greyhead

Could be! Try a Pepcid twice a day for a day or two and see if that helps. Could just be tummy acid from stress. It's one thing to visit MA from VA and quite another to have one's house dismantled and carted off in boxes! Good luck! I hope it's nothing more than this.

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Prayers and good thoughts from here for you and Casey! (Stuff always happens on Friday night at our house. I think it's a rule or something. )

What is CMO, please, and what are the high and maintenance doses of MSM? Glucosamine and chondroitin didn't seem to do much for Shane. His acupuncture vet recommended MSM given with hyaluronic acid, as they work synergistically. He had also been getting Sam-e and Vit. C around the time of his shots for babesia a few months back. Suddenly he developed incontinence, as he did once before two years ago. Discontinued all supps and have been giving 1% milk twice a day for the phosphorus content, and the incontinence is slowly improving. As he has walking problems, I'd like to resume the MSM and HA, but I'm afraid they may relate to the incontinence. (He was getting MSM, glucosamine and chondroitin last time he became incontinent too. Coincidence?) Any chance there could be a relationship do you think? Don't mean this to be a hijack, btw. Hoping this info will also be something Xan would want to know.

Spencer got softer after his recent dose of Drontal Plus, also. And he's still softer than I'd like, two weeks later, but there may have been a food-change issue involved previously too. But he had a dental this week and came through well enough. And I don't consider softness alone a flare, really. When we get gut rumbling too, then I think it's a flare. But this is just our experience and our interpretation. Based on that, I hope you'll be okay until Tuesday. Maybe go easier with the food for a day or so to rest his gut a bit. And I've just re-started his L-glutamate yesterday, hoping that will help firm things up. You got some of that, right? I hope others will chime in here with their ideas, though it's a big holiday weekend on this side of the pond. We at least have some hugs and scritches and good thoughts to tide you over!

That's probably the best idea, Jennifer, and I probably already have one whose contents can be transferred elsewhere. Thanks for reminding me. And the cat and dogs are getting along!

Funny you should ask. It's actually a reversible cat pad with the heat-reflective interior that's good for chilly and/or ailing cats. It's left over from our former population of chronic-renal-failure cats. It's positioned atop a 19th C. chest of drawers in the bedroom which used to hold an antique glass-shade lamp. I figured Mosby would want to head to the highest reachable point in the room, so I removed the lamp and replaced it with that pad. That's his go-to sleeping spot when he's not in bed with us. He just uses the condo next to it as a stepping stone to get up there. We had a setback in training today when DH allowed Mosby and Shane to surprise one another, and fright and hissing ensued. Re-sequestered Mosby for the rest of the afternoon. Now we're trying again to have him downstairs since all the animals just had dinner, the boys had their walk, and there should be naps all around. How did you get my picture to post? I don't know why it worked for me yesterday but not today! Should I be clicking the "post link" or the "post picture" buttons? The latter just gave me a red-x box.

Wow, Kelly, you have quite a cat-and-dog world. Thanks for the comisseration; I feel much less sorry for myself now! By way of update, I concocted a larger (longer) cardboard litter box yesterday to see if he'd stay in it to scratch. He did, and he has covered all his emissions since I put it together yesterday morning! So today I'll try to find a plastic box that's that long and we should be good to go. Also good news on the relationship with the dogs, at least tentatively. We restricted Mosby to the upstairs the last three days, to give all the animals time to chill and perhaps forgive and forget the unfortunate incident. Mosby is turning out to be a quick study, so today I let him come downstairs under supervision, and it went fine. The dogs are still hesitant to walk near the cat, but that's okay for now. We did have a group grope upstairs in the hall, where the dogs went to find DH in his office. With my body between them, I spoke soothingly and petted the dogs with my left hand and Mosby with my right, to demonstrate to everyone that I value each of them and expect them to treat each other accordingly! After a couple hours I put Mosby back upstairs behind the pocket door so the dogs could go out without worrying about whether Mosby would spring at them as they returned! We'll reunite later. I'm thinking to do this in smallish doses so I can supervise, since I can't keep track of each of them all day. There ARE other things that require my attention too. Here are a couple pictures of The Little (Would-Be) Dictator, if I can get them to post. If I can't, I'll figure out what I'm doing wrong today and add them later. My link [/img]

Hmm, good point! Wow, Cheryl, I'd never thought of this. Very interesting and necessary to know in this situation! Would you happen to remember the approximate title of Coren's book that deals with this? In any case, many thanks for pointing this out!

