anymore info on pancreatitis ?

"kitkat" wrote:


The vet sent Jasper home with us last night because he was
SO agitated there that they couldn't do much for him. His being blind
and deaf must only complicate the natural hate for the vet's office that
an animal feels.

Pam! Somehow this is the first time I realized that Jasper is blind and
deaf. Was he that way when you adopted him? I think you said you have
had him since last August?

Mary wrote:
"kitkat" wrote:



The vet sent Jasper home with us last night because he was
SO agitated there that they couldn't do much for him. His being blind
and deaf must only complicate the natural hate for the vet's office that
an animal feels.


Pam! Somehow this is the first time I realized that Jasper is blind and
deaf. Was he that way when you adopted him? I think you said you have
had him since last August?

Yes, he has been that way since we got him and yes we have had him since
August. I wouldn't say that we adopted him so much as we inherited him.
The story goes that his mommy died. This old lady was the human mom of a
friend of the family. So, when Virginia died and my husband and I went
to the wake, her daughter immediately approached us, knowing we are cat
people (and also knowing we didn't want another cat...but that's another
story). Of course, because I am 100% wuss, we agreed to go over to
Virginia's apartment to see Jasper and Max. Jasper and Max didn't get
along well, so the pair was not a bonded one. This was a good thing
because there is no way I would have wanted to take both of them. I was
already very concerned how Luna would take it. So, anyhow, to make a
short story LONG... :-)...I took one look at Jasper, who was sitting on
Virginia's bed, which was hospital style bed and my heart broke. He
looked SO sad and like he was just PRAYING that his mommy would return.
I didn't pay much attention to Max and immediately Tim and I decided we
would take Jasper home with us and if it didn't work out in our home, we
would find him a home. What we noticed was that he really couldnt
see...or hear!!!! He seems to be able to see light and shadow out of one
eye, but the other eye is pretty far gone. As for his hearing, he seems
to be able to hear vibrations...high pitched noises and thuds. Funny how
he manages to hear me banging his food dish on the counter. ;-) So yes,
our little old guy is both blind and deaf. What kills me is that
Virginia wanted her cats PUT DOWN upon her death. Nice, huh? I have read
other stories like that here on rpch&b, but it just BAFFLES me.
Fortunately her daughter wanted the cats to live and thus we got Jasper.
Max went to the vet clinic and was rehomed through them.

Pam

How wonderful you adopted him!
I pray he will be ok.

"kitkat" wrote in message
m...
Mary wrote:
"kitkat" wrote:



The vet sent Jasper home with us last night because he was
SO agitated there that they couldn't do much for him. His being blind
and deaf must only complicate the natural hate for the vet's office that
an animal feels.


Pam! Somehow this is the first time I realized that Jasper is blind and
deaf. Was he that way when you adopted him? I think you said you have
had him since last August?

Yes, he has been that way since we got him and yes we have had him since
August. I wouldn't say that we adopted him so much as we inherited him.
The story goes that his mommy died. This old lady was the human mom of a
friend of the family. So, when Virginia died and my husband and I went to
the wake, her daughter immediately approached us, knowing we are cat
people (and also knowing we didn't want another cat...but that's another
story). Of course, because I am 100% wuss, we agreed to go over to
Virginia's apartment to see Jasper and Max. Jasper and Max didn't get
along well, so the pair was not a bonded one. This was a good thing
because there is no way I would have wanted to take both of them. I was
already very concerned how Luna would take it. So, anyhow, to make a short
story LONG... :-)...I took one look at Jasper, who was sitting on
Virginia's bed, which was hospital style bed and my heart broke. He looked
SO sad and like he was just PRAYING that his mommy would return. I didn't
pay much attention to Max and immediately Tim and I decided we would take
Jasper home with us and if it didn't work out in our home, we would find
him a home. What we noticed was that he really couldnt see...or hear!!!!
He seems to be able to see light and shadow out of one eye, but the other
eye is pretty far gone. As for his hearing, he seems to be able to hear
vibrations...high pitched noises and thuds. Funny how he manages to hear
me banging his food dish on the counter. ;-) So yes, our little old guy is
both blind and deaf. What kills me is that Virginia wanted her cats PUT
DOWN upon her death. Nice, huh? I have read other stories like that here
on rpch&b, but it just BAFFLES me. Fortunately her daughter wanted the
cats to live and thus we got Jasper. Max went to the vet clinic and was
rehomed through them.

