Saturday June 13, 1998 14 Messages ================================ From: Nancy A. Schmall [schmall@comp.uark.edu] Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 11:35 PM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Lynn Has ANYONE heard anything about how Lynn is doing? Concerned, Nancy -------------------------------- From: Nancy A. Schmall [schmall@comp.uark.edu] Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 11:34 PM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: URI suggestions Cheri, I am so glad to hear the 2 little newcomers are FELV-! Nancy -------------------------------- From: Nancy A. Schmall [schmall@comp.uark.edu] Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 11:32 PM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Wonderful news about Rissa-Tai Pam, This truly is wonderful news about Rissa-Tai! Nancy -------------------------------- From: zimmerman [zimm1@bright.net] Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 9:48 PM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Thanks Barb Thanks Barb,      I don't think JACKSON is congested because when he sneezes it's thin & sprays (usually on the window). I used to put him in the bathroom with his vaporizer or shower steam, but it didn't seem to be helping.    He usually breathes pretty quiet, but when he runs around he "snorts or whistles" & I can still smell the infection, especially after he sneezes. Last year 1 of my neg. cats sneezed "globs of gunk", another lovely picture, & amoxicillin cleared him up very quickly, but JACKSON's nose runs thin so maybe it's not a good chose for him. My vet hasn't done a culture, maybe that would help choose a better antibiotic.    I may want to try the Zithromax when the amoxicillin runs out in a couple weeks. Does the dose go by weight? JACKSON is a small cat, but he weighs 11lbs., he's kind of a chub. :)                                                        Beth -------------------------------- From: Cheri Gardiner [moshiko@netconx.net] Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 10:15 PM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: URI suggestions Had both my new cats tested and they came up FeLV-. Nicky has been declawed and nuetered. Evidently he belonged to someone who cared. Hope he'll settle down. Now to integrate them into the household once theymget their second FeLV shot. Cheri G., Kitty, Chaz, Harley and Nicky -------------------------------- From: Newtanator@aol.com Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 7:23 PM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: URI suggestions Beth, Those URI can be the devil to keep under control. I know. Do keep an eye on Jacksons stools. I was giving my Merlin so many antibiotics for so long he started to have bloody stools. They were just so hard on his tummy. But he was a kitten. There is a human pediatric antibiotic called Zithromax you might consider. Your vet would have to write a script and you would have to have it filled at a pharmacy. It's kind of expensive, but it, with the nasal interferon did help Merlin. (I have since lost him to a probable brain tumor) In between you might, if he is congested, put normal saline drops in his nose. I had one called "little noses". It helps them break up the gunk in their nose and sneeze it out. Lovely picture that. Merlin sneezed gunk on me more than once. Let me know if you want to try the Zithromax, I will have to dig out the doses for you. barb -------------------------------- From: zimmerman [zimm1@bright.net] Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 4:47 PM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: URI suggestions  Hey all,    Yeah Rissa-Tai!!!   We want more "surprisingly excellent news". Good to hear the DMG appears to help, my 2 + boys are on it.    KIX is still symptom free. JACKSON looks & acts really well, but can't quite get rid of the nasal infection. I'm still putting interferon in his nose daily & he's on amoxicillin again. I got a list of antibiotics that have been used for URI's from the archives & took it to the vet. He said some of them have different names, but are the same thing & JACKSON's tried about all of them. (He's been on 3 or 4.) I asked if using decongestants to temporarily dry out the passage would help the antibiotics work better, but my vet didn't think so.    He told me the infection has probably gotten into the bone (JACKSON's had it since Dec.) & antibiotics wouldn't help, but in March he told me JACKSON wouldn't get better & he has improved with the treatments.   I'm really happy JACKSON's doing so well, but I want to keep trying to completely get rid of the infection.    Any of you have suggestions I haven't tried?    Have any of your cats had the surgery where they scrape the bone in the nasal cavity? (sounds really "ouchie") It would be stressful for a + cat, but might be worth it. I think if he gets rid of this infection completely he'll have a better chance to fight off whatever is coming next.                                               