Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: jrichemont on January 31, 2013, 08:36:36 AM
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Hi. My cat, Jonah, has in the last few days, turned from an older (13.5 years) but lively animal to a shadow of his former self. I took him to the vet of course and an extensive array of tests were performed on blood and urine. However, almost every result was normal and the vet has no answers for what may have happened. He has never been a fussy eater; he normally prefers to eat whatever I am eating with favourites being pasta, chicken skin, cheese, avocado etc. I am feeding him now through a syringe. He still meows in the morning and exhibits his old behaviours but any food - even tiny slivers of old favourites hand presented - is refused.
I understand that he's reaching the end of his natural lifespan (and he's a Maine Coon which are not that long lived) but what I cannot understand is the speed of the decline. Seven days ago he was bouncing around the place hunting (largely imaginary) mice, eating whatever he could lay his paws on and being as fit as a flea. Now he looks like he has days to live and nobody has any idea why. He is an indoor cat and cannot have been fighting or eating bad things because he can't get out unless I let him. Which I did, of course! but he just follows me around outside and does not go adventuring solo. We go for walks together; he's never more than 3 metres away from me.
If anyone has any idea what might be wrong I'd love to hear it; I have loved my cat every day for thirteen and a half years and he's disappearing fast.
Jeremy
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So sorry to hear Jonah is unwell :hug: I assume his teeth, mouth and temperature were checked at the vet visit. Have you tried giving him more pungent food such as sardines or tried warming the food first? Maybe you could ask the vet if an x-ray or scan may be appropriate as things have not improved.
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Thank you, Jiji.
Yes, the vet checked his teeth; they are ok for a cat his age. His temperature seems high to me but the vet checked twice and said it was fine. I have tried everything to feed him and he's not normally a fussy eater. I have bought him chicken, white fish and tuna (all favourite foods normally which he'd get a bit of for a treat). He did manage tiny strips of the chicken plus the skin from two breasts but yesterday evening and this morning refused everything.
I am taking him to the vet's again this evening (they just called me) so maybe I'll know more then. The only test that was abnormal was protein : creatine ratio which was reported as 4000%. Since the average is ~1% the vet thought something had skewed the test but... his symptoms do look awfully like kidney failure. Still; I'd expect some of the blood test to show that up, not just an anomalously high urine reading.
I'll update this thread after the visit.
Jeremy
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Please let us know how you go on :hug:
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good luck at the vets, does sound he Jonah is feeling off colour, hope it is something that can be sorted quickly
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Thank you, Dawn F.
Sadly he's a bit more than off colour; unless he eats he won't be with us long. It may be that he will have to go into hospital to keep him alive while he recovers from whatever has got to him. He's a fighter I know; when he was a kitten he had a huge growth above his soft pallet that required surgery to save him. He's made funny snorting noises ever since but not been ill again all those years until now. I know he's not given up!
Jeremy
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Have you tried warming foor in the microwave for 10 secs I have had good results with that, also jars of baby food and catmilk are all good to
Hope the vets visit goes ok xx
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Thanks, Liz.
Yes I tried that. We made some chicken broth with tiny bits of soft chicken skin and meat and gave that to him at blood temperature. He would only eat it if I held it in my hand and even then only a soup spoon full. He should have eaten the lot and begged for more as he's a big cat. All skin and bones now of course but he should weigh around 14lb. His current weight is 8lb. I hardly notice when he stands on my lap any more.
We'll see what the vet says but I suspect hospital and a drip is coming up for him...
Jeremy
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I'm sorry Jeremy. It does sound like it could be kidney failure, which can be so quick and cats can go into a sharp decline with a lot of weight loss. It looks like you and your vet are doing everything.
fingers crossed for you and Jonah xx
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Am so sorry to hear about Jonah's sudden decline, Jeremy. It's very distressing to witness when one of our cats loses ground like this so quickly.
Has your vet suggested an X-Ray? Am just wondering if anything might be causing him pain when he eats, and sometimes cats can ingest remarkable items, like a needle and cotton for example, which may be a problem. It may be the case he's already had an x-ray, but if not, it might be worth investigating? If he's had a problem with his palate in the past it could be indicative of something amiss now?
Am hoping yuo can get to the bottom of this and everything crossed here for the vet visit.. :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Thank you, Sue and SamMewl.
I do hope it's not kidney troubles; if that's got him in this state I don't think there'd be much hope for him. However, I really would have expected to see some indication in the blood tests. And the x-ray idea is a good one; I will mention it to the vet later today. I thought that it was his old pallet problem too - it's never been 100% right - but who knows? The x-ray will show up either I guess though as it was a soft tissue growth it was subtle and hard to find the first time.
Jeremy
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Welcome to Purrs Jeremy, sorry it's at such a worrying time for you :hug:
It does sound strange that all his blood results came back as normal coupled with the super-high protein/creatinine urine result, you say he has lost weight too - has this been sudden or more gradual? Have you noticed Jonah drinking more at all? Fingers crossed the vet visit this evening throws up some answers and hopefully solutions, do let us know how he gets on :hug:
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Thanks, Tiggy 's mum.
Yes I am frantic; Jonah is such a big part of my life. I and the vet hope the aberrant test was skewed somehow; she did say his urine was "very odd". The weight loss was sudden although try as we might he's always been underweight. He is drinking a little water now also but not much. Off to the vet's now; I'll update this thread later.
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Good luck. :hug:
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Oh Jeremy I do hope they can find out what is wrong with Jonah quickly cos sadly I lost my birman last aug who suddenly lost all his weight in 24 hrs and that was kidneys.
He had been suffering with kidneys for a while but its such a shock when they stop eating and the weight just goes, he had just had his 19th birthday 3 days early and stuffed himself with a dish of chicken.
Sending you and Jonah some of the infamous Purrs vibes :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Hello Jeremy
I'm hesitant to ask, but what news of your visit to the vet yesterday?
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sending tons of :hug: :hug: :hug:
It does sound like CRF to me also :(
with Jonah being an indoor only, have you noticed he is drinking / going to the toilet more?
keeping fingers crossed it's not, and that the Vet has discovered what's wrong
:hug: :hug: :hug:
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How very sad for you Jeremy :( :( :( :hug: :hug:
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Hi everyone and thanks for your kind thoughts.
At the vet's advice, Jonah was admitted as an emergency case to the Royal veterinary hospital outside London last night and placed on a drip.
Today he will get a set of tests - ultrasound, x-ray and a biopsy - to try and see what the issue is. Plus he gets a feeding tube in his neck to get some nourishment inside him. I'll know more when the results start coming in...
Jeremy
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Sending all the best wishes I have for Jonah :hug: :hug:
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Sending good wishes to you both :hug:
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Fingers crossed the fluid therapy and feeding tube help him to turn the corner, do let us know when you get the results back :hug:
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Thanks for letting us know Jeremy. Sending lots of get well vibes for Jonah :hug: :hug:
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Sending every good wish for Jonah, and for you too - is horrible when they're away from us. :hug:
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Thanks again everyone. The hospital will call this evening with news and I will of course post it on here.
:hug:
Jeremy
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sending loads of positive vibes Jonah's way
and keeping everything crossed
:hug:
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I thought a picture of him would be nice...
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Aw - Jonah's beautiful - absolutely magnificent :wow: :wow:
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I think so! And he has a wonderful personality too; he takes everything life throws at him with calm equanimity. He's gentle with strangers, unbothered by other animals even dogs, enjoys travel - even ill yesterday in his box on the train he sat calmly and looked out of the train window with great interest at the lights going past; never a squeak out of him. At the vet's he sits still of the examination table without struggles, and, when the vet's done with him I put him on the floor and he walks back into his box and sits down.
All cats are wonderful of course but I can't help but feel my gentle giant is a little extra special...
Jeremy
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He's gorgeous :Luv:
Will keep everything crossed that they can both get to the bottom of it and treat it.
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Such a handsome boy :Luv: :hug:
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Update from the hospital; he stopped breathing briefly on the operating table but they were able to get him back. He's now in ICU overnight with continuous monitoring. They found cysts on and in his pancreas, a deal of skeletal abnormality that causes him breathing difficulties (but that's always been there, it's not a new thing). Lab results Monday so we'll see what happens next.
They also say that, even with his weird body he's a beautiful cat of course!
I can only hope for a miracle...
Jeremy
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There's no doubting he's Avery special cat, Jeremy. Am hoping a miracle will happen, and that you get to have more precious time with your beautiful boy. :hug:
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hoping for a miracle too.
what a splendid beast! very striking face!
supergoodluck Jonah
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What a lovely boy and he sounds great. ;D ;D
I do hope they can help him :hug: :hug:
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He's gorgeous Jeremy :Luv2: :Luv2:
I'll keep sending positive vibes :hug: :hug:
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He is lovely! fingers crossed they find out what his problem is. One of my stable cats years ago had pancreatitis, very painful disease and she lost loads of weight but pulled through ok for a few years till she got lymphoma :(
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He's lovely Jeremy,i'm also sending positive vibes.
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Just popping by to top up the positive thoughts and all good wishes for you and Jonah today, Jeremy. :hug: :hug:
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Topping up the good wishes for you and the handsome Jonah :Luv2: :hug: :hug:
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More good vibes for Jonah :hug: :hug:
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Thanks, everyone. He survived the night in ICU cos he's a little fighter (well, not all that little) so it's a waiting game now. We'll know more next week...
Jeremy
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Here's hoping for good news after the weekend :hug:
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Topping up the vibes for Jonah this morning. Thinking of you both. :hug:
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Just calling by again to say thinking of you, and keeping fingers crossed that the news today will be much more positive. Sending gentle ear rubs for Jonah. :hug:
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Jeremy, any news on Jonah? :hug:
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Hi everyone. Jonah is out of ICU and back on the ward as of last night. No real news because labs and consultants don't work weekends but hopefully I will know more later today. Nothing aside from tests has been done to him though, as yet.
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Just thought I would pop by to say I'm also a fan of this stunningly beautiful boy and keeping everything crossed that he continues to hang on in there until results hopefully give a diagnosis that is easily treatable :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Hope any news is good and that he can be helped :hug: :hug:
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Hi everyone. Well, Jonah is back from hospital now and feeling fatter than he did when going in which is good. However, he's not that much more interested in food as yet so we are feeding him via a tracheal tube. Luckily he just sits on my lap for this and doesn't try fighting. When that's not happening he sits on my lap (if I'm home) or sleeps in his warm box in the bathroom (heated floor).
Last night he was able to get under the duvet with me for the first time since Thursday which he was very happy about although I must be careful not to pull on the tube of course.
There are some more results we are waiting for and a specialist will also examine his CT scan to see if there's an issue with his jaw that is making it hard to eat.
Aside from that all that's happened is they fed him up and it's now a bit of a waiting game.
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So pleased he is home and what a bloomin mystery.
I hope they find out what is causing this :hug: :hug:
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Bless Jonah's lttle paws - it sounds like he's being a very brave little soldier. Bet he was so happy to be home, and you no less happy to have him back. Let's hope the results come back with something definitive so a treatment plan can be worked out. Topping up the gentle hugs and positive vibes for Jonah.
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really pleased to hear he is home, I hope you can find out something soon
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So happy to hear Jonah is home and enjoying a snuggle under the duvet :) :)
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Hi all. A mystery wrapped in an enigma does, indeed, describe Jonah and his ailment. He's stopped falling sideways now but he still gets very tired very quickly - if he's sat on my lap his head droops after 5 minutes or so. He's interested in food but eating it invokes the gag response; because of the tube I expect. He had a little warm chicken skin this morning but each tiny strip had to be hand fed, he managed two (not enough for a mouse let alone a large cat) and choked after each one. Of course, this puts him off the whole idea of eating so it's back to the feeding tube for now.
It is lovely that he can sleep under the duvet with me although it rather keeps me awake as I worry about catching his tube plus he makes a heck of a gurgling noise with his head upside down on my arm. Luckily he does spend most of the night asleep in his box.
I'm not sure how long he can go on like this though; for now he's just happy to be home and that's great but unless there's some change he may simply give up...
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Aw Jeremy. Am sorry that Jonah still isn't up to eating unaided. It's a very distressing time for you. As you say, if nothing shows up in the tests, then it's very much an issue of quality of life.
Am still keeping everything crossed that something will show up which will point the way to diagnosis and treatment. Meanwhile, sending respectful and gentle ear rubs for the beautiful Jonah. :hug: :hug:
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I second what Sue said :hug: :hug:
I didnt know you could feed them by mouth if they had a feeding tube?
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Well, that's what the consultant said; the tube is not through the mouth, it's through an incision in his neck - he sports a lovely cat sized snood now - which goes right down into his trachea. So, in theory he can eat normally because his mouth and throat are unobstructed. However, food that way still has to go past the tube lower down and maybe that's behind the gag reflex.
But... his jaw is giving him troubles and his breathing sounds like he has bad flu (the hospital said he had masses of stringy mucus) so it could also be one of those things.
What we've been told to do is reduce the tube feeding so he feels hungry and increase the normal eating - to wean him off so the tube can be removed. But... if the gag thing puts him off normal eating I'm not sure how well that's going to happen.
It's good that he's interested in food again though although I assume he can't smell it too well.
The thing is, the mucus issue has always been there since he was operated on as a kitten. Never put him off eating before though maybe it's got worse with age. I'm going to give him a decent shot before making any hard decisions. While he's still prepared to trot across the floor to sit on my lap and doesn't look like he's given up I will do my best for him.
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You're already doing your best for him Jeremy. You're giving him the care and the love that he's always had from you - it's very obvious from your posts. :hug:
Have you tried feeding him with tinned sardine or mackerel, mashed up in the tomato sauce it comes in? I never had any succes s with that when Paddy was elderly and off his food but I do know people who swear by it for reviving an appetite. I would make sure it's mashed though, so that no small bones risk adding to the problems Jonah already experiences.
He's such a gorgeous cat.
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Hi Sue. I tried him on some tinned tuna and he was quite keen on the juice it came in but less so on the fish; it went flaky in his mouth I think but he gave a great snort and little tuna flakes went everywhere! I will try some mackerel though; being a more oily fish it might be easier for him.
Jonah was actually a Christmas present from my wife although she didn't buy him; she took me to the breeder's and said "choose one". In the event, Jonah chose me because as soon as I sat on the floor he climbed onto my knee to escape from his older stronger sisters. I was able to pick him up and he lay upside down in my palm after one hour of first meeting. Not for all that long of course; he was only a few months old with far to much mischief to do but still. The breeder said she'd never seen anything like it. We have been inseparable ever since. He used to sleep on the back of the bath while I was in it for example.
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Try warming the food for 10 seconds in the microwave it seems to make it smell stronger, baby food is a good thing to try and cat milk I use anything that has calories in it including cheese, butter and any human food they show an interest in to get the eating thing going again
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if you have a blender or liquidizer you could try reducing the tuna or other food he usually likes to a liquid, and see if he will lap it from a spoon - if he will, you could go that route with other stuff too
dairy products can increase mucus though, so not sure about them, Liz
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Jeremy, from how you talk about Jonah it's so obvious what a strong bond you have got. All this must be absolutely heartbreaking for you. :hug: :hug: :hug:
Sending lots of good vibes and ear scratches to Jonah.