Pam

"kitkat" wrote in message
m...
Mary wrote:
"kitkat" wrote:


Pam! Somehow this is the first time I realized that Jasper is blind and
deaf. Was he that way when you adopted him? I think you said you have
had him since last August?

Yes, he has been that way since we got him and yes we have had him since
August. I wouldn't say that we adopted him so much as we inherited him.
The story goes that his mommy died. This old lady was the human mom of a
friend of the family. [...] So, anyhow, to make a
short story LONG... :-)...I took one look at Jasper, who was sitting on
Virginia's bed, which was hospital style bed and my heart broke. He
looked SO sad and like he was just PRAYING that his mommy would return.

This brought tears to my eyes. I can just see this.

I didn't pay much attention to Max and immediately Tim and I decided we
would take Jasper home with us and if it didn't work out in our home, we
would find him a home. What we noticed was that he really couldnt
see...or hear!!!! He seems to be able to see light and shadow out of one
eye, but the other eye is pretty far gone. As for his hearing, he seems
to be able to hear vibrations...high pitched noises and thuds. Funny how
he manages to hear me banging his food dish on the counter. ;-) So yes,
our little old guy is both blind and deaf.

He was not that old. I wonder why his medical records don't show this.
Unless I missed it, the records you mentioned yesterday were pretty
much clean. (I am wondering if the lady fed him tuna or something
toward the end as she became more unable to care for herself or him
and maybe that is how he lost his sight--you know, it has no taurine
and so forth.) Jasper is a striking (beautiful, and goofy looking in a
very endearing way!) boy.

What kills me is that
Virginia wanted her cats PUT DOWN upon her death. Nice, huh? I have read
other stories like that here on rpch&b, but it just BAFFLES me.

So If you had not taken him he would have been killed. I'm so glad it
was you that that kindhearted daughter found. I do understand why
people who adore their cats sometimes want them put down when
they die because my mother wanted that. She said it was because no
body would love her cat the way she did. We did not do it--even
though she was right, her cat hated everyone but her, and was
just obnoxious. My sister took the cat, because the cat hated
her slightly less than she hated me!

Fortunately her daughter wanted the cats to live and thus we got Jasper.
Max went to the vet clinic and was rehomed through them.


Great story. Can you post the link to the photos again, I want to
see Jasper again and I didn't save it.

P.S. the reason I mentioned giving him water with a turkey baster
is because it holds more water than an eyedropper. Less refills.

ElvisRocks wrote:
How wonderful you adopted him!
I pray he will be ok.

Thank you. We are all praying for eachothers cats! I'm thinking of
Elvis, too!

I do think it was meant to be that we have Jasper. Last spring, we tried
adopting from the shelter and suffice it to say, it did not work out.
This poor guy, Lex, was brought back to the shelter multiple times (us
included ) because he would spray EVERYWHERE. He had been tested for
UTIs and all kinds of other health issues. It seemed to boil down to
this: Lex was first brought to the shelter as a stray that was declawed
but NOT fixed. (Who would put a cat thru a declaw and not have him
fixed??!!!) (And THEN leave him out on the streets??!!) Anyway, he was a
wonderful, sweet cat, but within a week, he had destroyed 2 couches and
had peed everywhere. He had the most foul smelling pee possibly in the
world! No joke! On top of that, he spent most of his time stalking my
other cat, Luna. Suffice it to say it was a very stressful week and I
realized that we had bitten of WAY more than we could chew. The day we
brought him back to the shelter, I cried the whole day and night. I felt
like such a failure...and hey, in some ways maybe I was. We should have
done the introductions differently and perhaps done other things
differently as well. But I couldnt change what had happened. All I knew
was that I had no furniture, a terribly unhappy Luna, a husband who was
ready to let him out on the street (!!) (this was because when Lex was
not stalking Luna or spraying the house up and down, he sat in the
window and moaned as if all else he wanted to do was be outside) I
accepted defeat and brought him back to the Red Door shelter where I
knew he could live forever if he had to. Terrible thought, but I felt
pretty helpless in general.

