Vet Visits and Other Stuff

As I type - Charli is barking wildly at the ferrets who are playing in their room - she watches them through the sliding glass door and wants to play so bad.  They are all chasing each other through the dryer tube having a grand time. Winston is 'bitching' at his bedroom door - he wants to be outside but it's rainy. The puppies are outside - they don't care if it rains - in fact, I think they kind of enjoy it.

This week has been crazy so far for the humans.  Phoebe and Oliver had their every six-month vet visit on Monday.  We did all the regular stuff - physical, fecal, blood work, etc.  Both of them look pretty good considering that Ollie will be 16 and Phoebe will be 13 (my zoo is getting old).  We didn't get the bloodwork results back until yesterday. 

Phoebe is perfect - not one number out of whack.  Her thyroid number was perfect - no need to adjust her medications and we got her prescription renewed.  Oliver wasn't quite perfect - but nothing was too whacky.  His white blood cell count was one digit outside of normal.  Last time he was at the top of the range so its basically no change and the vet wasn't all that concerned.  His BUN number was elevated - top of the normal range is 37 - he was 41.  BUN is associated with the kidneys and can indicate the start of kidney disease when elevated - but - his Creatinine was low - 0.9 is the start of the normal range and Ollie was 0.8.  So - since both kidney numbers were not elevated - it's likely not kidney disease.  His calcium number was also slightly elevated - 11.2 was the top of normal and he was 11.5.  There is a second calcium test we can do to get more details.  I will take Oliver along in April when I take Tango and Charli in for their annual stuff and they can do a quick blood draw.  Until then we are going to watch him closely.  Inflated calcium can be a sign of something more serious - but typically the number would be much higher than .3 above normal if we had something icky going on.

In the meantime - we are going to keep Ollie from stealing the ferret's raw diet cat food because it is very high in calcium and just keep an eye on him and make sure he is not showing any signs of illness.  At the moment his is his same ornery, active self.

Here are a few pics from the vet:

That's about it from here - I feel like this week has been 17 days long already...happy hump day!

Three Kitty Vet Visit

Holy Moly!  It's been forever since I blogged.  Guess I needed a summer vacation.  Today was a busy day as all three kitties had their semi annual vet visit.  They go every 6 months since Oliver and Phoebe need monitoring for their thyroid levels and Aggie - well - she is just plain old.   She turns the ripe old age of 20 this year - WOW!  I thought it was only 19 but I was mistaken.....denial I guess.

The results overall are pretty darn good considering they are all technically considered senior citizens.  (20, 15 and 11 years old).

Let's start with Aggie:

Her physical went well - eyes, ears, teeth, heart, skin, etc were all in good shape.  Her weight was down almost a pound from last time - she weighs7.14 pounds.  This is good as she was just a bit of a pudge the last time at over 9 pounds.  Her bloodwork looks pretty good.  There is only one area of concern which is around her kidney numbers.  They were a tiny bit inflated last October indicating the start of kidney disease and they are just a tiny bit more inflated this time.  The vet has put her on a supplement called Azodyl which I ordered for her today.  We also decided to try out a more kidney friendly diet so Aggie will be testing out a medicated cat food over the next few days to see if she likes it.  Aggie also got her FVRCP (distemper) booster.

Mr. Oliver:

Ollie's physical went well - he still has cruddy teeth - no surprise - but everything else looked good. The vet was kind enough to give me a new tube of ophthalmic ointment for Oliver's squinty eye he sometimes gets.  In regards to his bloodwork - everything looked great with the exception of his thyroid number which is a bit inflated.  We did a minor adjustment on his thyroid med dosage and that should fix him right up.  He is still my skinny mini - topping the scales at 5.3 pounds but the vet did say his body condition is good.  Hopefully with fixing his thyroid number he can gain a bit more weight.  Ollie also had his rabies booster.