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All I can hope for is a little more time together with him being comfortable and not in pain. But, yes, it is heartbreaking especially because it was so sudden. I knew he was getting on but even two weeks ago he seemed fine - I imagine he wasn't, really, but he behaved much as he always had so I didn't know. I'd expected another year or so and to wake up one morning to find that he hadn't. I'd be miserable of course but not surprised. This though...
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Hi Jeremy, sitting here crying and thinking how much the two of you love each other.x how can he get used to eating,if the tube makes him gag? we're all thinking and caring for you.
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Well, that's really the problem. I can take him to the vet's and have the tube removed and hope that the signs he's starting to show of interest in food are for real but what happens if they're not? It can't be put back without a GA. Of course I won't keep him on the tube for ever but I do think he needs a little more recovery time yet. He's still very tired - much more so than before he got ill.
Plus, in all this horrible situation I must remember that at 13 1/2 he's old, especially for a Maine Coon. His father died suddenly after only 3 years. Jonah has not been ill (more than the snuffles) in all that time - leaving aside the pallet op he had as a kitten - and has had a good life with us eating all sorts of curious things - bananas, aubergines (he loves moussaka) and whatever he sees me eating. I wish he'd stay around a bit longer but I'm glad we had as long as we did.
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I applaud your philosophy Jeremy. :hug:
Whilst it feels incredibly cruel when our cats fall ill or are taken from us sooner than we'd hoped would be the case, it's always worth counting our blessings at how lucky we've been to share that special affection, love and friendship they give us, however long or short the measure of the days involved.
Some people never ever get to know what that feels like.
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Exactly so! Keeping a companion animal always involves loss (unless you have the long lived sorts such as tortoises and parrots) but... you gain so much more from the relationship than you lose.
I just wish we were discussing this in abstract. Knowing what's right and applying it at the sharp end of events are two different things.
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I know. Am sorry, Jeremy - I wish we were too. :hug:
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you gain so much more from the relationship than you lose.
How very true :hug: :hug:
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Sending loads of these for you and Jonah :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Hi all; news from the front:
We fed Jonah a bigish meal via the tube last night and he spent the night in the bathroom, joining me under the duvet around 7:30am. He was reluctant to get up for breakfast but after I scooped him up and brought him upstairs (we live in a flat with the bedrooms downstairs) he marched into the kitchen where my wife was making a packed lunch for me. He then ate the skin skin from two chicken drumsticks with enthusiasm and without much gagging! Yesterday I struggled to feed him a single tiny strip. Chicken skin is normally a treat for him in the morning before he gets a proper breakfast.
It's great to see him bounce back a little although we still have a refusal with warmed sardines and tomato sauce sadly.
Unfortunately he's feeling better enough to be feisty and he refused to sit on my lap to get a decent feed through the tube to top up the skins. I don't blame him in the slightest but... the only reason he's improved is because of what he gets through that thing and it won't take long for him to relapse if he stops cooperating. We will try later on today.
It does give me hope though that his interest in real food and eating in the conventional way does seem to be returning. He even ate some tagliatelle last night; another favourite treat normally. It's great but it's not enough food for him on its own yet.
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great news. excellent. hope the eating (both styles!) continues.
Exactly so! Keeping a companion animal always involves loss (unless you have the long lived sorts such as tortoises and parrots) but... you gain so much more from the relationship than you lose.
I just wish we were discussing this in abstract. Knowing what's right and applying it at the sharp end of events are two different things.
so so true :hug:
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That's great to hear Jeremy, although fully understand your reservations :hug:
Here's hoping that Jonah will take some more food, either through the tube or naturally later when you offer it to him, and make good the lost ground. He's a real trooper, bless him.
He has quite eclectic taste, doesnt he? Tagliatelli and chicken skin ;D
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Come on Jonah, you need your food mayte :hug: :hug:
Sasa, Misa and LuuuuuuuuuuuupiN
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He does indeed! One of the many things I love about him. He spent an hour once eating pomegranate seeds one at a time but I had to score each one with my fingernail first so he could smell the juice. He's a fan of aubergines (cooked; I think it's the meaty texture there) and cheese - everything from mature cheddar to chaource.
Long pasta (spaghetti etc) has always been a treat; he flips his head on one side and just works his way up the strand while I hold the other end. Sometimes he'll get hold of his end and yank his head to pull it away from me and eat it himself though. He likes the very small penne ones too and will (used to) eat a prodigious amount, one at a time.
Other strange likings include mango, banana, pineapple, mustard (mild, from my finger), cooked veggies like carrots, butternut squash, asparagus, peas and sweetcorn (enjoys hunting those guys down when thrown) and certain raw ones such as cucumber.
Strangely enough he only likes chicken skin, not chicken unless it's a very moist bit from the middle of the thigh.
As you can see, the world holds plenty of interesting foods that he likes; he just needs to feel up to eating them!
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I think anything with calories in it will be good, I am struggling with one of mine he has ulcers but got some stuff from the vet which is a superfood and he gets it to top up his meals he is on 2 pumps of the stuff, looks like Bovril but these 2 pumps are equivalent to 1 days food for a 5kg cat not the best way but it can be given orally will get the name and post it for you
Also sometimes something like Liquivite warmed helps as it is a liquid foor, one of my old ferals lived on it for 9 months when she has a jaw tumour which sadly robbed us of our feisty feral gal
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Thanks, Liz and sorry to hear of your own feline troubles...
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Morning Jeremy
Just popping by to ask how Jonah is, and whether you've managed to get him to take any more food? Sending many positive vibes your way. :hug:
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Hi everyone. Jonah is less lively today than yesterday; he did manage some chicken skin but not a lot. We just fed him via the tube and he's now sitting in the sun. When he tried to eat his nose seems to get all clogged up and he sneezes and wiggles his jaw and I think this puts him off the whole idea. Some of this is just him - he's always had issues with his upper respiratory tract - and some is probably down to the tube.
Day at a time...
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Every time I log onto Purrs I check this thread with bated breath. I will keep hoping and praying that he turns the corner. Hang on in there, Jonah...
:Luv:
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Bless him. It must feel so uncomfortable for him. Topping up the vibes and hoping he can get something down later today. :hug: :hug:
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Hi everyone. Jonah hasn't been too well today; he threw up the food i gave him via the tube at lunchtime (I took the day off work to look after him). But now he seems more his old self; he sought me out in the computer room and tried to jump on my lap through the arms of my chair like he always used to.
Anyway he's going back to hospital monday for one last throw of the die...
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You are in excellent hands at the RVC. Here's to Jonah getting better.
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Sending loads more good vives for Jonah :hug: :hug:
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RVC are fantastic, yes. Plus he has won the hearts of the people looking after him there. Of course he has! Even critically ill he's a fantastic people cat. Even people who don't like cats (I'm talking allergies here, people) like him. Cat people love him because he's just such a character.
Anyway, he's been much better tonight, sitting on the arm of the sofa watching me eat soup - celeriac and herb, since you ask - intently. I put some on my finger and he licked it off without hesitation so i put 2 spoonfuls in a little saucer for him and he ate it all up! Almost like having my old cat back. Fantastic!
We fed him 20ml of liquid food via the tube just for good measure. He shook himself, went downstairs for a pee and nested up in his bathroom box. Where I am now, in the bath right next to him, typing this.
We have two more days of him here then off to Potter's Bar and the RVC.
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Just adding my good wishes to Jonah +you too.x
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Thanks for the updates Jeremy. Keeping everything crossed for Jonah :hug: :hug:
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Topping up the good wishes for Jonah, and hope that you're having a lovely weekend together. :) I love that you were typing your update in the bath and he was with you :evillaugh:
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Hi all. I typed another update last night in the bath but it wouldn't post :(
Anyway, last night, when I was cooking a supper of steamed chicken thighs stuffed with feta and herbs with tagliatelle (everything bar the herbs a favourite of Jonah) he came into the kitchen and said miow. This would be only the third miow since he came back from hospital and sounded quite rusty. However, I gave him a bit of chicken skin and he ate it up with no hesitation or gagging. And miowed for more! So more he got and before long he was standing on his back legs eating the bits dangled from my fingers! He ate loads which is great; lovely to see him back and lively again, albeit briefly.
I woke this morning to find him stretched next to me with his paws round my neck and his head tucked under my chin. No interest in food however; he got up when I did but just sloped off to his bathroom nest.
So it's the tube again for him. He does seem slow in the morning and perks up in the evening. A bit like me really but he's not been like it before.
Tomorrow we take him back to RVC for possible surgery to his upper respiratory tract. I hope it goes well seeing as we nearly lost him the last time he had a GA...
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It really is a puzzle, Jeremy. Am glad you got him tempted to eat last night, and have all fingers crossed for tomorrow. :hug:
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Could be all that food in one go just filled him up as his tummy will have shrunk while not eating and he wont be able to eat as he used to yet.
I hope everything goes well tomorrow :hug: :hug:
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I hope so too, and I think Gill could be right. At least he's eating, albeit intermittently. It has to be a positive development.
:Luv: :Luv:
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Will be thinking of Jonah tomorrow. :Luv:
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Hope all goes well tomorrow. At least now they know he had a problem with anaesthetic last time and will be prepared for any problems that may but hopefully wont arise :(
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Hi everyone. This is it; the last throw of the die. Jonah is looking better than ever, he ate an entire slice of roast lamb with (mild) curry spice that we had for sunday lunch; cut up into cat size bits of course. He feels solid and sleek - how different from 7 days ago! - and interested in whatever's on my fingertips... But he still won't eat from a bowl and we must still feed him via the tube.
So tomorrow, at the crack of dawn, we take him to RVC again. Our wonderful consultant will be joined by an ent specialist to see what may be done to help him with his upper respiratory system.
I just want my beautiful, loving snidge back again.
He's now dozing in his box right next to me and I'm in the bath typing away. I can see him and vice versa.
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https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/107706559941418339534/albums/5599607745103432833
Hopefully that link is to an album of pictures of jonah, in better days, playing with a red feather on the end of a stick.
L
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Good luck at the RVC today :hug:
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Adding more positive vibes for Jonah's visit to the RVC today and sending a gentle ear rub for his Splendidness.
Thinking of you both. :hug: :hug:
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Good luck today Jeremy :hug: :hug: Sending lots of ear scratches for Jonah.
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Sorry doesnt work here JS, just brings up a sign in box.
Good luck Jonah :hug: :hug:
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Oh that's a shame, and a bit embarrassing too seeing as I am a programmer. Please try this instead:
https://plus.google.com/photos/107706559941418339534/albums/5599607745103432833?authkey=CL6i-_eh1-iY9QE (https://plus.google.com/photos/107706559941418339534/albums/5599607745103432833?authkey=CL6i-_eh1-iY9QE)
Anyway, Jonah went off to RVC at 7am today and will be inspected by an ENT specialist who will decide on a course of action. I'll know more later...
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He's gorgeous - looks very leonine in those photographs. :Luv: Fingers crossed for the time being. :hug:
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He is very handsome ;D
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Glad you liked the pictures! He was sitting on the chair next to me at our big table, with strong sunlight. My wife was teasing him with a red feather on the end of a piece of string. If anyone watched the video he does get a bite of it! But the sunlight highlighted his long whiskers beautifully.
Anyway I heard from RVC; apparently he's eating and looks content. They have seen and videoed his wibbly jaw movement (where he gets excited about food but then has to spend so long rearranging his jaw that he gives up) which the ENT guy thinks may be sinus related. Nothing will be done to him until Wednesday so he has a little holiday - though I'd rather him take a holiday on my lap. We shall wait and see but I hope they actually do something to him; if they just wash out his nose the problem will be back in two weeks. He needs his tubes altered so he can breathe properly in perpetuity (a couple of years, anyway).
As ever, thanks for all your king thoughts and I will post more when I know more.
XXX J
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that's interesting - my Tosker has sinus problems, and is perpetually gurgling and coughing and swallowing - he can, and does eat, OK but his jaw looks a little odd to me, as if the lower jaw is underdeveloped - he has had long and short courses of abs, which alleviate the symptoms a bit but as you say they come roaring back very soon after the course is finished
I shall be reading with interest what the RVC find, and what course of treatment they suggest for your lovely boy
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We know you'll be missing having Jonah at home, Jeremy, so hoping the next few days pass quickly and to the benefit of Jonah.
The photos of Jonah are wonderfully artistic - the light plays beautifully against his coat. :Luv:
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Stupid work PC won't let me view the photos >:(
Hoping that the time is Jonah is away from you passes quickly Jeremy :hug:
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Well... he's still with us. It was a difficult recovery but they were expecting it this time. He's now in ICU and they'll see how he likes eating tomorrow as to whether he can come home with us tomorrow evening.
They have taken nose biopsies and one from his gut (though personally I doubt that will show anything; his poo has always been a good solid lump) and rinsed out things.
I'll know more if I do collect him tomorrow as I can have a longer talk with the consultant - they call me at work and I have to content with a noisy newspaper environment while listening to someone explain technical details that are not in my field. And then remember it all!
He may need to go in a third time if the results next week warrant it. I'm not sure if they took his feeding tube out this time, though apparently our vet can do that.
:Crazy:
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I really do hope all of this helps and that you get to have a proper chat it is so hard to remember everything they say at the best of times
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My recommendation would be to write everything down then google it although I did find the vets and consultants at the RVC have infinite amounts of patience with their human patients.
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Oh they do and are quite wonderful! I would still be very happy to get an email with the state of play written down that I can read, re-read and forward to my other half, our vet and so on.
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Am very relieved to learn that Jonah has come through the examination and biopsies, and now hope they can get to the cause of his problems.
I would ask if they would mind sending you an email with the information in, as you're finding it a little hard to get your head round everything. Hopefully they won't object and then you can digest the info at your leisure, and investigate their findings on the net if you want to.
Still got everything crossed here for Jonah.
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So pleased Jonah is Ok and hope that they will get some results that show a way forward :hug: :hug:
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So glad to hear that Jonah is doing well. :hug: :hug:
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Happy to read that Jonah is doing better, long may it continue
:hug: :hug: :hug:
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Popping by to top up the positive vibes for Jonah, and to say am hoping everything goes well today.
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Hi everyone. Jonah is back with us now, in his box next to me as i type in the bath. More results next week but he has a course of ampecillin in the meanwhile. His feeding tube is still in place and apparently the entry is oozing a bit, hence the antibiotic.
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glad to hear Jonah is hanging in there, and not getting worse, at least
bit worried about this working in the bath though - that famous painting of the unfortunate Marat keeps popping into my mind :shify:
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Well! I may work in newspapers but I have the altogether more humble role of IT developer; a not very radical position unlikely to get me assassinated, in the bath or otherwise.
I always have a small bath at the day's end, mostly for reading but more recently also for Jonah oversight. He's curled up in his box now and is snoring like a good'n.
I must say you are an erudite lot; rather an unfamiliar sensation on interweb forums i find...
