Riley update

Riley has been having troubles ever since he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection a couple of weeks ago. He wasn't healing as fast as we hoped so Dr. Tom gave him a prednisone shot a couple of days later. That seemed to help and he healed very well after that.
Then, last Friday, he suddenly became blocked and couldn't pee. I brought him to the local hospital and they had to sedate him and unblock him. He came home and seemed OK for the first 24 hours but then started acting strangely. First he was pee-ing in inappropriate places and then this morning became blocked again.
So he had to go back to the hospital this morning and undergo another catheterization. They checked his bladder and he has lots of sludge in there. So he needs to have the catheter in for a couple of days and be watched and we'll see how he is on Wednesday.
If this happens again or there is no improvement, he will have to have surgery.
I feel so bad for our boy.

Happy Birthday, Sean!

It's hard to believe that my little baby is 2 years old today.

Baby Sean - 10 weeks old

Sean - handsome boy - 2 years old

Happy Birthday, Riley!

Riley - 6 weeks old

Riley today

Our handsome boy is 6 years old today.

Happy Birthday, Riley! We love you.

Casey's prayer flags

Dr. Tom our vet has a custom of leaving pet parents with Tibetan prayer flags to hang in honor of the pet who has passed. I hung Casey's on the deck today.

The prayer reads:

It was love right from the start

Nose to nose, heart to heart

Forever together our love lives on

I feel you here though you are gone.

Casey

1995 - 2014

We adopted Casey from the Arizona Humane Society in March 1995. She and Charlotte both came home to us that day. They were about 8 weeks old at the time.

 

Ever the writer, I had wanted to name them Emily and Charlotte after the Bronte sisters but while Charlotte seemed suited to her name, Casey did not seem like an Emily to us. She was such a tomboy. So John named her Casey after a cat he had had when he was younger.

Casey had a strong personality from the very beginning, always adventurous and willing to get in trouble.

 

But we loved her.

She was also very vocal and loved to talk to her toys. John nicknamed her "the school marm" because she would line her toys up in a row and then talk to them. It seemed like she was teaching.

Years later, when we adopted Riley, Casey became his surrogate Mom. He loved snuggling with her.

I think he is missing her today.

I know I am missing her a lot.

But kidney failure and sudden blindness made her life too hard and it wasn't kind to let her suffer.

I know she is home with John and some day we will all be together again.

Rest easy, sweet one. Mommy and Daddy love you.

Casey

Casey has gone over The Rainbow Bridge.
I know John is with her now and giving her lots of love.
I'll write more tomorrow.

Today

One year ago today we lost Jessie and here I am again contemplating losing another furbaby.

I know Casey's time is very short. This is no way for her to live.

Casey update

The news is not good.
Her lab work was not bad considering her chronic kidney condition.
But I mentioned to our vet yesterday that I have recently noticed that Casey's pupils are extremely dilated and I question how much she is seeing.
So he referred her to the animal hospital in town and Casey has since been examined by two doctors [including a kitty eye doctor] and the bottom line is:

She has high blood pressure and is blind and there is nothing that can be done for the blindness.
She is on blood pressure medication and eye drops for inflammation.
Now that she is blind it is apparent [to me] that she can't hear either.
I think before she was compensating with her vision but now that is gone too.
I don't know what to do for her and I feel so helpless.

She seems comforted when I hold her so we are doing a lot of that.

And last night I had to take Riley to the Emergency Room because he was straining to urinate and was passing blood.

That can be a life-threatening emergency in a male cat.

Thankfully he's not obstructed which was my fear although I was told to watch for signs of it.
We are still working him up but so far he is on pain medication and an antibiotic.

Today he seems a little more comfortable but still having symptoms.

I'm praying the medications kick in soon.

Casey

Our poor Casey is not doing well. It is probably getting close to the time to make "the decision". And I dread it. But she has deteriorated a lot in the last couple of weeks.
She appears to be confused, and I think her eyesight is greatly impaired if not gone completely. I am trying to keep her comfortable for now and waiting to hear from the vet today. We had some lab work drawn last Thursday and should have the results today.

10 months old

What happened to my little baby? Where did she go?

After

The mats were worse than we thought and despite Jen trying to leave Bella's hair longer, we had to go with shaving. The plan is to keep her groomed every 4 weeks or so with some comb outs in between if needed. We are going to let her grow to about 1 - 1 1/2 inches after this.
She looks so different but she is still my Bella.

Bella is getting a big girl haircut tomorrow

She needs it.