The Roo Report

JOURNALS

8-14-10 Roo was in pain. She didn’t really want us to touch her. She had some leisions on her skin that were not healing. She was doing a lot of over-grooming, to the point that she had open sores on her paws. She was very skinny and bony and focused primarily on her routine of going to the water bowl every half hour and on her feeding schedule. She wasn’t able to balance very well and she wasn’t able to make it to the litter box, anymore.

We brought her in to the vet’s office and the vet said they could make her comfortable for a few weeks and see if a different set of antibiotics had any effect on her chronic kidney/bladder infection.  We talked about her quality of life, her level of pain and anxiety, and her chronic conditions. I knew in my gut it was time. It was very difficult. We said goodbye to Roo. May she rest in peace. I gave her a lot of love and she gave me a lot of love in return. She had quite a fan club, as she deserved.

1-26-10 Since finishing the antibiotics, Roo has been in much better shape and was less fussy, for some time. She’s very active – sometimes kind of hyper, which leads me to believe that she may have a thyroid problem. However, she’s been using her box and eating her food and drinking her water. I have to keep her away from human food. She vomits when she has even a tiny bit of any dairy products, like when she sneakily attacked my almost-empty cereal bowl, last week.  We had a nice gift from some people who work at the local bead store: an entire case of special care/special needs renal formula cat food. Thank you Carol for donating this to Roo. I’m mixing it with her usual brand of special cat food. Please know it’s going to good use.

11-25-09 Roo has finally been eating and with that comes her antibiotics. It’s been almost three weeks and I’ve found that grinding up her pills, mixing them with a bit of raw pumpkin and mixing that in with her (stinky) kidney-care cat food has been acceptable to her. Her energy is much better. She is still getting used to our “new” feline roommate, Zac. So there is hissing and maneuvering on both their parts. But she is much better. I have also found that she’s using the box again.

11-11-09 Roo is refusing to take her antibiotics. We got new meds for her when her stomache would not tolerate the first kind of dual antibiotics. She is quarantined to her room/my sewing room with her own box and food and sofa (yes, she has her own sofa in there) with the hope that she’ll use the BOX and not the carpet to communicate with us about her illness. I know a lot of this is stress and I’m continuing to use the Feline Ease spray (pheremone/approved for dual cat households), mix plain pumpkin into her food (good for kidney/bladder issues) and attempt to hide her pills in her wet food (kidney support food). She still doesn’t want to be touched very much.

10-14-09 Well the vet called to confirm that, based on her urine tests, Roo has an infection. We have to give her antibiotics. She is not at all happy about this. Over the past two days, she’s been very listless. She vomited last night after eating and after she got her antibiotics and Pepcid.  This morning she would not come out from under the couch after she ate her food. I couldn’t give her the pill. I really want her to be comfortable. I am not sure how else to help her except to follow doctor’s orders and do my best and just be really nice to her. Sometimes that means leaving her the heck alone when she’s upset or just sitting near her. She likes that better than petting.

10-08-09  Over the last two months, Roo lost more weight and now weighs in at 9 pounds – only HALF of what she weighed when I adopted her. She’d lost two pounds in two months, which was unusual. We went to the vet to get her checked out when she started vomiting regularly and had stopped using her box. I also had moved into an apartment with another kitty and another human. This week, her results are good, so far. No further infection and I need to give her Pepcid if she has vomiting. Only a 1/4 of a tablet of the 10 mg over-the-counter Pepcid. So far, she’s doing well. I’m giving her a bit more food since she’d lost so much weight. I also think that our move has been stressful for her. But she’s being very accomodating. She has her own room and a separate box from our new kitty roommate, Zac, but she likes to be where I am.

The vet called with results on the second round of urine & blood tests – they showed that her kidney functions are good but we have to make sure she drinks enough water and generally monitor her for any symptoms/problems. They were still waiting on the culture test, which takes longer.

8-2009 We went to the vet in August to see why Roo was having problems. She was vomiting and urinating in odd places and I wanted to avoid another infection or get it diagnosed. I had slowly taken her off the insulin since she was doing very well with her diabetic-only food and a bit of high-protein, all-meat cat food. She’d lost weight and her energy was very good. The vet confirmed that she had a bladder infection and so I got to hide a pill in her wet food once a day for about ten days. She also had a leision on her neck that they had to clean up and I was to apply some ointment each day. She wasn’t too thrilled by this. After three days, the vets office called back with the culture results of the infection, to tell me the antibiotics wouldn’t work on this kind of infection. They prescribed another kind.