:Luv:
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We have unfathomed depths :evillaugh: We may be mad cat people, but we're clever too - a lethal combo. ;)
So glad to know that Jonah is back home with you and hoping you both had a comfortable night (snores permitting). Sending your beautiful boy a gentle ear rub, and a snoozle from Ross. Thinking of you both. :hug: :hug:
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Jeremy, I hope Jonah is doing well today and had a comfortable night :hug: :hug:
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You certainly do and pleased I am to get to know you all.
Jonah seems keen on eating but as yet not from a bowl. Some fillet steak from last night's supper overcame any reluctance on the eating front - both last night and this morning. He ate so much that I skipped the tube feed (he was fractious with it anyway) and went to work while he sloped off to his bathroom retreat.
The antibiotic - rather optimistically described as palatable and chewable - I crushed up, mixed with water and pushed down the tube which is better than fighting with him to swallow a rapidly dissolving mess...
Longer term though; nothing has actually been done to him aside from tests - they did have a go at cleaning his nasal tubes out but that'll simply come back. The issue as shown by the nasal endoscopy is his turbinate bones (congenitally malformed hence his op 12 years ago) have carried on growing and he has practically no space left to breathe. This is the cause of all the eating, snoring, rhinitis issues.
The problem is fixing this will require surgery. That will then be his third GA in as many weeks and it wouldn't be a small procedure either I suspect. For the moment, RVC suggest trying to manage the condition medically; I guess they don't rate his chances of pulling through major surgery.
Back to wait and see I guess...
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So sad that the growing has continued and as you say this will certainly be a reason why he is having problems eating as he will have problems eating and swallowing.
I do hope that he will be OK and I too would worry about a third GA so soon.
Sending cuddles to Jonah :hug: :hug:
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At least they know what's causing it now. I do hope they can keep it under control at least for long enough for Jonah to build up his strength a bit. I suppose further surgery will be inevitable eventually?
Bless him- so glad to hear he's eating again :Luv:
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I can't see any other options myself. The only question is will he be strong enough? He's no longer young at 13 1/2 and he's been through a lot recently. If we are only going to have a short time with him I think maybe he'd prefer to stay unmolested at home. We'll just have to see how he gets on and what RVC have to say next week when the results are ready.
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Yes, it's a difficult one isn't it?
I suppose you will just have to take it a day at a time and see what they say next week.
I'm very glad he enjoyed his fillet steak :Luv:
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Not an easy decision to take Jeremy, but I feel certain you'll know what's best for Jonah and will do your utmost for his ultimate benefit, whichever route that may take you down. :hug: :hug:
One day at a time is seldom a bad maxim.
Many of us have stood where you're standing now, and feel 100% compassion for your situation. :hug: :hug:
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One day at a time it is. Still... I woke up this morning to find Jonah, neck bandage, tube and all, under the duvet with his chest on my arm, paws over it onto the pillow and his head under my chin, facing me. The rest of him stretched out down my tummy and back paws on the tops of my legs cos he's quite a long kitty.
I guess that means I have been forgiven for dragging him through all that. He wouldn't have anything to do with me yesterday. He's not a cat to bear grudges, though; never has. Whatever has happened to him - getting his rear washed in the bidet after an accident as a kitten for example - he leaps free, shakes himself and comes right back for a cuddle.
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Everything crossed for this beautiful boy.
Sorry, but had to look up "erudite". :-[ :rofl:
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:rofl: Don't worry about it; I had to look up Marat!
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:evillaugh:
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I should have loved to have seen him having his rear end washed in the bidet :evillaugh:
More good vibes for the dear wee soul from us. I hope he's still enjoying his food :Luv:
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Hello Jeremy,still thinking and reading about your lovely Jonah.
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Hi everyone.
Sadly I don't have any pictures of the great bidet affair but it was quite funny. We carefully made the water blood temperature and held him over it. He sat there quite happily and let his (very furry) tail go in also. He was peaceful and happy while we washed him but then he tried to swish his tail. At that point all hell broke loose because his tail now weighed a kilo or so with all the water. He was convinced evil alien mouses had got hold of it and went bonkers: bouncing off the walls racing around the floor, jumping in the (empty) bath and so on. The bathroom was covered in a fine spray of water after.
But he was fine after; just shook himself vigorously and asked for food by way of compensation. Right now he's sitting on my shoulders as I type making snorting sounds.
Anyway he's still not eating because whenever he thinks about it his nose runs and his jaw wobbles and he just gives up. He will sometimes eat hand presented things - he ate some chicken skins today - but nothing from a bowl. So we still feed him with both food and antibiotics via the tube. He needs his turbinate bones sorting out so he can breathe again; that's the only thing that'll help but who knows if he'll survive the op? But being feed through a tube is no life for a cat for sure.
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My answer for those difficult times. :shy:
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Mine wont eat that Sheila.............sighs
Sasa says it has eagleburgher in it :innocent:
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No, Jonah won't either but maybe that was comfort food for Sheila?
Jonah is refusing all food now so he's just had a feed via tube. He seems alert though and after the GA last time it took him a few days to really bounce back so I am not too despondent yet. He's a shadow of his former self though; in the past (ie last month) if I held out my finger he'd rub his face against it on both sides. Now... he just stares at it and sighs. As if he thinks I'm going to do something bad to him. I know he doesn't understand that 'help' is sometimes holding him so he can't escape while I feed him or get antibiotics in but I don't think he's ever going to have the easy trust in me he used to, which is very sad.
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So sad that Jonah is not as he was, I dont think they ever understand that you are trying to help.
After all they are basically wild animals that have been tamed but cats always want total control :hug: :hug:
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News from the front: they're going to try Jonah on steroids to see if that will reduce the inflammation in his poor nose and allow him to smell stuff and eat again. Personally I think it's a long shot but worth a go, obviously. The only option after that is surgery on his nose to remove the excess turbinate mass and that's not a small thing. I'm not sure he'd survive but I don't think we have a choice if he does not respond to the steroids.
RVC said to give it three weeks or so before deciding either way. I'd just like to get that tube out of him; he keeps gagging and making the most awful noises. It must feel very horrible to him, spinning about in his neck...
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Definitely worth trying the steroids to see if they will help before you decide about surgery. A good few years ago my cat Bill went to the Cambridge Vet Hospital as he had a tumour on the end of his nose, and they ended up removing all of his nose, so he just had a small hole in his face. He adapted really well, tho had noisy breathing. :)
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got to be worth a shot!
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A shot will be given; no worries about that!
Jonah seems better today; he came upstairs when I got home from work - though he used to sit at the doorstep and go wild with excitement so one day at a time, eh?- and ate raw pangassius (which ironically enough is farmed catfish, super sustainable) slices with great enthusiasm from my finger. Then he got his crushed antibiotic and liquid food via syringe and struggled like a good'n.
After that we had our own supper and he sat next to me. He ate some carrot slices and tried to help himself to my wine which shows his character coming back. Then more syringe food - he just sat peaceably on my lap that time - and down to the bathroom for his box where I am in the bath next to him, typing this.
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:hug: :hug: :hug:
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That made me smile. He's not giving up without a decent fight, bless him. :Luv: Very pleased he was much more interested in food yesterday evening, and hoping the steroids may make surgery unnecessary, however long a shot the odds say it should be. :hug: :hug:
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So lovely to hear that Jonah is showing an interest in food. :) :) Hope it continues. :hug:
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No, he's not given up yet though it is taking it out of him; he spends almost all day and night asleep in the bathroom now. I got him up for breakfast this morning and had to fish him out and persuade him to go upstairs (I don't want to carry him if I can help it, he gets little enough exercise as it is). He had a reasonable feed of fish slices - enough so we saved the tube feed until later - and his pills then sloped off to use his litter and go right back to his bathroom box where he will doubtless stay until I get back from work and persuade him upstairs again.
He does perk up in the evenings a bit; he sat on my lap after supper last night and tried to curl up and sleep with his head on my shoulder but it's back to the bathroom soon enough.
I imagine the antibiotics make him tired too, maybe.
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bless him - he has quite a regal look about him in that photo
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/George_IV_bust1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:George_IV_bust1.jpg&h=2189&w=1541&sz=2985&tbnid=2bzC-j8KNEcRCM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=63&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dportrait%2Bgeorge%2BIV%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=portrait+george+IV&usg=__Nuj5PHFGzyTECqRISNV6cxXZbFc=&docid=iGA-jD837-BnOM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=emEjUdCANqnD0QWdlIFI&ved=0CC8Q9QEwAA&dur=3907
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He's a king amongst cats even with a little green nozzle poking out of his snood! That's where he likes to sit when upstairs with us; it's right next to the radiator on an imperial purple pillow 8)
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Aww, bless him :Luv: :Luv:
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so how is His Majesty doing today?
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Sorry for not keeping up to date; His Majesty is getting me up early for first feed and pill before work and keeping me up late for last feed and pill before bed. So I'm basically working feeding Jonah or sleeping!
Anyway... he is a lot stronger now he's getting regular feeding again. Still shows no interest in his bowl but we haven't started him on steroids yet. He got a vapour treatment yesterday and came out with his face covered on mucus! Better out than in of course and he showed interest in a shrimp or two when his face was cleaned up.
When I got back from work last night he actually jumped off the sofa and came to meet me; something he hasn't done since he got ill. We are starting to organise our dinner around what he might like to eat - not everything of course but we try and have something to excite him - so he sat on my lap and ate copious amounts of spinach and tagliatelle. He liked the spinach best; it was slightly salted with a Crème fraîche sauce. Perhaps he's lacking salt? Anyway he got quite excited and ate so much - like half my portion! - that we skipped the next syringe feed and only gave him one at midnight with his pill.
His improvement is great but also means he's a lot less patient with the syringe business, especially in the mornings. I had to grip him quite hard today to stop him crawling onto my shoulders and away. He's immensely strong too; thin and wiry, but super strong.
We can't keep the tube in for that much longer either; the vet said the flap of skin it is sutured to has started to die and won't be able to hold the tube in . This will become more of a problem as he gets better of course; he's not tried scratching at it yet...
This is all great of course but the elephant in the room is: if he won't feed himself he can't carry on. So I guess we will start the steroids - the vet also suggested a painkiller for him as his jaw clearly hurts though she'll need to check with RVC first; he's their baby now - and, if we see a good improvement in eating for himself (please!) we get the tube removed and take it from there.
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he sure does have exotic tastes - it'll be that blue blood, no doubt
everything crossed a more longterm solution can be found for his problems - but meanwhile it has to be good that the tube feeding is giving him strength for whatever lies ahead, and that you are enjoying some quality time with him
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Compared to how he wss he is doing so well and agree with Kay he must be getting stronger in case he needs that op :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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It's true of course; he's a lot better than he was. Basically the silly lump was starving himself to death! Now we're pumping (literally) full of nutrients he's getting back to his old self. There's even been less of the gagging now. And it's lovely to have my old cat back again, at least in part. He can't go for a walk with me while he has his tube in for example but I was really pleased to see him excited when I got home. He's not been bothered for weeks now.
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Oh Jeremy. What a lovely thing to read. :) Jonah is such a special boy, boy and you're simply the best!
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He dotes on me (when he's not feeling ill anyway). My wife is a bit jealous but she did buy him for me as a present! He tends to just follow me around the flat - and outside when we go for walks. Not at heel exactly (undignified for a cat!) but not far behind and if I kneel down to cat height he will run towards me with his tail in the air making little trills. Not that he says a lot these days but perhaps that'll come back when the tube is removed...
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Jeremy, your dedication to Jonah is just wonderful to read about. I wish there were more people like you in the world :hug: :hug:
Sending lots ear scratches to Jonah this morning. :) :)
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Me too. Well, not literally like me of course! but the world would be a better place if people had cat companions to look after rather than finding reasons to hate each other.
Anyway, quick update; he managed to eat around 100g of steamed fish from a bowl last night! Admittedly a bowl held in a hand rather than on the floor but still, a step in the right direction. Unfortunately we had spicy meatballs and rice for supper which is not suitable for him (though watching him trying to eat rice is quite funny; he tries but ends up spitting it everywhere and sneezing) but he did have some thing courgette slices that were in the sauce. And a little more of the fish.
Increasing interest in food too; our sofa has a cover on its arm which is not really attached. He can sit on it fine if he sticks to the middle but he leant towards me to see what I was eating and it came off. He rode it down like a surfer until both cover and cat ended up pressed against my left side and there he stood, following every mouthful I took. This would have been classed as somewhat naughty behaviour before but now it's just good to see. I somehow doubt Jonah will ever do anything naughty again, the bar has been raised so high.
We also changed his dressing and he looks very smart with a blue wrap accessorised with a green outer wrap to tuck the tube into.
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It often helps cats to eat if you put the bowl on something raised, I used to use a 6 pack of coke which was just the right height for my little moggie, Ducha my birman didnt understand..............so much for clever birmans lol.
I suspect for a Maine Coon this will not be high enough bit worth giving a go?
He is eating so much more now, its great ;D ;D
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So happy to hear he ate some steamed fish, and not only that, straight from the bowl! ;D Well done Jonah. Keep it up :) :hug:
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And he had a spar treatment last night too; 10 mins under a towel with a bowl of steam and tiger balm and a face clean after. He smells very fragrant I must say ;D
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Tiger balm - just the thing for a feline spa, I'd say ;) So good that he's showing more interest in food.
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Well, people do say he looks like a lion :shify: . Just had the fungus culture results from his nose: negative. By now I am not at all surprised by this. So... we start him on steroids this evening. Perhaps he will bulk up and become a body building cat 8)
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I hope that his appetite continues to improve - although of course it would be nice to know what is at the bottom of it all
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Me too, though by now I am convinced it's a mechanical defect in his head somewhere - turbinates again like he had as a kitten or maybe something else but not an illness. If the steroids work for him the consensus seems to be to keep him on those. If not then an operation to try and fix whatever it is will be considered but this carries significant risks. I do hope they work; if I press my ear to his tummy in the morning I can hear it gurgling with hunger but he just can't overcome the pain in his jaw and nose to eat - though it does seem to get a little better in the evenings hence the fish, spinach and pasta of recent days.
Plus he loves the pasta because it wiggles in my fingers. I think that overrides jaw problems and kicks in hunting instincts so he just snaps at the pasta without thinking about anything else. Sadly catfood does not wiggle.
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Hi everyone. More news:
He is starting steroids tonight - I mentioned that already - but he also has bisolvon to dry the mucus and vetagesic to help with the pain. He's to become the Hunter S Thompson of the cat world. Apparently the opioid will make him euphoric for a while and may cause drowsiness - not sure how that's going to work as he sleeps 29 hours a day as it is but there you go. I guess there's little point in administering it late at night as it's supposed to make him pain free while awake so he eats. But he may just fall asleep in his bowl, or try to make love to it if the euphoria kicks in I suppose ;D
We will be living in interesting times I suspect!
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Good luck :hug: :hug:
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I have a feeling there are going to be some really good photo opportunities coming your way ;)
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Hello again,none of us really feels like eating,if we are in pain do we? It sounds to me as if you are patience personified.
