Well Mark...you've been giving Evan more fluids now for a couple days.... how's it going? Are you seeing any improvement? I'm sorry this is happening.....

Guys:

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I really appreciate them.

Today was only the second day of the "every other day - twice a day fluids" I don’t know how it will take for there to be any major changes in Evan’s condition. So far,
I have not noticed any major changes in Evan, although, he did come out last night for some dry food (Eagle Pack Holistic Select). I take that to be a good sign.

The new, thinner needles have not yet arrived. I expect them to be here today.

This morning Evan only received about 75 ml instead of the additional 100 ml. I did not have a good stick today, and the needle fell out. I decided not to poke another hole in him for the remaining 25 ml of fluids. I'll make that up either tonight or tomorrow.

Mark

Poor Evan..... I just don't know what else I can say.

Michelle:

There is not much to say - all we can do is soldier on.

Evan’s next round of blood tests should be in about 3 months. We’ll see how things are doing then.

I am a bit concerned because I just read that tapazole, Evan’s thyroid medicine, can loose its effectiveness in cats after 12-18 months of usage. Evan is entering his 14th month of tapazole usage right now.

I wish the poor boy could have received the radioactive iodine treatment. However, with his CRF is does not qualify for it.

I hope the increased fluids helps to perk him up some. However, I don’t expect much of a change. He is, after all, very old and one of the side effects of tapazole is lethargy. As long as he is wary, comfortable and happy, I’m doing what should be done.

Mark

Guys:

I though you would be interested in a short (yea, right) and GOOD update concerning Evan.

I mentioned a few months ago that Evan was spending almost all of his time in my bedroom. He would spend all of his time sleeping, except for meals and trips to the litter box. The only time he would get out of bed is when I was sleeping in it. Apparently, the bed is simply not big enough for both of us!

There has been some gradual improvement over the past 6 weeks or so. Now, more often that not, Evan will come out in the morning, looking for breakfast with the rest of the kitties. He has come out in the evenings, too, looking for snacks.

Another bit of news – Evan’s appetite is improving. He has started to eat dry food again – Eagle Pack Holistic Select Chicken and Rice. He is only eating a tablespoon or two a day, but that is a big improvement from the days when I could not get him to eat at all!

So, I don’t know if the increased activity is due to the increased sunlight, to the increase in fluids (although we have only been doing that for a week or so) or to some other factor.

I am concerned because I read that Evan’s tapazole may loose its effectiveness somewhere 12-18 months after it was started. We’re in the 13th month right now. I will carefully monitor his weight. If he starts to loose weight, I will assume that the tapazole is loosing its effectiveness and his meds will have to be adjusted.

He is becoming a bit “friskier”, too. This morning, I could not administer his morning fluids; he would not sit still for me. This is the first time in Months that I was not able to give him fluids by myself. Now, granted, I did not put up much of a fight, but, I think this is also a sign that he is starting to feel a bit better.

I can’t wait until I can start to open up doors and windows. Evan likes to sit by the sliding door in the summer.

Mark

Mark, that is all WONDERFUL news about Evan!! Thank goodness he's doing so well for you!!

My only suggestion is that perhaps you need to buy a bigger bed. Ours is king sized and we actually bought it with the cats in mind - we had a queen but it just wasn't big enough. You may want to consider this in the near future!

And, I don't know about you, but today (Tuesday) was gorgeous here!! It was actually about 50 degrees here at our house (in the 60's down in town) and the sun was shining and there was no wind - it was supposed to rain!!! Anyway, it was so beautiful out we took the kitty's outside to play. Milo (odd boy that he is) found a mud puddle to play in. He found that when he steps in the water and removes his foot, bubbles would come up in the water. He played with those bubbles for a good 45 minutes.

Anyway, I was thinking - did you maybe open some windows when you got home for Evan???? The fresh air was awesome!!!! I'm sure he would have been thrilled!!!

Michelle:

It was a little cooler up here - and it looked like rain, too.

In any event, I had to take Ranger to the vet for his blood work and check-up.

More on that in Ranger's new thread.

Mark

Those are all signs Evan is feeling better. I am so glad! I do also thing the coming of Spring does give a "boost" to all creatures.

Lucky for my cats, and me, we have had some beautiful sunny, warm days lately. A lot of rain too, but the cats got to go out in the enclosure to sunbathe a few times.

animalangel1 wrote:

Milo (odd boy that he is) found a mud puddle to play in. He found that when he steps in the water and removes his foot, bubbles would come up in the water. He played with those bubbles for a good 45 minutes.

Good that he can discover something so highly entertaining! It is cool when the cats discover some "cause and effect" things and then keep experimenting to see if it will always happen. Well, not all their "experiments" are what we are pleased with, such as them discovering how to open cabinets!

It was really cute watching Milo playing in the mud. He had mud and water all the way up to his "elbows" and man, was he a mess!!!! Every step he took he shook a paw, took another step, shook that paw and so on.... Neil and I were just laughing at him because it was so cute.

The girls (Muffin and Peaches) just stayed by the house for the most part not wanting to wander where it's still snowy or wet and Sparky..... well...he was everywhere. He was running and running and climbing and jumping and.... he even wandered a bit further away and Neil thought it was ok as long as he could "see him" and I called him with my "kitty, kitty, kiiiitttyyyy" which is the sound for treats and he finally made it back to the house after dodging and bobbing and weaving through underbrush, over streams of water (due to melting snow) and snow and mud all over the yard. He was a happy boy and I did give him some Kitty Kaviar for being a good boy and coming home when I called him. Then he was happy to stay a bit closer to the house because it was just about dinner time. All in all, they were very good.

Oh...Sparky did take it upon himself to terrorize Alvin the chipmunk until Alvin found a hole to hide in. Then Sparky gave up to wander about some more.

Milo was the funniest however.

I am glad you live where you can let the cats outside sometimes with you supervising. Sparky really seems to need that. Probably because he wasn't raised as an indoor only cat. Plus, he genetically seems to have high energy.

Giving a highly tempting treat for coming back to you is an excellent thing to do, to reinforce that coming back in when called is a good thing.