Wonderful news! Hugs and scritches all around!

So far, so good this morning. I called the ER vet and talked to the overnight tech, a very nice guy. He didn't give the okay for Pepto, Pepcid, anything. He said to withhold water last night, since he wasn't keeping it down, and offer a small amount this a.m. I did that a half hour ago, and everything is still fine! Then he said to slowly start offering food and see how that goes. He said if he vomited again last night, to call him back; and if he vomited this a.m., to see the vet. DH slept on the couch for half the night, long enough to determine that Spencer was comfortable. I'm thanking doG that yesterday is over and am determinedly hopeful about today! Part of Spencer's problem, I suspect, was that he came home to find that all the trees in the hard had been "pruned" -- the Pacific NW, pruning 60-foot trees is a lot of pruning -- and the bottoms raised, and three rotting 60-foot birches removed entirely. It changes the light, and there were the smells of five strange men everywhere. We're in mourning for our lost trees -- there was no choice -- and yesterday was very hard on everybody. I thought Spencer would be lucky to stay at the vet for a few hours after his dental and not have to listen to three chainsaws and a chipper! He was fed at the vet's two hours after recovery, and I picked him up about 2-3 hours after that, and he was fine until he got home to his altered landscape. Plus, as the vet said, he's 9 years old. And an IBD dog. They gave him his tylosin and budesonide (both in capsules) at the vet with his food, and maybe that was harsh after a 16-hour fast and a dental. Man, am I going to become better at greyhound oral hygiene! Spencer has some gum recission and exposed roots, and I don't want him (or me) going through this at age 10! Thanks so much for your support and suggestions. The vet tech at our vet's office had mentioned putting ice cubes in with his water, to slow him down, on the theory he was drinking too much too fast. But I think the plain ice cube idea would have been better. I keep meaning to get Gatorade to have on hand! Are there any flavors that greys seem to prefer or dislike? Thanks again! ETA: 10:00 and he has kept his food down for an hour! ETA: Noon. It occurs to me I should add that Spencer received IV fluids during the dental, so his drinking water wasn't due to thirst, so removing his water overnight wasn't going to harm him. Don't want to give any newbies that idea that restricting water over night is a thing to be done lightly!

Exactly. Of course there's individual variation. But people think cats can't be trained, so they don't try to train them, so many cats don't get trained. Vicious circle. Btw, Mosby got boarded at the vet's today, to avoid the intensely noisy tree work we were having done. (Spencer had his dental today, timed for the same reason.) The vet wrote a note about how calm and affectionate Mosby is. Basically, that's true. I really think it was a resource-guarding thing. Thanks much for this post. This sounds exactly like what our situation feels like. I don't want the dogs to have to suppress their excitement, so I guess we'll train ourselves to make sure the cat is contained -- or a spray bottle is conveniently located in all the major rooms!

Today has been the day from hell! The dental went "fine" -- no extractions, came through anesthesia. But Spencer has been vomiting bile and water for hours. I've posted for advice in H&M, but they must be sick of me over there cuz the silence is deafening!

Spencer had soft-serve for pathological reasons, and two vets recommended giving him the supplement glutamate. Along with treatment for the pathology, it worked! (I stopped using it because I didn't think he needed it anymore, but I'm about to start it again.)

I'm just seeing this too, having had a ridiculous day. I hope Staggerlee is doing well now. Spencer's been throwing up bile and water since his dental earlier today, so I feel your pain.

