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Post by june on Oct 26, 2014 19:16:41 GMT
Awwww, Hattie is gorgeous. Well done to you and Neil for fostering her. It sounds like Neil really loves the oldies, I love how he has been moving things around to make Hatties life easier. Hopefully the girls will be best friends with her soon. Good luck. June.x.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2014 22:14:09 GMT
Any idea what her history is? Its a real shame that older/ill cats end up in rescues. Got a tiny bit of history on Hattie today when we went to see Linda. She didn't have much as she has been living at Patty's house since she came in and (Linda's words, not mine) Patty does tend to exaggerate and tell porkies about an animal's previous history She, Hattie, originally came in the care of PARRT over a year ago as her owner no longer wanted her. No clue as to her age unfortunately but I'll see if the vet can give me a rough estimate on Friday Patty noticed the lump developing on her shoulder about a year ago and it was soft to start with but has got progressively harder. I'm amazed that nothing has been done about it before now (and so is Linda) but it doesn't seem to be giving Hattie any pain as you can touch it and feel around it and she doesn't flinch or anything. I've got Hattie booked into the vet on Friday morning and as well as getting more pills for her hyperthyroidism I'm to get the vet to take some blood so they can test her thyroid levels and also whether her kidneys etc will stand up to an anaesthetic. This is so she can have some rotten teeth removed and also possibly that lump When I went into the vet to book her in the nurse was all ''Aaaah poor girl'' when I was describing all the things Linda had told me to get done I said yes, we're back to fostering the old, battered and knackered oldies again First thing we need to do though is get some flea drops on her neck as I saw one of the 'orrible critters run across her face earlier on! Honestly...every animal we have had off Patty has had something living in or on it!!! We got Suzi in 2012 from her (FeLV+) and she had a blooming tapeworm!!!!! I'm not impressed at all with her worming & defleaing regime AT ALL!!! Silly woman!
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Post by tonib on Nov 5, 2014 0:39:04 GMT
You'd think that fosterers would be good at treating their charges - does PARRT pay for those treatments?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2014 7:57:53 GMT
That's the ironic thing - PARRT does supply all flea & worm treatments for fosterers....I think Patty is just not a very organised person PARRT will also supply food and cat litter too but I've always refused this because I've always felt that we can afford this no problem and no way would I have a charity forking out for Worlds Best Being able to foster the oldies was always a reward in itself.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2014 11:59:07 GMT
Saw a LOVELY vet this morning She had seen Hattie last month at their other branch so knew her and what treatment she needed. Apparently the vets have only been seeing Hattie since September Upshot is....she's not stabilised yet on her felimazole for her thyroid problems so instead of 5mg in the morning and 2.5mg at night she has been put on 5mg twice daily. Vet was a bit annoyed at some of the 2.5mg still being left because she had given Patty enough for a full 30 day course SIX WEEKS ago!!!!! She was pleased at the news that Hattie was with us until the end of her days though and as we had only had her two weeks today and never missed a dose of her medications she should soon start to pick up and respond. I told the vet that I didn't rate Patty's care of animals AT ALL but now that Hattie was with us she would want for nothing to get her back to as close to full fitness as was possible So we've got a 30-day supply of 5mg Felimazole and Hattie will be back at the vets on Thursday 4th or Friday 5th December for another check up. We originally made an appointment for Monday 8th but once I got home and checked my diary I realised this was 34 days from today so I'm going to ring up and change the appointment in a mo. Vet weighted Hattie and she is 3.07kg (6lb 12oz) but is desperately thin on her hindquarters - that is probably down to her thyroid working overtime. She was pleased with her glossy coat and everything toilet-wise being ok and her eating ok. She examined her teeth and agreed that some may need to come out as she has bad gingivitis and she picked off some big chunks of tartar with her nail BUT....until we get her stabilised on her medications and get a bit more weight on her then an anaesthetic is too risky. I'm sure that Hattie will be SO much better by her next appointment now that she's in our care (as opposed to Patty's slapdash, unorganised chaos!) and we'll be able to get a blood sample tested and go from there as regards treatment for her teeth and lump on her shoulder. She measured the lump too and it is 70mm Hopefully it won't be any bigger by next month and will be able to be safely removed at the same time Hattie has her dental work done....the vet said it was good that it wasn't on a leg or shoulder. It's a weird one as it doesn't seem to be bothering Hattie and she doesn't flinch if you gently touch it and it doesn't feel like it's attached to anything Best to remove it though just in case it turns malignant. I commented on the fact that Hattie's eyes don't have the unfocused 'stoned' look about them that they did on her first few days and vet said that will be because her medication is now kicking in whereas before her levels were all over the shop....poor girl When we were driving back home I said to Neil that Patty has a nerve to be a bit iffy about who her cats go to as she is obviously incapable of giving them even the basic care The only reason we managed to get Hattie was because she, Patty, has just had a hip replacement and Hattie was staying with Linda.
