Last Monday Mom took what was left of Randy's medicine to Dr. Gay's office.  We had just gotten a new batch, so there was a lot.  Dr. Gay was able to pass it along to someone in need, and on Saturday we got a nice thank-you letter from a senior bean.  His kitty is named Brandy, and she's a senior too at 13 years old, just like Spot!  She has the same kidney problem as Randy and his medicine is helping her.  That made Mom & Dad feel a little better and we think it's pretty cool that her name is Brandy, almost like Randy!

Spot is doing well on his new inhaler, and apparently his high calorie food seems to be better for him than the lite food.  He's not starving to death all the time any more, and we think he might be losing weight.  Mom's also switched me and Jake to grainfree Wellness food.  It's OK, but we both prefer crunchy food.  Well actually we prefer turkey breast from the deli, but that's not gonna happen any time soon...

Thank You to all our friends who left kind words about Randy.  We know there are some pets and beans who are thinking kind thoughts for us too.  We knew Randy was sick, but I think it came as a bit of a shock because he rallied a bit after the bad weekend he had.

We're grateful that he was almost a regular pussycat by the time Dr. Shelly got to see him.  He was able to pick him up, so it was less stressful.  So maybe feral cats can come around in time.

Mom's still pretty sad, but she's focusing her energy on Spot.  Poor bro, I don't envy you.  We've been using Swheatscoop litter for a while now, but Mom read something that says the wheat dust my aggravate asthma.  We all like the Sweatscoop because there's no perfumy smell, but it is very dusty.  So we're changing over to Dr. Elsey's Cat litter which is supposed to be low dust and doesn't have smells either.  I told Mom that vacuuming up the mountains of cat hair that accumulate around here wouldn't hurt either...

The last two days Randy started to decline rapidly.  Mom had some good petting with him yesterday, and today Mom & Dad took him to Dr. Shelly who helped him make the journey to kitty heaven.  We'll always remember how he loved to sit in the sun, and sing outside at 4:00am.  Rest well, bro.

Spot:  We brought him back to the vet last night to have his blood sugar checked and it continues to be normal.  Phew!  He now has a tiny kitty inhaler for his athsma!  Who knew!  It's got a little mask to hold over his nose, and a little chamber to fill up with the inhalant. 

Because they they think the predisone caused the diabetic episode the inhaler takes the place of that.  And he's got prescription food.  When we looked it up, it turns out it's a high protein, high calorie food.  And most of you know we've been fighting the weight battle with Spot for years.  I gave it to him the first day.  And then I wondered why he needed a special diet if the diabetes was caused by the prednisone and now he's off the prednisone...

Except that didn't follow me into the kitchen all day nuzzling my ankles for food like he usually does.  In fact, he was good all day until supper. So he's actually eating less and feeling fuller.  It might be a good thing after all.  And I can give it to Randy.

Which brings me to Randy.

Randy:  We're keeping our fingers crossed for Randy.  He seems to be out of the woods this time.  He had a horrific weekend.  There was a lot of watery blood and darker thicker blood in his litter box and on the paper in his cage and even on his blankie.  Saturday and Sunday were bad, Monday was a bit better.  He at very little, but continued to drink.    When we brought him to Dr Gay yesterday, we thought we'd done as much as we could for him. 

She felt a mass in his abdomen, but no blood in his rectum or anywhere else.  He's extremely anemic, but she fed him and he ate.  She gave him a steriod shot for his IBD(irritable bowel).  That's usually not done for kitties who are FIV+ because it's an immunosuppressant, but we're trying to make him comfortable.

So he's home too and seems pretty good.  He ate last night and this morning.  He had a big smelly poop last night with no blood(yes, I checked).  Whatever it was, it seems he's over that hump, for now.  We're taking everything one day at a time.

They did lots of tests on Spot and think he's got an infection in his liver and not diabetes.  He's been eating well and they're going to start antibiotics for the infection.   He's doing pretty good, but they're keeping him another day to make sure everything is stable before they send him home.

Randy's been up and down.  He's holding his own, but clearly he's not feeling well.  Mom found some vitamins with pain medicine that Jakie had last year when he got nootered, so she's been giving him a little of that in his food too.  He's been drinking, but only eating little bits at a time, but that may be a good thing considering the not so good stuff coming out the other end.  He comes out of his carrier and Mom pets him with the brush and he purrs.  We're hoping he has a better day today.

Later that day...

Spot's home!  He's got a funny poodle cut and we're not even makin fun of him.  He's also got special foods and an antibiotic and an inhaler he has to use once a day.  He's lots perkier than he was on Saturday.  He has to go back and get checked again at the v-e-t tomorrow.

