Update

There's a couple of things I think it would be useful to note today.

The first is Nathan's health and how his rodent ulcers are going. Towards the end of May, his top lip began to swell and a scab came up. As we were going away, and wouldn't be in a position to take him to the vet for a biopsy if it did come up badly, we decided to give him some steroids to bring it down. We had a catsitter who was also able to pill him and we gave him a low dose. In the middle of reducing the dose he did his disappearing act so we couldn't complete the reduction but he didn't seem to have any ill-effect.

Since then, he's been absolutely fine. We've been very firm on not giving him any food other than the hypoallergenic stuff and really made sure that the flea control is done properly and in a timely fashion. I'm glad he's OK for now.

The second thing to update is both of their kidneys! After the visit to the vet a couple of weeks ago, we went out and got them some high quality wet food. Although we wonder if part of Nathan's allergy was caused by flea bites, I also think that some cat food has so much "stuff" in it that it may also be the trigger for the ulcers. We need to give them wet food to bring down the concentration of their urine (nice, I know) and to encourage them to take more fluid on board. This food has only got meat, rice and water in it and nothing else so it shouldn't cause Nathan any problems.

It's working out pretty good as they both love it, particularly Nathan. On Friday morning I was preparing it and he sprayed on the kitchen floor, which wasn't very nice. So now I keep them behind a door while I'm getting it ready (adding water and forking it apart).



I'll try to get a shot of them standing up against the glass and mewing. It's very pitiful. And silly, because of course I'm about to give them the food!

And finally, was that they were being overfed and Natalie in particularly needed to lose some weight. The vet said if there was a scale of cat weight thus:

0 = malnourished feral cat ---------5 = perfect weight ---------9 = morbidly obese

Nathan is a 6 and Natalie an 8. So, she needed to lose some chub! She really didn't like the reduction in food at first, she got really quite intense and odd while she was in the house and in her interactions with us. I was concerned that it would lead to them being competitive over food. Nathan eats very quickly and tends to finish his then start on hers. But she comes in for extra food, and I try to make sure it's done fairly when I have time to stand over them and remove Nathan when she's only half way through and he's finished his. I think she's beginning to look a bit trimmer and I hope gradually she'll be as sleek as Nathan. I will miss her fatness though, Nathan is so boney, stroking him doesn't feel quite so nice.

Slightly Poorly Cats

I've noticed a couple of times over the last little while that the litter has had a bit of a pinkish tinge to it in the morning. I wasn't really sure what to make of it, but then, luckily, I read this post, as tweeted via @VitalPetHealth on Twitter.

So I booked them in with the vet. I was a little concerned that I was over-reacting, and would go down as a bit of a weirdo, having taken Nathan in with a burgeoning rodent ulcer to be told in no uncertain terms that he was fine and medicating him was unnecessary.

I kept them this morning as the appointment was in the afternoon and they're hard to get in unless they really want to, or they're hungry.

It's been a tough day. Nathan sat by the back door for about two hours, just mournfully staring at the handle. Then he came into the living room where I was watching telly and did this:



I really do think it looks like he's trying to figure out how to open the window! (We don't actually live in a forest, btw.)

I went out for a while and they were sleeping when I got back. That didn't last long, as then they both came in and started looking mournfully out of the window:



They're both looking at me in that photo, but trust me, there was some longing staring going on!

I really hoped there was nothing wrong, but I know that kidney problems can get very nasty in cats, and we can afford to pay for the peace of mind.

We both really like the vet and thankfully we didn't have to wait too long. Last time we waited about 40 minutes and there was a big dog in the waiting room scaring Nathan to death. There were some seriously sweaty paws during that visit.

So in we went, and explained the problem. The vet explained that female cats get cystitis, which hurts but doesn't cause too many problems. Male cats get blockages, I think that was crystals. Google will tell you. He could feel their bladders and explained that the way to check if there was anything wrong was to take a sample of urine. From their bladders. WITH A NEEDLE.

I was a bit taken aback and was wondering about general anaesthetics and things. But, it's brisk business, this vet lark, so in came a nurse and he took urine from both of their bladders, easy as pie! I know if someone stuck a needle in my bladder you'd know about it in Shanghai, but they were both beautifully behaved, although good old Natalie got her leg up to make it difficult. That's my girl.

Turns out both of them have highly concentrated urine, and Nathan's contained blood. So I'm very glad that I do cast an eye over the litter as I change it, and that they do use it at home. Phew. He's on the cusp of an infection, and she's pretty close too, so we've got to try to get as much fluid into them as possible. They are not drinking enough for their body mass, which means their bladders fill with highly concentrated urine which causes problems. The dry food makes it worse as it doesn't contain any fluid which would help with their moisture intake. The vet said it was quite unusual to see cats before the infection kicks in, so I'm pretty pleased with myself for spotting it. I may be a bit neurotic, but it pays off eventually!

There is an element of an intersection of problems as we now have a few things to manage to help them. We had been feeding them wet food, but due to Nathan's rodent ulcers, were sticking to hypoallergenic dry food only. Another problem just feeding them dry food is that it's making them fat. But as we have two, we try to give them free access as it avoids competition. Nathan eats a lot faster than Natalie, so she'll lose weight regardless! I just hope we can manage it so that they lose weight, don't get bladder infections, don't get competitive over food and his face doesn't flare up. Not too much of a challenge!

