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Posts Tagged ‘Studley’

Gentle giant goes to the bridge

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged , , , on July 12, 2010| 15 Comments »

As I’d posted previously, Studley was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago.  I opted not to pursue IV chemotherapy or immunotherapy (vaccination therapy).  While they might have slowed the progress of the cancer, it would have meant a lot of unhappy car trips for my little man.  He’d been losing weight drastically since January, so I wasn’t optimistic any treatment would buy him much time.  We did put him on oral prednisolone (steroids) to hopefully reduce the swelling in his lymph nodes, increase his appetite and make him more comfortable.

For two weeks, the steroids helped – he was eating more and seemingly feeling better.  Due to the weight loss, he was even able to do things like hop up to the back of the couch – something he hadn’t been able to do previously.  However, the past week he started to deteriorate again.  He lost 6 ounces.  He vomited violently on Sunday.  I felt we should spend one last, really nice, weekend together, and then ask the vet to help him move on.  Maybe this was a selfless act on my part, wanting him to move on BEFORE he was suffering and unhappy – while he was still having relatively good days filled with sunshine and fresh air in our outdoor window encosure.  Perhaps it was selfish, wanting to spare myself the agony of watching my little man die.  Maybe it was both.  I’m not sure.

Studley

Studley, his last weekend

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Stormy weather

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged , , on June 25, 2010| 2 Comments »

Studley has been losing weight since January.  I admit, at first I was pleased.  He was overweight at 19.5 pounds and needed to drop several pounds.  He’s a big cat, but he doesn’t need to be THAT big.

Studley

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Puff asthmatic kitty

Posted in Feline nutrition and health, tagged , , on September 30, 2009| 1 Comment »

When a caregiver contacts me regarding a cat having difficulty breathing, coughing fits, and/or wheezing – my first guess is asthma.  My second guess would be heart disease.  Then again, it could be as simple as an upper respiratory infection (the cat’s version of the common cold.) There’s not a lot you can do for a cold – but if it’s progressed to bronchitis/pneumonia, an antibiotic would be appropriate.  Obviously, the first step is to get the cat to a vet.  Any cat having difficulty breathing should see a vet IMMEDIATELY!  I’d start with a chest x-ray.

In the case of  asthma, treatment is generally two-fold. 
1)  A preventative medication/corticosteroid such as fluticasone (Flovent)
2)  A short-acting (emergency) medication/bronchodilator such as albuterol
Inhaled medications are VASTLY preferable to injected (or oral).  Inhaled medications obviously target the respiratory system.  Therefore, they have fewer systematic side effects.  Injected or oral steroids can cause diabetes and attacks of acute pancreatitis.

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Hump-me the Tiger

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged , on February 19, 2009| 4 Comments »

You may have noticed our friend, Hump-me the Tiger, as the model for my recent crochet projects. There’s a story behind Mr. Hump-me the Tiger, as is probably self-evident from his name.

Hump-me the Tiger, modeling simple fluffy scarf

Hump-me the Tiger, modeling simple fluffy scarf

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Studley’s furcut

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged , on January 14, 2009| 2 Comments »

Well, apparently when I reassured Studley about his punk “furcut” after his recent pancreatitis episode, I was TOO reassuring.  I thought he looked embarrassed (not to mention COLD), coming home from the hospitals with a shaved belly, shaved sides, and three shaved legs.  So,  I told him patchwork furcuts like his were ALL the rage now.  All the trendy kitties were wearing them.

Sexy furkini

Sexy furkini

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Goals for 2009

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Human nutrition and health, Life of the Lintee Bean, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 5, 2009| 4 Comments »

I have an aversion to the word “resolutions”, for whatever reason, so instead I try to come up with goals for the year ahead – preferably with steps toward achieving them.

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Studley’s Spotlight

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Feline nutrition and health, tagged , , , , on December 9, 2008| 5 Comments »

Once again life has gotten in the way of my writing. Seems I’ve been doing a LOT of writing about Studley lately – and apparently Studley likes having the spotlight shown upon him as yet again he’s “inspired” a post.

It started on Saturday, pretty innocuously.  Studley didn’t eat breakfast.  At the time, I thought little of it.  I’d walked toward him to give him his pill, and he ran away.  When he didn’t come back and eat, I figured he was just nervous about pilling, and it wouldn’t hurt him to skip a meal.  (I did get him later, napping, for the medication.)

However, he seemed fairly lethargic throughout the day.  Around 4:00 p.m. he vomited.  By evening, he wasn’t interested in dinner and was drinking a lot of water (highly unusual, especially for a cat on an all-wet diet).  In fact, at one point, he just lay by the water dish with his head over it – and that was enough to convince me a visit to the emergency vet was warranted.
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Socializing Studley

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged , , , on December 2, 2008| 1 Comment »

Since I’ve been talking about Studley a lot recently, and the struggles (and now successes) with medicating him, I thought I’d write a bit about more about his history.

Studley was a feral cat in my friend’s neighborhood.  A feral cat differs from a stray cat.  A stray cat may or may not be socialized, but typically when someone refers to a “stray” they are referring to a socialized cat that is homeless and living outside.  A feral cat is not socialized to humans, it’s “wild”. 

Anyway, Studley lived in my friend’s neighborhood and would frequently enter the courtyard of her building and “service” the female cats.  Sex between cats is a very LOUD occurrence – lots of screaming involved (and not the good kind).  So, neighbors quickly became annoyed and figured they’d trap Studley and take him to an area shelter.  The shelters in that particular city are not “no-kill” – there are two of them, and one euthanizes if cats are unclaimed (and unadopted) after about a week, the other after three days.  So, my friend knew an unsocialized feral cat didn’t stand much of a chance there, and since the neighbors were on the “look-out” for him, neutering him and releasing him – though it would likely have solved the noise problem, didn’t seem a viable option to her.  So, she decided to trap him and get him to me, and I’d find a “no-kill” shelter to take him.  (I have to confess, this was in 2002 and I didn’t realize how remote my chances were of finding a “no-kill” shelter in my area that would take a feral cat.)

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Popping pills

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged , on December 1, 2008| 2 Comments »

I pilled Studley Sunday night! Aren’t you proud of me?

He’s been pretty much terrified of me when we’re on the first floor as in his opinion, I seem constantly intent on catching him or pilling him or giving him suspicious (medication-laced) food or treats. But last night, he was upstairs and had his guard down and I managed to catch him because he saw me coming and started into the den, then paused and thought “Oh wait, den is bad – harder to hide in the den, should have gone in bedroom” and that pause cost him the game.

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Medication frustration, part two

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Feline nutrition and health, tagged , , , on November 30, 2008|

I wrote earlier about my current medication frustrations.

They continue.

It’s become even more difficult to pill Studley. I took him to the vet yesterday (where he got a depomedrol steroid shot for suspected asthma). If the shot works, we’ll begin inhaled meds. In the meantime, his still on some pills for another (behavioral) issue. When I voiced my concerns at the vet yesterday, as I’m not sure the pills are even helping or necessary and incredibly difficult to give him, the vet needed to see for himself by prying Studley’s mouth open and popping down a piece of a treat. Well, sure, looked easy enough for him. In my defense, the vet didn’t have to CATCH him. I’d already chased him around the house to get him and put him in a carrier and transport him to the vet, and was holding him, docile, on the exam table.
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