Wordless Wednesday

Easy Sunday

I looked out the deck door window today and guess what I saw? It was raining! It's January and it was raining! The snow is nearly gone and it really looks more like spring than it does winter.

I went out for a few minutes on the deck, but it was so wet, I decided the best thing to do was just to spend today relaxing in my bed (which Mom gave back to me) and thinking. I do a lot of relaxing and thinking these days. I'm turning into a real cerebral sort of guy.

Hi, this is Rusty's Mom. Just a quick note. He's still wheezing on occasion, but it doesn't seem to bother him. He doesn't look like it's causing him any difficulties, he goes about life just as always, wheezing or not. So, I'm going to just keep an eye on him and try not to be too concerned. I think it's mostly emotional, he seems to start when he gets happy, excited or stressed. But, other than that, I can see no real triggers such as allergy, etc. For the most part, he appears to be doing fine and for that I am glad. Thanks again, everyone for all your well wishes and purrs. I know that Rusty and I greatly appreciate it.

Easy Like Sunday

Mom's still been trying to figure out what's causing my breathing problems. She took away my new bed, she thought that maybe I was allergic to something in it, and it was made in China and she's real antsy about things made in China these days. So, now I have a blue blankie to use as a bed for now. She's watching to see if I wheeze anymore.

Hi, Rusty's Mom here. We got the bloodwork results back from the vet. She told me that for a cat his age, his results were very good, so nothing unusual or overly abnormal there either. As Rusty complained above, I took away his new bed to see if maybe he's allergic to something in it. I've also quit feeding him Temptations and he's getting Greenies now, which he likes just as well. I've also quit burning scented candles, checked out the humidity setting on the furnace. I quit using Bounce dryer sheets too and just went back to Downy unscented fabric softener. These are all things that I can think of that changed or were added to his environment before the wheezing started. I guess when the wheezing/whistling stops I can then gradually re-introduce things to see if something sets if off again. He's been doing very well since yesterday afternoon and has only had a very slight wheeze again. So, we'll see how it goes. His vet just told me to watch him, since they can't find any medical reason causing this, except maybe indoor allergy. If he starts up again, I'm going to take him and get him x-rayed from his nose to his toes to see if something shows up. Thanks everyone for all the well-wishes and purrs. He seems to be holding his own for now.

Not so Wordless Wednesday

I'm hiding out in my bed so my Mom can't find me to take me to that vet place again. I HATE that place! They do all kinds of things to me there. There are strange smells, lots of other animals. Euwwwwwww. I want to just stay home and smell my home smells.

Ok, the coast looks clear now so I think I'll take a bath and try to wash off all those other smells.

Rusty's Mom here. Don't let Rusty kid you. He's actually very good at the vet even if he tries to make a quick get-away though the back door. They took x-rays of his chest which all looked normal. The vet who saw him said that his heart had a slight abnormality, but she felt that more than likely that was just a variation that is normal to Rusty. Nothing to be alarmed at or concerned about. His lungs looked very clear, his blood vessels feeding his heart all looked normal and fine. So, it's back to the drawing board. They took some blood to do a workup, but I haven't heard back about that yet. So, I'm back to thinking it's a sinus/allergy issue. The vet did mention that they can get polyps in their sinuses which is a possibility, but they didn't check for anything like that yet. He actually had a very good day yesterday, very mild wheezing at times, nothing like the choking, gasping attacks he's been having. Today he's been good too. I decided to try to clear out scents from the house, I got a new litter called Precious Cat which has no perfumes or deodorizers which is a great improvement over the Tidy Cat I had used for years. A complete cleanup (rug wash, sweeping) of his litter box area and a completely new litter box too. We'll see if that helps. No more scented candles for awhile either. I raised the setting on the house humidifier too, just to see if that makes a difference. But for now, he seems to be doing much better. All this is probably just his age, he is going to be 19 in March which is a very old age for a cat. To be honest, I am very surprised that he's lived this long. He was always my "wild boy" who disappeared all day and did his thing, hunting and roaming along the banks of the river near us. I guess I should be grateful that he's had such a long wonderful life for a cat. I think if he could tell you, he would say that it's been a great life.

Thanks everyone for all the well wishes and the purrs. I'll let everyone know if anything changes.

Rusty Update

Rusty's Mom here. We had a rough weekend. Rusty got a couple shots at the vet on Saturday, one a steroid the other an antibiotic. Neither seemed to have really helped. The vet thinks that if he had asthma, the steroid injection should have given him some relief. He has an appointment tomorrow morning for x-rays to see if they can tell what is giving him so much trouble breathing at times. It's really frightening to hear him wheeze and struggle to breathe. I'll let everyone know how tomorrow turns out. Thanks everyone for all your purrs and well wishes.

Saturday Caturday

Rusty's Mom here. I wanted to let everyone know how he's doing, I gave him some Childrens' Liquid Benedryl this morning and of course, he didn't like it much. But, it made him spit out a lot of mucus. So, I called the vet and they had me bring him in to give him an antibiotic shot in case he has an infection and also another shot that will help him with his congestion. So, as you can see below, he's resting quietly now and I'll see how he does when he wakes up. I know that for us beans it's not always easy getting older and I sometimes think that's the same for our beloved kitties. Thanks everyone for being there, Rusty and I both appreciate it.

Thankful Thursday and Rusty Update

Here I am giving Mom the laser eyes to impress her while she takes my photo with her new picture box she got for Christmas. As you can see, I can get up in my window perch more easily thanks to Mom's thoughtfulness getting me the little bench to climb up with. I am thankful for my Mom and my window perch. I can watch all the snow fall outside (but I'm not thankful for the snow, it can go away any time now. I HATE snow!)

Rusty's Mom here. Thanks everyone for the thoughts and suggestions. We have a whole house humidifier attached to the furnace because I have so many issues in the wintertime with dry air (I get nosebleeds all the time without the humidity.) Rusty seems kind of phlemmy and congested so I'm going to try some benedryl on him. The vet said that I could give him 1/2 teaspoon of Childrens' Benedryl to see if that helps. I just have to get to the store and we're in the midst of a snow storm right now so I might have to wait until tomorrow. But, I'll give it a try and see if it helps. It scares me so much when he starts that wheezing and he acts like he can't get his breath. Keep him in your thoughts. Thanks so much for all of you being here to help.

Saturday Caturday after the Holidays

Mom did something really nice for me. She saw that I was using the presents over Christmas to jump up on the bench to get to the window. So, she made the Guy bring down a stool from upstairs and put it in front of the bench to make it easier for me to get up there.

Yep, thanks Mom, I know you're always thinking about me.

This is Rusty's Mom. I've been a bit worried about him. He's started doing some wheezing when he breathes. I took him to the vet and he said his lungs sounded good, nothing seemed to be amiss, but still I worry about this wheezing. The vet said he thought it was a sinus thing. It seems that Rusty only does it when he's excited, and I've seen some comments on the internet about it in older cats, but I haven't found any conclusions or what it might be. Rusty seems to be fine, except for when he's wheezing, and then I get worried and put him on my lap to calm him down and get his breathing back to normal quiet. Has anyone else experienced this with an older cat? I thought I'd ask here since you all seem so knowledgeable about cats and their difficulties and health problems. It's hard when you have an older kitty. You know that day is coming and you keep trying to push that thought aside. I know that we all love them so much and we have a very hard time dealing with losing them.

I can't read what Mom just said, and she won't tell me what she wrote, but I sure hope that everyone had a very happy Holiday Season and I hope that everyone has a fabulous New Year!