PETA

I dislike PETA...and everything it stands for, and yet I encounter pet people who continue to stand for PETA, and some how I suspect they do not really understand what PETA is all about.
Today's blog is simply a link to another blog...read it, it pretty much says it all.

http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=907

heating subcute fluids

I talked about giving Moose heated fluids for his sub acute body temperature when he was sick. I'm going to expand on this a little, because it has many good applications.
When a cat is very ill, it is not uncommon for them to be unable to maintain body temperature. It is unfortunately sometimes a sign that the cat is dying, but some cats can be saved by helping to maintain that body temp. Injury, illness and hypothermia call be reasons why the body temp can drop. Many vets have machines that warm the fluids, but obviously most people who might give fluids at home do not.
You can warm the fluids several ways. You can place the iv bag on a heating pad, making sure the fluid is warm, but not hot. Test this like you would a baby bottle on the inside of your arm. it should just feel a little warm (yep, some real science there..eh?)
you can also take a large syringe such as a 140cc, fill it, remove the needle and place it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Put a new needle on and give the fluids. This is my favorite technique...it's quick and simple.
Subcute fluids are invaluable. They should be your first line of emergency treatment next to obvious bleeding or need for immobilization. Fluids can help stave off what is a huge killer in any emergency situation and that is SHOCK....shock can occur from many things, injury being the most common, but fluids can buy your cat time to get to vet. It's not foolproof, nothing is, but it certainly can help.
I feel like this is the #1 thing you should have in a pet first aid kit. Ringer's lactate IV fluids are available by prescription from your vet, or can be ordered with a prescription online as well as venosets and needles.
IF you don't know how to give fluids, ask your vet to show you. It isn't hard and with a little practice and some stratigcally located plant hooks and a hanger, you can even manage by yourself.

The picture is Pudge. Pudge died when she was 14 after a bout with liver cancer. She was born on my living room floor 18 years ago, along with her two sisters and her brother. We kept her one sister Patches who passed about 6 months ago from old age, as well as her mother. My sister took her other sister Sprite and Sprite is still hanging around, doing the old cat thing. Their brother I adopted out to a coworker, who let him outside and he died when he was 2 of feline leukemia. That news made me very mad and very sad at the same time, since this woman had promised she woiuld keep him inside. Sometimes people just don't realize the bad diseases there are out there that there are no cures for.

Hyphema

Hyphema is blood in the eye. This occurs in the anterior chamber, or the space between the cornea and iris.
There are many causes of hyphema including trauma, poisoning such as snake or spider bite and occassionally diseases like FIP.

When Googamoose was 4 weeks old, he became very ill, with subacute body temperature, lack of appetite and severe hyphema in his eyes. For 4 days I kept him next to my bed on a headpad and bottle force fed him. I did not expect him to live.
I gave him heated subcute fluids, and because I felt he was going to die anyhow, I also gave him zythromycin. This was a risk because of his size, his age, and the fact that while I find that it works very well in cats, it's an off label use.

On day 5, I felt like "Moose" was actually going to pull through. And he did. Today he is a happy, healthy sweet cat, who will be 2 in July.
Did he actually survive FIP?....I suspect that most would say no, that something else was killing him and he got over it, but I suspect that he did actually wage war with the virus and won. But because I didn't have any lab work done and because the lab work is so nonspecific in FIP diagnosis anyhow, we are going to have to take that one on faith. The good news is he did survive.
In the picture you can see the hyphema still present a few weeks after he recovered. It took about 3 months to completely resolve, and I didn't think at the time to take pictures of it when it first occured, but his entire eyes were filled with blood. In the picture, it was about 1/2 reabsorbed, and it occured to me that this FIP experience should be documented.
In the second picture taken about 6 months ago, you can see his eyes cleared completely.

