I Lived To Tell

Dear Diary,

What are 'shots' for? Foster meomy and I just don't get it. We are told that they are necessary, we are required by some law to give some, and when you are up for adoption like I am they are required. Why?

My siblings Prada, Gucci and I almost passed to the Bridge after receiving our very first kitten shots. Foster meomy spent lots of time, love and money nursing us back to health. After some time we all recovered but not without some 'scars'. We had to stay at the vets office all day when our next kitten shots were given and we seemed to manage ok. Foster meomy was a nervous wreck.

We were quite famous babies back then. We were known to many as the 'couture kittens' (hence our names) and also as the 'roof babies'. I think a lot of it had to do with my brother Gucci. We were born way up on the roof of a 2-story building and when we were four weeks old we were caught one night right smack in the center of an electrical storm. The thunder and lightning, non-stop, relentlessly was crackling right above our heads. A super sweet lady frantically phoned a local (Las Vegas) feral TNR group and my now foster meomy was answering the calls back then. When she was trying to explain the extreme danger we were in to my foster meomy, she suddenly screamed! She witnessed Gucci fall from two stories up. He smacked into a tree, clung on for a second, then plummeted the rest of the way to the ground. Thanks to her, a lady named Denise S. and a special guy named Gary ..... we all three were rescued and safe.

It's been over a year and a half now, I'm still up for adoption, and foster meomy had to have my shots updated. Gulp! (Prada and Gucci have found their special furrever homes. I'm still searching as I don't 'show' well at adoption events. It's too scary, I'm not myself.)

So, foster meomy recently took me in for my shots. Stressful for the vet, myself and foster meomy. (I'm now a healthy beautiful boy, don't mess my life up with these stupid shots!) I soon didn't feel well and foster meomy got concerned. She took me to the 'special cat doc' and had blood work done. It came back 'confirmed severe reaction to the vaccinations'!!

I am expected to pull through this. I have three yucky different meds to take for three weeks. Also some fluid therapy which is absolutely no fun! The shots have caused...... double ear infections, dehydration, etc. I am now border line on kidney disease. I cannot be subjected to any further stress on my kidneys or I will be trotting across the Bridge! I also can NEVER have any further vaccinations. My chances for my new furrever special home just majorly decreased. :(

So, once again can I ask .... What are shots for? Foster meomy and I just don't get it. I'm a beautiful indoor kitty in a healthy environment.

Thanks for listening Diary. My head and ears hurt. I'm going to go lie down now. I'm not complaining, I just feel really cruddy!
Luvs,
~ Mani ~

~ Doctors and Furever Homes ~

Dear Diary,

My days are much brighter now. I'm done with all the icky medicines that foster meomy had to keep putting in my mouth and squirting in my ears. I feel much better and purrty much back to my ol' self again. I keep telling foster meomy that I'm fine, but she said only my doc could say for sure. So tomorrow morning I get to go visit Doc Forbes again. I like her except when she pokes me with something and steals my blood! Foster meomy is puraying that tomorrow I get all 'paws up' from the doc. :)

A nice family saw my pictures on Pet Finder and thay want to come meet me!
I'm kinda nervous but excited too. If I like them and they like me, this could be my new furever home! Then I will get to live in Vegas, the same town as my brofur Gucci. I still wonder if I will ever see him again. *sigh* They have a back yard where I will be safe to go play outside! Since Gucci left and I got depressed for a time, foster meomy has been allowing me to go out back with her. That sure snapped me out of being sad. I will never forget Gucci, but I am now ok alone. :)

Shazam's new mommy informed us giggling that ' Shazam has been teaching her kitty, Gidget, how to get into mischief!' :) Hee, hee! Shazam's so silly! Her new mommy adores her! She got a wonderful furever home and we are all purring loudly for her. :)

I'll let you know what the doc says tomorrow.

