The Opinionated Pussycat

FNN SPECIAL REPURRT: Old Cat Eats, Human Pleased

Good evening felinity assembled, Nikita here; I have been eating the last couple of days and have the photos to prove it.

Don't bury me yet!

Thank you, everyone, for your purrs and purrayers!

Thursday morning I ate a jar of the beef flavor of that human baby food, and then yesterday I ate chicken Friday morning, turkey at noon, then turkey and ham in the evening.

This morning I ate chicken, then ham at noon.

I can't explain why I am not eating, and have been losing, not gaining, weight, for 3 years now.

We will update the vet on my eating, again, on Monday.

Daddy is seriously considering finally getting an ultrasound done.

Years of blood tests and annual physicals have not shed any light on my condition, aside from my arthritis and possible irritable bowel syndrome.

An ultrasound would cost $375, which is why he's been reluctant to get one done, but he can put it on his care credit card so may at last give in.

Nurse Elvira Reports: Nikita's Day and Blood Test Results

Good evening felinity assembled, it's been a troubling day, even before daddy learned the blood test results an hour ago.

I added afternoon updates to yesterday's post and little has changed the last 3 hours.

The great picture of Nikita at the bedroom window was taken yesterday, and now he has returned to napping after nibbling a little Gerber Chicken, and then sitting by the balcony window for a few minutes.
 
We got word in response to a story of his daddy submitted to a website and I will share the story and the news in my next post.
 
Daddy chatted with the vet and this is what he learned:
 
There are no smoking guns as the vet calls it; nothing that  points clearly toward what the problem is with the weight loss and lack of eating.
 
The Liver is fine; no onions. The Kidney is in the high end of normal, and the Thyroid is also still normal. He has a little high white blood cell count, but that could be from the excitement of the check-up.
 
It's possible Nikita has Inflammatory Bowel Disease, but it's hard to tell from a Lymphoma. The vet has prescribed a pill for the IBD and told daddy to stop the Prednisolone for the duration.
 
There is a blood test to check for Pancreatitis that they may try at some point.
If Nikita is still not eating in a couple of days the vet will try a hunger stimulant.
 
There are options, if it comes to that, much more expensive than blood tests, of course; ultrasounds and exploratory surgery. Daddy could put those on his Care Credit card, but would rather not add more debt as long as he still has no job.

A lot has been going on since we returned from Blog Paws and we had planned to help daddy post about his adventure, now that we have things organized at last; I told Nikita to concentrate on his health, I'll help daddy as he also continues his job search.

Thank you everyone for your purrs and purrayers, it means a lot to all of us.

NEXT  UP: FNN SPECIAL REPURRT: Old Cat Eats, Human Pleased





Nurse Elvira Reports on Nikita's Vet Visit

Good evening felinity assembled, Elvira Mistress of Felinity here.

Daddy took Nikita to the vet, this morning, and the results were interesting.

Nikita said they waited in an exam room for about a half hour and the highlight was  hearing a young lady kitty, named Sassy , down the hall, cursing like a merchant marine..LOUDLY. Nikita said she used words he hadn't heard in years, in sentence combinations that he didn't think were possible, and certainly not lady-like. All that drama over having her nails done,  hee, hee!

The vet did a thorough exam, took urine and blood for tests, and came to a few conclusions as a result.

Nikita weighs a shocking 9 lbs! This means he has lost over a pound since his last weight check.

His teeth and his ears were not the source of any problem that could cause his weight loss or lack of eating.

Of Shirts and Summer Haircuts: Passing on the Mantle

 

Good afernoon, felinity assembled, this is your no longer as young as he once was head opinionated pussycat, Nikita.

It has been a busy week, here; Daddy and his medical appointments, I and my summer hairdo, Elvira watching all this coming and going in between naps and snoozes.

Oh, and we still have Blog Paws reportage and photos coming, plus more surprises planned.

When I entered the life of Daddy Kiril, in the spring of 1998, just over a month old, one of the things I remember is a t-shirt he had.

He wore it in a couple of photos of us that he took, and our only regret is that they didn't turn out much clearer.

Neither of us remember when he bought it (but it had to have been in 1997, or early 1998), or how long he wore it before honorably retiring it.

 He had forgotten where he bought it, assuming it was long out of manufacture.

Then, several days ago something brought the old shirt to mind, and he did a Google...and got the surprise of his life; Not only was the shirt still being made, but it was being made and sold by the original company!

Daddy filled out a comment form on the site, as follows, and then bought a sweat shirt:

"Oh my! Just did a search on a whim for an old t-shirt I had in the late 90's "Real Men Admit They Love Cats", and discovered your site and my beloved shirt!

Thank you! I never knew it was still around!"

He soon recevied an e-mail...

We're Back! Ready to Rumble, Purrin' Louder Than an Elephant!