The endless search

I am endlessly searching and reading trying to learn more about FIP and virology in general. My microbiology classes in college were in 1982, and since then the diseases and the technology have speeded ahead. And while I might be tempted to go back and take a few classes, I have two kids to put through college the first time, first.
So I read a lot of medical journals and various articles.
I came across this
http://www.verilux.com/
in a hand held version at costco and bought it. I won't use antibacterial products in my home because of the potential danger to the immune system, the fact that some items in them are poisonous to cats (triclosan) and it is better to be exposed and build up immunity to many bacteria and viruses. However as we well know..some viruses are not so friendly.
Hence the light wand. Now, I don't have the lab equiptment at home to verify the results, but there does seem to be acceptable research into this to verify it.
I only have the hand wand, but I am very tempted to purchase the floor one. I think it could possibly help reduce the viral load spread around the house. For now, we are "wanding" the litterboxes....not exactly what I had in mind for a "magic wand" but hey, good enough for me...

What I wouldn't give to have one more day with Zilla.

Drug phamphet inserts

When you get a prescription filled at the pharmacy, you will receive an insert that includes drug information, information about side effects, drug interactions, etc...
I have never received such information from my vet, and while it might not have been important years ago, today when many use herbal additives to their pet's food and home treatments, I think it does have some significance.

This is an excellent resource web site for veterinary medication information. It is basically the drug insert that you get at the pharmacy. You can look up each product alphabetically and print or just read the information.

I believe firmly that a good pet owner is one that is as well informed as one can get.

http://mwi.naccvp.com/?u=country&p=msds

The picture is of Puff (she's not an FIP cat) Puff was found 3 January's ago. My husband went out to his car at work and there she was freezing and starving. Her ears were all shredded around the tips because of frost bite and her paws all raw. She was all skin and bones. She let him pick her up and put her right in his car. He wrapped her in his coat, and brought her home after work was done. After quite some time, we were very pleased to see that her ears not only healed very well, but all the fur grew back and don't even see the damage. Because she was so emaciated, she eats every meal like it was her last, and even after all the time of regular meals, she still eats that way and is now a little plump. She has the softest coat, and it is short and very thick, not at all like most cat's coats. More like a chinchilla coat. She's very sweet, but if she lays next to you in the bed (which che does all the time) you'd swear you were sleeping next to a cinderblock. And she does not move. I frequently suffer from a condition I like to call "cat back" do to Puff's refusal to move in the bed.

Useful pet items

Now, I have never ordered form this web site, but in searching for a picture of the piller, I found it...
the pet piller however is indispensable. It allows one person to pill a more uncooperative cat and still have fingers without puncture wounds.
I love it and use it with about 1/2 of my cats.
The key to getting good with it is to practice dispensing the pill....the most common difficulty is premature pill expulsion, so just get used to how it works and it should work well for you.
Aim straight down the tongue to the back of the throat, and push the plunger.

http://www.petrx.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=719

Veterinary bill resources

Oh, I know we have ALL had them. That vet bill that is more than your monthly income. And we all have ways to deal with them.
But just in case, here is a list of organizations that supposedly might help. Now, I say it that way, because when I contacted a few of them, there was no assistance available for either to cost of spaying and neutering almost 30 rescues, nor all of the FIP related expenses that we've encountered over the last 20 months. Hence the need for ebay....
But that's cool...I don't mind and wouldn't have taken them in if I didn't expect to pay for all their needs.
But I'd like to think that some of these might work if you really needed them too.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=financialassistanceforpetsveterinarybills

okay... I know that picture is the funniest looking cat you have ever seen....Her name is Gingersnap and she's one of my dachshunds. She is the best dog I have ever had and I love her to death. She is SO bad....she chews, she'll poke you really hard if your ignoring her...she nips...she howls if you leave her home or if she's locked out of the bedroom, or if your ignoring her...basically she IS bad dog 911...but she is so cute and so much fun.She loves to chew her collar off...collars are not designed for doxie necks and they can get them off easily. She loves to clean the cats. She licks all their ends...front and back. Yes, it's true, pet ownership is NOT for the weak....

