Save Moki

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:45:00 +0000

My how time flies...it's hard to believe that over two months have past since our last update!!! So lets see where did I leave off...Oh yes, we had just made the move to our new home. Well Moki adjusted quite well. Orange Boy was here for awhile but had a hard time adjusting since at the time I was housing my Aunt and Uncle's cat as well, and could only allow the cats to roam around the house at seperate times. Since Orange Boy was having a hard time adjusting, his Dad and I discussed things and Orange Boy went back to stay with his Dad for awhile, (until the work was completed on my aunt Aunt and Uncle's house and they could pick up their cat.) In the meantime, Orange Boy got sick, and since his vet was in Morgan Hill his stay with his Dad was prolonged. The work on my Aunt and Uncles house was also prolonged, and their cat remains here as a result. So at the moment Orange Boy is still living with his Dad. Mini Munch and Little Kitty did eventually come to live with me and the two of them adjusted quite well, even with the having to take turns sharing the house with my Aunt and Uncles cat. (To clarify things, my Aunt and Uncle's cat is never allowed out with Mini Munch, Little Kitty and Moki, which means that they have to take turns being locked in a bed room and having full roam of the rest of the house. In other words, when Mini Munch, Little Kitty and Moki are out and about, then Sam my Aunt and Uncle's cat has to remain locked up in his bedroom and visa-versa.) With that said, everyone has been doing quite well...Moki has been eating like a horse, and has shown no signs of illness in the past two months. He is still having problems walking, but is eager to get around and explore. I have discovered recently that when Moki has bouts where he refuses to drink anything, I can trick him into drinking on his own again by offering him cat milk. If I give him just a little each morning and each evening then he seems to drink the milk without a problem and has a stronger desire to drink water on his own as well. If I don't offer him up any cat milk then Moki refuses to drink altogether. Cat milk definately seems to be the magic trick here when it comes to keeping Moki drinking on his own. Now that I have figured out the trick with the cat milk, Moki is drinking more water on his own then he ever has in the past, (well at least since he got sick...) so needless to say, things are going good. Of course, I still need to give him fluids from time to time, and have another thoracic inlet (chest) x-ray taken, in addition to having to continue to work on his walking problems, but other than the continual problems we have always faced, I am happy to report nothing new is surfacing. YAH!

As for the pictures, they where just taken this past Saturday. Moki's Dad hadn't seen him for awhile so he asked if he could come and pick up Moki for a visit. The pictures where taken just after Moki had finished eating, and just before his Dad picked him up. Moki will be staying with his Dad until Wednesday, when I will pick both Orange Boy and him up. Now that Mini Munch his here, I am hoping that Orange Boy will adjust a little better this time around, so I am going to give it another shot. If it turns out that he is still unhappy, (with Sam being here and not being able to roam around the house at free-will, then he will go back and stay with his Dad awhile longer until Sam is finally gone.) With that said, lets all keep our fingers crossed that things work out with Orange Boy and he is happy here, reunited with everyone!

On a different note, Christmas is approaching fastly...with my schedule I really have to plan things in advance...so this year I am trying to get a Christmas card list together early. If you would like to be included on Moki's Christmas card list, just send me an email (questions at save moki dot com) with your address. For those of you who would like to send Moki a Christmas card, just email me and I will respond with our new address. Ok well thats all for now...We miss you all...and hope to visit with everyone again real soon (Momma bean has pretty much the whole month of Dec off to get all caught up YAY!)

xoxo,

Moki and Family

Sorry We've Been Away For So Long...

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:34:00 +0000

So much has happened...were do I begin? Well let's see...momma bean took her last final for the quarter today. She now has until the 6th to turn in two remaining papers and one power point presentation before she offically begins her break between quarters and she can't wait! It will be the first time she has had a break inbetween quarters in 9 months! She will be off from the 7th thru the 22nd, and is looking forward to spending a little time catching up with all of you!