Good morning, felinity assembled! Did anyone miss us?

Right off the bat Elvira and I wish to thank those who stopped by to read our, specially prepared in advance, posts while we were at the vet for a week, and those who sent support and encouragement to us and Daddy Kiril via various social media outlets and email.

It was greatly appreciated.

As for our stay at the vet I could gloss over it with the cliché "what happens at the Houston Cat Hospital stays at the Houston Cat Hospital" but the sad truth is that not a whole hell of a lot of anything interesting happened.

Elvira holed up in a corner of our cage, with her toys, only coming out for breakfast, dinner, water and litter box runs, checking to make sure I hadn't disappeared, like Daddy.

I think she figured this was the best way to stave off her earlier prediction of doom.

Writer Hard at Work: September 2010

 

 Next up = A Cat's Work is Never Done

 http://www.opinionatedpussycat.com/2013/04/a-cats-work-is-never-done.html

 

Feb 2010 TPPC.tv Pet Blogger of Week Enjoys a Little Starbucks

Only 2 months out the shoot and a popular pet-themed website goes nuts for this blog. This, on top of the OC Register Newspaper pet page calling us a "Blog we dig" made for a nice pre-birthday celebration for me.

But what do I and daddy do? We forget to share pictures of my party!

As described on their website:

"Robbin and Joseph Everett, since September 2008 have been bringing pet related entertainment to animal lovers in over 30 countries.  Robbin and Joe host 2 weekly radio shows, appearing on their own hit web TV show, hosting a community, blogging, and writing a newspaper column.  They have made guest appearances on terrestrial radio, guest blog posts and pet related events."

TPPC.tv = http://www.tppc.tv/

Here I am enjoying a little Starbucks to celebrate!

Worried Kitty Keeps Late Night Watch

You have no idea how hard it was to get this picture!

Elvira and I had to be very, very quiet as we set up the camera and I got into position, so as not to awaken Daddy, Saturday night.

This is pretty much all I have been doing for the past week, at night, in between snoozes and litter box runs.

He's the only human I have ever known in all my 15 years. Can you blame me for being worried, just a little?

 

Vacation Prep Well Underway

As Elvira Mistress of Felinity reported, a few days ago, Daddy Kiril has eye cancer surgery planned next week.

http://www.opinionatedpussycat.com/2013/04/daddy-kiril-to-get-surgery-all-we-get-is-a-vacation.html

While the 2 of us are away at the vet for a few days we aim to keep you, our readers, entertained.

Toward that end we spent today organizing a collection of photos, from 2010 and 2011 which we discovered had never been prepared for use in posts.

We set them in blog posts that are scheduled to appear each day we are gone.

 

 

Daddy Kiril to Get Surgery! All WE Get is a Vacation

Listen up, friends of The Opinionated Pussycat!

Nurse Elvira Mistress of Felinity, here, with important news!

As regular readers of our medical updates know, Daddy Kiril learned he has a small to medium cancerous tumor (malignant melanoma) in his right eye last November.

After many months and many tests he was told what needed to be done; something called Brachytherapy, a plaque insertion and removal/internal radiation procedure.

Yesterday we learned that he has been scheduled for surgery, well actually, a pair 5 days apart.
 
He goes in April 18th, for the insertion surgery, the removal surgery is the 23rd and a post-op follow-up is the 24th.

What does this mean for Nikita and me? A vet vacation, that’s what it means!

Well, hmph, don’t that just beat all? I swear, what the hell is a nurse cat to do when the doctors won’t even let her help in the care of her patient? This ain’t right, darn it all! I demand a second opi…

Well, actually, it IS right, and our extended trip away from home is for our own health because it is not safe for us to be around radiation if Daddy Kiril is allowed to come home between the surgeries.

The cost of our 8 day stay (April 17 thru 25) will be around $260-300.

Daddy talked to the doc about his scheduled trip to the Blog Paws Conference, May 15-19, and he says he sees (pun intended) no problem. His eye may be a little red, he may still be experiencing a little post-op double vision and he may still be taking daily drops, but none of this will keep him from his destiny (or ours, as his fellow writers!).

There is a lot of work to be done before that week; Nikita and I need to have a week worth of blog posts done and pre-scheduled for The Opinionated Pussycat!

One idea we have is asking felinity assembled to share with us, either in blog posts on your blog, or by e-mail, your “Top 5 things a cat should avoid doing while staying at the vet for a week” and maybe a short explanation about why.

Nikita and I may share a space together, or at least be in spaces next to each other for the duration.

Daddy explains more about the surgeries, here:

Medical Update: Bring it on, Baby! Surgery in 2 weeks!

http://www.madmacedonian.com/2013/04/medical-update-bring-it-on-baby-surgery-in-2-weeks.html

This week, Friendship Friday's theme is about doing something new...

Um, does all of this qualify? :-D