Last but not least - Miss Phoebe:

Her physical went very well - a healthy girl.  And - her bloodwork is perfect - all her numbers including her thyroid number were in the normal range.  Woot!  She gained a bit of weight since last time - weighing in at 9.9 pounds.  All in all she is a very healthy cat.  She also had her FVRCP (distemper) and her rabies booster as well.

All in all it was a good visit.  The kitties were great in the car and were very well behaved and cooperative for the vet and the vet techs.  These guys are good to go til February or so of next year.

You can barely see Aggie - she is on the left, Ollie in the middle and Phoebe on the right 

Aggie and Oliver - its the only time these two are friends - when they feel like they are safer together than apart

Ollie and Aggie

Oliver

Aggie

Aggie

Phoebe

Ollie

Phoebe

Kitty Post

I don't post about the kitties all that often - it's not because I don't love them.  It's because we have three spoiled, lazy kitties who are old enough now that they don't find themselves in the shenanigans some of the others do.

They are all three doing well.  Healthy, happy, all of them at a good weight - no complaints.  In the critter bedroom there are lots of beds, toys and places for the fur kids to investigate.  They have these cubes that hook together that have been in their room for ages.  Mostly the ferrets use it but rarely the kitties.  Yesterday I went to visit and low and behold both Phoebe and Oliver were in the cubes.  I moved one of the puppy beds down to critter land as well - those little pups are now big pups who no longer fit.  Let's just say that Aggie is happy they grew.

Drama Kitty

Oliver has 'squinty eye' again - that's my technical term for it.  He is quite rough and tumble and he wrestles with both kitties and ferrets and as a result he gets poked or gets something in his eye three or four times a year.  I have taken him to the vet for this condition multiple times and they give me a soothing ointment - but really no treatment for it so I have started treating him at home using colloidal silver.

When his eye is squinty I flush it out with a syringe of the silver - Oliver hates this process but tolerates it.  Usually in a day or two his eye is good to go.  I flushed it out last night and went to check on him early this morning.  He is such a little tabby colored turd....I went in his room and he was bathing himself - his eye was a tad bit swollen but open almost normally.  Then he saw me - little stinker snapped that eye shut.  'Oh - my eye.'     D R A M A.....

I gave him lots of lovies and I cleaned it out and flushed it again.  He ate the attention right up.  As always I will keep a close watch on it and take him in if it doesn't get better in the next couple of days.  And - my standard disclaimer - I am not a vet and the treatments that I decide to use on my critters are not to be considered a recommendation.  Please consult your vet should your furry have an issue.....

Little Critter Updates

My little critters are doing so well!!  I adore that crazy bunch!

Let's start with the kitties.  They are all doing very well.  Aggie is maintaining her new svelte figure (she lost a bit of weight after the vet identified that she was too chunky).  Oliver has kept on the weight he gained but he is still pretty skinny - I am working on that with some high calorie supplements - hopefully that will do the trick.  Miss Phoebe is doing quite well - she is happy and easy going.

Phoebe

Aggie

Somehow I didn't end up with a usable picture of Mr. Wiggly - aka Oliver.  I will try for one tomorrow....

And the ferrets - they are all doing just fantastic.  Violet seems to be really thriving on her meds - she is active, maintaining her weight and often I catch her playing and dooking (making the ferret happy noise).  The other girls are all just great.  Madison has come back full force from her baldness and she looks amazing.  Fiona is a lovely as ever and Tabitha is becoming more and more engaged wanting to be picked up even if it is only for a short time.

Violet

Fiona

Madison

Tabitha

And the boys - oh those boys.  They are all amazing!  I was worried that Theo might be losing weight so I started weighing him every day to ease my mind.  It worked since I weighed him for 10 days and he was within 10 grams of the same weight every time.  I think he looks thin because he doesn't have the fluffy winter coat like Bash and Kai.  Speaking of those two - they are both doing great as well.  All three are full of crazy ferret antics whenever I visit them in Critter Land.  

Theo on the right with Fiona - they are sleeping in one of their favorite spots - they got in a box that had a 8 pack of toilet paper.  Needless to say they shredded it to bits and the TP bed is a favorite of all the ferrets.

