Angus and Clay...New Cats on the Block!

Angus:  He is about four years old.  He has Irritable Bowel Disorder.  Thank goodness through many ups and downs for his first year or two of life, we got his flares under control and he is maintained through prescription diet only.  Every once in awhile, I have to throw some Pepcid AC in but maybe 1-2 times per year at most.  So, he is doing wonderfully amazing!!!  He also went through a bout of a UTI which took forever to resolve but it is better now. 

Clay:  He is about six years old.  He has a complicated medical history.  His bloodwork has always shown elevation in one main liver value (ALT) and once in his AST liver value but these flucuations never have impacted his liver into not working properly.  We have tried tons of supplements and prescription medication with him to control his ALT and AST values but no to avail.  So, for now, we are just going with the flow.  The other thing with Clay is that two years ago he went paralzyed from the waist down and after six weeks of confinement, many medications and direct care from me as instructed by vet, he began walking again and now he gets around just fine on four legs with stairs to get into bed. Most recently with Clay, we are dealing with problems with constipation....we are doing a multi-prong attack...pain management for his back pain, medication to help loosen his stools and a new high fiber diet which Angus can also be on. 

Mills:  He went to rainbow bridge on December 24, 2005 at the young age of five from possible FIP or a congential liver defect.  They discovered he had a shunt in his liver which could have been congential or caused by FIP. He was the first ever cat I was lucky enough to be a companion to.

Peace,

Kirsten

Angus and Clay sound wonderful.  I'd love to see pictures if possible...we're all about pictures here.  Welcome to TCS!  It's very nice to meet you. 

Hi Kirsten, and welcome to The Cat Site

You seem to be doing a wonderful job looking after your feline friends.  And yes, we do love pictures!

Here is a collage I put together of all three cats who have blessed my life....Mills (Rainbow Bridge 12/24/2005), Clay and Angus:


First there was Mills....Who was a very sweet cat but had a wee bit of a temper...later I found out he had FIP or a liver defect so his "moods" may have been attributed to not feeling well:


Then after I moved into my own apartment, I decided that Mills needed a companion cat, so in came Clay...Formerly known as Clarient...Here he is on adoption day:


Clay:  Very sweet, laid back, easy going, loves the stairs leading up to my bed.  Plays statue at the vet....refuses to move...if you don't see me move, I am not here!   

Then on 12/24/2005, Mills unexpectedly was sent to Rainbow Bridget due to FIP or a possible congential liver defect.  Clay appeared to be lonely and sad...So was I so, I adopted Angus...Here is Angus on adoption day:


Angus: Definitely the Alpha cat and trying to be Alpha human too!  LOL  He can turn light switched on and off, flush tiolets, and open up cabinets in the kitchen.  He learned all of this himeself.  For some reason, Angus loves laying on towels, wet or dry.  He is a HOLY TERROR at the vet.  So much so that they have to keep him in his cat carrier and sedate him in order to do anything with him. He has a bad habit of jumping on Clay's back and holding him by his neck.  I am trying to break him of this dominance behavior.

Angus and Mills integration took six months of carefully methodical slow steps.  I had a wonderful cat people helping me through the steps of successfully integrating cats....As a result, I was afraid that it would take Angus and Clay awhile to integrate, but here is what happened on the first night of adoption day for Angus:


And, here are Angus and Clay a year or so into living together:


Finally, here is a wallpaper that I use on my personal laptop and work computer that I created of my favorite pictures of Clay and Angus....The top right picture is one of Mills:


Both Angus and Clay were adopted from a wonderful cage-less, no kill cat and now dog shelter in Chicago, IL called Felines and Canines.  They were so wonderfully supportive when Mills got so sick that they puropsefully called shelters for me, finding Angus and giving him to me witouth accepting an adoption fee for him.

A couple of years ago, Angus and Clay were uprooted from their home in Chicago and the moved with me to Silver Spring, Maryland where I now live and where I grew up.  So, they are transplant kitties!   

So, there ya go....Those are my fur-kids!

Peace to ya'all.

Kirsten