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Well, here we are again, Jonah gently snoring in his box and me in the bath. He managed to eat an entire feather steak tonight - around 80g - and said miow six times! That's more than he's said for weeks. I also gave him the steroid and antibiotic pills crushed up plus 20ml liquid food. No painkiller for now as he doesn't seem in any discomfort. He spent the rest of the evening dozing on my lap and occasionally creeping onto my tummy and shoulder to curl up completely.
Now we see how well the drugs work...
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:wow: :wow: :Luv: This seems like a very different Jonah, and if he curled up on you after his steak dinner, he must be feeling more comfortable. :) Each day as it comes, but room for cautious optimism. :hug: :hug:
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That IS sounding more hopeful!
Poor little soul. No wonder he didn't want to eat. There's nothing worse than trying to force something down when it hurts. Like trying to eat when you have a really sore throat and swollen glands, or a bad tooth or something.
I will continue to keep everything crossed.
(PS: like the Hunter S Thompson reference :rofl:)
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I know! So... Today he tried to stay next to me under the duvet but i had to fish him out. He rode upstairs on my shoulders and got his drug cocktail via the tube. The painkiller must be administered orally though. He does *not* like people sticking syringes into his mouth at all! So, before doing that i gave him more steak. He only managed half before the discomfort became too much so in with the 2ml bupe.
Then he went to his bathroom box and i took a slice of steak to entice him. He was interested but no go so I left it on to of the box and went upstairs. When I went down to check on him later he was in his box, eyes like saucers, and the steak nowhere to be seen.
I do wonder sometimes if he plays to an audience; all bathos when I try to hand feed him and as soon as I am out of sight says "butter this for a game of soldiers", scoops the beef up with his paw and stuffs it in his mouth...
Long as he eats of couse I will forgive any amount of furry subterfuge...
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delighted to hear your training is progressing so well :evillaugh:
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Sounds like his not wanting to eat has a direct pain influence.
Sending strokes to Jonah :hug: :hug:
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Am all for furry feline subterfuge - it is, after all, all the very essence of "cat" ;D
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Cat's job, I agree. He's refusing steak again so I managed to get 40 ml of liquid food into him. I'll turn him into a sumo cat or die trying! No one suffers anorexia on my shift; no sir. He seems much better generally, nose clear, no sneezing, bright eyed. He's not 100% there yet but i have a lot of hope for him. I love him and want his quality of life to be as it was or better. I know he's not given up yet!
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@skiddaw; fur and loathing in Shoreditch...
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:rofl:
Nice one!!
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Jonah really didn't want to get up today;.every time I fished him out of the duvet he'd sneeze, shake his head and burrow back under next to me. I got him up in the end and he ate a few steak bits but his jaw was obviously hurting him and I had to call it a day and feed him via the tube. Plus his drug cocktail. He slopped off to his box after that. I'd so like to take him out for a walk to remind him that life can be nice and not full of drugs and tubes but I don't dare. We're having Guinea fowl for lunch so he can eat some skin; with luck that'll restore his faith in life...
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Sorry I have forgotten but is he getting pain meds for his jaw?
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guinea fowl for lunch? posted at 15.03pm? and I thought you Londoners were ahead of us country bumpkins
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Yes he is; Buprenorphine. He gets 2ml each morning taken with a vast amount of fuss. It has to be orally administered and he fights every step of the way. I hope he doesn't just let it dribble out into his face fur though.
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@Kay; we are sooo not morning folks, especially on a Sunday! We get up, government Jonah his meds and food and hightail it to our local to read the papers. After that we start cooking lunch with an eye to eating around 5. I'm sure it's bad for us but still...
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Effing spell auto crap. By 'government' I meant feed or give or something like that. Sometimes I think a tech free cat life sounds fantastic!
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government Jonah would be so much better than our one ;)
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Suspect government has replaced a banned word lol
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Oh nos! Jonah has been redacted!
He actually ate chopped beef from his bowl this afternoon which is great to see. Not enough for him to live on but it's a start. He tries to sniff at everything we give him, smells nothing and turns away. I guess he ate from the bowl out of habit but it's still a nice bit of normalcy. Guinea fowl now in the oven. Snidge will have some of the skin I imagine. He loves chook skin; less so the cooked meat which I guess he finds a little hard. He's never been a fan of 'hard' food.
I should add that 'Snidge' is one of his many names - cat's have many many names of course - along with 'Smallweed', 'Captain Fluffles' and 'you little butter' reserved for when he's thrown a furball up on the duvet :naughty:
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chopped beef? that should soon see him in fine fetlock again ;)
do I, by the way, detect a smidgeon of an American accent in your posts? :shify:
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Definitely absolutely and positively not, old bean. Not one iota of yank blood runs in my veins. Nothing against them mind but my local church (no, I don't 'do God' before anyone asks) is older than their entire country. I was just following an interweb meme with the 'oh nos' thing... Here's a picture of himself on my shoulders in the bathroom (aka Snidge's throne room):
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Suspect government has replaced a banned word lol
It wasnt!
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Though try as I might I cannot get 'b u g g e r' to appear instead of 'butter' :Crazy:
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one of Purrs more endearing features
you should read the conversations we've had about blue prunes, great prunes and long-tailed prunes
and yes, Jonah is a most special cat, and you are obviously his special human
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Long tailed prunes! :rofl: Jonah got to eat some guinea fowl skin at last. He's quite tired now and has gone back to his bathroom nest. He seems a lot better - more like his old self but ...
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Jeremy, just catching up on all your posts from the weekend. I'm a huge Johnny Depp fan so did chuckle over the Hunter S. Thompson comment :evillaugh:
Love the piccy of you and Jonah :)
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Sending much love to the gentle Jonah this morning :hug: :hug: :Luv2:
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Grand news; Jonah was left a bowl of chicken bits and broth in the bathroom next to his box and... was discovered standing up eating it 1/2 an hour later. That's the first time he's shown an interest in eating on his own without getting hand fed. I guess his pharma cocktail must be taking hold...
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that is good news, well done Jonah
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:wow: That's great news, Jeremy! Clever lad, Jonah. :Luv:
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Wonderful news ;D
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Morning Jonah. Hope you had a good night, and enjoyed your first decent meal in ages. Sending you lots of love, and hoping you can manage a bit of brekfuss too. :Luv2: :hug: :hug:
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Great news ;D Well done Jonah. :) :)
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Well he was in quite good form last night; he managed two suppers of steak - 2 * 60g - plus 40ml of liquid food. And a mozzarella string from my risotto. He sat on my lap, sat next to me on a cushion and tried to help himself to my wine and all in all behaved like he should do.
This morning (I'm working from home today so I can take my turn looking after him) he got up and used his litter, came upstairs with the promise of more steak but... a refusal. Sneezing and jaw wiggling. So I gave him his meds and 20ml of liquid. He was no trouble; just sat on the floor and purred while I fussed with his tube. I expect he'll sleep for a bit now and then I am hopeful steak might be taken for lunch.
So progress, of a sort. He does feel more solid than before though. I shall have to weigh him. He was down to 3.92kg when he came out of hospital. Seeing as his proper weight is twice that anything he puts on can only be good news.
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It sounds like Jonah is still heading in the right direction Jeremy. :)
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He's getting stronger for sure but his nose remains a problem; always covered in mucus and making breathing hard for him. The anti biotics have run out so he's just on steroids and the (no appreciable effect) anti mucus powder.
Having said that, he crawled under the duvet and stretched out next to me this morning purring, washed his face when we got up and put away 120g of steak slices which is the most I have seen him eat for a while. Much snuffling but no jaw waggling which is a good sign.
Yesterday he was not in the mood for steak and had chicken skin (cooked) instead. This isn't enough for him so I had to feed lots of the liquid food too. I'll hold off doing that for now as he must be quite full of steak!
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I'll be keeping my fingers crossed,hoping for continued improvement.Well done Jonah.x
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Way to go, Jonah! :wow: That's a pretty impressive little steak number. :hug: :hug:
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I was impressed for sure! He's passed out in the bathroom, on a towel. He was obviously sitting down when his head became too heavy for him because his main body is still sitting - not lying - but the front bit and head have just slumped to the towel. He's making gentle snoring sounds but doesn't sound too laboured. Though I can hear him sneezing now - my home office is just across from the bathroom so I hear if me makes any loud noises.
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Aw, bless his heart! (I fall asleep like that sometimes too - even at a Burns Night supper, once :evillaugh:)
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:rofl: During a Burn's night supper? Must have overdone it on the firewater!
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Oh yes indeedy.... :naughty: And everyone was very nice about it and left me to it, and when I roused a full hour later and began dancing and carousing once more I was swept up into the arms of the throng, and was no more than "merry" :evillaugh:
(But I dont have to be drunk to fall asleep at inappropriate moments, as my work colleagues will testify.....)
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Oh Sue :rofl: :rofl:
I fall asleep on the sofa still holding the lappy :innocent: but atleast I have a good excuse :rofl:
Jonahs tummy must be getting larger I reckon, takes a while but he is doing so well :hug: :hug:
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I hope so. It needs to move from his tummy to his muscles though. Mind you, you'd not think him weak if you're holding him and he decides the view is better from your shoulders! He's exceeded himself today by putting away the skin of two chicken thighs as well. He seems quite interested in whatever I am holding when I go into the bathroom to check on him now which is a good sign...
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Here we are again, bath for me and stomping around on the towel for Jonah. He's much better and stronger, even rubbing his box. He has a saucer of guineafowl skin and is sticking his paw in, stuffing the bits in his mouth and flicking the remainder wherever it lands. To put it another way, back to being my wonderful cat again - albeit a bit of a grub. He still mostly eats from my hand plus liquid food so he's not out of the woods yet. But much more his normal character.
The thing that concerns me is that he smells. He normally smells of beeswax which is a good smell. The current smell is more putrid which makes me worry about that wretched tube which has been in his neck for weeks. We clean and change the dressing every few days but still. Animals inc. humans simply aren't meant to have holes from outside to inside that last that long. Still, he'd be dead without it so I'm not complaining but methinks it's time to come out...
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This is such a lovely thing to read Jeremy. :Luv: would it be worth a call to the vet to ask about the odour? It may put your mind at ease without Jonah having to travel if it isn't' necessary.
Hoping both you and Jonah have a splendid weekend. :)
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Oh absolutely I will. By the way, I had to get up early today and jonah got out of bed with me, came upstairs and into the kitchen, said meow a few times and followed me around the room. Just to try, I fetched a pouch out and he actually chirruped! This is good to see. Sadly he just looked baffled when i put the bowl down, but still, it's a good sign.
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Baby steps and baby steps and you look back and see how very far you've already come on this particular journey. . . . . :) :hug:
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Absolutely. Still, I suspect my baby of trying it on to a degree. It's true that he won't touch his normal food but at the same time he loved being hand fed before à nd now he has an excuse to just go for the treats. His tummy is quite round! Not that I'm complaining; the poor beastie nearly died of starvation after all but I'm sure he's making the mosst of the situation all the same.
Not that I care of course; just happy he eats anything!
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Love is very forgiving of rotund tummies. :Luv:
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If the tube or site round it smells please contact vet immediately, it would be terrible for him to get an infection now or even worse gangrene.
Send lots of cuddles to Jonah :hug: :hug:
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Hi everyone and sorry about the lack of posts. Jonah is due to see the vet on Thursday morning for a checkup. He was off his food a little yesterday but seems to have made up for it today; he was waiting on the doorstep for me to get back from work - inside looking out of course- and promptly ate up 100g of raw chuck steak. Followed by a little duck and pasta - yes, that was my supper but...
He seems quite glossy and firm though his spine is easy to feel. His nose seems better, too. He's now asleep curled up next to the bath I am sitting in - I guess he can feel the warmth through the side.
He still has the tube in but he doesn't seem that bothered by it and his ears are cool to the touch. He spends a good few hours each night stretched out next to me under the duvet anyway...
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:Luv: :Luv: :Luv: Am keeping everything crossed for tomorrow's vet visit. The vet will see a noticeable difference I think from what you've described. :) It must be a lot less uncomfortable for him if he can breathe more easily, which will make swallowing better, hence his ability to increase his food intake.
What a gorgeous chap you are Jonah. :hug: :hug: You keep up the good work for your Dad.
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Thanks for the update Jeremy. Hoping all goes well tomorrow at the vets :hug: :hug:
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Also wishing for good news at the vet tomorrow.
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Loads of good wishes at the vets :hug:
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Good luck tomorrow
Go Jonah!!
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Thanks, everyone. I'll let you know what happens. Our freezer is full of meat for him now! He ate a further 60g of meat before I went to work this morning so he's eating 160b (plus a few bits and bobs) of pure low fat lean meat now and seems to be thriving. We've been told "no veggies, he needs high quality protein" and that's fair enough though I do wonder a bit about trace elements like copper. Plus he likes veggies! You should have seen him with the spinach...
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he sounds like such a huge character, all the best for tomorrow!
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I love this post, the 1st one I go to. Hope all goes well at the vets 2moro :Luv:
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Good luck for today Jeremy. Much love to Jonah.
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Jeremy, will be thinking of you and Jonah today :hug: :hug:
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Me too. I always look at this thread. I hope it goes/went well...
:Luv:
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Thanks, everyone.
Well, the vet said he's put on 350g of weight, his heart sounds fine, his temperature is fine - he 'loves' that bit, having a thermometer suck up his jacksie - and the skin around the tube is healing - last time she said it was becoming necrotic where the sutures were so this is good. The main issue is his feeding. While it's good that he's eating all that raw meat it's not a fully balanced diet for a cat and he needs to try to get back to catfood; whichever sort he'll eat, really. I have some samples to try him on but the medicated stuff from the vets is like a paté which he's never liked - unless it's a good duck paté with jelly and cranberry bits we got for ourselves of course, he makes an exception there. But the catfood like that he just won't eat, he likes jelly and lumps. I'll keep feeding him the meat but try and get him to eat other stuff however I can. Perhaps meat, pasta and veggies would suit? He'd like that, anyway.
If he can't feed himself properly with his nose/palette condition though we will have to consider operating but that's very much a last ditch thing.
The RVC consultant is now away for a couple of weeks so everything's on hold till then when we will see what state he's in and think about a route forward.
Fingers crossed for the next couple of weeks anyway where he must just build up his strength and put on loads of weight!
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Great the news is good and another two weeks for Jonah to start eating like a cat :rofl: :rofl: Did he ever?
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Oh, he used to, yes. He liked to supplement with people food and more recently only took people food - but that was because of his nose problem. He needs to eat like a horse, anyway!
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Well that's a whole lot more positive news. :Luv: Got fingers well and truly crossed for the next two weeks, and hoping you can reintroduce cat food too - if not, I'd incline to the view its better to have him eating, whatever it is, than not. :hug: :hug:
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That all sounds really positive.
Zooplus were doing sample packs I think. It could be worth seeing if they have any different food he may like.
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Hi all, this has been a long day! After taking the Snidge to the vets this morning we went to work. Getting back this evening we discovered that he'd managed to pull his feeding tube mostly out. Cue panicked calls to the emergency 24 hour vets and a trip to the hospital in a taxi. When the bandages were cut away it turned out he'd pulled it completely out. The vet said he can stay like that and will heal naturally but he's now on his own for food. He also said 'as Jonah has done my work for me there's no charge' for which I thank you.