G-night for now Diary. :)
Purrs ~ Mani

~ test results and no new home yet~

Dear Diary,

Catster furiends have been so nice and supportive of me. They are so sweet and I am so thankful for them.

Foster meomy received the awaited phone call from my doc. My doc explained that she had excellent news and not so good news. ?

The excellent news first: I am no longer border line on kidney disease! Hurray! My Creatine and BUN levels are all purfect, and so was my urinalysis. Yipee! *I'm doing the happy dance big time!*

The not so good news: My CBC still shows dehydration and my red blood cells are going crazy. Everything else checked out normal. With these results I have been diagnosed with a rare condition called 'Polycythemia'. My body is reproducing too many red blood cells which turn my blood to a 'sludge.' This makes it hard for my heart and other organs to function normally.

Better news: There is an inexpensive treatment that can be done for this. They actually remove a percentage of my blood and replace it with fluids. Having this transfusion treatment done every couple of months will allow me to live with a normal quality of life. And it should not take any years off of my life either. :)

Foster meomy called my potential new family. They were so sweet and sad for me but are not in a position to take on a special needs kitty at this time. :( We totally understand. They said to keep them informed on my condition though and to let them know in a couple of months how everything is going with me. Foster meomy's sad, their sad, but I'm ok. I'm so happy that there is a treatment and I'm thrilled that it doesn't require daily meds down my throat or that horrible thing called 'fluid therapy'. :) Foster meomy says that a transfusion is kind of like fluid therapy, but I don't have to have it done too often. I can deal with that! :)

I get my first transfusion on May 1st. I will keep you informed how it goes.

Bye for now,
Armani
~Special headbonks to Moses, Sam and Greystone, Calamity, Isis, and Simba~

~ transfusion confusion ~

Dear Diary,

I went in for my procedure today, the one that foster meomy's been telling me about and puraying would help me. Meomy said that I would feel pin pokes and probably some discomfort, but that it wouldn't last long. She knew that I would be a brave boy. *deep sigh*

Foster meomy held me in the waiting room for awhile, my doc came in and discussed the procedure *yikes* then carried me off. *gulp*

Then the next thing I know she carried me back in to foster meomy. Then she told foster meomy all about the procedure, how they removed 60 cc's of my blood and replaced it with 65 cc's of fluids. She said that efurrything went really well. She said that she also clipped my nails for me.

Say what? I don't remember a thing about any of that! Is she making this up or is it possible I slept through the whole thing? * starts to scratch head in deep thought and makes a startling discovery, 'OMC, my nails actually have been clipped! * OK, now this is getting bizarre!

Foster meomy and my doc seemed very pleased and I got to come home.
Still a bit confused about the whole thing, but I'm home, *hurray!* it's snack time, *yummy* and purhaps foster meomy will take me out back for a minute before it gets dark. *purrs*

Bye 4 now, :)
Purrs ~ Armani ~

~ Hydration Blues ~

Dear Diary,

It's been a week now since I had my 'procedure' done. I really haven't noticed feeling any better or worse. I can sense that foster meomy and my doc are sad because my body did not respond the way they had hoped and purayed for. And the fact that I had to be given the dreadful 'fluid therapy' twice during the week, is a big concern for them.

My doc now believes that the booster shots did far more damage than first suspected. She says it's now clear that my state of repeated dehydration is not only due to the condition I developed after the shots. She believes that I may have gotten some 'neurological damage' as well that has messed me up in the hydration department.

Say what? I don't know what any of those words mean. I just know that in the last week I had the frightening blood transfusion, I twice had the horrible fluid therapy *cringes at the memory of it*, foster mom keeps syringing water down my throat, *ick* and I still don't feel all that well. I am up and about and I play sometimes, but I just feel mostly confused and overall yucky. Foster mom told me I feel this way because I am still dehydrated.

