He did it!

Sam ate on his own this morning!!!  We are going to the vet later today and we'll see what they says about removing the tube.  I think we should wait a few more days until he eats a larger amount.  We are so excited, he is on the road to being normal again!  Thanks so much for all your love and support, it has helped tremendously.

Some lovins!

I thought I would share some cute pictures from our fridge, something a little more uplifting.  Its been a crazy few weeks and I think we all need some cuteness in our lives to cheer us up.

Here are the brothers in seattle! It's so cute how sam loves to touch his friends.  He loves to reach out a paw and feel people and his brother.

and when they were tini babies, amazingly sylvester looks so mellow, that didn't last long.

And me, starting my kitty nursing as a baby myself, with mouse, and amazingly he is bigger than our monster cats. 

So confusing!

There is so much going on with Sam.  He had that infection (abscess) that was removed/drained on monday, that infection was extremely bad bacteria that can be immune to antibiotics and can also mutate.   The vet also now thinks that something else might be going on.  As in why he stopped eating in the first place, Inflammatory bowel or some sort of intestinal disease.  If the infection comes back we have to pull the tube.  The vet says that Sam should start eating because his liver is basically healed now, good new for sure.   The only problem is that he still won't eat on his own and I tried to put some milk in front of him earlier and just smelling it made him puke.  I am so glad to know that his liver is better, now we just need the sammer to start eating on his own.  I am hoping he will do this really soon!  It's so sad to think of all he has been through and how he must have been feeling.   I hope he recovers soon and eats some snacks!

Another step back

Sam has a new infection, not at the tube site but next to it.  The vet had to drain it, because it was swollen with fluid inside.  We now have all the bandages and tape to change the bandaging ourself.  This will not only save money, but time as well.  And now we can inspect the site ourself, which I good for me because I have turned into a crazy cat nurse.   

We also had a incident after the vet yesterday, the cat decided he needed to go bad, pee I mean.  David had taken him to the vet on his own and upon arriving at home he let him out of the carrier and Sam ran down the hallway all wet, David locked him in the bathroom and "tried" to clean up the mess.  Needless to say when I got home from work our house smelled terrible, like a crazy cat person with 10 cats.  I have been spraying natures miracle everywhere and It has gotten better but I think I need to get more of  it and mop the entire place with it.  The cat also smells terrible because he peed himself.  I need to get some of the cat or pet wet wipes like they used at the vet when he did the same thing there.  Frustrating to say the least.

 The feeding went well yesterday but I just fed him today and he puked it all up.  I think I went to fast.  He has been taking the food fairly fast lately and I think I got a little ahead of myself.  Slowing down is always good practice.

I think besides the obvious setback Sam is doing better, he doesn't seem as jaundice anymore and is still acting more active.

Happy happy joy joy

Sam's bilirubin level is 1/2 of what it was a week ago.  This means his liver is healing.   The level of the bilirubin is important because when his liver is not properly functioning it produces more of the bilirubin.  He also looks less jaundice.  His infection at the tube site looks much better as well. 

He hissed at sylvester today and raised a paw at him, kitty showdown avoided.   Hopefully soon he will start eating on his own again so we can think about removing the tube.  He did come to the kitchen when I shook the bag of food, so he was thinking about eating. 

Yeaaaa, for improvements.  All my hard work is paying off, it feels good. 

Where is my mind.....

So apparently I was supposed to work today and didn't remember ever knowing I had a client.  The receptionist called me half an hour after my client got there (she was early).  So needless to say my client was upset.  I was a little upset as well, I expected to get a reminder call, instead I got scolded by the 23 year receptionist.  I have a lot on my mind and after two days off, it was no surprise that I didn't remember having one client at 5:30 pm.  I was extremely annoyed with her for not reminding me and myself for being so scatter brained.

Anyway back to Sam, where my mind IS.  He had a good amount of food yesterday and also threw some of it up over night, after I gave him his meds.  The meds are making him a little nauseous, but today he had a nausea shot and I am going to wait a little longer before I give him the meds tonight, so he will hopefully keep them down. 

 Today he did some scratching on his post, some licking of himself and laid by the heater after staying under the bed for the last 2 weeks.  These 3 things are all things that he hasn't been doing lately so seeing him acting more normal is a improvement.   He also ate a tini bit of catnip, the first thing he has ingested on his own in a really long time.  I was so excited when he did that.  He seems to be improving a little bit even though he is still really sick.  Today also marked the first day we weren't at the vet, besides sundays when they are closed, also a improvement. 

Tomorrow it's back to the vet to see how his bilirubin levels are, as well as check his infection at the tube site and get his bandaged changed again.  

One step forward, one step back

We got new antibiotics on Saturday, they are to be given once a day.  Dr. Gordon Says that they were less likely to make Sam nauseous.  I gave Sam the meds last night before bed.  I went to feed him at 8 am,  he threw up, just a little bit.  I then waited until noon to try again and just gave him a little bit of food to see what happens.  I hope it was just temporary.  Today is also the first day that we haven't given him a shot for nausea in the morning.  There are just so many factors to consider with his treatment.  

In great news he was up and scratching stuff, liking himself and generally being more active.  It was great to see him up and around. Dr. Gordon also said that he didn't lose any more weight which is really good news.  I believe everything we are doing is helping, slowly.  

I tried to give him some regular canned food today, to see what he would do.  He sniffed it a bit then walked away, but after he walked away he was looking over at it a few times.   Then comes Sylvester to eat it all up.  He sure is eating a lot.  We were told to always leave food out for Sam in case he decides to eat, however Sylvester keeps eating it all.