HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

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New Vet, New Challenges

 

After due consideration, hubby and I have decided to change vets. Since Dr. Ostrich has pretty much retired and Dr. Heather is so busy that she is hardly ever available when you need to schedule an appointment with her, we will be taking our fur babies to Dr. Mike (Comalli) and his wife Lila, who is also a veterinarian, at their veterinary clinic in Womelsdorf. Luckily for us, Dr. Mike is located only a couple of miles up the road from our old vet.

Another reason for the change in vets is that Dr. Mike is known for being extremely thorough and excellent at making a diagnosis. And, with the medical issues that we have been experiencing with our fur babies as of late, we need a vet who knows what they are doing and has a lot of experience just as our long-time vet, Dr. Ostrich.

Dr.'s Mike and Lila Comalli

On Wednesday night, we took Midnight to Dr. Mike to examine some wart-like lumps/tumors on the dorsal part of his tail. After he shaved away the fur to get a better look, he saw at least 12 more little tumors and also noticed a lot of moisture around that area. We have scheduled a biopsy for December 3rd, but first we must take care of the moisture on his tail so that Dr. Mike may get an accurate biopsy result. At present, we are treating his tail three times a week with a special shampoo we are to use up until his biopsy surgery. We are praying that our baby will be okay and will do whatever we possibly can to save him. Unfortunately, as is always the case, after a certain point it is all out of our hands. 

Midnight's tail

 

 

Another change which I, myself, have chosen to make is that since I will no longer have the time to keep two blogs going, I will soon be phasing this blog out. I will leave it up as there is some information that perhaps someone may find helpful or useful in some way, but other than that I will no longer be adding new posts to this particular blog. I will; however, still try to continue with my main blog, "The Wiccan Life." 

Oh, the horror! (re-post from my other blog)

What a hard week hubby and I have had! It all began when we noticed a lot of little "uncooked rice-like" non-moving "things" left on the blankets and comforters of every place our cat Leo had laid. I called up our vet and they told us to bring them a fecal sample from him to have analyzed at their out-sourced lab. In the meantime, I researched the issue via the pet vet sites (and people I know who also have cats) and everything pointed to tapeworms! How? I honestly do not know since all of our cats are completely and strictly indoor cats only!

A day later, the vet called us and said that he had isospora which is supposedly an intestinal parasite similar to giardia. Now, when I dropped off Leo's fecal, I also bagged up the samples of the "rice-like" dead tapeworms for them to look at as well. I asked them about it and they said he doesn't have tapeworm, just isospora and that they did not "know" what the rice-like things were. Well, turns out they may have been right about the isospora, but they were completely wrong about the tapeworms!

Because these parasites are so contagious, we have to treat all five cats for both issues. So, yesterday morning I called up the vet to let them know that hubby was going to pick up the cats meds and they said they will have them dosed and ready for us. Then when my husband showed up at the vets office to pick them up, he was told some BS about our one cat Midnight had not been seen in the last six months so they couldn't give us his portion. WHAT? How useless is that? Why would we treat only four of our cats and not all as seriously contagious as the problem is? They told us that since we already have an appointment set for this Monday night anyhow to have Midnight seen for three wart-like things on his tail, we should be able to pick up all the meds then ... (sigh)

 

(What the tapeworms actually look like. They break off in segments via the cats anus. Although they come out live, they do not live very long outside the host cat's body ~ that is when they dry up and die looking like uncooked rice.)

 

Last night, we left Leo out by himself in the cat's room to stretch his legs a bit as we have had to keep him in a cage and separated from the other cats until the problem is resolved. Two hours later, I went in the room to put him to bed and back in his cage and what did I see? EEKK!! A live, moving, disgusting tapeworm which had apparently just slithered out of his butt! That was it! I had had enough of the vet's BS and first thing this morning hubby and I drove over to the vet and demanded help! That is when they told us that he also had tapeworms as well as the isopora! Gimme a break, will ya? I was so upset and livid at that point that Dr. Heather had decided to take a break from a surgery she was working on to come out and straighten out their mess!