Foster mom's plan for this next week is to try to keep me hydrated. More fluid therapy, *yikes* offer me more yummy wet food treats with water added,
* I'm liking the sound of that* and as much water as she can get down my throat every day. *grrzzzz* I guess there's not much else that can be done if this doesn't work for me. But I know my foster meomy, while she never gives up if there's hope, she also is very concerned regarding the 'quality of life'.

Gotta go for now, foster meomy just set up a thing-a-ma-jig she calls a water fountain hoping I'll drink more on my own. Yikes! That thing is scary! Even burrave Lil' Muppet won't go near it! And she expects me to put my face in there and drink from it? Hee, hee! I'm going to go keep my eye on it. I'll be patient and see what Chico and Sampson think about it.

I'll update soon.
Loads of Purrs
~ Armani ~

PS - I guess we'll never know exactly what in the shots caused the reaction that brought me down to this. Foster meomy has been reading a lot trying to find out. It may be that I was given all of them at the same time or that it was the leukemia shot itself. Foster meomy is just plain afuraid of any shots now.

I get to play tag too! :)

I’ve been tagged by my beautiful furiends Calamity and Romeo to play a game! How fun this is! Thanks Calamity and Romeo for including me to join in!

I am to - list 4 Jobs I have - list 4 places I have lived or stayed - list 4 places I would rather be -
I am then to tag four more fur buddies to play along also.

4 jobs I have:

1) Cuddler - My morning duty is to drape myself, while purring intensely, over foster meomy until she completely wakes up. This is not as easy of a job as it sounds. She must already be kind of waking up first, and not still sound asleep. Nakita and I share this job. Muppet used to, but foster meomy fired her. :) Hee, hee!

2) Inspector - My mid-morning and mid-afternoon job is to inspect the entire backyard for any big critters. If I find a lizard or such, I chase it around until foster meomy safely scoops it up and sets it free outside the fence. I like this job and it allows for plenty of breaks where I can bask in the sun.

3) Bread Maker - This is a job we all share. We take turns kneading and making bread so foster meomy always has plenty.

4) Teacher - Foster meomy says that I have taught her a lot, and that I continue to teach her new things everyday. :)


4 Places I have lived or stayed:

1) My first home was on top of a two story building in Las Vegas, NV.

2) My second place was in a nice lady’s house in Las Vegas until a foster home could be found.

3) My third place was in a cage until I was 6 weeks old in Gary’s foster home in Las Vegas.

4) My fourth place is right outside of Las Vegas with my foster meomy. We were supposed to go to a different foster home, but human communications got messed up. We were transported to Pahrump, but ended up not having a place to stay. The transporter knocked on foster meomy’s door late one night and asked if we could stay the night until the correct foster family could be found. I’m glad that foster meomy said that we could stay here with her until our new homes come along.
~There was a terrible mix up when we were transported back to Las Vegas to be neutered/spayed. We accidentally were put that we belonged to FLOCK and we were micro chipped under FLOCK! When being transported back to Pahrump, we were being taken to the president of FLOCK’s home. *Gulp* Foster meomy caught wind of this at the last second, she dove in her car and she intercepted us on the highway from the transporter. * If you know Muppet’s story, you’ll know why this was so scary! * ~

4 Places I would rather be:

1) Outside the fence where all the super big critters and lizards are.
2) With my bro-fur Gucci in his new furever home.
3) In a new furever home of my own.
4) At a B-B-Que with Anna, Calamity , and all of my Catster buddies. :)

I tagged my special furiend Princess Rani and she played along!! Please trot over and check out her special story when you have a moment.
I tagged my gureat buddy Bobbi
and he played along too! What a silly, loving and energetic boy he has become after such a rough start! Glad he's doing so well!

I also tagged cutie pie Honey*purrs* and one of our dear fur-friends, precious poet Lucy-Lou.

