Thank you for my DDP! And my new friend

Wow! I don't know if I've ever been a DDP! I don't think so, I can't really remember. But thank you so much Catsters and thank you for all the prezzies and the well wishes. This is so pawsome and what's more pawsome to me is that I have so many wonderful friends here to share my special day with. That's all that's important to us and makes it all worthwhile. What fun would it be to celebrate if I didn't have all of you? It wouldn't be. And you all have made our lives not only feel warm and cherished but brought so much FUN to us, especially in times where things can be so hard. We know we can come here and laugh and talk about silly things like POOP, Newmies, flowjectiles, etc. We've become so educated in poopy terms since knowing all of you, MOL.

Apollo seems to be holding his own and of course it's due to all of you and your POTP purrs! We believe in that power 100% and have seen it work. Our cousin Midnight did some kind of crazy fast turn around about a week and a half ago and we didn't say anything because we didn't want to jinx it. It's like someone turned on a light switch! She just woke up and started eating like a hog and hasn't stopped since. Keep her in your purrs please because we all know things can change on a dime but she's filling out again and eating like a piggy. She's eating junky food but we don't care, it doesn't matter at this point. When a kitty stops eating and starts starving themselves, becomes skin and bones, feed them ANYTHING they want! No matter if it's the cheapest most yucky foods out there, the kitty's life comes first over any nutritional value. And sometimes, like now, that yucky food has some good merit to it. She's eating it like a trooper now and gaining her girlish figure back. She's stretching out again and really feeling good, purring a lot too. So thank you everyfur! See why we love you all so much?

Well, we have something we'd like to ask all of you as well. The kitty that was COTD yesterday, Marta, passed away on Feb. 16th. Her mom wrote me, she has not been able to change her page or say anything, she's just too distraught. Marta went through something very similar to me, only she developed a mass in her stomach and her mom was able to have a mobile vet go to their home. That way Marta could come to the bridge in her momma's arms.

You know this is happening A LOT! COTD, COTD, DOTD, kitties that have JUST passed. Very strange coincidences! Anyways, her momma believes as we do, that Marta is still with her and can visit her anytime, just not in physical form anymore. That's half the battle for her healing. The good news is that her momma has already opened her heart to a rescue kitty named Mitzi! Mitzi's page is not up yet but she'll do it soon. I'm so proud of her for taking the chance and knowing this is what Marta would want, for her heart to remain open and to continue to give love. I'm so happy we've made friends with her family, I think this is the beginning of a terrific friendship.

So please if you have time, visit Marta's page and drop her momma a message or something to say hi, send friend requests, open your heart to someone who obviously has a very big heart herself. We have no doubt you all will, love is what you're all about!

Thank you for my DDP! I'm so happy! We love you all BIG TIME!

Luv Alex and mom Lisa

Update on our dear friend Apollo

I just spoke with Apollo's mommy and the news is quite devastating, much worse than either one of us thought.

Apollo has cancer spots on his pancreas and liver; big, inflamed lesions on his small intestine and where the small and large intestine meet there is a large lesion built up around the opening, making the opening quite small. The vet said he is in a lot of pain and the cancer will be getting worse.

The vet said to find out exactly what type of cancer, a biopsy would have to be done. His mom is not doing that, no more tests. He's not eating enough and is getting weaker. This cancer is obviously aggressive and we don't know how much time Apollo has left.

As you all know it's been a very, very hard couple of weeks and the losses are mounting. We all do the best we can and nature will do as it wishes unfortunately. Please purr for him to not have anymore pain and for his mom to help her deal with all of this. Thanks everyone, lots of love, purrs, headbonks and sandpaper kisses to all of you.

Luv Alex and mommy

No one told me

No one told me she was coming, I had no knowledge of this at all! Maybe it's because I would have been too sad, which I am. I'm not sad for us here at the bridge but I'm sad for her momma and for all of her furriends down there. Way too many kitties coming up here lately, very unexpected too. It's getting too busy and frankly we can't keep up! With all the kitties from Japan that have come and the ones from here on Catster, the escalator is packed every day!