Here's Natalie with the article that prompted me to take action while I was writing this post. She's already hungry.

Nathan T Cat

Nathan el diablokitty.

I haven't been on good terms with Nathan lately, I didn't really understand him. I began to wonder if Natalie was dominating him. We can trust her a lot more, and so she's the cat that gets to sleep on our bed in the mornings, sit on our laps as much as she likes and generally be as near us as she pleases. This is because she hasn't done piss/spray droplets on us or our floors. As far as we know.

Poor Nathan. It can't be much fun being an undersized male cat (although he's not even one year old yet) and having your smaller sibling own you whenever she pleases. His rodent ulcers/eosinophilic granuloma has got a lot worse over the last 48 hours too. I'll try to get a picture. I read in Cat vs Cat by Pam Johnson-Bennett that when a cat is ill, it instantly loses any dominance. Poor poor Nathan. No wonder he's been feeling a bit sorry for himself.

I decided to buy him a new scratching post, for the room he prefers when they're in the house. I've done this and hope he gets to enjoy it. Natalie definitely scratches more than him, and does so at the foot of the stairs at least twice a day. I'm not sure what that means in terms of territory and boundaries, but she's a very scent-marky cat with her face and the whole house, and us, must just stink of her to Nathan.

I was really pleased with a spot purchase though. It's a dog blanket for cars for wet dogs to sit on so that they don't ruin the upholstery. But what else would it be perfect for? Allowing a cat to sit on one's lap without the fear that piss/spray will end up on your clothing. I've already had him on my lap twice today and he got so excited he dribbled! I love it when cats dribble, you know they're really happy then. So, we'll persevere with that, and the great thing about it, that as we'll only use it with Nathan, it'll smell of him and hopefully reduce his desire to "mark" us with urine (well, that should be ME really) when he's on our laps. Win win all round.

Not such a diablokitty after all.

Continuing Rodent Ulcer/Eosinophilic Granuloma

Well, it's sort of getting bigger, but completely not bothering him at all:



Don't worrry that it looks like we're strangling him, it's fine, and only for a few seconds. Not a great picture due to the flash, but the left side of his face, just above the lip, has swelled up a bit. It's a little "crusty" under the fur, and some has come out. It's been a bit weepy but is quite dry today. It doesn't seem to bother him at all.

So, I'm wondering what's going on with it really, and thinking that the food is actually helping the situation, instead of being random advice.

As I've said before, when the previous rodent ulcer came up, his lip was a bit swollen on the Monday and by the time I took him to the vet on the next Wednesday, less than three days later, it had become red, crusty and oozy. Disgusting.

This one has been going on for about three weeks. It is a bit crusty and oozy from time to time, but not red and not in a place that's going to cause him any bother. It does look like an eosinphilic granuloma, but nothing like as bad as some of the pictures I've seen on the internet. I'm making the assumption that the hypoallergenic food is doing some good and reducing the amount of time the reaction is taking to develop. Or perhaps there is far less of whatever he is allergic to. Or perhaps it's something completely different.

The best result for me, would be if it went back down and we could try him on some other food to see how that goes. It would be useful to take him for a biopsy, but I'm not keen at all on the idea of a general anaesthetic and the cost is rather high. Poor little cat's had a lifetime of being messed with so it would be nice if this would just resolve itself.

Stupid Cat Owner

Nathan's rodent ulcers can be an allergic reaction to food and flea bites. I read on the internet that just one or two flea bites can cause an ulcer to flare up. So, I decided, to be a good cat parent, I'd treat the areas in the house they frequent with flea powder. You simply sprinkle it on to the carpet, leave it a while, then vacuum clean it back up. What could be simpler?

Two hours of vacuuming later, I'm sure we'll be finding those little white granules in our shoes and probably our bed, and it's still not done. I've become the grumpiest person ever known to exist on a bank holiday and the fact remains that we didn't even have fleas.

This is what is called going way too far for your cats.

Nathan

This is Nathan, the boy cat. He is the more friendly of the two, but also more insecure. He has a condition called rodent ulcers, or esinophilic granuloma. It's an allergic reaction, usually to fleas or food. His upper lip swells up and I call him Zoidberg. Rob thinks this is mean, but it's funny. He's less than a year old and spent most of his life having a pill or two rammed down his throat twice a day. Poor kitty. So now, during this latest flare up, we've decided that we're going to try an exclusion diet so he's just eating James Wellbeloved fish dry food night and day. Just this morning, he found a piece of half chewed bread my dad dropped and gobbled it up. He loves food and it's a bit sad that he can't have any ham or chocolate treats which he LOVES. But vet's bills are expensive!

He doesn't like having water sprayed in his face, which happens sometimes when we are pilling him. He also doesn't like being pilled, being grabbed before being pilled, and the bit after the pill has been ingested.

He does like pretending to be a badass by chasing his sister round the house, climbing our fugly faux velvet curtains, lying on windowsills and being brushed. He also likes me a bit too much and has been known to do little urine scent mark on me. He doesn't sit on my lap anymore, dirty bugger.