Sky & Ziggy's Annual Exams & Starr's Urinalysis: Ziggy's Latest Update 7-3-07

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi, I just got home a little while ago and I thought that I'd better update you about Ziggy. The good news is that her eye pressure is now within the normal range and her pupils actually looked like they were the same size again. My vet wants to call an eye specialist tomorrow to ask his/her opinion about her eye. She doesn't want me to continue with the eye drops right now unless the eye specialist tells her otherwise. She'll let me know by e-mail or by calling me as soon as she knows anything tomorrow. I sure hope that Ziggy won't have to go see an eye specialist. She gets so nervous in the car that she pants all the way home. She's also gained even more weight. She's now 13lbs. I guess she's trying to catch up to her big brother Sky. Now they really do look like twins.

I also talked to my vet about Storm and his medication. He's been more like his normal self lately so his body is used to his current doseage. He's also been peeing in the litterboxes but he's been a bit aggressive towards the other cats. My vet doesn't want to increase his doseage but she wants me to wean him off of the clomicalm. For the next 2 weeks I'm only going to give it to him every other day and then he'll be off of it. Then we'll see what to do next. I hope that he'll be okay without the medicine and that I won't need to put him on any other kind of meds.

I had to buy larger and deeper litterboxes because the cats were peeing over the sides and making a big mess. I also scrubbed the old litterboxes last night and I bought more cat attract litter and put it on top of the old litter in all of the litterboxes. I also moved the litterbox that was near the front door down the hall a little bit and so far so good. I think that my cats like the new larger and deeper litterboxes better and so do I. Please wish me luck.

[jennielynn1970]

Bigger boxes sound like a good plan. I know I ended up at Target and Walmart and bought those large under the bed storage boxes to use as litter boxes. They were cheaper than anything at the petstore, and even came with lids, which I had no use for, lol, but just put a few of the lids under the boxes to catch excess litter etc...

Glad to hear Ziggy's eye is getting better!! Keep us updated!

[Randi]

Thanks for updating us, Tracey. I'm glad to hear that Ziggy's eye pressure is within the normal range now, and I hope it won't be neccesary to give her any more eye drops.

It's good to hear that Storm is almost back to normal, hopefully he'll do fine without medication.

The new litter boxes sounds like a complete succes.

[Medusa]

Good news about Ziggy; sorry that you had to spend $100 for eye drops that you hardly used, though. But here's hoping she'll continue to improve. Good luck w/the litterbox escapade. We never know with the furkids, do we?

[AmberLee]

Such good news. I'm so glad things are improving on the furkid front.

{{{gentle hugs}}}

[jazzcat]

Sounds like good news for Ziggy. Hope the eye specialist agrees and she won't need anything more.

Good luck with the litterboxes and with weaning Storm off the clomicalm. Hope it goes well. I'm hoping to get Rocky off it completely soon.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I received an e-mail from my vet today and this is what she had to say:

I spoke with the ophthalmologist.
She feels that an elevated intraocular pressure such as Ziggy had is significant. She stated that Xalatan often does not work in cats very well, but I know that her intraocular pressure dropped from it. So, I would like you to continue the drop once daily, and make an appointment at Veterinary Vision in San Mateo. All of the doctors are very skilled and you can trust them. I will forward a copy of her records to the eye specialists. Please do not give Ziggy any drops the day of your appointment.

I go back to work on July 10th so hopefully I'll be able to make an appointment before I have to go back to work. I'll call them tomorrow. I just hope that there isn't anything seriously wrong with her eye and that whatever it is that it can be easily treated. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

There is some better news. My feliway plugins were getting very low so I changed them this morning. They only lasted a little over 3 weeks instead of 4 weeks like they're supposed to. Since I've put the new ones in, my cats have seemed to be much calmer and Storm's been a fairly good boy today.

[AmberLee]

Oh rats. I, too, was hoping for better news for you and Ziggy.

~~~ vibes ~~~ for you AND all the fur-kids.

[jenluckenbach]

I have been keeping dear Ziggy in my prayers.

[K & L]

Tracey you got me worried now! Give her a big hug and kiss from us and her brother Chowder. Get better little girl, we love you!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks everyone.

I called Veterinary Vision and they're already booked this week but they said that if my vet feels that it's an emergency that they can see her today. I called my vet and she wants Ziggy to be seen asap. Now I'm thinking that it must be very serious and I'm getting very worried and upset.

I called the place back and they can see her today at 4:45pm. It will take me at least 40 mintues to get there so I'll allow myself at least 1 hour because traffic can be very bad. The only good thing is that they've moved to San Carlos so it's a bit closer to me than San Mateo would be.

I just hope that Ziggy dosen't get too stressed out. The last 2 vet visits she's gotten so stressed out that she pants all the way home. Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I'll update you as soon as I can.

AmberLee, I sure do wish that you still lived close by so you could go with me and help me get through this.

[jazzcat]

I'll be sending little Ziggy (and you) good thoughts and prayers today.

[Catty1]

Poor Zigs!

Would covering the wire 'window' of her carrier help her to relax more? I guess a tranquilizer is out of the question, as that will affect her eyes...

Hopefully the 'urgency' is to catch anything while it's in the early stage...she has youth on her side!

HUGS and good luck to you and the little girl!

[Medusa]

Here's wishing Ziggy a good vet visit and hopefully, if it's anything serious, they'll have caught it early.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks again everyone. I'll be leaving very soon. I'm bringing a towel to cover Ziggy's carrier so hopefully this will help her to feel less stressed. I'm not as nervous as I was before and I'm feeling better about this visit so I'm hoping to hear some good news or that it's nothing serious. I'll give you an update later tonight.