I just don't know what to say except I've been there, leaving unexpectedly. Now she's here and making a grand entrance like the beautiful lady and queen that she is. We are all welcoming her and holding her paws in comfort. She has so many angels around her it's tough to get through but I'll get my turn eventually and I will wait patiently because she's worth it.

Hug each other there on earth, love each other, hold each other, tell each other you love them! Never take one day for granted.

Calling all angels at the bridge, we have some major work to- do!

WOW! What a week! There is so much to do and so many to purr for it's a full case load. So we need lots of help. First off, we obviously need to purr hard for all the people and furbabies in Japan. Just awful what's happened there! We're so sad about this and it's going to be awhile that they'll need these purrs so I hope we all have plenty! We're calling a special meeting for this one.

Then there is a brand new friend of ours, I don't know what happened but he went to the bridge today. Could you please visit this kitty and send some condolences to his family? They JUST joined Catster and friended us yesterday! Purr for Miloand his family if you can.

Also our wonderful and loving friend Kally Kat who has a lump on her booby and will have it surgically removed on St. Patty's day. I am convinced that is a lucky sign for her and her mom just said the labs all came back normal! So purr hard for her, we all love her dearly here on Catster. She's one of the most pawsome friends we know.

Monida's little friend Henry was hit by a car yesterday and didn't make it. His family is crushed! Please visit them and offer them hugs.

Our cousin Midnight is honestly having a very difficult time and yesterday we thought we were going to lose her. And in typical kitty fashion she decided at 6:30 pm to come out of her starvation trance and start eating! This is the roller coaster that mom was on with me and it's tearing her up to see Middy going through this. Clearly she's not ready to leave yet but she sure scared everyone and she made herself very weak in the process. Ugh. I'm trying to help mom! I promise I am! I hate seeing my mommy go through this again. She went through it with Midnight's brofur Moufasa and lost him in December and now her.

And now for some wonderful news! Little Miranda just wrote in her diary that she got her splints off! She's back to walking and using her legs again and no more splints! Bless her family for saving her life. They are her saviors and I'm sure she loves them more than anything in this world.

Okay everyone, please excuse me. I have a lot of work to do. We're holding an emergency meeting here at the bridge and I have to go find Aryeh, Queen Tallulah, Calvin, Scooter and the others so we can start sprinkling some mega angel dust all over the place! We're going to have to get our newcomers ready to go out early because we need all the help we can get with everything going on. Milo and Henry are too new, they need to rest for a little while. But we need our big guns on all this stuff! If any of you are here at the bridge and you're reading this, start gathering the others for our meeting. We have a lot of work to do!

All of you here on earth get your purr machines going! We're gonna need those too!

As Kally Kat would say, lubs lubs lubs to all of you!
XXOO

Handmade bed in auction

Hi guys! I wanted to let you know that our good friend Maggie's momma Kelli made one of those really great beds for Vern's auction. You know the one that she just gave to Finney & Lacey that they love so much! I'm putting up a picture on my page of Maggie in the same bed she'll be auctioning off. When you go to Facebook, Scroll down to Kelli Dupree!

The bed in Vern's Auction!

And thanks again for being the wonderful furriends you all are! And thank you Leo's momma for helping me with the code for the link!