Kai on the left and Tabby on the right (and Bashy in the background - at least part of him)

Bash

Okay - sorry for the quality of these snaps - I got a new phone and I am still trying to figure out all the settings of the camera.  I figured something was better than nothing.  I will post about them again soon!

Seasonal Allergies - in January?!?!?

This weather is wonky - 12 or 70 - really?  As a result we have stuff in the air that typically wouldn't be and as a result the humans and the critters are suffering from allergies.  I have 4 critters that are impacted by allergies - Winston, Theo, Oliver and Phoebe.  They all manifest their symptoms in a different way.

Winston and Oliver are both affected in their eyes.  Poor piggers has a red swollen eye that is itching him like crazy.  Last night we did a good cleaning with a warm washcloth and qtips.  I flushed his eye out with colloidal silver and then gave him a Benedryl.  This morning his eye was much improved.  I cleaned it again and flushed it out once he came inside this morning and he is napping now.  I think we are on the road to getting it back to normal.  It's definitely something in the air - I have had to use my allergy drops for the last few days.  UGH!

Phoebe shows her allergies with a case of what is called button lip.  Her bottom lip swells up - poor girl.  I noticed it a bit inflamed yesterday.  She got colloidal silver on it topically and I put some in their water bowl - this morning it was back to normal.

Theo is my sneezer.  He hasn't been particularly bad this go around - maybe whatever has the rest of us going isn't on his list of things he is allergic to - lucky boy!

As always - I will keep a close eye on all of them to make sure they don't need to be seen by a vet.  In addition - my standard disclaimer - I am not a vet and the treatments I use for my animals should not be taken as advice.  Please check with your vet before starting any kind of treatment for any ailment.

Two Kitty Vet Visit

Yesterday morning Oliver and Aggie went back to the vet for their blood work rechecks.  Aggie had some elevated numbers related to her kidneys and Oliver's thyroid numbers were whacky.  I don't have any pictures of my two cutie cats because I did the handy drop off appointment where I take them in and then I go and do 14 other things while they work them into the schedule and then I swoop back in and pick them up.  Works great - yesterday I went to the eye dr to get my glasses fixed, went to the bank, hit Starbucks and then a quick run to Costo - then home before my first conference call started - woot!

They sent the blood work out to the lab so I had to wait for the results - I just got an email from the vet and the news is all good.  Aggie's numbers were better. Her BUN number was still a bit higher than it should be but the classic markers that indicate kidney disease were within normal range. Thank goodness!  Aggie is 18 years old so I was concerned - I am quite relieved!  She is, however, on the high side of normal so we will put her on the same 6 month schedule that Oliver and Phoebe are on and we will keep a close eye on this so we can quickly intervene with treatment should something develop.  The other good news - my little pudge lost 3/4 of a pound since last weigh in.  She is still a bit heavier than she should be but now in a range that is not risky to her health.

Oliver's results were good as well - his thyroid levels were back to normal so we have the disease back under control.  Additionally - my skinny mini gained almost a pound since his last weigh in which is great - he was very, very skinny!!  So - there is still one area of concern which is his teeth - they are a mess.  The good news is that the gum inflammation seems to be gone from the round of antibiotics he took.  He desperately needs a deep cleaning and potentially other dental work but I think he is still on the thin side and I don't want to put him under anesthesia.  So - I think the plan is to continue to try to pack on the pounds for him over the holidays and after the first of the year if his weight makes it safe we can take him in for dental work.  Phoebe also needs her teeth cleaned so we will take her in as well.

All in all I am quite pleased - we are good to go on kitty health for the time being.   Next week - Violet (ferret) goes in for a glucose test to make sure she is on the right dose of pred - fingers crossed her results are as good!!!

3 Kitty Trip to the Vet

I finally got the kitties in for their annual check ups:

All in all - they are pretty healthy kitties - but - we did have some areas we could work on.

