My name is Melissa. My husband, Steven, and I have two cats:
Mick - A domestic long-haired black & white cat, who turns 5 on Tuesday, that weighs in at 17.4 lbs at last check. We adopted him from a Animal Rescue League of Boston shelter.
Mick @ approximately 8 months:
Just a few months after taking him in, he was diagnosed with Feline Herpes and takes over-the-counter L-Lysine every other day. Shortly after that, he was diagnosed with allergies to dust (imagine that!) and takes Antiox-10 twice a day.
Approximately 2 1/2 years ago, he underwent perineal urethrostomy surgery after having blocked twice in 24 hours. Since this surgery, we go through regular bouts of frequent urination/bloody urine as a result of Feline Cystistis, which is more commonly known as Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD). As a result, our vet has put him on Cosequin for Cats twice a day, which is usually used for arthritis, but has been seen recently to improve FLUTD.
Just two weeks ago, we have learned that his FLUTD is most likely due to Calcium Oxalate Stones, which cannot be addressed as easily as other types of bladder stones. So, we're trying to increase his water consumption to help flush his bladder and we're keeping an eye out for any signs of straining, which could indicate large stones that would need to be addressed with surgery.
Mick also suffers from a heart murmur for which we monitor on a regular basis with echocardiograms to make sure there are no changes.
He has also had very strange and usual skin lesions that the vet has been unable to determine the cause (though we believe it was an allergic reaction to shampoo used by an older groomer).
Anna: A domestic short-haired black & white cat, who turns 5 in two weeks, that weighs in at about 16 1/2 lbs at last check. We adopted her from the same Animal Rescue League of Boston shelter as Mick about 1 month later.
Anna @ approximately 8 months:
Thankfully, Anna has not had as many health problems as her brother. Her only problem is that she suffers from Feline Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which is IBS for me or you. She takes Acetylator every other day to maintain a regular disgestive system.
She also has had 2 surgeries to remove most of her teeth due to decay that my vet said was usual given that we brush her teeth.
Other pictures of Mick & Anna:
Mick - A domestic long-haired black & white cat, who turns 5 on Tuesday, that weighs in at 17.4 lbs at last check. We adopted him from a Animal Rescue League of Boston shelter.
Mick @ approximately 8 months:
Just a few months after taking him in, he was diagnosed with Feline Herpes and takes over-the-counter L-Lysine every other day. Shortly after that, he was diagnosed with allergies to dust (imagine that!) and takes Antiox-10 twice a day.
Approximately 2 1/2 years ago, he underwent perineal urethrostomy surgery after having blocked twice in 24 hours. Since this surgery, we go through regular bouts of frequent urination/bloody urine as a result of Feline Cystistis, which is more commonly known as Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD). As a result, our vet has put him on Cosequin for Cats twice a day, which is usually used for arthritis, but has been seen recently to improve FLUTD.
Just two weeks ago, we have learned that his FLUTD is most likely due to Calcium Oxalate Stones, which cannot be addressed as easily as other types of bladder stones. So, we're trying to increase his water consumption to help flush his bladder and we're keeping an eye out for any signs of straining, which could indicate large stones that would need to be addressed with surgery.
Mick also suffers from a heart murmur for which we monitor on a regular basis with echocardiograms to make sure there are no changes.
He has also had very strange and usual skin lesions that the vet has been unable to determine the cause (though we believe it was an allergic reaction to shampoo used by an older groomer).
Anna: A domestic short-haired black & white cat, who turns 5 in two weeks, that weighs in at about 16 1/2 lbs at last check. We adopted her from the same Animal Rescue League of Boston shelter as Mick about 1 month later.
Anna @ approximately 8 months:
Thankfully, Anna has not had as many health problems as her brother. Her only problem is that she suffers from Feline Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which is IBS for me or you. She takes Acetylator every other day to maintain a regular disgestive system.
She also has had 2 surgeries to remove most of her teeth due to decay that my vet said was usual given that we brush her teeth.
Other pictures of Mick & Anna:
