from a neighbor's p[lace. She died instantly, but is never far from our hearts. Before we started with Shelties, we raised Pure Bred Persian cats. 2 lived 19 years and were part of the family. I know exactly what you are going through and just wish you all the success and pleasure of your "Twist". Keep on truckin.

Gib

Thanks for your comments, Gib. Every once in a while, someone posts about their pets on SOH. I have, many times, in the past. They are very much part of our lives. When one is injured, or worse yet, dies, the pain goes deep. When I had to say goodbye to my beloved Rottweiler, "Chief", everything was a blur for me for days afterwards. Here is a picture of Chief, and a cat I used to have, named Robert. My ex contacted me recently to let me know that Robert had passed away. So sad. NC

[sixstrings5859]

Hope all will be good with your buddy and he will have many more years to enjoy with you. I've lost two cat friends this year ,(both 18 yrs. old,a Manx-"Boo" and a Russian Blue-"Jackie"),and still can't discuss it much with out tears. We sound the same in that they are our friends not just pets. God Bless

[Navy Chief]

Hope all will be good with your buddy and he will have many more years to enjoy with you. I've lost two cat friends this year ,(both 18 yrs. old,a Manx-"Boo" and a Russian Blue-"Jackie"),and still can't discuss it much with out tears. We sound the same in that they are our friends not just pets. God Bless

You live in Lake Charles, eh? I had a young man that worked for me in the USN who was from there. Extremely sharp, and a hard worker. He was a Aviation Electronics Tech. Jobob Daigle. Tried to talk him into reenlisting, but he had bigger plans for himself. I think he works for some helicopter company near there. NC

[sixstrings5859]

Hey Chief ! I now live in Sulphur ,La. which is just across the lake. Love living here as the people are generally very friendly, the hunting and fishing is great and the food is unlike anywhere else.

[Navy Chief]

Twist ate very little yesterday, and refused it completed this morning. I drove to the vet (about 1 1/2 miles), and switched out for different special diet canned food. He ate about a teaspoonful and stopped. The vet office called, and said I need to resume saline injections for two days and see if his appetite comes back. Giving injections to him are quite a struggle now, as he won't hold still. I can't blame him; that needle has got to be painful, the poor thing. I hate doing it to him. NC

[jbtate]

As I mentioned previously, my 15 year old cat Amelia had IV and other treatments and was prescribed a renal care cat food, and she absolutely refused to eat it. I went back to her regular cat food, reading the labels to find the items with the lowest fish broth/sodium content. I would open the cans and press the food with the lid to drain what broth/salt was in those cans. She recovered completely and ate happily before relapsing in her 19th year. Best wishes,
jbtate

[Navy Chief]

As I mentioned previously, my 15 year old cat Amelia had IV and other treatments and was prescribed a renal care cat food, and she absolutely refused to eat it. I went back to her regular cat food, reading the labels to find the items with the lowest fish broth/sodium content. I would open the cans and press the food with the lid to drain what broth/salt was in those cans. She recovered completely and ate happily before relapsing in her 19th year. Best wishes,
jbtate

Thanks for the information. I will check with the vet, and look for alternatives, if his regular food is not good for him. Pete