Phoebe - she actually had the best results this go around.  Her thyroid levels were perfect so there is no need to change her medication dosage.  Her blood work was perfect and her chemistry levels were perfect.  She - however - is a bit on the pudgy side.  Not horribly overweight but enough that we should make some changes in the old diet.  Glad to see that life in the cat world mirrors life in the human world... sigh. She could also use a teeth cleaning - will be scheduling that likely after the first of the year.   She is in great shape barring any changes or issues.

Aggie - my old girl is in pretty darn good shape.  There were three numbers on her blood panel related to her kidneys that were a tiny bit elevated.  They were just over the normal line - so not crazy high.  It could be a couple of things.  First - it could be that she just didn't drink enough this morning and was a touch dehydrated.  Or - it could be that she has the start of kidney disease.  I have a haunch that its the first for a couple of reasons.  I have had 2 kitties with kidney disease and I know the signs. She has no symptoms.  There are also other indicators on the blood panel that get outta whack with kidney disease.  All of her other blood panel results were normal as were her chemistry numbers.  We are going back in 6 weeks to do a recheck and see if her numbers go back down.  If not we will figure out the best course of action for treatment.  The other thing is that little miss - well - how shall we say it - is a bit big boned  (okay - she is a fat kitty - don't tell her I said that).  We have some work to do to get her back down to a healthy weight.

Oliver - oh my skinny mini boy.  I have been commenting on how skinny he is.  It is because his thyroid numbers are off the charts - poor little dude.  We have changed the dosage for his thyroid medication which should fix his weight issues.  He also has teeth issues.  He needs a dental cleaning but until his thyroid numbers are in line and he gains back some of the weight he can't go under anesthesia.  We will start him on a course of antibiotics to kill any infection/bacteria in his mouth. Then we will beef him up a bit, likely give him another round of antibiotics and then do the dental work.  Guessing that will be after the holidays for the dental stuff.  In the meantime - he goes back in 6 weeks with Aggie and gets his thyroid level check to see if the increased dosage is doing the trick.

My morning was crazy - kitty drop off at the vet at 8, conference calls until 9:30, dentist appointment and then kitty pick up and home - then work and meetings and such.  And now a breather before I make a few updates to a presentation I have tomorrow.  Needless to say - there are no kitty snaps from the vet visit since I wasn't present.  They are very happy to be back home and hanging out in critter land.

One last side note for anyone with multiple kitties - I used to put them in separate carriers and it was miserable - howling and panting and other icky things when we got in the car.  I found a few years ago that if I put them all in one large carrier they do great.  We had a total of 5 our 6 little mews on the way - they were perfect angels.

Three Little Kitties

Okay - so they aren't so little any more but they are cute.  Ollie, Phoebe and Aggie are all doing just great:

He loves to bitch at me - Ollie

Phoebe

He reminds me of Puss in Boots from Shrek with the big eyes you can't resist

Phoebe

Giraffe impression

Phoebe - she was actually pretty cooperative - she hates the camera 

The princess Aggie on her pile of pillows

Aggie

She's doing great for going on 18....

And the Eyes Have It

8% of our critter eyes are busted....  that sounds like a lot - really its not - its two eye on two different critters.

First - I noticed that Winston (pig) had a red and swollen eye.  He has allergies so its not out of the realm of possibility for him.  I asked him to lay down for me and thankfully he is a pig who loves maintenance so he happily let me clean around his eye and flush his eye out with colloidal silver.  Upon further inspection his eye is good - not gunky and the eye itself does not look angry at all.  He has some sort of scratch or bite just below his eye.  So - tonight when I tucked him in he let me clean it again and put some Benedryl gel on it (being very careful not to get any too close to the eye itself).  The great thing about pig anatomy is that you can put topical medications on them - pretty much anywhere - and they are not built to lick or scratch it off.  Winston appears to be feeling super and the thing under his eye is purely superficial I am certain.  I will keep a close eye on him - no pun intended.