Spencer had a dental today, anesthetized using propofal and isofluorane. No extractions and they said it went fine. He was done by 11:30 and I picked him up at 4:00. At 4:30 he was breathing 240 times per minute, for 15 minutes. Then down to 60. Gum color red, settled back to lighter red. Vet's office said not to worry about the fact that he started vomiting bile and water. Said to restrict his water to 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time. They said this was not unusual after anesthesia. Well, it's 7:30 now and he just vomited again. (He doesn't want food.) Is there anything I can give him to settle his stomach enough to keep water down? I can tell that thick saliva, probably with acid, builds up in his mouth and drools out a few minutes before he vomits. Would Pepto Bismol help, or Pepcid? This has been the day from hell -- I'll skip the non-dog details -- and I'm not feeling very resourceful. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Is this really normal?! He's never done it before. Update 10:15 -- restricting water to nearly none, he stopped vomiting. Just had a couple swallows and retched but didn't vomit. I'm afraid to even give him his thyroid pill. I'm afraid to go to bed too, but I have to. Maybe I'll call the ER vets and see if they can advise something simple over the phone.

Thanks for the eye warning, Linda. Truly, I hadn't thought about that exact injury! Yeah, Lindsay, I know he's not really feral, although that's what the vet's office called him. And now that I'm a little ticked off at him, I'm using the term as a perjorative, I guess. This is me blowing off a little steam! But it's also a reminder to me that whatever his total fund of experience is, and however in command he can appear to be, there's some basic stuff that he justs does not know! For instance, he's using the litter box, but he doesn't know how to stay in the box to cover his stuff with the litter. He gets out of the box and scratches on the mat in front of it, and he works really hard at it! But the vet was pleased/surprised to hear that he was even using the box. So now we need a longer box -- probably cardboard --so he can learn to cover with litter. We do care for the little guy. But now I remember why I'd decided not to have more cats!

What effect does Feliway in a diffuser have on the dogs? I'll start using it upstairs where the kitty is now confined. But I'm just curious if the dogs will feel...unwelcome in some way if the air is perfused with cat pheromones! I mean, we all know greys are sensitive and can take a hint! Seriously, the dogs were here first and this cat will either get with the program or else. We really did begin with the one-room and then one-floor cat restriction at the beginning. But he's a very smart and intrepid kitteh who graduated comfortably to whole house within 3-4 days. Now he seems to be making a bid for Mucho Macho Alpha Animal, probably because of underlying insecurity about his and the dogs' relative places in the scheme of things. And he'd still have some macho hormones left since he was only neutered two weeks ago, yes? Btw, Shane came upstairs to look for me early last evening -- musta left the door open -- and Mosby started to get in his face. You could see it in his body positioning, but I didn't let it get any further than that. Several firm "no's" from me were enough to get him to walk away and chill. My theory and experience with prior cats is that they *can* be trained insofar as they are smart enough to perceive your expectations/desires and comply with them if they value you. But I've never dealt with a feral before. Eesh. So we're back to upstairs confinement for Mosby. DH works up there in the daytime and we sleep there, so he won't lack for company. And we'll just start over, this time with Feliway. We'll see about the harness-and-leash possibilities or maybe reintroducing him to the downstairs in his carrier. (I like the crate idea but don't have the space available right now.) Spencer is having a dental tomorrow. (Who me, nervous?! ) There will be a tree-trimming-and-cutting crew here all day. So Spencer and Mosby are going to spend the day at the vet, where Mosby will see his old friends, and Shane is going to board with a dog-sitter two blocks over. I wish someone would board me , but I'll have to stay and listen to it. Meanwhile, Mosby's going to stay upstairs cuz I don't want anything to upset Spencer right now. So thank you all *so* much for your perspectives and suggestions. If it's not pushing my luck to ask for more, please hold a good thought for Spencer's dental.