Luv Alex

Auction for Vern! Please help if you can

Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know about an auction that’s being held in order to get enough funds to help this little guy, Vern, get some testing done to see what’s going on with him. Vern is just the cutest thing, he’s got some kind of neuropathy going on with his back legs. He needs to see the vet and get some tests done to see what exactly is going on and what else can be done for him, so he doesn’t backslide and hopefully improves. Like everyone else these days the family has their own health issues and cannot afford it at the moment. He has a real shot at a long and happy life so they’re holding an auction on Facebook to raise money for his tests. The auction will run until 5:00pm next Sunday 2/27, and we expect that it will raise enough money to cover the cost of Vern's blood test and at least some treatment. You do need to have a Facebook, account in order to view it and participate but those of you who aren’t on Facebook (like me), please contact Vern's momma Nancy on his page if you’d like to help out in any way.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Verns-Auction-House/1 55453441176630

Thanks everyone! If you can't help out because you're in your own tough situation, please don't feel bad. You can always go to Vern's page and offer support which is JUST as important! It really is, so don't hesitate to do that.

Luv Alex

Purrs needed for new kitten on Catster!

Hi everyone, please purr for this sweet little girl Miranda. Visit her page if you can and give her and her wonderful new parents lots of hugs and support. This little one was rescued by these furtastic people after she was shot with buckshot and left on the side of the road! GRRRRR that makes me so mad. They are taking her to a specialist and seeing what can be done for her front legs. She may need them amputated but they don't know yet. Either way, she's got a great new home now and lots of love. We've already made friends with her, we know you'll all do the same. She's such a sweet little thing!

Makes me so mad. A few days ago a doggy here in NH was shot with a pellet gun while sleeping in his dog house! It cleaned off the bone and darned near tore his leg off. He had to have it amputated after he almost died. Turns out it was the neighbor! Can't tell you how mad my mommy was. She was looking at the TV saying all kinds words I can't repeat here. But we were right there with her. When will this stop?

Anyways, thanks for going to support our new little friend Miranda. She and her pawents will greatly appreciate it.

Luv Alex

Valentine and angel dust

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good Valentine's day. I never used to care about that day at all but this year I had the best time ever. Me and Aryeh spent the night dancing and pawtying at the Rainbow Bridge annual Valentine's Day ball. We danced and mingled with all of our furriends. Then we came down here and visited his momma, brofurs and his adorable little sis, Tiger Lilly Blossom. It was Aryeh's birfday on valentine's day so his momma was a little sad. But we did our best to make her feel better, my momma talked with her too and hopefully it helped.

Then we came and said hi to Finney and Lacey and my momma. I wish momma could have seen me in my beautiful wings all decorated in pink glitter and hearts. I felt like a princess. But she can picture it in her mind and she's got it right so she didn't need to see me anyways. She knows I was there. Then we left the ball and came down here and sprinkled angel and fairy dust all over the sick kitties that needed it and even some of you that didn't! Tee hee (we're not telling).

It was so much fun, we felt like Santa paws! Aryeh spent the daytime with his family and with his valentine Sky. She's been his valentine every year for awhile and she was nice enough to share him with me and let me go to the ball with him. THANK YOU SKY!

I wanted to say thank you Aryeh for a very, very special night and for being such a good friend to all of us. He and his family are so pawsome! We just love them. Happy birfday again Aryeh! We love you!

Vern, Midnight, Valentine and Newsletter

Hello all you furry beautiful kitties! We have some good news all the way around fur a change! Little Vern is doing GREAT. My momma really thinks he doesn't have an embolism at all. That test was never done and it was a complete guess by the vet. He has every sign of having diabetic neuropathy and is currently responding to the high doses of Methyl B12. Mom told Vern's mom about Methyl B12 being used for that condition in kitties and that it's a drastic change in a short time. Of course he needs to get his glucose tested but in just a few short days, he's up and walking around. His legs are still weak and wobbly but on Thursday he couldn't stand at all, couldn't get to his litter box and was very weak. The first day on the B12 he ate by himself and went for a poop. Later the second night, he pawmailed Finney to tell him that he actually RAN to his mom! He was still very wobbly in the legs but his mom was crying tears of joy. So we're hoping to keep up the B12 treatments for him, add some sardine oil for his heart and joints and everything, he's already changed his litter to Sweat Scoop and we're advising about a possible diet change. Keep purring hard and keep your paws crossed because this could be a miracle in the making! If it is in fact diabetic neuropathy, that's very easily treated and reversible with insulin, proper diet, B12 therapy, etc. Of course my momma is not a vet and this is also a guess but the alternative was poor Vern just losing his fight. So an educated guess is better than nothing and it seems to be working. Whoo hoo!

