Entries tagged with cats: embla

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cats: embla

RIP Embla: 1995? - November 5 2011 :-(

Embla was diagnosed with kidney disease two years ago and it was holding more-or-less steady with treatment, until about a week ago. She went into the hospital Monday and came home Friday weak but apparently past the worst of it. She was aware and affectionate and she picked at food. Last night she didn't move around much but this morning I found her in a corner in the basement (crying a little), so she'd been up and about during the night. This morning she wouldn't eat but she otherwise seemed unchanged. When I returned from Shabbat services, though, she was much worse. Giving her fluids and medicines didn't help so I called the vet's office (couldn't reach my own vet but got the on-call one). I described her symptoms and the vet told me what I already suspected. Sigh. I really thought when I brought her home yesterday that we had more time. Story of my life, lately.

Embla came to me as a stray 14 years ago so we don't know how old she was (at least 16). She was always skittish (perhaps convinced that there were ghosts or gremlins or something in the house), but she mellowed out as she got older and particularly after we solved her hyperthyroid problem four years ago. She was never a lap cat but she was happy to snuggle next to me on the bed or couch. In recent months she even stopped fighting when I held her. She had a cute little chirp where a meow would normally be. She was a sweet kitty.

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family night at the vet's

( vet visit )

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vet visit

( cat stuff )

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vet visit

( cat stats )

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cats: life is never boring :-)

( blood-test results )

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vet visit

Tonight was check-up night for the cats.( Read more... )

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check-ups

( blah blah blah cats blah blah )

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family night at the vet's

Tonight I took the gang in for scheduled maintenance. ( Read more... )

My vet thought that Baldur looks much younger than he is, so when one of the techs came in to help with vaccines and blood draws, the vet asked her to estimate his age. The tech used to work at an animal shelter, so she said she's done this a lot. She then said "6 or 7", and was boggled when we said 15. These are my first cats so I don't really have expectations about what an old cat looks like; Erik does look older than Baldur to me, but I think that's due to being underweight and moving a little slowly.

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cats: embla

Embla update

(I sent this via email a couple hours ago but it hasn't made it. If it shows up later, sorry 'bout that and try to ignore it, ok?)

My vet called today with Embla's test results. Her T4 (the thyroid number) is 1.9, which is pretty much right in the middle of the normal range. (All other results were normal too.) When Embla was diagnosed her T4 was 70; my vet had said she didn't know they went that high, and RadioCat told me she might need a second treatment. But now, I think we can safely say that RadioCat cured Embla's hyperthyroidism in one treatment. Yay!

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cats: embla

radioactive kitty (followup)

Embla went to the vet tonight for scheduled maintenance... err, her three-month checkup after being treated for hyperthyroidism. I won't have the test results for a few days, but my vet said she would be very surprised if things are not normal. The folks at RadioCat had said that it was possible Embla would need a second treatment, because her numbers were off the scale.

While on the drugs in June Embla weighed 7lbs 14oz. After being off the drugs for a week (test requirement) in August, she was down to 7lbs 1oz. RadioCat did not weigh her on treatment day, but it was probably comparable. Tonight she weighed 9 pounds (even). She hasn't weighed that much for three years! So that's a good sign. Her heart rate was 160, which is very good.

Embla was not, however, happy to be at the vet's:

( photographic evidence )

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cats: embla

radioactive kitty

Embla is home from her stay with RadioCat, where she was treated for hyperthyroidism. She was described by their staff as "shy but not cowering". She certainly seems happy to be home. (She's not yet eating as much as normal, but they said that might happen.)

She does not glow in the dark, nor has she shown superpowers yet. Remind me, how long does that canonically take, e.g. for Spiderman? :-)

One of the feline residents seems put out by the new (temporary) litter, but we seem to be getting that under control. It turns out that the stuff RadioCat gave me and the bag I bought last week -- of, allegedly, the same stuff -- have different textures, one more acceptable to our mystery cat than the other. (I assume that if Embla were the problem, she would have had the problem there too and they would have mentioned it.)

I wonder if there is a safe way to get box contents into the sewer system without going through my house plumbing. I assume storm drains are a different feed that don't go through sewage treatment, so probably not. But even with nominally-flushable litter, I'm a little nervous about our creaky old pipes.

