May 21, 2015

Three Cats Thursday: Pimp and Phantom's Vet Visit

Happy Three Cats Thursday, Cuteheads! I wanted to update you on the boys since we have some news. Pimp and Phantom went to the vet last weekend.

I have been noticing that Phantom starts breathing pretty heavy after just a few minutes of playtime. We do play pretty crazy with Da Bird, but I don't think I've ever noticed Pimp or Moo getting like that before, so I was concerned. He doesn't open-mouth pant, but his tummy area definitely looks he's breathing harder than he should at this age. He's only 2.

Our awesome vet, Dr. McAllister, asked a bunch of questions and did an abdominal x-ray to make sure he doesn't have a hernia (this could be very bad if he ever needed surgery later) and to see if he could see anything else, and it turns out that Phantom has chronic lung disease. So he definitely has kitty asthma of some sort. Since he's not bad all the time, we are going to watch it to make sure he doesn't get worse, and one day he may need to take steroids for it.

See the little bit of cloudiness in his chest on the right, and the equivalent spot on the left a little? That's what we're looking at.
There is some part of his lung that is compromised, it looks like, probably from whatever injury he had when I first rescued him from the shelter (remember he had a bum leg and was basically walking flat-footed from the knee down with one leg?). Maybe whatever did that to him, also injured his lung and we didn't know it until now.

He also asked radiologist to take a look, because it looked like there was some other cloudy stuff in the x-ray that could be something else. He called me Tuesday and told me that the radiologist thought it might either be heartworms or lung worms. I freaked out at heartworms. He told me that they typically stay as larvae in cats and that they can just die off in time, but still. I don't want any chances of him not being perfect. :(

So we are going back today to get a "heartworm antibody" test to detect the presence of heartworms or not. And then we'll go from there. Honestly, paws crossed it's lung worms because those are treatable with a round of panacur dewormer, but heartworms are different, I guess. Think good for Phantom today!

He also had the stinkiest poop in the world, so we're waiting for fecal results back too. We are going to the vet at 4 p.m.

Pimp also went so we could check on his thyroid levels. He was such a good boy! The good news so far is that he weighs exactly the same as he did last time, so he's not losing more weight! We should find out today what the results are. Right now he's taking Methomazole - one pill in the morning and a half a pill at night to manage it.

Since we're talking poop, Pimp's poop has been less than impressive lately, so he got a fecal too. (It's OK to talk about poop, right?)

I didn't take any pictures of him at the vet visit for some reason. I usually do. I must have been side-tracked by Phantom's breathing. The car ride stressed him out too, poor guy.

Moo got lucky and didn't have to go to the vet next time. His turn is coming up though!

P.S. Exciting news on my side... I quit my job! Eeeeee! I'm so excited, and so nervous at the same time. I did it so that I could work on CatLadyBox full-time, because I think it can really be awesome! And I thought to myself, if I do all the work I do for someone else all day (I am (was!) the Director of Marketing for a company called Shore Excursions Group) for own business instead, imagine how much more it could grow and how much faster! And that was that. I just jumped off the cliff and gave them my notice a few weeks ago.

I will keep you all posted on how it goes! I figure I put all I have into it now, and hopefully it works! I got a table at CatConLA next month. Have you heard of this?! It's like ComicCon, but for cat people! So hopefully that does awesome and really helps get the word out. I'm excited for this new adventure!

Plus, as far as the boys are concerned, the best part is that I get to work from home with them as my assistants from now on! :)

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12 comments:

  1. I had a kitty who had asthma too - his symptoms were worst in the fall when the mold spores were the prominent allergen. He frequently needed steroids in the fall, poor baby. Best of luck with your new business and paws crossed for good news on the test results!

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  2. I had a cat with asthma. She lived a good, long life and we managed the asthma without medication until she was well into her teens. After that, she took predisposition. Mi Ping lived to age 22.

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  3. My prayers are with all of you. So great that Pimp didn't lose more weight, he's such a wonderful boy - of course Moo and Phantom are also great kitties and I love all of them dearly. All the best for Pimp and Phantom.

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  4. Good luck to the 2 boys, my Henry is having IBD issues & is now on a steroid to clam things down. It has stopped the vomiting & hopefully he can gain some weight.
    Congrats with the new venture, I can't wait to get my first box.

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  5. Good for you, Dorian. I envy you! Lol. Am keeping Phantom in my prayers too; sure hope he'll be fine.

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  6. Good luck in your new venture.....wonderful. The boys will be thrilled to have you home all the time. Prayers for Phantom.....good you are having everything checked out. Hugs and love to all three......and to you too! <3

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  7. Hey Dorian! Congratulations! The boys must be ecstatic: keep us posted on how they do with "Mom can't play right now. Really. She has to work. REALLY. Oh, Ok, one more time with the toy-of-the-day." Re asthma: Kate, who is 16, had a horrible asthma attack when she was only 5, and has successfully been on meds ever since. Now also in chronic kidney failure; gets subq fluids for that. But someone forgot to tell her she's an elder cat wi serious issues. Had read recently that heartworms in cats - way different than in dogs - are often misdiagnosed as asthma. Sounds like your vet is really on top of finding out what's going on. Good kitty thoughts going out to all of you from the Hoosier crew.

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  8. Best wishes to you, I know you have great things ahead. I really still think you should be a spokes purrson for major companies. praying for all of your kittehs to be healthy !!!! My niece's cat has super stinky poop also, I don't think they ever figured out why. :-S
    happy holiday weekend!

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  9. My cat had the FOULEST smelling poop. Gag a maggot bad. He was tested and re-tested for numerous parasites, all negative and involving way too many trips to the vet with yet another sample of said foulness). Then we tried probiotics but he refused to eat food with it on top. Finally I switched his food to Blue Buffalo limited ingredients and that has done the trick.

    Fingers crossed for good news about Phantom.

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  10. Congratulations Dorian! I wish you great success with your new business. Love to your 3 boys and you!

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  11. It is inspiring to hear of a blogger that is quitting her job to pursue full time blogging and has the confidence of knowing she will succeed. Kudos to you for being brave. Your website is awesome, I just came across it today.

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  12. Wow Dorian lots going on!! First off good luck on working for yourself now! :). Exciting!

    You are a good mom noticing health issues in your cats. And yes you can talk about poop! It's another thing we need to check for in our fur babies.

    Send us the update. If you haven't already. I'll check my email. Sorry I'm late on this one.

    Good luck to all of you !! Take care. Xo

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