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Post by cazypops on Nov 7, 2014 13:47:56 GMT
Oh poor Hattie! glad to see she's started to respond to the medication now. Keep up the good work, Hattie definitely fell on her paws when she came to live with you. Have Chilli and Lilly started to accept her yet?
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Post by dutchkitties on Nov 7, 2014 14:58:20 GMT
If it wasn't for Patti not all those treatments would have been necessary. Poor Hattie and poor you. The vet must be pleased that she has a good home now.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2014 20:35:47 GMT
The vet said, when we told her Hattie was with us until Rainbow Bridge called her, that she was really pleased that she was now in a good home and we'd be keeping up with her medication And yes, things are a lot more chilled out in the Osborne household now Chilli is still a touch wary but Lily isn't bothered by Hattie's presence now and earlier on this evening was fast asleep in front of the heater with Hattie fast asleep just 4ft away on the rug There's no hissing now...from Chilli or Hattie...as both realise the other is harmless
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Post by tonib on Nov 7, 2014 22:51:42 GMT
What a shame the meds weren't properly given initially. Hope the revised dosage & regular dosing make the necessary improvement so Hattie can have the dental work & lump removal.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2014 9:51:19 GMT
Forgot to mention Hattie's heart rate yesterday Vet was slightly concerned about it because it as around 200 I think she said it should be around 120 - 140 (depending whether they were at home or the dreaded vets!) and this was probably raised because of her thyroid. Two hundred is pretty dangerous as, in rare cases, it can lead to heart failure and/or paralysis in the hind legs which is what happened to our first PARRT cat Molly who had various things wrong with her Hattie herself seemed pretty chilled about the whole thing and actually sat in the sink next to the vet and watched as she typed her details into the computer She then took herself off for a walk around the room as vet went to get her pills! Not much fazes old cats I'm not going to worry myself sick about Hattie as I'm sure the increased dosage of Felimazole and proper care will see a huge improvement in our little old lady by her next appointment in one month's time. She's sitting on the sunny windowsill as I type this giving herself a good wash so she's certainly not depressed or lethargic
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Post by dutchkitties on Nov 8, 2014 10:09:46 GMT
Five or six years ago I took a neighbour's cat to the vet and his heart rate was as high as Hatties' The cat was relaxed as well. The vet didn't give medication but wanted to see him back in a week's time. His heart rate was fine then. He is 17 now and has no problems.
Misty has been hissing for 10 years on end. First at Vosje, with whom she arrived together -same house-, then at my stray and now at Tom and Tosha. She doesn't like any cat.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2014 23:18:36 GMT
Chilli is just a Grump I don't try to force them together and just let them get on with anything at their own pace Lily is ok with Hattie now and has realised she's pretty harmless so I think Chilli will just need a little more time Neil has found two of the old cat beds in the airing cupboard so now we have SIX beds in the living room!!!! Overkill or what! Hattie seems to like the deeper bed as the sides go snugly around her sides. Earlier this evening...
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Post by smilesbetter on Nov 24, 2014 20:42:44 GMT
Hattiesburg looks lovely, and how lucky for her to end up with you guys! I'd love to get involved in something like PARRT some day when I have a bit more room and a garden perhaps haha, sounds great. I wish more people would adopt adult/elderly cats, they don't know what they're missing out on! Ita such a nice feeling to know that thanks to you, a cat is getting a way better life than it would get otherwise.
I, very glad to see that you've re-opened the cat retirement home anyway and look forward to hearing your stories about Hattie and any future oldies! More pics too please!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2014 21:22:02 GMT
Hattie is certainly settling in and I cannot believe it's been just over a month already! Her eyes aren't looking as glazed and un-focused and she's starting to put on a tiny bit of weight so I think the new dosage of medication is working. She's back at the vet next Thursday, December 4th, so fingers crossed her heart rate will be back to normal and it'll be ok to get some bloods tests done and, hopefully, her knocked out to remove the bad teeth (I worry in case they are causing her pain and, being a cat, she's not showing it) and possibly that lump on her side. She was limping a bit on her left foreleg yesterday but I think it may have been because she was curled up asleep virtually all day in the bed above ~ Neil reckoned it was just her stiffening up) so I removed that bed and she's had two flat beds to sleep on so has been stretched out and it seems to have done the trick as she's hardly limping today at all. I'll be keeping an eye on that leg though and if I'm in any doubt she'll be straight back to the vet ASAP. As to us reopening our 'Old Cats Home'.....well, Neil would LOVE that but I'm putting my foot down and saying no (first time in my life!!!) because I still want a dog in my life more than anything else!!! I'm going to try to hold off for a few months to see how Hattie goes as she IS an old cat we think and she could last just a few months or a few years, who knows? Getting her back to full fitness has to be a priority.....tho' if the perfect dog came along it would be VERY hard to say no
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Post by smilesbetter on Nov 25, 2014 15:19:12 GMT
But if you get the right dog, they could be a fellow carer of the old cats!
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