Another cat supply web site

I don't know how I over looked this one....Valley Vet. They have the best prices on things like lactated Ringers, nutrical, methagel, as well as other items.
You also save more when you buy a case of 12 of those type items. And most items ship free.

http://www.valleyvet.com


The pictures today are of Lobster (not an FIP cat) He's is an amusing story. I drove a school bus for 18 years. Towards the end of my driving days, one November morning it was cold and raining. Some of the drivers came across the radio and asked if anyone saw what was in the tree at the elementary school. I thought they were talking about a condom. The high school kids had been hanging condoms in the trees all over town for a week (what do you want me to tell you...it's HS....)But as I pulled into the elementary school to let off my kids, I saw across the parking lot a tiny orange kitten up a tree in the rain. Needless to say, I dropped the kids off the bus, pulled around, got out in the pouring rain and plucked that baby out of the tree like an apple. He was sopping wet, shivering and blue from cold. I just put him right in my shirt against my skin, and drove back to the bus garage. (my runs were luckily over for the day). He stayed in my shirt all the way to the vet, when we got to the vet he was finally warmed up. My vet likes orange cats, and he was swooped off to get warmed up further and fiv/felv tested. Then he came home with me. In the second picture, he was helping me grind up and bottle fresh dried catnip which I grow. In the first picture, he was just home, a tiny little thing.
Funny enough, I drove bus #18, and I found him on 11/18/2004. Now's he's a very large orange cat. But he's very sweet and frequents my side.
He's the cat however that when I was cleaning his ears one day growled at me (he's a big baby) and my Zilla rushed across the bed, all 3 lbs of her to attack him (he weights 17 lbs) and defended me, beause he growled at me. It was precious and one of my favorite memories of Zilla.

Another fine cat toy

This was ( I say was because it just got chewed up and worn out and I have to replace it because it is missed terribly, but I just haven't had spare funds with the moving)

my cats all time favorite toy (next to boxes of course)

The cat spa
http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20071123/the-cat-spa-spoil-that-pet/

They really wore it out, but it lasted a long time and everyone liked it. It was great because you could just wash it with a little bleach in the tub and it was all clean like new.
They like to rub on the little comb areas and they'd chew it all over.
Silly cats.

In the picture is Shrimpy (not an FIP cat) He was left in a box in a parking lot. Scared and abandoned. Whoever owned him had all 4 feet declawed, then dumped him. Probably was dumped because he has IBD and requires medication regularly for severe diarrhea. He will poop outside (but nearby it) the litterbox when he is having a flare up, and I guess some one just didn't want to deal with finding out what was wrong and medicating him. He loves to sleep on the kitchen table. I must remove him 100 times a day. He took a long time to warm up to us, but he's not scared anymore, just quiet and unassuming. IF it wasn't for his need to be a table center piece, you might not even know he was there.

favorite pet supply web sites

These are all web sites I have ordered from and received good products.

California vet supply...good prices...quick shipping...Free shipping on orders over $125.00 and reasonable shipping on orders below that.
my orders have always arrived in a timely manner in good condition. I have never had to return an item, and they carry a good supply of supplements.
They also carry a good deal of fish supplies that are common prescription items for other pets.

http://www.calvetsupply.com/

Joe's pet meds...great prices on flea/tick items. These items are imported though and shipping can be slow, but I usually receive my items in 7-10 days. I have never had a problem with the items, they work fine, and I have never had to return an item. Shipping charges we good last time I ordered, but it's been a while, so I don't know currently how they are.

http://www.joespetmeds.com/

Allivet....great prices on prescriptions. They will fax your vet for the Rx...that's very convient in my book. Free shipping on orders over $99.00, BUT they ship SLOW...if I order a RX today, I won't have it for 7-10 days..so they are good for supplies you need to keep on hand, or you use all the time, but no good if you need a prescription for a sick pet. But rarely can I find better prices on most items I order from them.

http://www.allivet.com/

The picture is of Pixie (she's not an FIP cat) we adopted her from a local shelter event, she'd been traumatized by her previous family and had all sorts of colored magic marker stripes all over her. She'd swat and bite, but doesn't anymore. We've had her about 6 years now. She's a fruit loop, obviously a result of her start in life, but she adores my daughter and as you can see from the picture, beanie babies.