On a different note, momma bean and daddy bean have offically seperated and momma bean has moved to Discovery Bay. Despite the seperation I am glad to say that momma bean and daddy bean continue to remain friends. At the moment, Moki is currently residing with momma bean and daddy bean has visitation rights. (Moki goes and stays with daddy bean for 3-4 days every couple of weeks.) As for Orange Boy, Mini Munch and Little Kitty, they are all currently residing with daddy bean on a temporary basis. Once momma bean finishes taking care of some things around the new place, in a couple of weeks, everyone will be residing here with momma bean and daddy bean will open up his doors to a whole new set of rescue kitties when he is ready...

Now in regards to Moki. I know many of you have been wondering how he is doing, and the answer to that question is...Moki is doing awesome! He has adjusted to the new house very well, and loves the additional room he has to walk around. He is missing Orange Boy lots, but momma bean takes him over to daddy beans house as often as she can so he can visit and soon Orange Boy will be living here so that wont be a problem. Moki had been battling an unwillingness to drink anything for quite some time, but recently that changed and he has begun gulping down cat milk left and right. Other than the recent drinking issue, which Moki appears to be getting over, he seems to be doing better than ever at the moment. He has a stong desire to eat and eats alot. He also continues to remain very playful and loves to explore the new house. I'll post a more detailed updated in a few days once I've had a chance to rest a little. In the meantime I wanted to let everyone know that Moki is doing fine.

Well it's getting late so I should get going but before I do, I will upload a picture of Moki and Orange Boy taken a few weeks ago in momma bean's new house (I should note that momma bean didn't actually buy a new house, she moved in with her cousin, who was kind enough to rent her out a room... Orange Boy was orginally staying with Moki and momma bean at their new place, but was unable to fully roam around the house because momma bean's cousin was renting out rooms in the house to a co-worker who had patical custody of some small children. The roomates have since moved out, as was the original plan when momma bean first moved in, so now all the kitties can come, stay and have full roaming rights to the house...)

Well thats about all for this update...Momma bean will get some more pictures taken and posted soon. She'll also be around to personally say hi and catch up with everyone as well!

Just A Quick Note

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:11:00 +0000

Due to my crazy schedule I haven't had much time to update Moki's blog recently. In any event, I just wanted to let everyone know that Moki is doing just fine...I finish up my finals the week of the 23rd, so you can look forward to a more detailed update including new pictures of Moki after then.

Thanks everyone for all the continued well wishes!

Regards,

Momma Bean

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sat, 16 May 2009 01:49:00 +0000

So we wanted to give everyone a quick update on Moki, try and answer the recent questions posed by Ratmammy, and send Auntie Deb a be-lated happy birthday wish. (Sorry we missed you actual birthday Auntie Deb...we hope you had a nice one!)

So here it goes...

At the moment Moki is doing quite well. He is actually doing better than I have seen him, in perhaps the past six months...He has a strong appetite, as you can see from the above video (sorry about the angle,) and has been incredibly playful, so playful in fact that he is mimicking Orange Boy's behaviors and actions! Orange Boy, ever since he was a kitten, has always loved to curl up in the secret hidey holes of blankets...Now Orange Boy is sharing his passion with Moki, teaching him all the ropes...and Moki couldn't be more thrilled about his newly learned lessons from Orange Boy.

Now in regards to Ratmammy's questions, since most if not all of the answers to Ratmommy's questions can already be found located through out Moki's blog, I will give only a brief answer to each of the questions, and if you would like more detail please let me know...

What is the reason for Moki's condition (his disability) and was this how he was when you found him? Or did he develop the physical disability?

The answer to your question is a very complex one, hence in order to fully understand one would need to go back and read all of our prior posts. With that said, I will do my best to try and answer the question in a way that might make sense while still keeping things fairly brief...