Randy had a better day today than Saturday or Sunday, but still not a good one.  He did eat some and Mom continued to put the pepcid and the pain medicine in his food.  He seems to be resting ok, but we know his tummy must be hurting.  He's a tough guy and he's surprised us before so keep those paws crossed!

Friday everyone was fine. Then Friday night  Mom noticed Spot was a bit punky.  He's in the hospital now.  He's got diabetes, likely caused by the prednisone he's been taking for his athsma.  He also had a bit of jaundice, That's resolved for now, but they're still checking his gall baldder and liver and things.  He had to to the bigger hospital since they have better facilities for the testing he needed.  He'll come back tomorrow to the regular vet.  Hopefully, things will get regulated and he'll be able to come home soon.

Randy's had a setback too.  Friday night he was good, enjoying his brushing from Mom.  Then Saturday morning, right after the beans decided Spot needed to go to the v-e-t, Mom saw blood in Randy's  litterbox.  Since he's got IBD, Dr. Gay said to give him some pepcid.  But he really doesn't feel like eating, so that's easier said than done.  It got a lot worse yesterday, there was even blood on his blankie.  He only ate a couple mouthfulls all day, but he did drink water so that's good.  And Mom's actually afraid to have him eat too much considering.

We really don't want him to see anyone but Dr. Gay, and truthfully there's not too many other vets who take care of ferals, so he goes to see her on Tuesday.  He's been resting quietly today.  Mom & Dad got him some baby food lamb and baby food rice cereal and mixed them together and he ate a couple spoonfuls of that with the pepcid mixed in.

Please send some good thoughts for Spot and Randy, we loves both our brothers, even though we pounce Spot sometimes...

Hehe, it's not what you think!  Randy's been with us a while now; we just passed our two month Randiversary.  He's still doing pretty well.  We think he's gained about a pound and a half.  It's hard to tell exactly, since we have to weigh him on the bathroom scale, which probably isn't that accurate, in his carrier, and then adjust.

But you know he's still got his tummy problem.  Sometimes it's really bad and sometimes it's not so bad.  When it's very bad he kinda goes off his food for a few meals.  That upsets Mom since that's the only way he can get his medicine.  It's tricky.  You can't give him too much food to hurt his tummy, but it has to be enough to disguise the taste of the pillls Mom crushes into it! 

He still stays pretty much in his carrier.  We haven't wanted to stress him, so the beans have been letting him be.  But then they watched the video from Best Friends.  Mom doesn't really like to watch those because even though they're really nice and all, they always make her cry.  Whatever.  Anyway, they had all those feral cats that they got from that place in Parhump.  And they had them in cages just like Randy.  Only they didn't have carriers for them to hide in.  And they were not freaking out!  And the Best Friends people were petting the ferals with sticks. And they were not freaking out!

So Mom & Dad looked at each other and went up to Randy's room and dumped him out of the carrier!  OK, they gently prodded him out.  They have to do it every couple days anyway to change his blankie.  They took out the carrier and left him a soft blankie and set up the webcam.  At first he sat in the litter box!  But Mom went up and poked him with a stick and he laid on the blankie!  Then he relaxed and ate some food and drank some water and went back on the blankie.

So now they've been dumping Randy every day!  And Mom's been petting him with the 'petting stick'!  It's really just a back scratcher from Pier One.  At first he hissed, but he didn't swipe or freak out, so she kept at it.  Then yesterday Mom got another brilliant idea, she got a soft brush and attached it to a stick and brushed Randy with it.  His very first brushing!  And guess what!!! He purred!!!  He purred while Mom was brushing him.  Never mind that it was with a brush mounted on an 18" stick!  Seriously, I think my mom was purring too!

It's way too soon for Twizzy to have lost another brother, but we just read that Bear went to join Meep and Buzz.  Bear was only with Jim and the girl for about a year, but we know they loved him very much.

Mom says some beans have special hearts because they give kitties forever homes even though they know the kitties might not be here for a very long time.  It was a little different with Randy, Mom doesn't think her heart is that strong.  Purrs to Twizzy and his beans.

Suppertime!  Mom & Dad printed out this picture for Dr. Gay.  She hasn't seen Randy since they gave him the works.   Mom went to pick up more of his medicine this morning and he's got another med for his tummy.  Even with his tummy problem we think he's gaining weight and doesn't his coat look good!

I wanted to visit with him last night, so Dad held me while I said hello.  Randy stayed in his carrier(inside the crate) and looked out at me.  I think it's good for him to see the beans petting me.  We really just looked at each other for a few minutes and then it was time for bed.  Well I guess a few minutes is better than no time at all!