Happy Birthday To Me

Today is my 16th birthday! Mom got me some smoked salmon and lactose free "catsip" milk to have for dinner tonight. She knows I'm supposed to stay exclusively on my k/d kidney diet, but she also knows it's bland and I don't like it. So, I convinced her that for my sweet 16 I can have a treat and eat whatever I want for dinner. She folded. She always does.

Hooray for salmon! I do love the tasty fish.

Another year older, another year wiser, and milking it for all it's worth.

Fall

Well, I'm 15 years old now. My Mom can't believe I've been around that long. We first met three days after I was born, but I didn't go home with her until I was a few months old.

The other day, I gave her quite a scare. I'm not as agile as I was when I was a kitten, but I think I am and I'll still do things I'd do back when I was much younger. For example, I like to walk on the railing up in the loft. Normally, I can do this just fine, but the other day I slipped off and fell about fifteen feet down onto the living room floor.

Mom FREAKED when she saw me fall. I ran away and under the bed, but Dad got me out so that Mom could check me over. I was fine, but she was ready to take me to the animal ER. She felt me all over and I didn't wince or show any pain, so she watched me for a few days. I'm all fine, but she had an absolute freak out. I wonder if I keep going on the railing now if that will get me more attention. Hmm.

My Mommy Is Worried About Me

This morning I was nosing around the foot of the bed and caught my parents attention. Daddy noticed that there was a small amount of urine on the bed. Mommy knows I'm a very clean kitty and don't tend to go out of my box unless I'm very sick. There was only a small amount - about a dime sized amount on their comforter. It was only about one or two drops and it had been in the place I was curled up and sleeping in last night, but it was enough to worry my Mommy.

She knew, from the amount, that I hadn't done it to be mean. I didn't even know I did it until I woke up. They were able to wash that section and put some Febreeze on it so it's fine and Mommy doesn't have to make a laundromat run tonight, but I can tell she's really worried about me because of this.

Mommy is concerned because this is not normal for me and because the last time we went to the vet, the doctor there said that I was starting to have kidney problems (I'm now on the k/d diet). She's hoping that this is a one time thing and doesn't mean that my kidney problems are getting worse.

She said she's going to watch it for awhile and see if it happens again. If it does, she's going to try and get me in to see the vet sometime next week.

The Start of Something Bad

My Mommy got a call back from the vet yesterday and it wasn't great news. I was taken to the vet last Friday for my biannual check up. They did a blood draw and apparently I'm starting to have some kidney problems. Now, I'm happy that it's being caught just as it's starting, but my Mommy is so worried about me and I don't like seeing her upset. I've been following her around and giving her extra snugglies, but she's still worried sick about me.

Sometime this month I need to head back to the vet so that they can get a urine sample from me. This sample will let them know where we go from here. At the very least, it looks like I might have a diet change. I'm not too happy about that. I love my dry food (California Naturals chicken and brown rice) and my wet food (Wellness pouches) and am not excited about changing that anytime soon. I might need medication as well, but they won't know what or how much until they get the urine sample.

I'm also not looking forward to another trip to the vet and to whatever they need to do to me to get the urine. This is not going to be fun.

Rooster

I've decided I'm part rooster. Every morning, I let the household know when it's exactly dawn. At this time, I start to meow. A lot. Usually my little brother Gabriel sleeps through it. Sometimes it wakes Mommy up. It always wakes Daddy up.

They all get up around 6:30am, so now that sunrise is about an hour earlier, they don't seem to appreciate the rooster qualities that I have. Oh come on, it's fun to announce when it's dawn and I think it's quite important the humans know this. Plus, it's funny.

Another birthday has come and gone and I'm now 14 years old. 14 years old and I still have the energy of a kitten, though I do like snugglies and being held much more now than I did when I was younger.

Good Check Up

Mom recently took me to the vet' for a check up. Since I'm almost fourteen, she takes me in every six months. The vet recommends that to make sure all is going well.

I didn't like the check up at all, and I made sure to let everyone know. I growled and threatened everyone in the room, but no one took me seriously. *sigh* What's not scary about a seven pound cat?