In addition, her diabetes was in remission but there were concerns about her kidneys– there were crystals in her urine. The vet suggested that I switch her food to “renal” food and discontinue giving her the diabetic food. Roo likes it just as much. She loves to eat. Although she isn’t drinking as much water as when she had the diabetes, she’s still drinking water. But we need to monitor that.

4-20-09 Roo has been responding consistently for months to the insulin-once-a-day routine. She also eats her dry diabetic food when it’s mixed with water and a tiny bit of canned, fishy cat food. I also give her plenty of water. She’s had a couple of incidents of vomiting. But it wasn’t persistent and she’s been back to her usual level of activity within a few hours. I’ve still had a hard time cutting her claws and usually need help from a neighbor or our friend B. who used to work in a vet’s office.

Over the past two months, she stopped eating as much. The vet had told me when she eats less, don’t give her the insulin. So I lowered the amount of insulin I administered to half of what she’d been given. (down to 1 cc) After a few days of this, I stopped giving her insulin and her health seems fine. She’s eating a normal amount, and drinking regular amounts of water. She even wants to play with her string – and she runs into the hallway whenever I open the door.  I am thinking her diabetes may be in remission again, since she seems pretty peppy. The Amazing Roodini!

11-19-08 Roo made it through her all-day glucose curve test at the vet’s last week.  She’s been doing well with the single dose of insulin, once a day. However, I’ve noticed that she’s started “missing” the box again. Just this evening. She has a healthy appetite and is drinking a regular amount of water, maybe a bit more than usual. She’s on her regular diet of 1/4 cup food in the AM with water, and 1/4 cup food in the PM. I’m going to observe her and call the vet if other symptoms present themselves.

11-6-08 ~AM~ Roo is getting picky about her food again. She was okay this morning, just eating a little more slowly than usual. No vomiting, and she’s using her box, regularly, drinking her water. I checked on her at noon time and she was happy to relax on the couch and then run around a little bit.

~PM~ Roo got all pushy and confused about her food tonight. She ate a little and started acting like I owed her more or different food. Stopped eating. She got interested when I put a little bit of different brand dry food in with the mashed 1/4 cup of the regular stuff and stayed still so I could give her the 2.5 units insulin. I guess I’d get bored of the same dry food all the time, too.

11-5-08 ~AM~ I work up really early, even before Roo did but went back to sleep. Woke up again to feed her highness the required 1/4 dry food mash combo at 7 am, then I re-set the alarm and crashed again. I think I am fighting a cold.

~PM~Once again gave Roo her 1/4 cup dry food mashed with water and a tiny piece of dry salmon with water; adminstered the 2.5 units insulin. She seems upset when I touch a place on her neck that is dry. Not sure what it is. Tried to avoid it because she would hiss and run away when I brushed her. Later, she’d be very affectionate and purring. She needs her space, I guess.

11-4-08 ~AM~ 1/4 cup of food with water. Very little to report. Did get some Roo-grooming with brush done; and we did “our” yoga and stretches

~PM~Got home to feed Roo 1/4 cup dry food mashed with water, and give her 2.5 units of insulin. She’s still fidgety when I give her the injection. She’s been losing a little weight. I called the pet hospital to schedule a glucosamine “curve” test on Monday and scheduled a time to use the City Car Share car to pick her up. She’ll arrive early and I think be done by PM. They told me to bring her insulin with me.

11-3-08 ~AM~ Roo thought her food needed to be out at the non-Daylight Savings time. But she gave up meowing and then my alarm went off. So, she got her food and a good brushing this morning. We did our yoga. I mean, I did yoga while she supervised me from one side of the mat. (her mat)

~PM~ She’s been very good about the box and no vomiting. Administered 2.5 units of insulin, while she was eating her 1/4 cup of dry food mixed with water. She’s been drinking a regular amount of water, about 1/3 of the bowl each day plus what I mix into her food. She does head over to the empty food dish a lot and look up at me, expecting more. I just try to pet her and brush her more when she does that. She ran out into the hallway again tonight and rolled around on the carpet out there. It’s like a little vacation for her.

11-2-08 ~AM~ Daylight Savings does not occur in the Roo universe apparently. Up with the birds to give Roo her food. She’s doing well. Very purry this morning after her food. Yeah.