So here we are again with me in the bath and him curled up next to it. He's had a long day with two outside excursions. But he no longer has a neck bandage and you wouldn't believe the purring when I brushed his neck where it was! He's also drunk a lot and I was worried the water was coming out of his neck hole! But that's silly of course; it's already sealed over.
Whoof! Let's see how he does over the next few days...
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Cor blimey Jeremy - a tumultuous day for you both! Sometimes cats know what's best for themselves, and seems like Jonah was making his feelings known. :innocent: Very glad the vet wasn't concerned, and also that he didn't charge - nice fellow. :)
C'mon Jonah - gotta keep up the good work eating now, bonny lad. ;) :catlove2:
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So it was quite an eventful day for Jonah yesterday.
I hope that you can get him interested in some cat food. :hug: :hug:
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Wow,what a day :hug: :hug:to you and Jonah.
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I'm sort of glad he managed to get the tube out himself and hope he manages to eat something cat like soon
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Tumultuous is the word for sure! I think he's quite glad the tube has gone too but now the onus is on him to eat properly; we have no fallback. He shows good signs though; we got his steroid in disguised inside two bits of steak but the nose powder will be trickier as it must be sprinkled over food which he must then eat. I can't imagine anything more likely to stop a cat eating something than finding sprinkled meds on it but there you go. He's still drinking a lot, too. We shall see....
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If he is drinking then perhaps liquidisng up his food and putting the powder in that may help I liquidise fiid 6 times a day fro my Calichi boy and he gets all sorts lobbed in and laps accordingly we have 2 lots of stuff from the vet including one that looks like Bovril for a better expresssion and 2 pumps of that is equivalent to a cats calorie in take and he gets that in one meal and I am also adding to my not so stable Hyper T girl Clio to keep up the calorie intakes
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don't panic - Jonah can still retain his resemblance to George IV if he eats his grub up like a good 'un
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/csl1057l.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cartoonstock.com/vintage/directory/g/george_iv.asp&h=400&w=305&sz=50&tbnid=INzxWe4ZnS6jsM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=69&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcartoons%2Bgeorge%2BIV%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=cartoons+george+IV&usg=__MnOBwzB143CuDGp5lJyXVPSCe3A=&docid=2VItMe2oUeRJLM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B-U5UdWmD8XB7AbEhYCwDw&ved=0CDIQ9QEwAQ&dur=4511
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Gooooooooooooooooooo Jonah :wow: :wow:
I do hope he will eat well :hug: :hug:
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Jonah is eating for England! I've been at work today but apparently he's been stuffing himself silly. And he ate a whole pouch when I got back at 9pm. He sat on my lap and tried to burrow under my sweater and ended up with his head sticking out the neck. He promptly fell asleep like that. He's now sparkoed in his bathroom box. His nose seems clear and his neck wound is healing nicely. Maybe he'll be with us for a bit yet...
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Thats so great and wish you had a photo of him up your jumper :rofl: :rofl:
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Ps: I dunno about George IV but I'd be happy if he went up to 'lean' from 'emaciated'.
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I'll see what I can do, it's more of a poncho thing than a true jumper and before the problems he didn't like it; he'd refuse to jump up if I had it on my lap but now I think he likes the warmth. I can hear him slowly breathing in his box as I type in my bath :Luv:
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:wow: :wow: :Luv2: :Luv2: Oh Jonah, you lovely boy - making up for a bit of lost time (and poundage). Lovely to read this post first thing. :Luv:
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It's so nice reading Jonah's story,well done to him. :Luv2:
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:wow: :wow: :wow:
Wonderful news! I'm so glad he seems to be really picking up at last.
:Luv: :Luv:
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He does seem to be, yes. He refused some meat this morning but I had to go to work again. Lynn skyped me to say he'd eaten 75g of meat later plus one of the strange catfood tins the vet gave us - chicken apparently but it looks more like crab meat - and he'd not previously touched. In fact, to tempt him, I put some meat on top. When I checked later he'd neatly removed and eaten the meat leaving the strange white stringy stuff underneath untouched. Seems he's changed his mind.
Then he came and nosed her leg while she was skyping this to me and has been a pest (which is good; they have to be feeling well to be pests) getting underfoot while she tried to clean his room.
He also crept under the duvet three times this morning and tried to get as much of himself against me as possible; he does this by standing up under the covers and leaning sideways against me and sliding down. I can either move or stay put with Jonah's body sort of propped up on my chest and tummy. It's funny if he falls asleep like that tough because his paws and whiskers start to twitch! Sometimes if he gets to enthusiastic chasing dream mice I stroke his head to wake him up and he starts, then wakes up and gives me a little trill. Maybe it was a bad dream, who knows?
But definitely on the mend.
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I love the statement that he was "being a pest" :evillaugh: As you say - they have to be feelin better to do that kind of a job. :Luv:
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To hear that Jonah is doing so well is a great start to my week :) :) :)
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Hi all all you caring people... Jonah has not been so good today. He's only eaten 60g and to me seems to be running a temperature. He refused all food when I got home from work and took him self off to the bathroom soon after where he is now. Maybe he's just having an off day. We will see tomorrow...
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I do hope he is Ok :hug: :hug:
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Oh Jonah, treasure - that's not such good news. Sending a special hug for you. :hug: :hug:
Jeremy, I know this will be worrying, and hoping it's just a blip. How has he been overnight?
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Come on Jonah, you've been doing so well.
Hope he's doing better today Jeremy. :hug: :hug:
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Well, he's managed a few pieces of meat but with difficulty; I hold a bit and he sniffs at it then kind of snaps his jaws but really reluctantly around the meat. It's as if he's really only doing it for me rather than because he's hungry. He did manage a miow but... I also notice he's dribbling from one side of his mouth. It can't be his teeth because the vet checks those every time he goes and he's been a *lot* recently. He used his litter which is good then back to the bathroom. I think he'd really like me to get back into bed so he could spend the day stretched out next to me in the warm and dark but sadly big people have work to go to so he's going to have to put up with the bathroom.
Hopefully he'll eat a bit more tonight. He still feels a bit hot but perhaps not so much as last night. Jonah has always felt a bit hotter than me mind; perhaps cats run at a slightly higher temperature than humans? He also has less fur now, it having been shaved for various procedures, so perhaps I am just feeling it more directly.
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Yes you're right. I think the normal range for cat temperature is between about 100 and 102 degrees Farenheit (sorryI don't know offhand what that is in Centigrade).
I hope Johnah improves today. :hug:
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Hi everyone. Latest on Jonah ; he seems to have become a night owl. Lynn was concerned that he wasn't eating earlier this evening but when I got home at 9pm he managed 110g of meat plus two mushrooms cut up and stewed in beef stock plus an entire pouch and plenty of water. He's a funny old grub really refusing food one minute then stuffing his face like a trooper. His nose is still a worry and the right side of his jaw has dribble on but he still seems up for the fight. He burrowed into my armpit this evening and gave a great purr of contentment. Then sneezed so nothing is perfect but...
He's now sparkoed in his box next to me in the bath. He fills that box pretty much completely; I shall have to post a picture.
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And here he is!
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PS: sorry about the quality but nexus 7 only has a 1mbit camera. In all other ways a fine machine...
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Jeremy, I always have a little chuckle over Jonah's rather unusual (for a cat) diet :evillaugh: Mushrooms stewed in beef stock :evillaugh: But who cares, if he's eating, then that's great :) :)
Keep it up please Jonah :)
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Jeremy, I always have a little chuckle over Jonah's rather unusual (for a cat) diet :evillaugh: Mushrooms stewed in beef stock :evillaugh: But who cares, if he's eating, then that's great :) :)
Keep it up please Jonah :)
Exactly my thoughts. :) :hug: What a splendid box that Jonah has. Doesn't he fill it beautifully? :Luv2:
Sending him lots of love and snoozles to start his day. :Luv:
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He does fit his box rather well and it's a very suitable box too - a Virgin wine 12 bottle box! He likes wine and always tries to help himself to mine though he's banned while convalescent. Beforehand he'd get a taste of as much as would stick to my fingertip after I dipped it into my glass. He shows a marked preference for Argentinian merlot. As for the 'shrooms in stock; that was our supper and came with some lovely slices of silverside, cooked sous vide for 18 hours. I highly recommend this process as it turned a cheap cut of meat which is normally tough as old boots into something with the texture of fillet and the taste of roast beef. Jonah has his beef raw beforehand but he's always been a fan of mushrooms so I slipped him some.
:hug:
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He's a true gastronome..... :evillaugh:
Gotta say I admire his taste in wine too although for preference I'd go Chilean ;)
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I'm becoming more and more convinced Jonah is a reincarnation of George IV, a noted epicure in his day ;D
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Personally I prefer a good Barossa shiraz but chacun à son goût... Jonah has even tried pastis and gin and tonic (not at the same time!) though in the latter case the bubbles got up his nose and he spent several minutes sneezing. He was a kitten at the time and just decided to help himself; if it's good enough for his dad it's good enough for him. A philosophy that has generally stood him in good stead with a few hiccoughs along the way in the shape of chilli sauce although he's quite partial to the gentler French mustards.
As you say, he's a true gastronaut and has always been happy to try whatever we are eating, however improbable. I personally think he's the reincarnation of either Apicius or Careme. Either way he sat on my lap and watched both Masterchef and Great British Menu last night while snacking on his mushrooms.
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:rofl: :rofl: Oh bless his paws!! :Luv:
Sadly, whislt I love red wine, I now have to try and track down ones which are low in sulfites, and it can take a bit of the fun out of it. :innocent:
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:rofl:
Now, that is one sophisticated cat ;)
Our Munchkin is very 'turkey twizler' in comparison (though he is rather partial to roast quail when it happens to hove into view).
So glad dear Jonah is once again enjoying the finer things of life ;D
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Dear people ;just to make this year stand out for me, my father has just died. I appreciate he's not a cat but Jonah loved him and he loved Jonah. I remember one time we had my parents over Jonah actually ran up his tummy and licked his nose. Strictly forbidden behaviour at the dinner table. But he did it anyway. I dunno how much more stress I can take. Plus Jonah threw up a mushroom this morning and has been off his food ever since.
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So sorry for your loss :hug: :hug:
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Thank you sneakyfeline
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Oh Jeremy, I'm so sorry to learn about your Father's death. Sometimes life kicks you in the teeth and a bit more for good measure. I know how devastating it is to lose someone special, and my heart goes out to you.
Am sending lots of positive vibes for Jonah, as it sounds like he's taken a dip too. Am hoping this is only temporary, as you have more than enough to cope with. :hug: :hug:
It sounds like your Father was a great character to inspire such affection in Jonah (even if did breach accepted dining etiquette)
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Jeremy, I'm so sorry to hear this sad news. :hug: :hug: :hug:
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So sorry to hear of the death of your father :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Thanks for your thoughts, everyone.
Jonah is not feeling very chipper at all; he showed no interest in getting out of bed this morning and just snuggled further under the duvet and sneezed. I got him up and tried to interest him in food but no luck. His jaw and nose are so bad that he stood on the sofa waggling his jaw and tried to bat whatever he thinks is the obstruction away with his front paw. Since he was also using it to stand on he fell over. He's not been steady on his paws since the GAs when he stopped breathing. He's not too bad normally but he can no longer cope with the unexpected like suddenly having only three paws for balance.
We gave him a steam treatment and he's now back in his bathroom box where I removed a huge mess of mucus from his face. I guess the steam helped a little bit clearing that but still. No interest in food at all so far and only 40g yesterday.
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Am sending more positive thoughts for Joanh, and a gentle hug. It's not easy trying to keep your balance when your head feels all funny. :( :hug: :hug:
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So sorry for your loss Jeremy,here's hugs for you and Jonah. :hug: :hug:
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Thats not enough food :(
Sending loads of good vibes for Jonah and you :hug: :hug: :hug:
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No it's not enough. He's gone downhill so much I just lack words. Even when I got back from my parents house today he wasn't interested in food. I managed to get 1/2 steroid dose into him which I hope will help but he's eaten almost nothing in 24- almost 48 hours. Right now I don't think he will be with us for long.
I want to howl at the universe. I love my cat.
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Jeremy :hug: :hug: I so wish there were something we could do to help. Sending more positive vibes to Jonah and a gentle ear rub for your beautiful boy.
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I do feel for you all at the moment and am so sorry for your loss.
Have you tried calling the RVC for any suggestions / advice?
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So sorry...what a terrible time you are having.
I will keep everything crossed that Jonah is just having a temporary set-back. He obviously loves you dearly- is it possible he's picked up on the stress you're experiencing and has come out in sympathy?
Poor you :hug:
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So sorry...what a terrible time you are having.
I will keep everything crossed that Jonah is just having a temporary set-back. He obviously loves you dearly- is it possible he's picked up on the stress you're experiencing and has come out in sympathy?
Poor you :hug:
I do hope that this is right but I know that my little birman was losing weight by hardly eating and he is only 2.
I so understand that you just want to scream at the world and sending loads of good vibes :hug: :hug: :hug:
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I'm sure Jonah has picked up on my stress; cats know all sorts of stuff and he started going downhill 6 hours before my mother called with the news. He's eaten 3tiny bits of steak today plus some liquid food we squirted into his mouth. And he liked a little jelly (luckily with medicine mixed in). Nowhere near enough of course but still better than nothing. Plus he drank some water but all he really wants is to sleep, preferably under the duvet with his paws pressed against me and his head on my shoulder. He dribbles too, now because his jaw is so obviously painful. I can feel it grinding like a rusty hinge if I put my hand on his neck.
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Hi all. Jonah has managed to eat a small amount - mostly because we stuffed it into his mouth via syringe. I have a lovely photo of me and him that I'd post a link to if I could figure out how. The image is on Picasa but I can't find any way of getting the url; maybe someone knows how to do this? Anyway he's in his box at the moment and he does show interest in food but the actual eating and swallowing part just seems too painful.
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Morning Jeremy. How's Jonah this morning? Sending you more positive vibes and hoping you can persuade him to eat some more today. :hug: :hug:
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Poor Jonah,i imagine he must be in awful pain,i suppose it must be like a mouth ulcer.Sending good wishes to you both.
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Jeremy, am sending you and Jonah a hug each this morning. :hug: :hug: Thinking of you, and hoping things may turn the corner today so you have more positive news for us. :hug: :hug:
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I'm adding my hugs too :hug: :hug: :hug: and hoping that Jonah has picked up this morning.
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I know how much you love Jonah and how heartbreaking it must be to see him like he is but from what I am reading and how little he is eating, I am worried about his quality of life now and how much pain he is in.
I am sure you are thinking about this too and maybe you should ask your vet what he would do if it was his cat .
Sending loads of good wishes :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Fortunately he seems not to be in any pain at all. I picked him up and took him to bed this morning and he dozed next to me, treadled gently and purred when I stroked his head. He just gets thinner and thinner. I don't think there's much to be done, really, though I will talk to the vet.