Feline Interferon

When I first heard the diagnosis of FIP, my instinct to find out as much information as possible kicked into high gear.
Not at all dissimilar to what I did when my son was first diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma in 2000.

I also searched out support groups online, because I know that sometimes resources come from unexpected sources.
I found several such groups, but one in particular seemed to be imparting knowledge that from the outset appeared helpful. This was where I had first heard of feline interferon.

At first I procured some from a member of the group, then importing it as I felt it could be the answer to the problem.
It was not. thousands of dollars later and hours of research, I discovered the results of some studies on feline interferon and FIP.
Here is the abstract of one such published paper.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18196725?ordinalpos=10&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

The group still recommends the interferon usage as well as one of the "leading experts" in FIP.
I disagree for two important reasons.
1. it fosters hope
2. it is spending money on something that doesn't work on this disease.

However, there is some evidence that feline interferon is effective in cats with FELV, and that's good news.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15320583?ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Now, if virbac would just produce it in this country and make getting it easier to help cats who need it, because many many cats are still immediately euthanized upon diagnosis of FELV.

conspiracy theory

today, just for the heck of it, I'm going to play conspiracy theory....
theoretically of course....

and we're going to use FIP in my conspiracy theory....

what if I said that all the cats/kittens that were from the "rescue" came from the same state run animal shelter...

what if I said that all but 2 kittens that have died of the FIP in my house, all came from that same facility....
http://www.nycacc.org/

what if I said that one of the adult cats that died (Solstice) came from that facility but a year earlier...

what if I said that FIP is a corona virus and corona viruses are RNA viruses....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus

what if I said that RNA viruses are frequently used to mutate our food, diseases and anything else we genetically alter....
http://cmbi.bjmu.edu.cn/cmbidata/therapy/about/about04.htm

what if I told you that a government run isolated island facility was in close geographic proximity to the animal shelter...
http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=19400000

what if I told you that this facility worked on animal diseases....

It's far out there....I admit...but it certainly makes some interesting food for thought.

Dora's symptoms

As I promised, the purpose is to share information about FIP so we can all be better educated.

Dora was exactly the same size as her three brothers when she came to me. But she didn't grow much. Her top weight was about 4 lbs.

When I did most of the spaying and neutering, we skipped Dora to give her more time. She never went into heat, and never grew anymore.
We have seen this pattern with FIP kittens several times now. I would have to say that is a clear indication of FIP.

One of Minga's kittens is small and she hasn't grown much. I worry about that in her, as I also worry about Minga's rough looking coat and inability to gain weight. Minga however has gone into heat and despite the unknown factor, I am going to have her spayed.

One the biggest problems I see with making well informed decisions about the FIP is the lack of a difinative test for it. That really is frustrating and it makes me wonder about the science behind the disease.

Dora died last night. I think I have officially reached numb stage.
I haven't much to say about it, so I am just going to share some pictures of her today.

Dora's rally

Dora has rallied once again, much to my surprise. This is one of the difficult things about dry FIP. She's had two mild seizures that were very quick in ending, and each took her about a day to recover from. This is common in what I Have seen of dry FIP. Ickis's seizures were not mild and had he not died after the last one, I would have euthanized him, but the recover from them can be confusing.
What to do.... I certainly never want any cat to suffer, and yet here is Dora laying with my daughter watching a movie today. She ate well, drank some water and walked all over the house. SO when is the right time to let them go?
Well I'll be honest. There is nothing I dislike more than euthanizing an animal and I have had my share of it. I waited too long with Ickis, but his was the first case of dry FIP and I wasn't sure. I am now. I know now that if the seizure is a serious one then that is the time. Springy had a mild seizure, was okay for a few days, then had another mild one and died.
mild seizure....not always obvious, yet eyes unfocused, possible loss of urine control momentarily and general confusion afterward. We've also seen one side weakness after a seizure as well.
strong seizure...shaking, stiff paws, biting movements, incoherant, loss of urine and possibly bowls, unable to walk, or interact afterwards.
These are the types of symptoms I have seen with dry FIP seizures.
Dora is having another good day. She is interacting fine, enjoyed her food and is enjoying love, so to me, it's not quite her time yet. It will be soon, and if I see obvious suffering such as more serious seizures, not eating, not moving, pain, then I will have her euthanized. But cats have an amazing will to live and I try to walk the line of respecting that while minimizing suffering. It's not always a clear cut decision.