~PM~ Roo has been gobbling down her dry-mixed-with-water diabetic catfood at quite a clip. I have to prevent her from eating too fast, so we get into this routine of my putting a few tablespoons on the plate for her, at a time. Then, when she’s focused on the food, I can administer the insulin. I’m giving her 2 or 2.5 units in the evening only, and that seems about right.

11-1-08 ~AM~ All was stable with Roo this morning. No vomiting, box in use and food appreciated at 7 am, sharp. I cut up a tiny bit of dry salmon and soaked it in water for her morning 1/4 cup of food. She liked it She’s been drinking her water.

~PM~ Got home to feed Roo at about 7:45 pm and she was very hungry, but patient with me. She didn’t flinch much during the 2.5 units insulin administration. Then she “supervised” as I got ready to go out. Neighbors Aunt Erica C. and Uncle Bill came by and Roo “talked” to them by looking all pert and happy in the kitchen next to her water dish and meowing at them to say “Hello! Doesn’t my mom look silly in her costume??” as Auntie Heather and Auntie M. came by to get me for the Halloween masquerade and Roo said hello by letting Heather pat her. Roo’s been using her box each and every day, thank goodness. M. liked the hat very much. I am so pleased and so is Roo.

10/31/08 ~AM~ I was awoken by noises of Roo vomiting. I’ve searched the apt. and cannot find the offending vomit. No clue where it was/is. Cleaned the box, gave Roo her 1/4 cup dry diabetic food with water, in increments, to avoid more vomiting. So far, so good. Hey, it’s Halloween. Roo is staring at me from the yoga mat area. “Don’t Bother Me, I’m Digesting.” – that’s a quote from the actor Toshiro Mifune from “Yojimbo”. Yes, Roo shares an interest with ronin samurai – food.

~PM- Roo seems to have weathered Halloween day just fine. She ate her usual amount of food and water (1/4 cup) and was a little figety about th insulin needle, but was focused on the food. We finished sewing M’s hat and watched several episodes of “Bleak House.” Roo even purred a little

10/30/08 ~AM~ not a whole lot to report. Gave cat 1/4 cup food with water. Check. No barfing. Check. Growling when I pat her, check. Sleeping when I left for work. Check. The life of Roo.

~PM~ Some big kitty (I wonder who) wanted to run around in the hallway as soon as I got home to feed her. But she ate and I gave her the 2 units insulin. Headed out to find replacement wheels for my bike at E’s place and do errands. When I got back, Roo wanted to run in the hallway again. She’s using the box regularly, drinking normal amounts of water. We sat together while I sewed and watched part of “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”. Roo said she wants to dress up as Mama Cass for Halloween. What a stretch. Not.

10/29/08 ~AM~ Roo has settled on 7 am for her feline alarm clock sound and that’s the time for her 1/4 cup food. She polished off the last of the wet diabetic food so I gave her watered diabetic dry food with tuna juice. She gobbled it right up. Regular box usage (she did miss the box a little – can I buy stock in the “Nature’s Miracle” company, please? I think I’m on bottle # 8…) And we did our yoga together. She’s very helpful with that. Sitting in the middle of the mat.

~PM~ Fed Roo at 7 pm, administered 2.5 units insulin, with 1.4 cup food and plenty of water. She’s drinking more water. Her energy is much more consistent. She settled in on the sofa with me to watch “Sense and Sensibility” as I sewed a hat. Roo rated the film 4 Stars, but not as exciting as the Roger Rees “Life & Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby” by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Roo enquired as to the whereabouts of the dvd collection of the BBC Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett. Good question, Roo. Must be in the post.

10/28/08 ~AM~ No vomiting this morning, just the meowing for food, early. She got her ration of wet/dry diabetic food with a bit of tuna and lots of water. Seems happy with it. And she’s used her box regularly for a few days, now. Yay. She doesn’t seem to like the dry salmon treats, even when I split them in half and soak them in water, and give them to her as a reward for using the box. I think her teeth are bugging her.

~PM~ Evening meal and insulin administration went well. She sure gets focused on the food. I skipped the salmon and she was happy to claw the yoga mat (it’s “hers” after all) and then sit on the couch with me. Her fur is getting to be like a porcupine as the weather gets cooler. She gets fluffier and seems happy. She doesn’t mind it when I brush her, as long as I keep them to short “brush-fests” of only a few minutes.