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Jeremy :hug: :hug: This is such a difficult difficult time for you. I know we can do little in practical terms, but we're all here to support you however we're able.
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I know of cats that have had a feeding inserted into the stomach, which can be left in for months. Only problem is they need a short term GA to insert it. Poor Jonah, it must be so frustrating :(
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I know that you are already worried Jeremy but,cats don't show if they're in pain as we do. :hug:
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I know they don't. We've had the discussion tonight. Lynn will call the vet tomorrow and ask if there's any future. I just find it frustrating because there's nothing wrong with him aside from his jaw trouble. If he'd just eat he'd bounce back but right now he's at death's door.
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I am so very sorry :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Jeremy, am hoping that maybe the Vet will have a more positive slant on things, if Jonah can be persuaded to eat again.
You and Lynn have both acted very much in Jonah's interests to date, and can be relied on to do whatever's necessary for his welfare, whichever way that may ultimately go. :hug: :hug: Am hoping that the time is not yet for letting Jonah go, though. I know how very precious every single day is to the three of you. I think all of us do, and wish you well.
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Wishing you all the very best today.
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Nothing really constructive to add so will just send a few :hug: :hug: :hug:
You've fought so hard for Jonah Jeremy and I completely understand your frustration at the situation. :( :(
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Adding my :hug: :hug: :hug: to all the others and so hope that Jonah can manage to eat. You are in all my thoughts at this difficult time.
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A few more thoughts winging their way to you and Jonah :hug: :hug: :hug:
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And some more - think of them like a security blanket..... :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Thanks, everyone, for you kind thoughts and hugs. I am currently at home waiting for the vet to call. I hope she has a miracle but that's what it would take now. Otherwise we will be taking him up there later to day for the last time.
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Here's hoping the vet can do something creative like point you in the direction of a complan type product for cats that tastes like a liquid version of his favourite food and is easy on that jaw.
:hug:
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Sending more of these for you, Lynn and Jonah :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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I'm sorry to say that we are having Jonah put to sleep later today after a long talk with the vet. We might try this or that but what they suggested is just stronger painkillers or a complex operation with very little chance of success. It's time for me to say goodbye to my beloved cat and stop his pain.
Jeremy
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Jeremy, our hearts go out to you and to Lynn. Such a dreadful decision to have to make, and especially now. :hug: :hug:
May Jonah's end be a peaceful one. He's a truly remarkable and much loved cat, and you're giving him the greatest gift anyone could in the circumstances. :hug: :hug:
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I'm so sorry to hear this, I've been following your thread and like everyone hoped that something could be done
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I am so very very sorry.
:hug:
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I'm so very sorry to hear this Jeremy :'( :'( :'(
My thoughts are with you and Lynn. I'm sure you know that you've done all that you possibly could and I'm sure Jonah knows he couldn't be more loved. :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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We will be thinking of you this afternoon you have both fought a very brave battle but sometimes they know when the time is right
Its the hardest thing we do for them :hug:
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So very sorry to hear this :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Could the vet not re-insert his neck feeding tube? :(
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Hi Heather. Yes although he'd need a GA which he might not survive in his weakened condition. Even if he pulled through that his jaw will not get any better so we'd have to feed him through a tube for the rest of his life. That is no life for a cat! I would do anything to fix his jaw so he could eat normally again but that seems impossible.
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its only a short GA, and if he has had it previously, it prob wouldnt take too long to refit? (I work in a hospital and we have patients who have very long term feeding tubes).
interesting reading about feeding tubes here in this article:
http://www.catinfo.org/?link=feedingtubes
but at the end of the day, its your cat and your decision, a very hard one to make :(. :(
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Jonah is gone. If there's any justice in the universe he will be playing with my father who loved him.
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So sorry to hear that, but he wont be suffering any more :hug: :hug:
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So sorry for your loss. I hope your Dad has found Jonah by now and they are taking comfort together :hug:
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So sorry. :hug:
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So very sorry. He has left a purr in your heart and knew how much he was loved. You did everything you could for him :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
RIP Jonah, you will be meeting all our friends on the Bridge and please ask them to show you how to send a rainbow to your humans
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Jonah touched all our hearts - I know I am going to miss him, so it must be hell for you
we know we have to let them go before us, but that doesn't make it one jot easier, and losing your father must make your emotions so much worse
take care :hug:
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I would like to thank everyone who took the time to post on this forum in response to my troubles. Your messages have frequently made me cry but I treasure every one of them. I must get my life back together and, in a few months find a new furry person to enrich my life. Jonah will never be forgotten and neither will Thomas (my first cat when I was 4), Lenoir, Maximilian or Noons. Very nearly an unbroken line of furry friends through my 49 years of life. Most died of old age for which I am grateful. Noons played chicken with a police car and lost. It was horrible but very much the way he'd have wanted to go: "I fought the law and the law won". He was a little devil. Jonah was a feline scholar.
Thanks to everyone once more and perhaps I will post the new life that joins mine. When the time is right. For now I need a break.
Jeremy
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We will all look forward to you returning to Purrs sometime in the future :hug: :hug:
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Oh Jeremy. I confess I've shed tears over this one for all three of you :(
I hope when the grieving is less intense, and the loss less raw, you'll come back to us, and it would be wonderful to think Jonah's legacy, and that of Thomas, Lenoir, Maximilian and Noons will go on when the time is right. :hug: :hug:
Take care of yourself. You need time to heal.
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Jeremy, my heart is heavy today. Like Sue, I've also shed a few tears over Jonah. Without even having met him it was quite obvious he was a great character and very dearly loved by yourself and Lynn. :hug: :hug: :hug: I know that there is going to be a huge hole in your home right now but I'm happy to hear that when the time is right you are going to get another kitty.
Rest easy Jonah, you were very dearly loved.
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so sorry Jeremy
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:'(
I've been avoiding looking at the thread until this morning because I knew really what the outcome would be. You made the right choice for Jonah I think. I'm glad you had the extra time with him.
So sorry...
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RIP Jonah. xx
So sorry Jeremy. :hug:
I hope you will lurk around here and come back to us when you are ready. You should know your struggle has affected us deeply and we all want you to be good to yourself and do whatever you need to do to come to terms with Jonah's loss.
Take care, until we meet again.
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Sorry people; I seem to have been misunderstood. By "take a break" I didn't mean from here and all my new friends, I meant as in take a holiday and leave a decent space before looking for a new furry person. It'd hardly be fair to invite a kitten into a house with the emotions around in ours right now.
Of course, I have no more cat things to post for the moment anyway but...
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Your experience and wisdom will always be of value, Jeremy, regardless of whether you have no furry companion just now, or a hundred.
This is Purrs in our Hearts. Some of us have been right where you are now and we'll be here whenever you need us, as Purrs was here for us in our time of need.
Your kind of people. :grouphug:
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well said Sheila, a break sounds like a good idea Jeremy, you've been through a lot these past weeks
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Jeremy that's exactly what happened with me last year. I found Purrs in February when Chelsea was diagnosed hyperthyroid and started acting strange on her meds and kept with it on her passing as these Purrs people are, in a word, lovely.
We then went to do a bit of research around the local rescues, went away over Easter and then the first weekend we were back just happened to coincide with the arrival from a fosterer of two sisters.
I found the ability to either lurk or post a massive help during that difficult time and have found the site interesting, informative and entertaining.
You'll know the best time for that invite to open and then the rest will take care of itself as you'll be chosen. Just prepare yourself mentally for kittens as I'd forgotten what it was like!
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A holiday and some time sounds like a great idea Jeremy and any posts from you and advice you can give or we can give would be great.
I am sure its too early yet but when you are ready, one of the mods will be happy to move this thread to Rainbow Bridge for you, all you need to do is ask :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Jeremy, I'm so glad to read you are going to stick around. :hug:
Purrs was my saviour after I lost my beloved Lily. It was coming up to the year anniversary and although I have many animal loving friends none of them seemed to really understand that I was still very much grieving for my little girl. When I found this site I lurked for a while until I realised that I'd found people that would understand why I was still hurting so much. :) :)
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Hello Jeremy,so sorry to read about Jonah but,you know you have done the best for him.All my best regards to you and Lynn :hug: :hug:
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I am sure that I did the best but I had to hold his head and comfort him while the injection took hold. It's something that will stay with me forever. I cry around three times a day at the moment; he was the most wonderful snidge in the world and he trusted me absolutely. I could hold him naked (me, not him) while standing in my bath with water running and he'd just look at me, purr gently and relax. Not a pin prick on my person.
When he was little he'd jump onto the bath rim and curl up behind my head. Oh, this is hard. I have never known a cat so devoted. I'm sorry I can't see to type anymore
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:hug: :hug: :hug: Jeremy
It takes a long time for the feelings to ease a bit but he will be with you for ever, you did more than many would do and we all know how hard it is :hug: :hug:
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You were there for him right to the very end, Jeremy. You could give no greater measure of your love for him than that. If I could choose, I'd like to think that when I die, it would be cradled in the arms of the one I love. :hug: :hug:
It's so distressing to lose someone so very special. The pain of knowing you'll never be able to touch or see or hear them again is excruciating. But Jonah will help you through. The good memories will begin to re-surface. It's true, they'll be bittersweet at first, but eventually and given time, they'll be something you can take out and reflect on again with more of the smile about them than tears. :hug:
Jonah was a true Bath Baby, wasn't he? :Luv:
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Jeremy the pain does lessen with time and you will remember him for all he was not the end bit, I know how hard loving and loosing any furbaby is last year I lost 4 in 5 days and it nearly finished me off as my OH was in America at the time but I can now look at photo's and smile through the tears
I have a wall in y study devoted to my Bridge babies so I can talk to them all every day, they were al cremated and I have 3 shelves of urns in my bedroom where they all loved to be and one day will build a garden of remembrance to all my Clan kids
Little steps are the key :hug:
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Oh Jeremy, I know how painful it is right now :hug: :hug: As Gill, Sue and Liz have already said, it does get easier. When I lost my Lily, (it will be 3 years on 3rd April) I thought my heart would break. I'd lost kitties before but the bond between me and Lily was very special as when I took her to be spay at 6 months old the vet made a mess of the operation and cut the tube from her kidney to her bladder. She was extremely poorly and had to have a kidney removed. It was a hard six months nursing her back to health but we got there. I eventually lost her on the road when she was eight.
From the time I'd had her from a kitten she always slept round my head and we'd often fall asleep holding hands so when I lost her, going to bed was the hardest part, but it has got easier and now I can think of her and smile.
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Yes, it will grow easier. I have been writing a eulogy for my father this afternoon and I had to smile at some of the memories even through tears. I may run out of fluids soon! Jonah was the most wonderful cat and was very happy living with us, I know. Every night when I came home from work he'd be waiting on the doorstep (inside!) for me. He would chirrup with excitement when I opened the door then follow me by his private route - involving weaving around glass tables and sofas - to the kitchen where I would feed him something - it didn't matter what, just the fact that I fed him was important - and sit down on the sofa with my g&t. When he'd finished what he was given he'd come and jump on my lap and watch television if it was of interest to him - other cats or little prey animals - or just sit and purr gently. He'd put his front paws onto my tummy and rub my face until he felt settled and then curl up on my lap until supper time. Every night.
Already I am thinking happy memories of him. I only cry once or twice a day. His successor will have big furry boot to fill though. I remember one time when it snowed. Jonah came out for a walk with me but he hopped in my footprints through the snow rather than make his own. I stepped scrunch, scrunch, scrunch and Jonah followed, only stepping where there was a Jeremy pawprint.
Once, through some oversight, we left him out overnight in the snow. He was a kitten - or very young, anyway - and presumably fooled us he was in the night before. But the next morning we looked into the garden and Jonah rose out of a large flowerpot, where he'd spent the night, with a hat made of snow! He had quite a bit to say about irresponsible parents but we felt so bad we spoiled him rotten with treats so I think he forgave us.
Cat memories...
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I'm glad you have so many happy memories of life with Jonah to remember, Jeremy
one of the benefits we get from letting them go before the very last pain-filled gasp is that horrible memories of their final hours don't obliterate a lifetime of good ones
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Jeremy, that story about Jonah walking in the snow with you is so sweet :)
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So sorry Jeremy but i haven't been able to get a pc connection for 8 days.It sounds like you have some wonderful memories of a wonderful cat.My best regards to you and Lynne. :hug:
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Thank you catgirl. We do indeed have wonderful memories of Mr snidge. I miss him every moment and find myself saying "where's that snidge" on my way home from work just as I have for years before remembering he's gone forever. I just cry all the time - he meant so much to me...
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:hug: :hug: :hug:
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:hug: :hug: Yes, realisation ambushes you at the least expected moments.
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Yes, Jonah was a bath baby! He just wanted to be with me at all times so, when he was a kitten he'd jump onto the flat bit of the bath behind my head and curl up. He tried catching bubbles once but nearly fell in. I could hold him on my chest when in the bath and he'd not panic; I was there so that was on by him. Mostly in later life he liked sleeping on the warm floor. I am in floods of tears writing this; I hope the "it gets easier" part happens soon.
I am also a bit alone:; my father who loved him is gone, my mother is grieving for her husband and my wife is dealing with her own issues with Jonah. I just miss him. Every minute of every day. Sniff....
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It WILL get better Jeremy. Give it time. It really is still very early days, especially considering the close bond that you and Jonah had :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Its taken me over a year for things to improve after Napoleon and although I am better than I was I am still suffering from the loss of Ducha last August.
Its the most painful time and like Allison says it can take a long time and each handles it differently :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Thanks everyone. I wish I could give you all a hug. I need a new kitty to bond with. Not that Jonah will ever be forgot - I remember each of my kitties forever - but for my own wellbeing.
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Thats what I had to do Jeremy, and Misa and Sasa arrived one week after Kocka went to the Bridge and when I first went to look, just touching fur made me feel good.
Then it took so long to get Lupin after Napoleon cos just couldnt find a seal point birman except as a kitten and really wanted one about 8 yrs old.
In the end Lupin became available and he was 10 months but just couldnt wait any longer and he needed saving because he hadnt been neutered or ever seen a vet with his owner who had him from about 3 months.
I hope you can find the right kitty as soon as possible :hug: :hug:
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you'll always have a Jonah-shaped hole in your heart, Jeremy, but the cat-shaped hole can, and hopefully will, find another furry friend to fill it :hug:
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You are obviously a very caring cat owner, and Jonah had a wonderful life with you. There are so many unwanted unloved cats out there, I am sure it wont be too long before another one is part of your life 8). One of my cats is 19 this year, so I know she prob wont be around many more years. I had to have my horse Bert put to sleep last July after a short but serious illness, the vet was booked for the tuesday, but on the monday I knew that he couldn't suffer any longer, his eyes told me he was in pain, and I let him go. These animals leave such a huge big gap in our lives, but I believe we will all be together again one day :Luv:
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I dont know if you will feel the same Jeremy, but I often think that getting back on your horse when you've had a bad fall is the best way of dealing with things.