Moki was born a normal feral kitten. He was trapped by some kind soul and brought into the no-kill shelter where I volunteered 5 days a week. At that time not many of the shelter volunteers liked to socialize the feral kittens, so after a week or two of Moki being in the shelter, I agreed to bring him home for socialization purposes, so that he could eventually be adopted out.

Moki who was about as feral as they come hissed, spit and growled at just about everybody. However after a couple of days of cleaning his cage he began to take to me, and instantly bonded with my boyfriend when I finally brought him home for socialization. He loved being able to run around the house, and early on, could be found jumping off just about anything of height, beds, counters, you name it.

After a brief period of socialization, Moki began to show signs of what appeared to be a URI. Initially we treated it accordingly, but it got progressively worse. He was taken to both my private vet and the shelter's vet. Both agreed that it was nothing more than a URI, and sent us home with more medication. As things continued to decline, he was checked into the shelters vet, for a more detailed examination. Moki continued to get worse under the shelter vet's care, and I eventually had him moved to an emergency hospital who could monitor him 24hrs a day. By the time the move was made, Moki was so bad off, that the ER vet advised me to say my final goodbyes because they did not believe Moki would make it through the night.

The following morning when a new doctor came on shift, she called me because she believed that their had been a mix up in the medical charts. The medical description of Moki up to that point did not match the cat that she was now looking at, and she asked me to please come down to the hospital to confirm that this was the same cat. Moki had made a miracle turn around over night. Unfortunately that turn around was not without side effects.

Moki would survive but the ER doctor told us that Moki would most likely never be able to sit up on his own again, would always have to have a plate of food held up to his face to eat, and would most likely never walk. Personally I felt it was to early to reach such conclusions so I brought him home. At this time the ER doctor made a diagnoses of Cerebellar Hypoplasia, which as I have mentioned in other postings is a painless condition.

To the amazement of the ER doctor, in the days and weeks that followed, Moki started to sit up on his own, eat on his own from a plate on the ground, and walk, taking only a few steps before falling over, but walking none the less. His progress called into question the Cerebellar Hypoplasia diagnoses, so he was taken to the neurology department at UC Davis to see if they could make heads or tails of his case. This is when we did the MRI and many of the other tests, of course in the end however, even UC Davis was baffled.

In examining Moki, the neurologist, amongst other things, completed a number of x-rays over a period of months. The first x-rays looked normal, but the x-ray taken at the time of Moki's MRI revealed a change in Moki's thoracic inlet structure. At this point Moki's case was referred to one of UC Davis's orthopedic surgeons. The orthopedic surgeon had never seen anything quite like Moki's orthopedic problem before, so while researching possible causes, he recommended that we start Moki on a course of physical therapy. The physical therapist, in turn recommended doing hydrotherapy for Moki's condition.

So to shorten up an already long story, no one really knows what Moki is suffering from. They cannot tell us the exact cause of Moki's orthopedic problem only it's effects. What they can tell us is that the neurological problem has contributed to the orthopedic problem and hence Moki's physical disability, but they cannot tell us why or how. The best comparison I can come up with would be to that of a stroke victim, who prior to the stroke functioned normally, however after the stroke, the victim ended up needing cane, wheelchair or some other adaptive device. While we know Moki didn't have a stroke, the outcome is similar to many stroke victims if that makes sense...

That brings us to our current state. Nobody has ever figured out exactly what Moki has because nobody has every seen anything quite like it. To make matters worse, there are no known documented cases of anything similar to Moki's case. So that leaves us only with what we do know from what we have seen in Moki and that is whatever it is that made Moki sick originally, lets call it some sort of a virus, appears to still be present in his system. It is not contiguous as is evident by the fact that none of our other cats ever got sick, and neither have any of the cats who where originally housed with Moki at the shelter. The virus doesn't appear to be in an active stage at all times, but instead lies dormant for extended periods of time then suddenly out of the blue resurfaces. Thus far we have learned that we can control the virus with Tamiflu when it does surface, but we do not know exactly why the Tamiflu works, or for how long it will work for that matter. We know that the physical disability is in huge part a result of the virus but again we do not know why. We know that Moki is an amazing fighter, and that every medical test we have ever conducted after his initial illness for the most part has come back normal, making him appear completely healthy despite his obvious condition and most importantly we know that Moki is both happy and in no pain.