Thanks, Beth -------------------------------- From: CatWoman [diana@wetware.com] Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 1:57 AM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: New Kitten:name -Reply My suggestion - leave him in the spare bedroom, or some other room, where there's a large gap under the door. Believe me, they will all get curious about each other. My biggest problem lately is keeping the "other" cats from trying to play with Princess under the bathroom door. I put a small "door sweep" on the inside of the door, and they keep managing to move it out of the way. I have to go get a bigger, longer one! Diana -------------------------------- From: Newtanator@aol.com Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 9:04 AM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Wonderful news about Rissa-Tai Pam, Great news about Rissa-Tai. She is a tribute to all your hard work and perseverance and resounding proof this list does great good. And hats off to your vet who has worked hard with you. I hope she is on our list of vets! barb -------------------------------- From: CatWoman [diana@wetware.com] Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 1:08 AM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: New Kitten:name Heh. On my 'fridge - the quote from Ernest Hemmingway: "One cat just leads to another"! As for names, mine have all kind of named themselves. It took a while, but some part of their personality gave me a name after a while. A long time ago, I found a unique name (in the USA, anyway). I called her "Kadiska". I had found a book that listed what the word for "cat" was in a lot of different places, and Kadiska was the Nubian word for cat. Diana -------------------------------- From: katseven@pcsia.com Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 9:34 AM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Wonderful news about Rissa-Tai Pam, This is so great!!!! I kept waiting for your Rissa-Tai updates this week, and to tell you the truth I was beginning to worry, but now this unexpected gift--believe me, this is a gift, not just to you and Chuck but to all of us--even those who've lost our babies. Sometimes we do everything we can and it works!!!! I am laughing thinking of you and Chuck listening to the vet's message this weekend. That's what I'd do, too! Susan -------------------------------- From: meowmama@bellsouth.net Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 7:38 AM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Wonderful news about Rissa-Tai Pam, It's so nice to wake up to good news! I'm so happy for you and I hope things continue to go smoothly from here on!!! Enjoy your little girl. Hugs to you all, -- Kathy G and the 3 furries in Daytona Beach =^.^= Rusty =^.^= Smokey =^.^= Money see us at: http://cgi.gambitsys.com/homey/webdoc5.htm The Cat: Mother Nature's Masterpiece -------------------------------- From: Nina van Reenen [Royale@icon.co.za] Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 7:06 AM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Wonderful news about Rissa-Tai CONTRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy for you.......will you give Rissa-Tai a hug from a lady far away in South Africa??? Nina -------------------------------- From: WORKPARK@aol.com Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 4:32 AM To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Cc: ccmyers1@erols.com Subject: Wonderful news about Rissa-Tai Hi all, I've been kind of quiet lately about Rissa-Tai. She had been doing much better, and I didn't want to post anything until we knew for sure. I don't know if you remember, but I had mentioned that we were doing an experiment of sorts, since I received the Dimethylglycine (DMG) two Fridays ago, right after her last bloodwork, which was better, but still not in the normal ranges. She's been getting her doses twice a day since then. We don't know if that's what has done this, but we got a message tonight about the bloodwork we had done on her today. The vet sounded like she was in shock. Rissa-Tai had gained .1 pounds since last Friday, about 9 ounces since two Fridays ago. She had mentioned this morning that she was pleased because her blood seemed much thicker. Well, she said she had "surprisingly excellent news", that this was the "most normal cbc she had seen from a cat all day." Her wbc is normal, her rbc is normal, her Hermatocrit is 35%!!!!, her Hemoglobin is 10.4, and her red blood cell count is up to 7!!!! She said if she didn't know Rissa-Tai's history, she would have assumed this was a normal healthy cat!! She stated that she didn't know what to do and laughed, then said we should keep up whatever we're doing! I don't think she even knew what to say, she was so pleased, you could almost hear her giggling. We're saving the message to listen to over and over this weekend :) For those of you who were unfamiliar with the history here, we realized Rissa-Tai was sick on New Year's and found out she was FeLV+ about three weeks later. (I'll give you the short version) We were also told she had plasma cell myoloma, another form of cancer, probably because of her compromised immune system, and were told realistically that she would probably live no longer than three months. Her Hermatocrit had gone down as low as 11% at the end of March, went up, then down to 12% on May 20, and we did a transfusion on her in January that didn't take too well. Her rbc had been down to 2.1 at it's lowest, and she had been down to 200 for her wbc count (almost non-existant). (If you need to know the normal ranges, email me or I believe they are in the archives somewhere). We both understand this may not last, but we are so happy that she is doing this well, that we are all practically dancing around here. We had observed some noticable changes - she was chasing Lai-Tai around, which we hadn't seen in six months. Whe's eating well, purring lots, and has turned in to quite the little talker too. She just looks better. I'd just like to thank everyone for the support I've received so far, and also Dr. Myers, who has given wonderful suggestions. Jim, thank you so much for this list. We wouldn't have known to try almost anything that we're trying if it hadn't been for you putting together this project. I'm sure she would have left us by now. If anyone wants to know what we're doing, email me privately and I'll be happy to share. I just wanted everyone to know that there is hope. We almost gave up on her in the bad times, but now look at her. We're very hopeful now that she will be with us for a long, long time. Have a wonderful weekend! Pam, Chuck, Lai-Tai and Rissa-Tai -------------------------------- EMD