The carrier (which I had to leave there for the duration) came home with a tag on it with Embla's name and a picture (clip art?) of a tortiose-shell cat. Cute. I guess they have a library of clip art, but it makes me speculate about challenging them with unusual-looking cats. :-) (There was also a toy mouse stapled to the tag, in which she has shown no interest.)

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cats: embla

Embla update

Embla has an appointment with Radiocat next month to treat her hyperthyroid condition. She had her baseline tests this week, for which she was required to be off of the medications for one week.

This was her first vet visit since we made a minor change to her medicine in June, so it's not properly grounded, but we do the best we can. (There was no medical need to get her tested right before going off the meds, and the test is expensive enough that my own curiosity wasn't enough of a reason.) In June her T4 was 0.5 (normal is 1 to 4) and her weight was 7lbs 14oz. The vet adjusted her medicine slightly (overshot on the T4), dropping her from 2 tablets a day to 1.5.

I knew that being off the meds for even just a week would make a difference. How much of one, I wasn't sure.

Monday she weighed 7lbs 1oz (!) and her T4 was 21.6. The vet who called with the results said "I think she's an excellent candidate for Radiocat". Yeah, you don't say. :-)

(The pre-screen included other blood tests and a chest X-ray (not sure why on that). Everything there was as expected.)

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random bits

I was recently asked to participate in a consumer focus group, and they had some questions up front. In the "oh, they so do not understand" category, they asked: "With about how many friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and family members do you communicate (via conversation, phone, email, etc.) on non-work-related topics on a regular basis, i.e. at least once a month?" The options were: <5; 5-9; 10-19; 20-29; 30-40; >40. At least once a month, and they top out at 40? 400 would be closer to the truth...

My article on building a yurt showed up on MetaFilter recently. That's kind of neat, though surprising. (I'm glad someone pointed it out to me; I wouldn't have known otherwise.) I feel like there must be better articles out there than mine, though I haven't gone looking lately.

At my vet's suggestion I called RadioCat to talk about treating Embla. We might be able to solve her hyper-thyroid problem permanently in the next couple months, which is faster than I had expected. My vet needs to send them some test results before they can talk to me more. (It would sure be convenient if the time she needs to be off the drugs coincided with Pennsic -- it would make the cat-sitting easier!)

This Despair-style poster for procrastination made me laugh out loud.

osewalrus posted a link to this "JPhone" video, which also made me laugh.

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random bits

CBS relented and renewed Jericho. Yay! This is a good show that, like other serials, was hurt by a mid-season hiatus. I don't understand why 24 seems to be the only prime-time show whose producers get this: run your show straight through if it's a continuing story.

A school refused to give diplomas to students for whom people cheered at graduation. They have since rescinded this decision. The whole thing has me asking WTF? How does it make sense to punish the students, who were not the ones violating the decorum of the event? Heck, given the rivalries that high schools tend to, did anyone consider that the cheering might have been a hostile move (to get the diplomas held back)?

This made me laugh out loud: "Ubuntu" is an ancient african word. It means "I can't configure debian." --zeylisse on slashdot.org, repeated by

brokengoose.

What does your cat do all day while you're away? Try a cat cam. I want one. No, three. Ok, two; I only need so many pictures taken by a sleeping Baldur.

Speaking of cats, I got Embla's test results last night. We've done too good a job on treating the hyperthyroidism. Her T4 this week was 0.5 (down from 5.6 two months ago and 70 (!) three months ago). I understood the goal to be "under 4", but the vet really meant "between 1 and 4". So we're backing off the medicine just slightly.

A day late for the anniversary, but

kmelion reposted this (English translation of a) transcript of a tape made during the six-day war, upon entering Jerusalem.

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cats: embla

Embla's hyperthyroidism

[Now I can't post comments. Whee.]

Embla's been on the HT drugs for almost three months now. Data:

Early March (diagnosis): T4 70 (!), weight 6lb 13oz, heart 240 (!).
Early April: T4 5.6 (normal <=4), weight 7lb 5oz, heart 200.
Tonight: T4 pending, weight 7lb 14oz, heart 160.

You go, girl!

Vet says if T4 is normal for 3 months it'll probably be time to do the radiation treatment (permanent solution).

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short takes

Things that make you go "huh?": "Did you know that anvils float?" (From a locked entry, so not attributing.)