I hope that kind of answers your question. If you need further clarification please let me know...

Wishing You All A...

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:02:00 +0000

Mother's Day Glitter Graphics

The Winner of the April Raffle Is...

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sat, 02 May 2009 19:45:00 +0000

First off, we would like to say thank you to everyone who participated in April's raffle. We would also like to thank everyone who sent their well wishes for Mini Munch's safe return. As most of you know by now, Mini Munch returned home safely, six days after she originally went missing...

As for momma bean, she has gotten a little behind in just about everything, including helping Moki to select a raffle winner, updating Moki's blog and sending out thank you's. She had three midterms this last week, and has another two coming up this week, (one on Monday and one on Tuesday.) To give you a better idea of her work load, the following is a picture of the remaining textbooks, she now has a month and a half left to get through. (This for the most part is not counting the ones she has already read. She is on a quarter system.)

In other news momma bean did finally set aside the time this afternoon to help Moki both select a raffle winner...Moki was having a little difficulty selecting a winner so momma bean had to help out, as is evident in the below video...

After shooting the video several times, finally with momma beans help, Moki was able to select his winner...and the winner is Liz at http://lizzieslogic.blogspot.com/! Congratulations Liz!!! Your package will be mailed out to you next week!

We are still a little shy of the total needed to get Moki his thoracic inlet x-ray, so once momma bean gets through the remaining of her mid-terms this week, she will try to put another raffle together for Moki and any other kitties out there who may be in need.

In the meantime, Moki is doing well. He has lost a little weight recently, but his coughing seems to be under control. He remains happy, and joyful as always...

Thats all for now!

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In responce to Ratmammy and Anonymous:

There are conditions present in animals such as cerebellar hypoplasia, cerebellar abiotrophy, and so forth, which affect an animal’s ability to coordinate their movements. For the most part these types of conditions are the result of the animal’s cerebellum being under developed. These types of conditions can occur either in utero or several months after birth. While these types of conditions do affect an animal’s ability to control their movements, for the most part they are not known to cause any physical pain. An animal may walk funny, or have a harder time getting around, but they are mentally intact. They know what they want to do, they know how to do it, they just need to figure out new and different ways to accommodate their disability.

The point here is that Moki is not in any pain. He is not half dead, and while euthanasia may exist, it should not be used as a means for putting down an animal simply because they are different or need accommodation. Yes, Moki has some sort of a virus which makes him sick from time to time, and yes he sometimes looses weight, or develops symptoms of a URI, but each of those things passes, just like a human cold passes. We can’t control them, but they don’t amount to putting him to sleep either…

On a day to day basis, Moki is a happy cat. He does many of the things regular cats do, including eating on his own, and playing and curling up with his siblings. He purrs, playfully bites, and loves sitting by the window watching the birds, just as all normal indoor cats do. So ya, he may have a little more trouble getting around, but he doesn’t let that stop him...and he doesn’t let his disability interfere with his enjoyment of life!

(Here is a video we shot today of Moki walking. It shows Moki getting up from a laying down position and walking towards a food dish which has been placed at a height which makes it easier for him to eat off of...yes he has a disability and he walks differently than a normal cat, however the fact remains that he does walk on his own, knows what he wants and goes for it, be it food, or simply a cat toy. He often walks across the room, be it to sit by the window and watch the birds, or simply to explore like most curious cats do.)

A disability should never = death or discrimination in either an animal or a person, and I am a firm believer in this. I am sorry if my opinion differs from yours, but the fact of the matter is, I have spent a lot of time researching the issue of disabilities and illness, in both animals and people. I work part time, 10 hours a week, in a moderate to severe, educational psychology department, have two aunts, both of whom I am very close to, which both have multiple master degrees in moderate to severe disabilities, have taken and completed with A’s veterinary assisting classes, and have consulted with multiple doctors and specialists on Moki’s medical case, and none of them feel that Moki’s current state warrants putting him down…neither do I.