My teeth looked good this time (finally!) and I don't need any more extractions. She said I was in good health and my blood work came back all normal. Phew. No more trips to the vet for another six months. I just need to make sure to stay healthy because I HATE going to the vet. Though I do get treats for it when I get home...

My little human brother is growing a lot and he just had his third birthday. He knows how to pet me and I like that. He also knows how to chase me, but I can usually sense when that's coming and I hide under the bed. He can get under the bed as well, but Mom and Dad are good about making sure he doesn't catch me.

Been Awhile

I just realized that it's been months since I last made an entry here, so I thought I would put something up. There hasn't been a lot to say. The problem with my mouth seemed to heal up well when my Mom gave me the antibiotics. I've just been happy lounging around the apartment and sleeping under the covers on Mom's side of the bed.

My little human brother is fascinated with me and while I know to run when I see him coming my way, I also like the fact that he now calls me Sydney and not just kitty.

Mom is looking at making a vet checkup for me next month and I'm not too happy about that. This vet wants to see me twice a year because of my age and while I understand the need to stay healthy, I also much prefer my old vet's once a year schedule.

Not much new is going on with me, but I thought I'd pop on here and say hello to all of my feline and human friends so you would all know that things seem to be going well.

Mouth Update & Thanks

I had my follow up vet appointment yesterday morning at 9am. Ugh. How dare I be forced from a sunny window in the morning to get dragged to the vet's office? It's just so unfair!

The vet looked my mouth over and two of the extraction spots had healed completely.

The one that was ripped open and bleeding last week was getting better. I've been taking my antibiotics regularly (how can I not when they're stuffed into those tasty pill pockets) and the infection is gone. Because the infection is gone, the area is going through the process of healing. The vet said it looked a lot better. Yay! My Mom seems much relieved at this. Though I'm still going to try and milk it for all it's worth. *wink*

I have my beloved dry food out once again and they're still giving me some soft food as well. The best of both worlds.

I also wanted to thank some of you. Thank you for the well wishes. Thank you for the tasty grape drink and cherry drink. And thank you for the Febreeze collar. Your gifts and well wishes are much appreciated. It's nice to know that other kitties out there care.

Hey, here's a secret just between you and I. Don't let my Mom know I posted this, okay? When she logged on and saw that I was a diary pick and when she saw the gifts and messages that had been sent to me, I think she got a little teary eyed. It came at a great time and made her super happy.

Me? Oh, those were just allergies. I'm allergic to... my little human brother. Yup, really. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Mouth Problems

I had to go back to the vet because two weeks after my three tooth extractions, I'm still having pain. My Mom thought it was because there was a piece of sutures left on my gum, but I was just playing with that. The doctor removed that easily. But, that wasn't the real problem.

In one of the extraction areas, my gum is shredded and bleeding. My lower tooth has been cutting into that area and is constantly ripping it open. It hurts real bad and the doctor wasn't sure how to fix it. Stitches won't work because the lower tooth would rip them open again. Taking out the lower tooth would be bad because it's healthy and it's one of the only chewing teeth I have left. The doctor found out that I had an infection and put me on antibiotics.

I was then sent home. I have an appointment next week where they'll check it again and see if the antibiotics aided in healing it. If not, I don't know what will be done.

All of this is horrible and I'm in a lot of pain. I hope it heals up soon because I'm now on a wet food only diet and miss my dry food.

I will say, however, that Mom has found a sneaky way to give me my antibiotic pills. She found a treat called Greenies Pill Pockets. When my pill is put in there, I eat it right up. I know she's tricking me, but they're just so good!

Owie Mouth

About a week and a half ago I went to the vet's office and had THREE teeth removed. That was a horrible experience and one I never hope happens again. Though my Mom did give me tons of cuddlies that night!

Recently, my mouth has still be hurting me rather badly. I won't let my Mom near the upper right side of my mouth. She looked in there and said she saw something odd. Something white, that kind of looked like a tooth fragment, sticking out the side of my gum. It's soft and wiggles and hurts me horribly.

Luckily, my grandma is coming out today. Mom has her own doctor's appointment tomorrow and grandma is going to watch my little human brother. She called the vet today and they'll look at me on Wednesday morning.

While I don't want to go to the vet yet again, I want my mouth to feel better and stop hurting!