follow-up to the post

October 27, 2005 l Leave a Comment

Regarding Scully’s bladder issues…

As I mentioned before, I couldn’t bring Scully to the vet right away due to a serious lack in finances. It’s been two weeks since her last “inappropriate elimination”, and she hasn’t peed out of the litterbox once.

Color me confused.

While I was waiting to get her checked by the vet, I bought another litterbox just in case. I’ve also made sure not to leave boxes or other such items within her reach, so as to remove all temptation she might have to pee in them. When she had a UTI, that worked for awhile, but eventually she started peeing in random locations. Two weeks without incident is a pretty good track record. So who knows what was really going on…

I’ll still keep an eye on her litterbox habits, of course. There’s always the possibility of an underlying issue. My only other reason for delaying a vet visit is, if it does turn out to be a problem with stones or crystals, the vet will immediately prescribe a “special needs” diet. Which I will politely decline (knowing that such diets can cause more problems than we already have).

When and if a diagnosis of that sort comes, I want to be prepared with information and diet options of my own. Which means, of course, that I need to start doing more research. The work never ends around here.

*eta*

We may soon be suffering a setback with regards to the new diet. Someone has been having tummy problems (stinky ones, at that), and witnesses say it’s Stephanie. To that end, I’ve eliminated all extraneous food and treats, to determine if it’s the food or if it’s something else that’s causing the upset.

If it’s the food, it means we’ll need to switch. Again. They’ve been eating the Wellness Chicken for just over a week, I’d like to give it a little more time before we have to move on to our next option.

mousey boys

October 23, 2005 l 2 Comments

Ran a little behind this weekend…didn’t end up cleaning the rabbit or mice cages until this afternoon.

Took some pics while I was cleaning out the mice’s bin cage. They seem to be settling in quite nicely.

(towards the bottom right, and just above their food dishes,
you can see a couple burrows that they’ve dug)

Not the best shot, but Martin is being cute and curious:

Chuck, on the other hand, is a far more cautious fellow…

He chattered loudly the entire time, probably
telling me to get the heck outta his house.

Random Observations of the Day…

October 17, 2005 l 1 Comment

Random Observations of the Day…

I’ve started to feed the rabbits on the same schedule as the cats (6am, 3pm, and 10pm). I decreased the size of their salads by about half, because a) they’d naturally eat a lot less fresh foods in the winter, and b) my semester budget doesn’t support spending over $10 a week on vegetables for bunnies. So their winter diet is mostly hay, then pellets, with a small serving of veggies in the morning. What I find interesting is how quickly they’ve taken to the new schedule. By the second day, they were waiting at their bowls at 3 and 10 pm, respectively. I seem to have stumbled onto something here.

In other news…

The cats have been quite spastic tonight. I’ve heard that the full moon can have an effect on behavior. Either that, or they just sensed I was trying to get some studying done.

Earlier today, Miko was tracking a fly around my room. He must have flown into the rabbits’ cage, because she put her paws up on the side and peered through the wire. Rex hopped over, but his paws up against hers, and stuck his nose out at her. She jumped back rather quickly (later though, she did end up catching -and eating- said fly)

and this wasn’t from today, but is still worth noting:

I was cleaning the mice’s cage out on Saturday night, wiping down the walls, tubes, wheels, etc. Martin ventured out of the igloo and came over to inspect what I was doing. He sniffed the paper towel, sniffed my hand, sniffed the paper towel some more - all the while completely at ease with me talking to him. This is definitely a good sign.

Starting to get more than a little frustrated

October 16, 2005 l Leave a Comment

With the cats’ current issues…

First, there’s the diet changes. Found that Stephanie does okay with Wellness Chicken (canned), so I feed that for the first week or so. Then I thought I’d find out if she can handle Wellness Turkey. She’s doing alright, but Scully and Miko have had some…digestive problems. I’ve also added a nighttime meal of dry food, so I don’t know if it’s the Turkey canned food or their dry food that’s causing upset tummies. Just to play it safe, I’m going to be transitioning back to the Chicken and sticking with it for the time being.

Then there’s Scully’s urinary problems. She had a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) in January, was treated with some anti-inflammatory meds and two weeks of Clavamox, and everything was hunky-dory. Fast forward to a month ago, and she’s peeing outside her litterbox with no apparent behavioral reason. Take her to the vet, and it turns out she has another UTI. Yet again, two weeks of Clavamox and she should be fine.

And she was just fine during those two weeks, and for another week afterwards, but she’s once again peeing outside her litterbox (I highly doubt that it’s behavioral, because she acts very nervous and skittish right before she urinates where she’s not supposed to).

*sigh*

Three infections in under a year, and especially when they’re so close together, makes me think there’s something larger going on. Like Feline Urinary Tract Disorder.

Obviously she needs to go back to the vet, but I can’t take her for another week because I don’t have the money. And of course, that makes me feel like the worst animal mom in the world.

This could very well mean more medications and diet changes, which will need to take into account varying digestive sensitivities.

And oh yeah, I found out that Wellness can often contribute to urinary tract problems…

I adore this cat, and she is more than worth whatever it will take to make her healthy. But sometimes it’s enough to make me want to scream.

Welcome to Mouse Wonderland

October 12, 2005 l 1 Comment

The boys primarily hang in the igloo, but during the day they’ll also hang out in the tubes that run underneath the bedding (the wire lid is for climbing )

Here’s the lid, complete with wire to keep them from chewing their way out. And the Wodent Wheel has been claimed by Martin.

Here’s a better shot of the left side of the cage, and you can see Chuck’s wheel, as well a couple of the tubes and tunnels that they love so much.