The second eye issue belongs to Oliver (kitty).  He has what we have affectionately named squinty eye.  Ollie was a stray who found his way into our world.  Since the beginning he has had one eye that seems to bug him at times.  The vet has repeatedly checked it and nothing ever shows up.  Every once in awhile when he is wrestling with Phoebe (kitty) or one of the ferrets he gets poked in the eye and then its really squinty.  It makes a bunch of gunk and he squints for a couple of days and then voila he is fine once again.  I have flushed it with colloidal silver to get rid of any foreign bodies and then I dosed him with a soothing feline eye ointment that I have from the vet.  Since this has happened several times over the years I expect that by early next week he will be back to 100% but of course I will keep a close watch.  He does make me laugh - over the course of the day I have gone down to critter land to check on him several times.  If he doesn't hear me come in I can watch him and he is still squinting but he is keeping his eye about 3/4 open.  When he sees me he holds it all the way shut - 'Oh, my eye.  I am so pathetic.  Love on me.'  Little stinker....

Other than the two eyes - the rest of the critter parts seem to be doing just great.

As always - I am not a vet and any treatment that you read about on my blog should be discussed with your own veterinary professional prior to trying on your critters.  I do what works for me but am not trying to give any sort of medical advice....

Winston's Cooling Mat and the New Chair

Wow - I feel like things have been in a whirlwind around here.  I finally finished up a large, long running work deliverable - woot!  Hopefully now I can get back to a more regular routine....

I bought Winston a cooling mat for outside.  Did you know that pigs can't sweat? Overheating can be a real problem.  We usually have him play outside from about 7:30 in the morning until 11:30 or noon and then he comes in and naps for the heat of the day and then heads back out around 3:30 and plays til 7 or 7:30.  He has access to lots of water and shade but I still worry he will get too hot.  This mat is pressure activated and supposedly cools to 7 to 10 degrees below whatever the ambient temperature is.  The gel inside is non toxic so if he uses his pokey hooves to make holes it should be okay.  I had him check it out yesterday before he came in for dinner - he seemed to like it - laid on it for about 45 minutes....today he has been on and off all day - I think it does make him cooler.  I got it on Amazon for $39 - not too bad....

I was correct in my assumption that the kitties would love the new chair in my office.  They basically live on it now - silly cats.  The ferrets like it too - but mostly when I am in it - they climb up for snuggles - love that!

Assembled, Tested and Waterproofed

With some help from the hubs - we finally got the outdoor critter run assembled.  It's pretty cool!! We brought the kitties and the ferrets into the living room to test it out.  Once it was critter approved - we moved it outside and I put a couple of coats of waterproofing spray on the exposed wood.  We will get it set in place and over the weekend my handy dandy father in law can do the measurements and we can figure out the best way to "connect" this to the opening of the sliding glass door.  The last thing for me to do is to add a second layer of the metal caging around the bottom panels - that way it will be doubly reinforced in case of a breach - I want to make sure there is no way for them to get out.  I also need to pick up a few small suitcase locks - there are some locks on the outside that open small doors that I don't want accidentally popping open so I thought I would just take the extra precautions - can't be too safe.  Can't wait to see these guys enjoy this once it's set up and they can play outside.  More pics to come....

Ollie and Fiona - first in - they seem to like it

Then Phoebe joined in the fun

Violet and Aggie

Violet and Madison - Tabby and Fiona in the background

Bash

Maddie checking out the climbing factor

Fiona, Maddie and Tabby - and Ollie kitty - with his puss in boots eyes

The gangs all here - (except Phoebe) - that is Tabby on the left, Violet and Fiona; Aggie kitty at the top - you can just barely see Theo behind her, Kai, Oliver, Madison and Bash

Tabby, Kai and Fiona

All seven ferrets - Bash left, Tabby on the ramp, Theo, Violet peeking on the left, Madison standing tall, Kai and Fiona

 

Madison and Theo

Getting sleepy

Giant pile of love

Maddie

Bash 

Kai

Everyone is lounging