Useless cat made me laugh out loud, disturbing the nearby cat. (Link from nancylebov.) Dani pointed out (after I sent him the link) that if you Google for that phrase (without quotes), the first three hits are to that page and the fourth is to some editorial comments about a certain Unix command.

I drove Dani's car home today (so he could stay and hitch a ride later). There are things you know intellectually that aren't ingrained no matter how long it's been: I kept reaching for the gear shift. Oops.

Embla has been less skittish lately, even cooperating when I pick her up. Whether that's because picking her up is likely to lead to canned food, or because treating hyperthyroidism is calming her down, I don't know. (Fortunately for me, Embla is utterly indifferent about foreign substances concealed in food, at least so far. So medicating her is easy.)

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good news on the cat front

My vet recently told me she wanted to see Embla tonight if possible (for a calibration check on the new drug). They normally close at 7:30, which is before Yom Tov would be over tonight. I explained the problem and asked if next week would be ok; she said "call anyway; we might still be here". So I did and they were, and she asked me to bring Erik along if I was coming anyway. (Erik, too, has been on some new medicines.)

Embla has been on medicine for hyperthyroidism for about 3.5 weeks. (You may recall that she pegged the meter on this test, producing the highest level my vet has ever seen.) This condition was described to me as "the engine is constantly revving"; among things, appetite is normal but the cat loses weight due to the high metabolism. Heart rate is also usually high.

Embla has gained 4 ounces in the last month, and tonight her heart rate was 200 (high-normal, but she was stressed so normal). Last time it was 240. This seems to be working.

Erik started the hyperthyroid medicine three weeks ago. He has gained 7 ounces in the last 3-4 weeks. He is now at his highest weight in quite some time -- 7 pounds, 12.5 ounces. Yay! I don't know if it scales, but if half a year of treatment for this condition can get him up to 10 pounds, I won't complain. :-) His heart rate tonight was 180 (down from 220 last time), and the arrhythmia was gone.

Yay! Finally, something seems to be producing results better than "well, he's not any worse than last time".

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cats: embla

my little over-achiever

At her checkup last week, Embla -- who's always been perfectly normal, medically speaking (I won't comment on personality) -- had lost weight and had an elevated heart rate. The vet who saw her did some routine blood tests, including the test for hyperthyroidism, which he suspected. (With hyperthyroidism, basically, the engine is constantly revving -- so appetite is normal but the cat loses weight, heart rate is high, and probably other stuff too.)

The relevant test here is something called T4. Normal is about 4 (I don't know 4 what). When Erik was diagnosed recently it was with a reading of 8.

Embla's was 70. My vet said she didn't know they went that high.

So, my instructions are to take the medicine we got for Erik (which is currently suspended for other reasons), and start giving it to Embla instead. She's only 11, so she's a good candidate for a permanent solution (radiation or surgery), but we have to do drugs first to make sure treatment doesn't cause other problems.

Edit: the test measures concentration of something (some enzyme, I think); the units are micrograms per deciliter. Not one I would have guessed. :-)

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vet visit (2 of 2)

Baldur and Embla had their checkups tonight. Ok, all of my cats have lost weight this year. How weird! They eat as much as they want. Yeah, older cats tend to lose weight, but still... (My vet had no specific advice on diet changes.)

Baldur: 13 pounds 3 ounces (15+ last year, 17+ the year before)
Embla: 6 pounds 13 ounces (missed last year, 9+ the year before)

Baldur has recently (last couple weeks) been throwing up (small amounts), and Embla's heart rate tonight was 240 (normal is 180-200), so both are getting blood tests. In both cases, the vet suspects hyper-thyroid. I asked if I can get a bulk discount on treatment. :-) I also asked if it's really plausible that all three of my cats are suffering from that ailment, and he said he didn't know but it is common in older cats.

(So,

lorimelton, you were right the other night -- Baldur actually has lost weight. Granted, it's hard to really tell by looking.)

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cats: embla

vet visit

Embla had her checkup last night. It's a good thing she's healthy, as the trick I used to capture her only works if enough time has passed that she's forgotten how it works. :-)

She looked so pitiful (but compliant) when the vet picked her up, and she got a fair bit of her exam while lying in the bin on the scale because that apparently seemed safer to her than the metal table. Poor kitty.