We lost Mac, our last cat, to a road traffic accident last May. It was the day before his first birthday, and it followed the loss of our 20 year old Cat Paddy, and then Tess, our beloved Beardie cross dog. We were absolutely devastated, and I really didn't anticipate getting another cat within any measurable space of time. My OH was equally affected, and as you say - each of us was bound up in our own pain, so it was difficult to offer comfort to each other, although we did try.
Surprisingly, my OH decided within days he needed to take on another cat, as his only way of being able to cope. I wasn't at all sure, and felt somehow it was being disloyal, but in this my OH was absolutely 100% right. It didn't diminish the sense of loss, or the pain we felt at losing Mac, but having another avenue of focus gave us something of a distraction. And such is the way with cats that having Ross helped to give us a reason for getting up - another life to take care of. Very quickly he became part of our family and wound his way deftly into both our hearts.
We still think of Mac, and of Paddy and of Tess and all of the beautiful animal companions who've shared our lives, but less painfully, and we remember the good bits. We look at the photographs and we feel the love as strongly, and it's all been down to Ross, because he gave us back a purpose, and stopped us from looking inwards too much.
Allow the thought to grow on you. Having another cat wouldn't be disloyal to Jonah, if you decided that's what you'd like - cats dont judge us like that, they're far too sensible. What it might do, is give you some joy back, and something to think of in a pleaasurable way - the excitement of getting to know another friend, and showing him or her how much love there is in your home.
After 20 years of having a fully grown cat, we adopted a kitten, and then when we lost Mac, we took the plunge and adopted another kitten, and seeing him come into young adulthood now has been tremendously pleasurable. And when he was an out and out kitten he was so funny. You see their character develop right in front of your eyes, and little personality traits developing into bigger ones - I'd forgotten about those particular delights. What's not to love? :Luv:
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I agree wholeheartedly with SueP. I am sure Jonah must have helped you through difficult/sad times over the years and now is perhaps the time to allow another feline the opportunity to work their magic and ease some of the grief and pain :hug: :hug: :hug:
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I agree with Sue and Jiji. When I lost my beloved Chelsea last year at 18 I felt disloyal even thinking about taking on another cat as she was my world but there was also a massive big load of emptiness at home and so we went for a nose at a couple of the local rescues knowing that we couldn't do anything about it due to the need for a home visit and a holiday which was booked.
When we got back from holiday we were good to go and contacted the rescues to check we'd passed and visited with some trepidation the first free weekend.
I was expecting to come home with a mother and baby from one but there is a lot to say for a cat choosing you and we were chosen by my twin terrors.
I'd get everything in place and go for a visit with an open mind and you will know if you are ready.
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Jeremy, if you look in, how are you doing? :hug: :hug:
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Hi Allison. I am kind of hanging in there although I am not making a good job of it I think. I took the day off yesterday because it was our wedding anniversary - and we did, indeed, have a nice day out - but both of us got home and cried because Jonah wasn't there to share it with us; normally we'd have a little blue bag we'd secrete bits of our lunch in to take back to him. We'd get back and he'd be waiting for us on the doorstep and twirl around when he heard the crinkly sound of the blue bag...
"You don't know what you had till it's gone" has never sounded more true to me.
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:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Unfortunately Jeremy those memories will still hit you hard for a while. :hug: :hug:
Happy anniversary to you both. Did you consider getting yourselves a four-legged anniversary present, or is it still a little too soon?
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Allison asked the question I wanted to, but hadn't the guts to bring up. :shy:
Happy Anniversary to you both from me too. :hug: :hug:
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We will be getting a new Snidge but want to take some holiday first. A kitten - if we are to have a chance of it turning out as wonderful as Jonah - needs commitment and I will want to be taking a week off work just to be at home with him. And certainly we'd not want to go away and leave him to be looked after by strangers until he was happy and confident in his new home.
I did the same with Jonah; the documentation - yes, we got an owner's guide! - said "never stare at your new kitten; they see it as aggression". Jonah, as you'd expect, felt differently about this. When everything got too much for him as a kitten he'd hide under the bed and refuse to come out. The only way to rescue him (I can't reach that far under the bed) was for me to lie on the floor where he could see my face. I'd stare at him and he'd stare at me, and, after a few minutes he'd make a little chirrup and come marching out, still maintaining eye contact, until he could rub himself against my nose. Then he was happy to be picked up.
The new kitten will be different of course but I need to be there for whatever those differences are and be able to devote time. I've also not had more than a week of for well over a year so really need to take a break first or we lose the chance until the kitten is grown up enough to be left. We have lovely cat-loving neighbours so getting him looked after in his own place is not a problem but still. One thing at a time, eh?
But it will happen and I will post about it when it does....
J
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so pleased to hear that! it would be such a shame for such a loving home to be without a feline
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Oh we couldn't bear to not have a furry person around the place for long! If it was solely down to me I'd get one right now but I listen to Lynn's voice of reason...
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:evillaugh: No pressure Jeremy (We're an incorrigible lot but you get used to us eventually. We might even grow on you - honest!) ;)
Know exactly what you mean. Unfortunately, the last twice we've acquired a kitten, it just so happened we ended up being on holiday within the first 4 weeks, and it was agony leaving them with our (excellent) pet sitters. We worried we wouldnt be remembered, or that - oh, I don't know - all sorts of stuff, really. We needn't have. They were both fine, and both just as pleased to see us again as we were to see them, but it's not what I'd recommend in terms of getting to know your new companion. You dont want to miss a single day with them really (am still like that now, and Ross is a year old!) [Crikey - actually I was like that with Paddy too, and he was a venerable 20!]
The new kitten will be different, but he will be a blank canvas full of possibilities and potential, and you'll have the pleasure of finding out all about them.
No holiday in a year - you definitely need a break after the traumatic beginning to this year. :hug: Where do you want to go?
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The current plan is France for two and a half weeks - we have friends there we haven't seen for ages - followed by five weeks in Australia - we have friends there also. And, yes, I do have quite a lot of unused holiday. All I seem to do is work and play with cats. Up until this year anyway. Now all I do is work and deal with distraught people. And, unfortunately, I don't count as one of them; I just have to strong on their behalf.
France will probably happen; Oz? Well, it'd be nice but it's been a long time since we did anything that adventurous so I am not holding my breath. If the year wanders into Autumn and we still haven't been though I will put my paws down and insist on getting a kitten for winter. A duvet needs the weight of a cat on it over winter I feel. Although Jonah was not big on sleeping on the duvet actually; he used it as a path to get to me, burrow underneath (pulling my hair with his teeth if I didn't wake up in a timely fashion) and lie next to me, head under my chin, paws around my neck and back paws in my nether regions which got painful when he had a good stretch I can tell you :Crazy: or possibly :censored:
J
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very wise not to rush out and get a new kitten right away, I think - a lively kitten intent on nothing but mischief is such a contrast to a devoted loving companion cat, that there is the danger he will only remind you of what you have lost
but once you have lived with that loss for a while, and become used to being catless, as much as that is ever possible for a cat lover, a new kitten will be welcome on his own terms, for what he is rather than a future Jonah
and I have no doubt you and Lynn will bring him up beautifully, and will get your reward :cat rub:
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I do think it's sensible to wait a while after losing Jonah. He was such a strong character that I think there would always be the danger of wanting the new arrival to be like him. I know with the best intentions it's sometimes hard not to make comparisons.
Having said that Jeremy, after reading all your comments, I'm pretty sure that you and Lynn will know exactly when the time is right. :hug: :hug:
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I think so. I miss him and miss having a cat around but (despite what I said earlier) I don't really feel it's the right time now. It would be desperately unfair to a new kitten to try and 'mould' him to be like Jonah - I hope he is as warm and intelligent of course, but in his own way. I will go into this with both eyes open and let my new cat build his relationship with me. Having said that of course, I'm still me and will treat the new arrival as I treated Jonah - and Noons before him.
I expect that a certain amount of how a cat turns out comes from his environment and the people he lives with and those are the same Jonah had. So I will be trying the new kitten out on the things I am eating, popping him up on my shoulders to ride around, taking him into the bathroom while I have my bath and so on.
So I expect he'll turn out to be different to Jonah but with a core of similarity just because he'll be going into the same environment Jonah did.
Strangely enough, Jonah was never much trouble as a kitten. Lynn warned me to expect kitten chaos as he goes leaping about knocking stuff off and needing to be told not to walk on work surfaces in the kitchen etc but he was never a big one for chaos. He was never a lap cat until later in life either which is odd. He'd happily sit on my shoulders or curl up nearby but actually sitting on my lap had to wait till he was 7 or so. He did scare the crap out of us once by walking round an inch thick ledge outside our flat - which is on the third floor by the way. The ledge does not go all the way round either so once he discovered that he (being too long and, thank goodness, too smart to turn around) had to walk in reverse all the way back until I was able to grab him. He never went near the edge of our roof terrace again after that. Even years later I could pick him up and he'd look over at the road but only from a meter away. Approach the edge closer than that and he'd start to struggle.
One cat in the block did fall and broke its pelvis and legs. She survived and spent the rest of her time hopping around. Jonah would not have though; even when young he'd have been too heavy. Thank goodness he didn't!
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Happy Anniversary for yesterday ;D
I've been away for a couple of weeks, missing my crew terribly, and am not surprised in the least to read your perspective is changing. You have the biggest heart and a wonderful affinity and a need to share that love and affection. I'm a great believer in fate, Karma, call it what you will - when the time is right you will know and the cat that finds you will be the luckiest cat in the world.
Meantime, why not enjoy the break? :) Be good to yourselves, soak up the love in Jonah's memory. Savour it, build it, take the opportunity to have a guilt free trip to Aus, then when you come home your stores will be overflowing and it will be all the clearer to you what you both want for the rest of your lives. :hug:
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What Sheila said. :agreed:
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Jeremy, in case you pop in, just wanted to say you and Lynn have been in my thoughts :hug: :hug:
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I've been wondering how you are Jeremy? Hope the pain of losing Jonah is easing a little now :hug: :hug:
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Have been wondering how things were going as well Jeremy. :hug:
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Hi everyone. We are still on holiday. In fact, we found a little lump of Jonah's fluff at the house; he's never been - south of France is a bit far for a homebody like Jonah was - but it must have attached itself to a shirt or something. It made us wistful rather than tearful so the distance is helping.
We both spend time looking at maine coon breeder websites though, even though we both agreed not to... Oh well.
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Ah, that's such a nice discovery Jeremy. He'd followed you in spirit, as well as in fluff. :Luv:
And erm - I hate to tell you but there's no such thing as "we both agreed not to....." Not when you're involved with cats. It gets transmuted in the cosmos to re-emerge at a later date as "well, I know we said we wouldn't, but - " ;)
Hoping you're enjoying some sunshine, and some lovely french food and wine. :)
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I so agree with Sue ;) ;)
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I hope you and Lynn are enjoying your holiday Jeremy. :hug:
You know of course that the bit of fluff was Jonahs way of letting you know he's still around :Luv: :Luv:
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I miss him so much. I have been looking at pictures of me and him and... But we will get a new snidge soon I think. It's hard to remember how much he meant but... Silly me I must be strong. I have been warned that another cat may not be as much of a friend and I suppose that's true. All cats are wonderful ;Jonah was exceptional. *sob*
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Jeremy :hug: :hug:
Each of them have something very special to teach us.
Jonah's legacy is such that you're willing to give another soul a chance to touch your lives, albeit in a different way. Who can know what the next journey will bring? friendship is all about giving the relationship scope to develop, and you already know a great deal about that. :) :hug:
Here's to the next Snidge, and loving the fact that he (or she?) already exists in potentia. That's cosmic, that is ;)
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Hi Jrichemont. So sorry for your loss :( :(. You will never replace the ones you love and lose, but they do live on in others. I have 2 who are models of my previous 2, Dixie and Jasper, even though they were both boys and my Dotty is a girl and Blue a boy. When you get your next little bundle of joy look out for the things they do that mimic what the ones you miss did. My Jasper used to flip the letter box when he wanted to go out and now my Blue does. My Dotty looks at me with those eyes the way my Dixie did. You will see so many ways and mannerisms in your next baby which will soothe you with the fact that Jonah hasn't really left you.....Lots of :hug: :hug: :hug:
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I've been thinking about you Jeremy so I'm glad you popped in.
My Simba was such a huge character that when I lost him I knew I would never have another cat like him but his successors, although they have not had his attributes have all had something that have made them unique and just as lovable.
Good luck with your search for a new Snidge and don't forget when you find the perfect one we have to be the first to know ;)
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Hello again Jeremy,i do agree in some ways with the others but,we know that what ever they are like,they all have their own little ways.Good luck in your search.
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Hi folks. My missive of last night was caused by us having two friends from Australia to dinner. She is a mad animal lady - a house full of rescue cats and dogs in Melbourne - and loves to talk about them. So, inevitably, talk turns to Jonah and looking at pictures of him (I have one or two) which reminds me of how special he was as I recount the time he chased the fox and got stuck on a building site and howled his head off from a concrete block two storeys up until rescued, the walks he took with me, the position on the sofa he sat from 6pm every night from where he could see the lift doors open and me come out when I came home from work, him following me in the snow by jumping into my footprints so he didn't sink into a snowdrift; the happy memories are not far away.
Of course, a new cat is a new start and with luck I will find someone who will grow to be as much of a friend as Jonah was. Of course I need to remember that it took time for Jonah to become like that; he always loved me but he would never sit on my lap when he was young (I had to wait 6 years for that), he wouldn't follow me along on walks either - he much preferred the game of "hunt the cat under the parked cars at 2am" - and all sorts of other bad stuff.
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:) I like that though - it shows how your relationship with Jonah progressed over the years. It was built on love and trust which grew between you.
And of course you'll take out the photographs - and the memories that go with them - and you'll remember. It's always painful initially, but again, given time, it does get easier because the memories make you smile, laugh, grimace, and it's all part of the wonderful friendship you fostered and nurtured.
I remember when Paddy was a youngster - he was such a loving and affectionate cat. Then when we acquired Flynn, Paddy withdrew - didnt like the competition, and he became much more reserved. He was always happier as an only cat. In his senior years, particularly when his health began to let him down, he became much more reliant on us, and his affectionate nature returned by the bucketload. When he was left deaf after his stroke at the age of 15, I would pick him up, put my throat against the back of his neck and sing silly songs to him. he would begin to purr hugely - he could feel the vibrations and they reassured him. It became our way of communicating verbally when normal methods failed us.
I still remember the day he came up, peered at me, promptly threw up into my handbag and then rubbed round my legs with his head. (probably trying to dislodge a particularly troublesome piece of vomit :evillaugh:). We loved our little man, and still do, even though he's long gone to us now. I love the fact that I find myself saying to Ross - Paddy would be so proud of you.......
You'll end up saying it one way or another to any new little snidge you take on - "Jonah would be so proud of you...." (or maybe: "Jonah would be shocked" ;) :) Either way, the interaction will make your heart glad again. :Luv:
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Every cat is different and all my 6 have been, They all have their special little ways and will become your friend in their way.
Sometimes it takes time like Jonah or my Sasa and Lupin is also taking his time but has his own way of looking at the world and it changes all the time.