I was really heartbroken and depressed after the failure with Lex. When
Linda's mom, Virginia was nearing her dying day, she asked Tim and I
about taking Max or Jasper and my initial response was NO WAY. Been
there done that. Luna wants to be the queen all by herself. However,
when Virginia died, we saw Jasper and the rest was history. I think that
his being blind and deaf makes it so that he can co-exist with Luna.
After all, even if he tries to go after her...it doesn't take but a few
minutes for him to just stand there with that puzzled look on his face
like..."uh...which way did she go?!" In other words, I think Jasper
might be the only cat Luna CAN co-exist with and frankly, I am not so
sure how many people would have been jumping at the opportunity to adopt
a blind, deaf 14-yr old cat...even IF he is a purebred siamese. I feel
REALLY good about having Jasper. I don't know how long he's got left,
but I'll be by his side for the rest of it, trying to make it happy and
healthy as possible.

This is the first time I have shared the story of Lex and the ensuing
failure here. I was really ashamed and afraid because I really thought
it would work out and I didn't want anyone to shame me for bringing him
back to the shelter. But I know that the place I brought him back to is
a good one. It is a no-kill shelter and they are wonderful people.

Here is Lex. He is SO handsome.
http://images5.fotki.com/v63/photos/...4/Lex02-vi.jpg

The people at the shelter and the vets they work with really seemed to
feel that Lex being neutered at over 1 year of age really damaged him
mentally in terms of the spraying behavior. And I'm certain the declaw
didn't help either.

Thanks for listening...again.
Pam

Mary wrote:

He was not that old. I wonder why his medical records don't show this.
Unless I missed it, the records you mentioned yesterday were pretty
much clean. (I am wondering if the lady fed him tuna or something
toward the end as she became more unable to care for herself or him
and maybe that is how he lost his sight--you know, it has no taurine
and so forth.) Jasper is a striking (beautiful, and goofy looking in a
very endearing way!) boy.

This is exactly what Tim and I were discussing over the past day. The
problem is that Jasper got NO vet care that we know of from 1998 to this
past August. And that time period was the time that Virginia was the
sickest. She was definitely feeding him people food. Apparently she had
"meals on wheels" delivered to her which Jasper was quite fond of. And
also she fed him stuff like chicken from KFC and hamburger meat. It is a
wonder that he isn't obese! But yes, probably not much in the taurine
department. She had caretakers that came and went, but who knows how
consistent these cats were even fed. When we first got him here, he was
a little chow hound!!!

What kills me is that
Virginia wanted her cats PUT DOWN upon her death. Nice, huh? I have read
other stories like that here on rpch&b, but it just BAFFLES me.


So If you had not taken him he would have been killed. I'm so glad it
was you that that kindhearted daughter found. I do understand why
people who adore their cats sometimes want them put down when
they die because my mother wanted that. She said it was because no
body would love her cat the way she did. We did not do it--even
though she was right, her cat hated everyone but her, and was
just obnoxious. My sister took the cat, because the cat hated
her slightly less than she hated me!

Fortunately, Jasper is a total love bug. I don't think he cares WHO pets
him as long as SOMEONE does. If we hadn't taken him, Linda would have
had to search for another taker. I don't know what his fate would have
been, but I do not regret AT ALL the decision we made to take him and go
from there.


Great story. Can you post the link to the photos again, I want to
see Jasper again and I didn't save it.

You bet.
http://public.fotki.com/kitkatluna/m...jasper_dudley/


P.S. the reason I mentioned giving him water with a turkey baster
is because it holds more water than an eyedropper. Less refills.

Well, we just gave him his first prednisolone pill. About 12 hours
sooner than the vet had instructed, but I want to get this boy feeling
better...ASAP! We'll give the turkey baster trick a try, too! I just did
some reading on the hepatic lipidosis and clearly...this is something we
want to AVOID at all costs! I can not imagine the poor guy having to
have a feeding tube, not to mention you have to feed them 4-5 times a
day and both Tim and I have full time jobs. Oy!

Pam

"kitkat" wrote

: I think that
his being blind and deaf makes it so that he can co-exist with Luna.
After all, even if he tries to go after her...it doesn't take but a few
minutes for him to just stand there with that puzzled look on his face
like..."uh...which way did she go?!"

LOL! Thanks for one of the best laughs of the evening!