10/27/08 ~AM~ Roo was vomiting at around 6 am. I can only find one place to clean up. I gave her the 1/4 cup of food and she hasn’t been drinking all of her water, but some. She liked the food and wanted more but no. Can’t do that. I’ve been administering insulin in the evening, per vet’s recommendations. Time to go brush her highness since she’s not doing a lot of grooming these days

~PM~ She ate 1/4 cup dry diabetic food mixed with a few teaspoons of wet food, water and tuna juice. She’s been using the box, no more vomiting. I gave her 2 units of insulin. She ran and rolled around in the hallway as is her way when she’s feeing chipper. Auntie Heather called and left us both a phone message so she knows she’s being cared about by her team members. Also Auntie Betsy asked after her health. This cat has quite the fan club.

10/26/08 ~AM~ Roo woke me up early again, for food. Very consistently drinking her water, using the box. No vomiting, and she’s liking the food. I think she’s forgiven me for having to give her the nasty tasting antibiotic. Her energy is good. She ate a tiny bit (less than an eighth of a teaspoon) of plain yogurt.

~PM~ She ate all of her diabetic food (1/4 cup) and has been drinking her water. She let Auntie Beth pat her today and ran to the end of the hallway. She asked for food several times today and I kept patting her and giving her water. No accidents, no vomiting.

10/25/08 ~ AM~ Up with the dawn, Roo ate all of her 1/4 cup of wet/dry/water-added diabetic food and was asking for more. I had to give her more water and just be extra nice. Her appetite has returned and she’s using her box. Found a spot of blood on the couch, may have come from her foot where the infection was? No vomiting and no diarrhea. Yay.

~PM~ Roo was hungry and at her 1/4 cup portion of combined food with less tuna juice in it, more accustomed to the ground, dried diabetic cat food mixed with H20. I administered 2.5 units of the insulin since she’s eating more regularly. “Auntie” Mia came by and Roo was nice – I think she knows who is allergic and hovers around them. (She does that when other visiting “Aunties” – who are both allergic – are here.)

10/24/08 ~AM~ Ah the sound of barfing when one wakes up. Roo really hated that last dose of antibiotics but it’s done now and her foot is all healed. She’s also eating the combo of dry food/wet food and tuna mixed with water. She eats a little at a time and drinks her water. Yay.

~PM~ Roo asked me for dinner. She ran into the hallway and sat there, then wandered back into the kitchen while I prepared my dinner, to “meow” to tell me she was hungry. She got the tuna/pulverized dry food/wet diabetic food combo. Since she ate all of it (about a 1/4 cup) I gave her 2 units of insulin. She is using the box and no more barfing right now.

10/23/08 ~AM~Roo talked to me when she was hungry by meow-ing at this morning. And she ate her food! a combination of dry, diabetic food, wet diabetic food and tuna juice. She accepted the antibiotics, drooled it a lot and finished her food. at least the antibiotics are easier to clean than vomit. I administered 2 units of insulin and she hid for a while, but she’s sleeping peacefully on the couch, now. she tried to run into the hallway this morning. I cleaned her box and found that she had diarrhea. it may be the antibiotics. she is now sleeping.

~PM~ Okay, she’s not eating the wet or dry diabetic food now, even with tuna juice on it. But I did feed her a little piece of cooked chicken (about a tablespoon all mashed up) and put it with the diabetic food and she ate about two bites. She’s drinking water. Dr. Wright left me a phone message for us to come in to the pet hospital and do the blood work again in about a week. H. called and talked to Roo on the phone. Roo was sleeping on the couch purring, after her dinner. She still has diarrhea but she’s using the box. Now she’s eating a little bit more wet food, about two hours after I fed her.

10/22/08 ~AM~ got her to eat some dry food mixed with tuna water but she ran away from the antibiotics dropper again. She came back for a little plain tuna. Gave 2 units insulin. She’s using the box. I tried the non-needle syringe as per suggested by J., who rescued an older kitty. She backed away and most of the medicine went flying onto the carpet. how nimble she is.

~PM ~Putting tuna juice on the wet diabetic cat food enticed her to eat some of it. She expressed interest in my spegetti noodles and I said, “no, this is not on the kitty diet, Roo; this is People Food”. She ran into the hallway and said “hi” to cat-fan neighbors. She’s drinking a normal amount of water and using the box. Still ignoring the dry diabetic food. She ate one more teaspoon of tuna and then went to bed.

10/21/08 (1) Roo didn’t eat her diabetic wet or dry food. I bribed her with 1/4 teaspoon of plain yogurt after administering gross-tasting antibiotics with dropper thing. She had no insulin since she isn’t eating. She IS using the box. Score!