She maintained that she could lose her license if she dispensed meds to Midnight without the "six month check up." She also said that the tapeworms were more than likely from fleas ~ either ingested by one of the cats or caused by feces in the litter boxes. Now, our cats do not have fleas, but after further thought, hubby told me that he remembered seeing one on Fancy Pants (the idiot neighbor lady's Siamese cat) the last time we watched her for her owner. AH HA!!! Made logical sense at that point and, lesson learned! We will never take another stray cat in for any reason, temporarily or otherwise, that way ever again. I absolutely refuse to go through this nightmare again! Everything, including the water and food bowls, cats boxes, blankets, rugs, etc.) had to be completely washed and decontaminated as best we could.. On top of that, we had to treat all of the cats for fleas.

Dr. Heather must have felt sorry for us and had decided to dispense the isospora meds after all so long as we still agreed to bring Midnight to his scheduled appointment on Monday night. For some ridiculous reason unknown to us; however, she did not give us tapeworm meds, only the meds the cats were supposed to get before their office screwed up.

And so we had to stop off at our local PetSmart and pick up tapeworm meds to give to all of the cats as well as giving them their isospora dosage. It isn't exactly over yet as only time will tell if the treatments worked, and we are keeping our fingers triple-crossed! All of this because we tried to do the right thing thinking that we were helping to save a nice, sweet cat. As the saying goes, "No good deed goes unpunished" ... how true!

Meet Sylvester!

Odds 'n' Ends ...

Well, yesterday was "National Cat Day" here in the States. So, here is (albeit a day late) to the celebration of cats everywhere!!!

Speaking of cats, just a little update on our little Kiki since our vet, Dr. Heather, gave us her new meds. For the past month she has been getting her medications twice a day and has been doing rather well. Her sneezing fits have pretty much ceased. As of today, we are to cut back on her prednisone from two dosages per day to just one. If that works, then we will gradually continue to wean her off of that medication all together. We are keeping our fingers crossed! ...

 

The Wheel of the Year has turned and tomorrow is Samhain to us Wiccan/Pagans and Halloween to pretty much the rest of Americans. I am planning on celebrating with my sister and twin soul, Rhiannon all day Saturday. We have some special things planned for this year's ritual and I am very excited. Although, this will be my first Samhain celebration/ritual since my beloved dad's passing this past February and, for me at least, it will be a bit of a tough one, but with the love and support of my family and friends I know it will be okay.

 

And so, my dear friends, I wish each and every one of you a very blessed holiday filled with lots of love and many wonderful surprises!

"Samhain Night" ~ Loreena McKennitt

https://youtu.be/5tDFHm1y_QA

Trip to New Hope, PA

Greetings, my friends! Yesterday my hubby, my sister Aurora Skye, her husband, and I took a lovely trip to one of our favorite places ~ New Hope, PA. This was Aurora's hubby's first time visiting there and we enjoyed such a beautiful fall day!

New Hope is located in Bucks County, just shy of the New Jersey border. In fact, there is a bridge right off of Main Street in New Hope village which takes you directly into Jersey.

It is filled with dozens of independently owned shops and food establishments which range from the usual to the more unusual. We always love to check out what's new at the awesome witch shops of "Gypsy Heaven" ...

A cool candy dish

 

A gorgeous Green Man pendant

 

and Celestial pendant

And, "Mystickal Tymes" where we always have the pleasure of spending some time with "Morganna," the owner Eric's beloved kitty and favorite long-time store mascot who is an amazing 20 years old!

While shopping there, I also came across some wonderful purchases ...

Candle Holder

Mermaid Chalice

 

Mermaid votive candle holder

 

Mermaid Statue

'The Gang' posing outside of "Gypsy Heaven"

As well as great shops and delicious food, New Hope offers a variety of fun and interesting things to do such as ...

New Hope & Ivyland Rail Road tours

 

and The Bucks County Playhouse

 

Christmas Past

 

 

I decided to pick up a healing candle for our cat, Kiki, while we were in "Gypsy Heaven" to aid in my Pet Protection Spell I plan on performing for her in conjunction with her meds we have been giving her from our vet to help her get well again.