In other words, I think Jasper
might be the only cat Luna CAN co-exist with and frankly, I am not so
sure how many people would have been jumping at the opportunity to adopt
a blind, deaf 14-yr old cat...even IF he is a purebred siamese. I feel
REALLY good about having Jasper. I don't know how long he's got left,
but I'll be by his side for the rest of it, trying to make it happy and
healthy as possible.

This is the first time I have shared the story of Lex and the ensuing
failure here. I was really ashamed and afraid because I really thought
it would work out and I didn't want anyone to shame me for bringing him
back to the shelter. But I know that the place I brought him back to is
a good one. It is a no-kill shelter and they are wonderful people.

I'm sure I would have felt just as terrible as you did. But you tried.



Here is Lex. He is SO handsome.
http://images5.fotki.com/v63/photos/...4/Lex02-vi.jpg


Oh my God! He looks like Indiana Jones would if he were a tom cat!!


The people at the shelter and the vets they work with really seemed to
feel that Lex being neutered at over 1 year of age really damaged him
mentally in terms of the spraying behavior. And I'm certain the declaw
didn't help either.



What an unbelievable thing to do to a cat. And people wonder why
I stay mad enough to bite the heads off of bats. :-) (Kidding! I love
bats, and no bats were harmed in the creation of this post. As a matter
of fact, please go look at my favorite bat site, below. Notice esp. the
photo where the eetsy leetle bat is hanging on the person's hand (#5)
and also the head shot (#7). Extreme cuteness warning here.)

http://www.pbase.com/medoras/north_a..._bats_juvenile

Mary wrote:
"kitkat" wrote

: I think that

his being blind and deaf makes it so that he can co-exist with Luna.
After all, even if he tries to go after her...it doesn't take but a few
minutes for him to just stand there with that puzzled look on his face
like..."uh...which way did she go?!"


LOL! Thanks for one of the best laughs of the evening!

Heh. Imagine the hours of entertainment here at home! When this happens
and Jasper continues his search for Luna, we try to tell him
"Hot...Hot...COLD...COLDER...FREEZING..." etc. He cant hear us anyway so
he doesnt know we are teasing him.

What an unbelievable thing to do to a cat.

Yeah. I still think about Lex quite a bit. (BTW, Lex was short for
Lexus, which is what the woman who brought him back before we did was
driving when she dropped him off) After we brought him back, I would go
to visit. But then last May, Tim and I got engaged, I got a new job and
everything got crazy busy. For some reason, I havent been able to bring
myself back in quite some time to see him. I did run into one of the
shelter workers over the summer and she informed me that he was doing
okay and that they might have a line on a secured barn home for him...or
something to that effect. The lack of claws makes it real hard for him
to be an outdoor only cat on some nice person's farm. I have learned an
AWFUL lot about declawing in the past year.

Sigh. Cats. Boy do I love 'em.
Pam

"kitkat" wrote

Great story. Can you post the link to the photos again, I want to
see Jasper again and I didn't save it.

You bet.
http://public.fotki.com/kitkatluna/m...jasper_dudley/


By the way, just looked at your photos of pretty Jasper and
also 2003's vacation. Neat that the two photos you posted
of Paris are Morrison's grave and Notre Dame. When I went
to Pere Lachaise I wanted to see Oscar Wilde's grave.

Keep the faith and hope you and Jasper both feel better
in the morning.

Mary wrote:
"kitkat" wrote


Great story. Can you post the link to the photos again, I want to
see Jasper again and I didn't save it.

You bet.
http://public.fotki.com/kitkatluna/m...jasper_dudley/



By the way, just looked at your photos of pretty Jasper and
also 2003's vacation. Neat that the two photos you posted
of Paris are Morrison's grave and Notre Dame. When I went
to Pere Lachaise I wanted to see Oscar Wilde's grave.

I think there are a few more pix of Paris than just Jim's grave and
Notre Dame. When I went to Paris in 1993, I hated it, but when I went
in 2003...I just LOVED it!

Keep the faith and hope you and Jasper both feel better
in the morning.

Amen to that. I hope that the kitty gods are listening!
I just took some tylenol sinus nighttime...hopefully I'll be sleeping soon!

Again, thanks for keeping me company "virtually". This group is a great
place.

pam