As for Midnight, you may know that last week she had to be brought to the vet quite suddenly because she was bleeding when she peed and was in a lot of pain. This was more than just a little blood too so it was quite scary. She'd been to the vet almost 2 months ago and had Clavamox but it only made her more sick. So they did x-rays and said her large intestines are swollen 3 times their normal size! They did blood work and it all came back normal except for a high WBC count and signs of infection. So now she's had her food changed to Natural Balance and she's on Amoxicillan. Yesterday she was bugging everyone for their food, she had big black eyes, a pink nose and was feeling very hungry. Which is good because she lost a whole pound in less than 2 months!!!! Ugh, speaking from someone who knows how dangerous that is, we were quite scared. We're hoping it's just an infection because this can also signify cancer but for now we're hoping for the best and will deal with what comes next when it comes. She's 2 years older than Moufasa so anything is possible. She's about 16 I think. I just put up a picture of her and of Mouffey on my page if you'd like to see.

AND, since Finney and Lacey got themselves valentines I had to see if my favorite friend here at the bridge would be mind. I asked him and he said yes but only if I'd share him with his long time valentine Sky. I hope she doesn't mind sharing at all and is okay with it! But Aryeh said Sky will be his earthbound valentine and he'll be going to the Valentine's Day ball with me here at the bridge. I'm so excited I don't know what to wear! I think I'll have some pink glitter hearts decorated on my wings. What do you think? I think it's going to be a glorious night and it's also Aryeh's birthday that day! So it will be doubly special.

Last but not least, occasionally we'll ask if anyone would like to get our newsletter from our website. www.ibdkitties.net. We don't like to seem pushy or bug anyone so we just ask once in awhile. It's a great newsletter. Mommy gives all kinds of research links and news on feline health, preventative stuff, new products we think are safe for kitties. We also send out immediate recall notices for not just food but medications and medical supplies, share information with each other and all kinds of stuff. Your email stays completely private and is never, ever given out to anyone. It doesn't even show up in the mailing, it's blocked so nobody sees your name or anything. COMPLETELY your choice, we just like to offer it. Lots of people are on it and seem to like it. If you do decide you'd like it, you can either email us at contact@ibdkitties.net and give your parent's full name and regular email address and say "subscribe". OR you can pawmail us that info as well. We do need your full name for the address book though so don't leave that out. Like we said, nobody sees it but us.

Okay everyone! Have a furtastic day and don't forget to stop by and wish Gumpy a happy DOTD! Wow, that's so great. He's having a wonderful week and thank goodness. We think it's doing wonders to help him heal. He's such a special guy and we love his whole family furry much! Concats Gumpy!!!!

Luv Alex, sending Valentines kissies from the bridge

Please purr for Vern

Hi everyone, I haven't heard from him today but please purr for our new little friend Vern. He's the sweetest little boy and his pawents are hoping for a miracle.

He's only 7 months old and has a systemic arterial embolism, along with severe anemia. He began dragging his back legs and lost control of his bowels and bladder and he is not expected to make it. We had his mom order some Methyl B12 for his neurological issues hoping it helps and she had it express mailed to her house. It was due today but we haven't heard anything. Yesterday his pupils were already dilated so we don't know what's going on and are hoping he's still there with them.

He did say that when he's ready to go that he'd like me to escort him to the bridge and since I haven't heard anything, I'm hoping that's good news. Please purr hard for him, he's just a baby! This is one of those kitties that's tugged on our heartstrings super hard.

Thanks everyone. We love you and your powers of purrs and paws.
Alex