Luvs and Purrs to all,
Armani

~ was this the last attack of the 'hydration monsters' ~

Dear Diary,

I’ve been feeling much better these days. Foster mom says it’s because I’m ‘keeping hydrated‘. That’s been the word of my life lately, ‘hydration, hydration, hydration’. And I can’t help but associate that word with the dreaded ‘hydration monsters.’ Foster mom lets them through the front door, like any other visitor. They look like normal guests so at first I was always caught off guard when this happened. I would come out to greet these so called guests, only to be snatched up, held down, and forced to have the horrid fluid therapy! It took a few times of this happening, before I got wise as to ‘who was who’ coming through our front door.

I hear a knock on the door. My first thought is ‘Visitors, hurray! I’m gonna get some extra attention and told how strikingly handsome I am. A kitty can never get enough of that!’ Oh, but now a second thought always enters my mind, ‘What if it’s ‘them’, *gulps* the ‘hydration monsters‘?’ My heart races, I run to the end of the hall anticipating that I may have to go hide in foster mom’s room. Then I listen carefully to the voices and what’s being said. That’s when I know if it’s time to run and hide, or if it’s ok to trot out for some attention.

This last time though, foster mom was one step ahead of me. She picked me up, gave me lots of kisses, and placed me in the bathroom. I knew something was up, I could read foster mom’s mind. Something was going to happen and she didn’t want me to run and hide. What could it be? Was my new family on their way to adopt me? Was she getting my small house out to take me somewhere for a ride, gulp! The doctor? Then I heard the knock on the door. It was the dreaded voices of the 'hydration monsters'!! Perhaps foster mom ‘hid’ me in the bathroom so they wouldn’t find me?? That was wishful thinking.

This time, foster mom and just one of the monsters took me in a separate room for the fluids. The monsters had all along been trying to push 200 cc’s in me, but each time I fought with all my might until they gave up. Foster mom told me that a different approach was going to be tried this time. And it worked. Since it was foster mom holding me and only one scary monster that I couldn’t see, I relaxed and they were able to get 200 cc’s in me. They were ecstatic, I was not happy!

I did amazingly feel better though. I never felt any different with the previous monster attacks and foster mom was always sad that I was still dehydrated. Foster mom said three things appear to have ‘done the trick’. I drink water with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in it, which naturally detoxifies my system. I now had 200 cc’s of fluid at once and I felt so much better, and I began eating my wet food treats again.

Since I never had shown any outwardly signs of dehydration, and it could only be detected through the doc stealing my blood, my doc showed foster mom a test she could do at home. She lifts up one side of my upper cheek and swipes her finger along the top of my gums. If I’m hydrated, it’s nice and wet. If I’m dehydrated, it’s not so wet but kind of dry and sticky feeling. Since the last monster attack, my gums have been nice and wet! I feel so much better and foster mom is smiling again. Everybody involved is hoping and praying that my body will now stay hydrated on its own. Time will tell, I’m off to play now.

Purrs,
Armani

~ another tag, I get to play again!~

I've been tagged by Romeo to play the '5 things I dislike' game.

I list the 5 things I dislike and then tag 5 more furiends to play along.

!) I dislike the hydration monsters! And no, it was not the last attack of them. Foster mom has not updated my diary yet.

2) I dislike when Nakita thinks that she can bop Muppet on the head. I go and bop Nakita on the head and ask her 'how do you like that?' *giggles*

3) I dislike this hot weather because foster mom does not go outside with me as often. She says that she's trying to keep me hydrated and it's nonsense that I want to be out in 114 degree weather. *sighs*

4) I dislike that syringe of meds that foster mom keeps putting in my mouth. Yuck! One week down, two more to go. *grumble, grumble*

5) And most of all, I dislike that Muppet is not well and hurts. She's my bestest furiend and I love her.

We are way behind on tags. We'll catch up one day. :) I'll update with my tags soon. Thanks Romeo for including me to play!