Okay, just for the record, I did *not* scream! So don't be startin' any rumors. For the pins-and-needles aspect, as I just wrote above, I don't think so. But I think you're right that he has some underlying tension or wariness that was just awaiting a trigger. And given the overall context of everything, I think he's really scared of losing me/us/this home. He probably doesn't want to find himself out in the woods again with the coyotes and whatnot. I've been expecting him to make a run for the door one of the umpteen times it opens for the dogs' outs, but he never yet has. Guess I understand why that is now too. Though I'm sure the day will come, if it ever stops raining and becomes summer here in Seattle! Yeah, it's tempting to try to return him. But I don't want him to be PTS because nobody else will take him either. And we really like him. He's just kind of a handful, and we don't want anybody getting hurt. ETA: Very interesting link, and the couple featured in it live nearby and like to email people about FIV cats. So I will! Thanks so much.

I trimmed your post to just these parts. He came with vet-trimmed nails, so they're short and perfect. That's probably why there were yelps but no blood. He has never been aggressive before! We've used the squirt bottle to train him off the kitchen counters. (He came with a food obsession resulting from having apparently little to eat in recent weeks. The vet said he was really, really thin when they got him. He's up to 10 lbs now.) Anyhow, he has been pushy and insistent about food, but never aggressive. He has acted very well toward the dogs for the most part. We were pleased that he wasn't totally afraid of them, just appropriately respectful until he realized they weren't going to hurt him. But the last few days he seems to have no fear of them at all, seeing as how they avoid going anywhere that he's in the path. He was startled the other day by my merely arising from the couch when he was sniffing something intently. He was so startled that he exploded across the room, right across the length of Spencer's recumbent body and off his head! Spencer squealed and jumped up like, What the h*ll?! But the cat had kept going and nothing came of it.

He looks like he was a very happy and handsome boy. I'm so sorry for your sudden, shocking loss.

The main problem is that Mosby needs to be an indoor cat in a home with no cats because of his FIV-positive status. The woman who found him couldn't keep him because she has four cats. The Human Society turned him down because of his health status. It's really hard to find a competent cat home where there are no cats already. thanks for the suggestions. I'll call the vet tomorrow and get her ideas too. Tonight I'll just keep everybody separated. (Thank doG for the pocket door at the top of the stairs!) I have had many cats over the years and never, ever have seen such a ferocious display! At least no blood was drawn.

I don't even know what forum to post this question in, but... How do you train the new cat to not attack the greyhounds?! The vet talked us into taking a stray tom that had been brought to her. They guestimate that he's at least 10, they altered him two weeks ago, and he's FIV-positive but otherwise healthy. His name is Mosby. Our greys, age 7 and 9, have been perfect gentlemen with him, and Mosby has been pretty respectful of them but has been getting braver every day about passing close by them, standing directly underneath, etc. They've all touched noses. Well, an hour ago Spencer jumped on my foot, in his enthusiasm to go for a walk. It was a hard contact and I said ow-ow-ow-ow. Mosby suddenly flies at the dogs, there was yelping and hissing and scrambling... I herded Mosby onto the couch, where I attempted to pick him up, calmly, but he gave me a 4-inch scratch on the arm and hiss to boot. We put him in a time out in the bathroom for 10 minutes, then merely confined him to the upstairs. DH took the boys for their walk. I don't know how to handle this going forward! This cat fearlessly attacked two huge greyhound boys! (I guess he thought he was defending me, and I guess I'm already valuable as She Who Provides Home and Food! He's also very affectionate with people in general.) Though the dogs are very gentle with most small things, I don't think they're going to take a lot of guff from this guy and never respond. And if they respond, the cat's going to lose. Bigtime. How does one train a cat like this, who doesn't even have much obvious experience with a litter box, to act less like a terrier toward the greyhounds?

One of our dogs needed four teeth extracted at his first dental because of damage. The vet said the only way those particular teeth get damaged is because of crate chewing. He apparently had been ready to leave the kennel some time before he was allowed to do so.