We found an amazing new vet through a referral from a good friend of mine: Caravan Vet. Instead of taking the kitties to the vet (whom over time we’ve grown to loathe) and making them unhappy with the car ride and subjecting them to the horrible vet, Dr. Christa comes to you! Worked out so well – and we got everyone checked out and up to date with their shots.
Well, except for Pixel, she doesn’t do well with the Distemper shot, so we skip those.
They took blood on all of them to make sure they were ok, and we got the results back a few days later.
Chester and Roxy? Other than some dental disease, they’re healthy as horses. Pixel, while having great teeth, was diagnosed with having hyperthyroidism. We were lucky enough to catch it before she got symptomatic. I had noticed she lost some weight over the past few months and her grooming habits had gone downhill to the point where we had to give her a bath every 2-3 weeks because she was getting dirty.
There’s a number of treatments – irradiation and surgery to name a couple – but we decided to give her medicine twice daily.
At first I was a bit freaked out – that’s my baby girl! I can’t stand that she’s sick! Combine that with the fact I’m terrible at giving the cats any medicine/Petromalt – this was going to be hard on me. Thank gawd Tim is amazing at being the kitty doctor, otherwise I don’t know what I’d do.
He gives Pixel her medicine twice a day and I’m on hand to give her treats for being a good girl. She didn’t like it at first, but now, she knows she has to do it and will begrudgingly take the medicine without any trouble. Such a good girl.
One of the things Dr. Christa told us might happen is that the medicine might make her sick or cause her kidney problems. Given Pixel’s track record with medicine giving her horrible allergic reactions, I was concerned. But, it’s had the opposite effect. She’s more healthy, her fur is back to its bunny-soft texture, and she’s put a little bit of weight back on! So far so good!
I have an appointment in a week and a half for Pixel’s checkup to see how her kidneys are doing and other tests to makes sure the medicine isn’t causing any other problems.
It’s hard realizing that your youngest cat is going to be 12 years old this year and seeing the effects of aging on all of them. It’s going to be so hard having to let them go when it’s their time.
For now, I’m thankful they’re healthy and happy. Makes the 2am “cats gotta snuggle” time easier to bear because there’ll be a time when I’m not being woken up by 13lbs of cat stomping over my body. And I’ll miss it.