The picture is of Zilla and Dora enjoying an M&M box from Costco....

Dora's last stand

Dora's a fighter. It is difficult to watch a cat fight SO hard to live, and know there is nothing out there to help her win her fight.
How incredibly frustrating it is for me to watch this process over and over again.
All I can do is hold her and love her and scream in frustration. And hope her passing is gentle and pain free.

Vaccines

After months of initial research I decided 18 months ago to forgo vaccinating my cats any longer. It was not a decision that my vet supported, but since we didn't discuss it in depth, I can't honestly tell you his reasons why.
But here's some good information on vaccines so you can decide for yourself....

First all vaccines contain Thimerosal a substance used as a preservative.
http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm

it is thought to be linked to autism in children and has been removed from most childhood vaccines now. It has not be removed from any others as of yet.
Here's another interesting article....

http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/scienceVaccineDamage.html

There are a thousand more about bad vaccine reactions and cancers caused by vaccines, but the worst is the destruction of the immune system, hence the reason I forgo vaccines in my cats.
It won't make you the most popular client in the vet's office, but I am reasonably certain your pet will live longer better lives with at least a more informed vaccine protocol....

product review.....

This is my favorite automatic pet feeder. I have a large one and a medium one and they are fabulous for a multipet household. You can set the timer with up to 8 different times for the food to be dispensed. They work great

http://www.autopetfeeder.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=16&cat=Autopetfeeder

well worth the pricey tag they come with.
UNFORTUNATELY....
customer service is lousy and the matching pet water dispenser is a nightmare. The bottles are poorly molded and break easily leading to massive flooding all over the floor of the water. I've had 4 bottle replacements and my waterer is STILL out of service. However, I do see that the web site lists the bottles out of stock, so let's hope they have finally gotten the message and are working on the bottle manufacturing.

The feeder makes little noise, and is not annoying at all unless it is empty.

Pet products interested?

I have bought a fair amount of items for my pets over the years...some good...some a total waste of money. I also get a lot of health supplies and prescriptions online now....

anyone interested in my sharing thoughts on these items and web sites?

maybe something a little less depressing then FIP.....occassionally.


Here's a picture of BooBoo in her favorite box toy.

Another death on the horizon

Some day I'd like to post on here that none of my cats have died. Say in 6 months. I'd be happy for 6 months.
3 years ago, I'd say that I'd be devastated if I lost 1 cat every 6 months. But I'm older, sadder and wiser now. I have the evil FIP to thank for that.

Dora will be the next to go. It will be horrible. She has all the typical signs I have come to assess to dry FIP. chronic fever, wasting of body weight and then muscle. failure to grow. rough coat, inflamed gums, she had a mild seizure yesterday. I considered euthanasia then, but she bounced back and it's hard to take the light out of their eyes while they still have fight left in them, but I don't kid myself. She's incontinant tonight. All the dry FIP cases were at the end. It seems to be a symptom as well.

Dora came to me at 12 days of age with her momma and her 3 brothers. Dora was first to do everything which is why my daughter named her Dora the explorer. She is the tiniest sweetest little cat you could ever meet. With the greatest personality.

My cats deserve better than this. All cats deserve better than this terrible disease.

I will figure out something to make this better. I don't know how yet, and I don't know when it will be, but I will figure out a way to curb this disease and treat it better than the few options barely offered now.