If it isn't one thing it is another

[Denyce]

Last Saturday evening I had a couple of yellow ribbons on the kitchen table with pins in them. On Sunday morning one was missing. All that was left was a bit of chewed up yellow crud. I have 4 darling little fur monsters so I have no idea which one decided that looked like a good snack. I fed the bread and milk and have been watching them like a hawk. No vomiting, good appetites and 3 of them (Kaliban, Katiebug and Brianna) all had good bowel movements yesterday evening. But I hadn't noticed one from Deirdre. So this morning I dropped her at the vets for an x-ray. I just got the call from the vet that the x-ray was clear!! YEA!!!

However, she noticed that Deirdre has lost a pound in the last 9 months. Since she was only at 10 pounds this is rather significant. So now I am waiting on bloodwork. I get the horrible choices of kidney's, thyroid, or cancer. Now Deirdre is a very highstrung cat. Just goes constantly. I call her my Mighty Huntress. They are all indoor cats except for the occasional supervised outing but we live in the mountains of central PA and often get mice in the attic which manage to find their way into the house. Deirdre caught one just the other evening in the kitchen. One time she even flushed a deer out from under the pine tree across the driveway when we were all out grilling hamburgers. She eats 3 times what the other cats eat and has always been thin. Very oriental type only a gray tabby. So I am hoping that it is just her thyroid or spring and she has been more active. It is just I thougt I would be able to take deep breaths and not have this horrible anxious stomach once I learned no pin. But NOOOO.....now I have to worry about blood work for another 3 hours. If it isn't one thing it is just another isn't it?

Denyce

[emily_the_spoiled]

Given the symptoms you describ (increased appetite, weight loss, hyperactivity) it sounds like she might have hyper-thyroidism. Tex, one of Cataholics' cats, was just diagnosed with the same problem awhile back. You might want to find the post...

Good luck and hopefully it isn't too serious...

[kimlovescats]

Hoping it isn't anything serious .... please keep us posted! Try not to worry!

[Denyce]

Thank you. I am trying not to worry. I am at work with very little to do. It is our slow season so I am just kind of pacing about attempting to look busy or chatting with my supervisor who has even less work to do. The time slips by slowly that way.

Deirdre is only about 7 years old and has been in pretty good health for most her life. She rarely has any hairball problem as she has a very slick smooth coat with little undercoat. Now the last year she has been chewing the hair off her tummy and insides of her legs due to stress we believe. She has always been an intense cat. And she is very jealous of me. Also tends to urinate on my clothing when she feels insecure. Unfortunately in one way for her she has this problem. I have that invisable to humans but blaring to animals neon sign blazing on my forehead that says SUCKER. My entire life strays and the needy animals have found their way to my doorstep. But it was also fortunate for her as she was one of those strays. I live in a University town where we have MANY student drop offs. She showed up on my doorstep at the end of the summer semester with her hair still growing back from her spay. We don't have many neighbors and are a number of miles from the nearest "town" so I am pretty sure she was a SDO. The graduate and realize that they have to move across the country and don't want to bother for whatever reason to take the pet that was SOOOO adorable just a few months ago when they were lonely. So the rural outskirts become a dumping ground.

Anyway....thanks for reading my babble while I watch the minutes tick on by. When I have better pics of my crew online I will post them.

Denyce

[Denyce]

Good news about her kidneys. No problem there. However, her blood glucose was up to 279. But that could be due to stress. So since I am diabetic and have a kit for testing I will just check her tomorrow after she has calmed down a bit. Now we just have to wait for the Thyroid test.

Denyce

[jenluckenbach]

Welcome to you and your crew of four. I must say , I love the name Katiebug!
I hope Dierdre will be better fast. I had thought of the possibility of diabetes when I heard the symptoms. Maybe her thyroid will also come out with a negative test.
I'll be praying for you as we wait for the results.

[Denyce]

Thank you for the welcome!

Often Katie's name gets lengthened to Katiebugyoulittlemonsterstopthatrightnow! She is a very very cute little Calico. She is four years old and about the size of a 6 month old cat. She was born in our woods and wasn't handled till she was about 6 months old and just coming into her first season. Her back leg had been broken at some point and had healed on it's own only a little crooked. So she was having a hard time hunting on her own. As the fall starting getting colder she started hanging about the house. It took only one can of cat food and she realized there was a better life out there. A week later she was in my sink getting her first bath. For a feral she was amazingly easy to handle. But all the physical signs of very thick skin, a torn ear, torn inner eyelid, broken teeth and the broken back leg along with her complete and utter amazement of the TV made me realize that she had to be feral. Besides we had seen glimpses of her streaking by most of the summer. Now she is pampered, spoiled, mischevious, oh so incredibly intelligent and still fascinated by the TV. She is an absolute joy and is always able to make me laugh. However, she also learned very young that what you don't have in size you can make up in sound. She has a scream on her that can make your hair literally stand on end and she uses it whenever the mood strikes her or Brianna annoys her. Ah well I can go on about my cats forever. I just really have to get some good pics of them with the digital.

[slick]

Welcome. This place is for talking so don't feel bad about going on and on. Personally, I love to read stories from PT people and seeing pictures of their pets. Can hardly wait to see your little furbabies. I just love Katie's lengthened nickname - made me chuckle. I'm sure other PT'ers can relate.

Do hope the test results come out OK. Please keep up posted.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Welcome to Pet Talk Denyce. I'm sure you'll love it here as much as I do. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your 4 cats and seeing some pictures of them too. I sure hope that Deirdre will be okay and that it's nothing serious. Please keep us updated on her condition. All fingers and paws are crossed here.