Sadly I dont have a lapcat any more, Misa is huge and has never been that way inclined but has just started sleeping on my bed again and this is the first time since I lost Napoleon two years ago. He is snuggling up to me and putting his face on mine.....................just when the weather has gone warmer lol.
I am sure any new friend you have will grow with you :hug: :hug:
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No news from you for a while Jeremy. How are you doing?
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Hi Tigerlilly; I am adjusting to a post cat life. I'm hoping to spend a month in Oz come October and then think about a new fluffy friend. Right now I'm considering a Norwegian forest cat - like a Coon but more so?
I dunno. I know coons but then Jonah was much more than the sum of his furry parts. I expect to have a new small friend before Christmas anyway.
Lovely to hear from you and I will absolutely post when the new boy arrives!
Jeremy
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Great to hear from yu again Jeremy - had been wondering how you were getting along.
Sounds like you're already turning towards your new (as yet unknown) cat companion, and may Jonah guide your hand. :)
Hope you have a great time during your trip to Australia.
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Ooo, a Norwegian Forest cat. ;D They certainly are striking looking cats. :)
I'll look forward to seeing what you plump for in the end :)
I'm glad to see you still look in here. I did wonder if my post would go unanswered :hug: :hug:
Enjoy your month in Oz.
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Definitely not! I'm very fond of you all. You helped me through a very hard time and I don't forget friends. I have simply been working and not doing anything cat related to post. Though something fun and feline did happen last night... But you'll have to wait until my (sadly solo) bathtime for the story as I'm late leaving for home now & must dash. Laters!
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As promised, gentle reader, the bathtime feline frolic. My wife has befriended a local moggie - a tiger striped minicat (all cats look mini after Jonah). He's not a stray or unloved or anything, well padded with a clean collar. He's simply friendly. She strokes his tummy on the way to the bus stop.
Anyway we were eating dinner last week when I heard a bang. The roof terrace door was open as usual and the polystyrene things we kept from some packaging to help keep the heat out had fallen in the breeze so I thought no more of it.
20 minutes later a tiger stripped face was peering at me from under the kitchen cabinets. Our flat is open plan so everything is visible from everywhere. Except bedrooms and bathrooms of course; they're on the next level.
My wife's little friend had decided to pay us a visit - on the third floor, through a gate and up the stairwell. He was fine when we spotted him, very easy with people, being picked up etc. He went downstairs and I had to go after him because there's lots of hidey holes down there and HE'S NOT OUR Cat... But, boy, did we come close to an adoption! I could just pick him up with no fuss at all. He's hardly met me; I walk a different way to work.
My wife has kept the doors open since in case he cares for a revisit but thus far it's a one off.
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Oooooo....Sounds like you are ready to have another furbaby ;D....It's amazing how cats sense who would love them who would not.....We have a young ginger tom (GT, we call him) who keeps coming around from time to time. Last week he was doing his James Bond thing on our conservatory roof eventually my hubby coaxed him down and gave him a stiff talking too about the dangers of roofs which GT's response was to roll over and chatter for a cuddle...Little monkey..... :Luv:
You will find that a new little lovely will find you without you even looking...... :hug: :hug:
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:evillaugh: :evillaugh: What a delightful story, Jeremy. Cats instinctively know who will make them welcome as Dotty's mentioned.
It's really how we came to have our second - he was great pals with Ross as a kiteen, but whereas we wouldnt let Ross out after dark come last Autumn, Dickie - at less than 6 months - was out most nights. When the weather became freezing cold, raining and snowy he would batter at our locked cat flap to be in. We'd have him tapping from the outside, and Ross tapping from the inside, and we'd end up getting up in the middle of the night to bring him in. Sometimes he even had frost on his coat. We became expert at "sensing" when he was there - we'd clamber out of bed, and sure enough, he'd be in the front garden, staring up at our window willing us to wake up and let him in. His owners didn't have/wouldn't get a cat flap, and if he wasn't in when they went to bed, that was it. They did love him, but they didnt seem to appreciate the hazards of such a young cat being out in those conditions.
Eventually, long story short, he moved in withhus from choice. We used to return him home, but he hated it, and would know instinctively when we went to take him home. He began to try and hide. :doh:
Sounds like Tiger wanted to check you both out. :Luv:
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Can I put a word in for getting a cat from a shelter, or an unwanted cat. There are so many at the moment needing homes, there are pedigrees in the shelters. Maybe just pop along to one for a look and you will see all the beautiful cats they have. Don't go till you're ready though or you'll end up bringing one home. :hug:
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Here, here mumblesdaughter....Both of mine are from the RSPCA and I am eyeing up another little beauty if I can persuade my hubby that one more mouth to feed is no big deal.......I highly recommend a rescue cat as they deserve another chance at getting a wonderful life with someone who loves and cares for them deeply..... :Luv: :Luv: :Luv:
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It sounds as if Tiger-face got wind of your intentions and was doing a quick 'rehoming' visit! ;D
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Lovely story Jeremy :Luv: :Luv: Thanks for sharing :hug: :hug: And I'm glad to hear you wouldn't forget about us :) :)
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Definitely not! And Mymblesdaughter, I do hope that nick is Moomin related; I loved those books as a kid. As for Tiger... he's welcome to come for a visit and loves having his tummy stroked in the street but he's a wanted cat. His coat is in beautiful shape, he is certainly not short of nice food to eat (he's not overweight but nicely filled) and has a lovely black velvet collar.
As for the rescue cat; it is worth considering of course and is a kind thing to do. It's just we had such a wonderful companion with Jonah who came to us straight from the breeder it's hard to consider taking a risk with other methods. It would be a different story if we lived in a house with a garden and other animals and people around during the day but we live in a 3rd floor flat with no garden (aside from a terrace) and we are out all day. Our cat needs to be a happy, well adjusted beastie to be content in that situation. I will still think about it though...
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Jeremy, I think all of us would say, whatever makes you happy and makes your house a home in terms of a cat companion, that's what you go for. :hug: :hug:
Meanwhile, surrogate Tiger hugs are so much better than nothing. I guess Jonah asked him to pop along, check you both out, make sure you're just about ready, for when you get back from Oz. ;)
I loved the Moomin books too. :)
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Both of my babies are indoor cats and have been outside, not all the time only when supervised and only in the garden and are quite content with watching the birdies and anything else that moves from the windows but I have had them from kittens so they have grown up knowing that outdoors is not somewhere they get to go on a regular basis.
If you are worried about no one being at home during the day perhaps 2 would be good......Twice the mischief....double the fun..... :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
I am sure you will receive a sign when the time is right for you......It's clear that you had a very special bond with Jonah which I hope you will feel again one day soon..... :hug:
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Jeremy, I've just finished reading 'A street cat named Bob' and some of the things Bob's owner James said about his relationship with Bob and the way they were able to communicate reminded me of the way you used to talk about Jonah :) Your new addition to the family will have big shoes to fill so whatever sort of cat you decide to go for I know it will be the one that feels right for you. :) :)
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It's lovely to hear from you again Jeremy,i think he was just checking you out. :hug:
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Yes you are right Jeremy, I'm a Moomin fan. :)
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Fantastic! Little My was one of my favourite characters, too.
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just a thought - when I lost my beloved Tum Tum, my only companion for more than 14 years, I knew I couldn't stay catless for long - but I found it easier to replace her with a male, so she would still be my girl, even when I had a 'my boy'
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Hi folks. Today was my father's birthday and me, my wife and sister went to visit the gardens of the crematorium he was laid to rest in. Very lovely they were, too; big willow trees, fish in a pond and stuff. My sister talked to me as we walked about and asked about when we'd get our new kitten.
So far so meh.
Then she said, why not get two and give one to our 80 year old, bereaved mother?
People, the idea filled me with horror. My mother may need something to give her life meaning but I cannot countenance the idea of a cat. She is not able to see life from a cats perspective - or indeed anyone's but her own. You'll all think I value a cat over my mother and that's really bad but I can't stand the idea of some poor beast being terrified by my mother for being, well, just, +wrong+
Tell me I'm a bad son but I'll not be a party to her getting a cat. I can't bear to think of it.
I feel really bad but. ..
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On a lighter note it's only a few months till I get a new fluffsome friend. Maine Coon or Wedgie? Undecided as yet but my heart is aching for a new small person in my life. He'll be here for Christmas and little tasty things that happen to cats at that time.
With Jonah he had his first pub lunch the day we got him:the car broke (I don't drive) and we stayed at the hotel for lunch.
Jonah ate all the fat from the lovely lamb cutlets and passed out in a heap. Then we had a 11hour journey back to London and a stop in some service station. He climbed onto the back seat and watched the other people through the window. No hint of distress at being in strange people's company in a car, away from his family. When we got back on the road he came and sat on my lap, looked out of the window and purred.
We'd known eachother 20 hours at that point.
I miss him so much.
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Of course you do, Jeremy. :hug: And it's great that soon you will have cat companionship in your lives again - be assured that Jonah would not begrudge that. :hug:
As to your sister's idea, whilst I can see her thought process, I agree that it may not be wise on a number of levels, and it's probably an idea best left alone. You're far from being a bad son - it seems to me you have a common sense head on.
I bet you have all sorts of plans for Christmas. :Luv: Am on a kindle just now but later I'll post a picture of the boys' first Christmas from last year - you have so much to look forward to. :)
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Whilst purrhaps I may stand accused of being ageist :innocent: a kitten and an 80 year old is likely to spell trouble even with the most attentive of cat friendly ladies :scared: Kittens are a real handful. Worth the trouble of course especially if you are not house proud :evillaugh:
Do I take it that your sister hasn't shared her life with a cat and neither has your mom? Whilst adult cats generally need far less attention, for a successful relationship, they certainly still need love and care.
I love NFCs and Maine Coons :Luv2: but am unlikely to ever share our home with one as our cats roam free which is certainly not without it's heart aches. We now share our home with 7 cats, all rescue and all stunningly beautiful with wholly different personalities.
If you ever wanted to look into offering your home to a rescue cat, bear in mind that it is not unusual for a cat to be rescued when pregnant and her kittens will not therefore have experienced the great outdoors.
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Hi Jeremy,nice to hear from you again.I think that it's best to be honest about things too,i honestly cannot see that a kitten would be the answer to your mother's problem.Was there anything that she used to like doing,but perhaps never had the time when younger? painting,making things,i'm an oap and find that the main reason for people just sitting around(and getting overweight) is because we do need a purpose.Good luck in finding your new cat.
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I'm guessing your sister isn't a cat person, Jeremy? Her remarks are niave in the least. Your mother is able to make her own decisions about companionship, yes? Then that's all you need to know. :agreed:
Jonah was a one-off, the special one. You may never see his like again, nor would you seek to replace him, ever. :hug: Your choice of friend will rely entirely on fortune and karma, Jeremy. You are a spiritual being and will be drawn to your new companion. Have faith, spend time, be yourself, your furry friend will present himself to you, either with our without the medium of a Rescue. ;D
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As promised earlier: :evillaugh:
(http://i43.tinypic.com/11hdrw6.jpg)
(http://i42.tinypic.com/2n22xib.jpg)
(http://i43.tinypic.com/24m6wqr.jpg)
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When the time is right you will get your baby I have an NFC here Master Svartleheim Starlight Express or Starrykins and he is nearly 6 and just like a 9kg kitten he has access rights to the outside world as do my other pedigrees my 2 ragdolls and my Bengal but as we live in a very rural isolated area there are no problems - they are also all in at night as well
Fortunately living with the ferals means mine are very wary of strangers outside and run for home if they are unsure makes my life a lot easier with me and OH they are all fine on the outside
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Thanks everyone for the feedback - I do love this community! My sister had a dog that meant as much as Jonah did but that was a while ago. She is busy travelling around doing set design now and has a variety of small dogs and the odd cat but I think she doesn't want to be... so emotionally dependant on an animal friend again. It was a tough time for her.
I have always had cats but my mother has not really appreciated them a lot of times. We had one cat who seemed to go out of her way to find irreplaceable stuff from my mother's early life and pee on it. That was a long time ago but it wasn't until I left home and had a cat of my own that I understood what true feline companionship was about.
The cats I had as a child in the 70s came in in the morning, screeched until fed, slept after and vanished outside until the next morning.
Then I met my wife, Noons (short for Magnoon, Arabic for bonkers) the cat and found what a real relationship with felix domesticus was about. He went head to head with a police car and lost. Then came Jonah who essentially chose me and curled up as a kitten behind my head when I had a bath - on the soap bit of the bathtub - just so he could be near to me and my heart was lost.
So, anyway, I don't think my mother and a cat are well suited based on history. Jonah tended to stay away from her during visits though he liked my dad; he jumped onto his tummy at table once and sat happily on his shoulders. Strictly forbidden of course. But he'd never go near my mother and I can't feel comfy about her acquiring a cat. You understand why?
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I believe i saw a Maine Coone x on Gumtree,2 years old,but i think you would be attracted to a youngster?
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Hi Jeremy.
How's things? Any news? :-:
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Hi Tigerlilly. We have just now returned (@05:00 this morning) from a month in Australia. The plan is to start looking for little coonish babies around now but it's early days yet. I will keep you guys informed but perhaps we should start a new thread for a new cat and get this one archived? I don't know how to do this but I'm sure a helpful admin person could help when thew time comes.
All the best;
Jeremy
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Welcome back Jeremy :welcome: Hope you both had a wonderful time in Aus. ;D
You can ask one of the moderators to lock down this thread if you like, maybe leave this thread as a tribute to Jonah?
But there's no need to lock it because you could just start a new thread whenever you want to welcome your new cat when he/she arrives, or earlier if you want to use it as a record to remember your search ;D
Meanwhile there's 24 hours of madness left in our Purrs Charity Auction - click on "All unread topics" at the top :innocent: and see what's going on. :)
Sheila
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No we dont archive or lock threads sorry but all you have to do is start a new thread in general chat ;D ;D
Seeing the title of this gives me a gulp cos currently my 3yr old birman hates all food!
Good luck with the kitten hunting ;D
Forgot to say this thread will die of its own accord if nobody posts on it
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Welcome back Jeremy. Good luck with your search.
Sadly, whilst you were away, we lost our beautiful ginger boy, Ross, to a road accident. We've now been joined by young Moray, a little rescue cat who has more than a touch of Maine Coon about him, and I've got to say, if he's just a sample of the breed, I would thoroughly recommend one - he chatters and chirrups, he's wonderfully affectionate, gentle and independent, and talk about the tail wearing the cat! ;D
Hope to see a new thread soon, announcing the arrival of your new companion. :) :hug:
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Welcome back Jeremy. I hope you had a good time in Australia.
So have you put any feelers out? My friend has a Maine coon who is also polydactyly. He's such a character and far too intelligent for his own good :evillaugh:
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Just been reading this thread and it brought several tears to my eyes.
So sorry for your loss of Jonah, but at least you had many happy years together with many memories.
I have a little Maine Coon/BSH cross (see profile pic) called Munchkin who is adorable even if I do say so myself.
However, most of my cats have been strays/rescues and they have such amazing personalities.
Happy kitty searching. You'll know when you find your cat(s).