Purrs, Armani

~ Hydration Monster Attacks Are On the Rise ~

Hydration monsters are everywhere! It’s true! Even our human friends have proven that they too are now armed and packing fluids with needles, and are ready to attack me at any given time! I don’t think I can trust any humans anymore. I searched every part of our home and have discovered one spot that the humans, including foster mom, have not been able to find. When any visitors of the un-furry type come knocking on our door ….. this is now where I run and hide. *I can’t tell you where this spot is, because I have a sneaky suspicion that foster mom snoops and reads my diary. Giggles*

But today, they got me. I was taking my usual afternoon snooze on foster mom‘s bed, when foster mom picked me up and before I knew it I was in my dreaded carrier. This could only mean one thing, I was going to see my doc! *sighs* I was hoping for just a quick check up, but this turned into a 4 hour ordeal. The doc stole some of my blood, stole some of my urine, *ouch!* gave me an injection, *ouch again!* clipped my nails, and then right before my eyes she turned into a hydration monster! My doc is one of ‘them’ too?!

My tests, that were performed on my stolen blood, came back showing my red blood cells are still way too high and my creatine is once again elevated. Foster mom won’t know the results of my urine tests until sometime tomorrow, but my urine is bright yellow indicating something to do with my red blood cell count. ? My doc spent a lot of time with foster mom after the office had closed for the day. Her and mom went over different scenarios as to what could be going on with me. Since I didn’t respond to the treatment for Polycythemia, that’s been pretty much ruled out. Kidneys regulate red blood cell production and they also regulate hydration. My two main problems since those booster shots messed my kidneys up. If it is my kidneys causing my problem, then my doc said that I may be the first case of this or, that if this has happened before nobody ever recorded it or studied on it. Has any other catster heard of this? The normal thing is for the white blood cells to get out of whack and there are white blood cell blocker meds made for this. There are no blocker meds for red blood cells.

My doc told foster mom that she would try and study into this further this weekend when she had time. She sent us home with an antibiotic and more ear meds for now along with more pain meds for Muppet. And if that wasn’t bad enough, her next words out of her mouth were the worst ever …… I am to now have hydration therapy ‘every day‘, ‘twice a day if possible!!’ At first I giggled and thought ‘very funny lady doc’, but then I saw that she was serious and so was foster mom. Yikes!

Does anybody have a suitcase I can borrow?

G-nite for now,
Armani

~ still a trooper through it all ~

Dear Diary,

Foster mom is just beside herself with me. *giggles* She uses the phrase ‘if it’s not one thing it’s another.’ My urinalysis/cystocentesis came back that I had yet the start of another UTI and my ears are still bothering me. I just can’t seem to stay hydrated even with all of the efforts of the hydration monsters. This causes UTI’s and my ears to hurt. Mom has ear drops for me and I’m on a different antibiotic. I still am up and about though.

I make sure I am included every evening on our trips into the out-back with foster mom. Muppet and I are a team and we love to hunt the crickets. Over in the back corner of our yard, foster mom has a huge pile of dead weeds she chopped down. She says that they need to go to the dump, but we like them there because that’s where the crickets love to hide. We patiently lay waiting for them to come out and then we snatch them up.

I can’t tell you why, but yesterday evening I got a bit impatient as none of the little critters would come into view. I could hear them in there moving about and it was driving me crazy! So I listened very carefully to know right where one was, then I leapt straight up into the air and landed in the weed pile precisely where the critter was. I successfully came out with a cricket, and I successfully came out with a two inch long fat sticker impaled in my left back leg. *OUCH!* Foster mom tried carefully to pull it out with no success. She can feel it under my skin and she said it’s pretty big. So she’s waiting for a call back from a vet’s office on what time to bring me in. We are praying I can get in somewhere today, but if not I can for sure get in tomorrow.
Foster mom says that I'm quite the trooper because I'm still being my usual lover kitty self.

Gotta run and hide now, the hydration monster should be here at any time to give me my icky fluids. The excitement never quits around this place! Mol!

Purrs,
Armani