 

Our Kiki
 

 

After a really beautiful day of family, friends and shopping, it was time to get back to reality. Tomorrow, it's back to work again already.
 

 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!!

Cat Funnies

Here are a few things that only cat guardians could truly understand ...

 

~HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND EVERYONE!~

Our New "Old" Cat Carrier

A few years ago, I bought a cat carrier that was put together by using metal screws. It was easy take off the top part if necessary and it was VERY sturdy! I loved it and still use it to this day.

Well, about a month or so ago, I went looking for another one like it, but to no avail. The only kind I could find at the pet stores (Petsmart, Petco, Pet Max, etc.) were the clip together carriers. I wasn't too crazy about them at all because:

A. They were way too expensive! and;
B. The whole entire idea of holding your cat or dog safely inside a carrier box by only a couple of "clips" did not sound like a very good or sound idea to me!

Turns out, I was definitely right (especially about B.) and I will tell you all why. We used it once (and only once!) to take our cat, Kiki to her vet appointment. After we arrived back home with her, my hubby grabbed the handle on the carrier to get her out of the car and in the house. The clips did not hold together well enough and suddenly the bottom dropped out from under her! Which left me terrified that she would run off scared and we would never see her again and her in such shock she just stood in the middle of our our driveway paralyzed for a few seconds and then, thankfully, ran in front of the garage door as if she was trying to get back into the house! Hubby slowly walked toward her and gently picked her up and took her inside. Close call! And I have never used that horribly unsafe carrier since then. Nor will I advise anyone else to purchase one for their beloved pet!

So, Thursday afternoon I searched on-line and found another carrier very similar to our old one and made just as sturdy ...

 Petmate Sky Kennel Pet Carrier

 

 

These carriers are extremely good and last a long time. With five cats, we use our carriers pretty hard and our old one is still serving us well after all these years! LOVE THESE and would definitely recommend them to anyone!

This and That ...

Greetings, my dear friends and Happy Sunday to you!! Just a little update on our male cat, Leo. As you all know, our vet prescribed amitriptyline, a medication to help with his stress and aggression issues. This medication is not like volume and does not "knock the cat out" as in putting them to sleep so that you do not need to deal with their problems or anything of the like. They may; however, become a bit less playful and/or tad listless if over prescribed.

At first, Leo was "under prescribed" and so Dr. Heather upped his dosage from a half a pill a day to 1/2 in the morning and a whole at night before bed time.  So far, we have seen a huge improvement in his behavior. He is not picking on the other cats near as much as he had been and he is a happier kitty all around. And, quite frankly speaking, so are the rest of us! LOL!

Haley, Midnight and Lady Tabitha sharing a window view.

 

Mr. Midnight 'n' Kiki cuddling together on the couch.

 

 

That being said, here is this weeks' Sunday Cat Selection and another one of the cats' Disney favorites ... till next time!!!

 

"I Wanna Be Like You" ~ from Jungle Book

https://youtu.be/FOTZJ8EFgpk

Sunday Cat Selections ~ "The Siamese Cat Song"

 

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all enjoy the cats' musical video pick. It is "The Siamese Cat Song" from the Disney movie, "Lady & The Tramp." As cute as this song is, it is definitely NOT an accurate description of this beautiful breed's characteristics ~ LOL! 



A Sleep Over

Thursday morning while heading out the back catio door to go to work, I was once again greeted by "Miss Fancy Pants" (aka "Trixie"). As always, I left her in the catio and left, knowing that she would be 100 percent safe there until we got home later that afternoon.

After I had gotten to work, I called up her owner and she asked us if we would be willing to keep her overnight and she would then pick her up Friday evening. Of course, we were more than happy to oblige ...

 

She is always such a joy to have as a guest and we absolutely adore her!

Blessed Lughnasadh!

Blog Name Change

As I am sure everyone has already taken notice, I have decided to change the name/title of this blog from, "Witch Cats Blog" to "The Cat Cottage." I just felt it more fitting of a name.

Enjoy your weekend ALL!!!