It is easy for someone to look at an animal like Moki and say oh you should put the poor cat down, but it is much harder, and takes a much stronger person to see a animal like Moki, and to fight for them. Is keeping Moki alive selfish? No, because Moki is not in any pain. It is refusing to discriminate against him simply because he is different. It both amazes and frightens me how quickly people can jump to the conclusion that Moki should be put down, while knowing and understanding so little about his condition or his current state…

Please in the future take the time to educate yourself before making, or recommending such life and death decisions… you are after all talking about taking a life while knowing so little. Life is a precious gift, and it is beyond upsetting to see that there are people out there that would so quickly take it away, without bothering to do the research, or giving it so much as a second thought…! Compassion is not ending a life simply because you feel sorry for an animal and dont want to look at it or deal with it. Compassion is being sympathetic to an animal's condition, and helping them to find the ways and means to accommodate and fight it...

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Anonymous,

First off let me start by saying, no one other than Moki himself can know exactly how Moki feels. What we can know, and what we do know, is how Moki acted and responded to things prior to getting sick and being left in his current state, how he acts and responds to things now, and what his medical record shows. When we combine all three of the above, we can come to a pretty reasonable conclusion about how Moki feels. A mother cannot know exactly how her infant feels, prior to them being able to talk and express their feelings for themselves, however that doesn’t mean that a mother cannot reasonably judge and come to a conclusion about how the infant may feel. Using this logic it is not unreasonable to assume that we can determine and or interpret how Moki feels…

Now as for Jodi, please re-read what I was saying and this time read it carefully. I did not make any judgment calls about Jodi. For starters this is not about Jodi. I did not know Jodi, nor do I know all of the details surrounding Jodi’s case. Please do not twist what I was saying. I did not “reckon [it] was wrong having [Jodi] put down,” nor did I make any statement to that affect. I did not judge you one way or the other, because Jodi was not my cat. I only pointed out how quick you where to judge me, and to reach the conclusion that MOKI should be put down, without knowing, or understanding all the details of MOKI’S case…

If the videos of Moki are upsetting to people, then they should ask questions about Moki and his condition, not just assume or recommend that he be put to sleep. Unfortunately animals with conditions even less severe than Moki’s are put to sleep everyday because people don’t bother to take the time to ask questions or education themselves about the kinds of conditions plaguing these animals. As you may imagine, the consequences of these actions are devastating not only to the animals whose lives are being taken, but also to the human population in general. So little is currently known about neurological conditions and their effects on both the animal and human population. If no one ever fought to keep animals like Moki alive, then medical science would have even less to go on, when trying to battle these types of conditions. It is therefore important on a number of levels to help keep animals like Moki alive who display such symptoms, but appear to be in no pain, so that we can learn from them, and help others in the future, which is exactly why we work with UC Davis, The Shriner’s Children’s Hospital, and many others. Of course all of this has already been recorded on our blog in prior posts…

I am sure Jodi was a wonderful cat, that you loved him very much, and that you did what you believed was best for him. I am also very sorry to hear of your loss. In closing, after reading this, I hope in the future, when you see some thing that upsets you, that you will take the time to ask questions, and understand what you are seeing, before leaving comments and recommending that an animal be put to sleep. To that effect, I welcome any questions you may have about Moki’s condition.

Ratmammy,

Where should I even begin…I suppose the best place to start is in acknowledging your pain, as it is evident, that your comment was written from the perspective of someone who is both suffering and angry…FUS, FEV, FLEV, AIDS, cancer, arthritis, thyroid issues, diabetes, brain tumors, and dementia are all very nasty things to have to deal with. Nobody should ever have to go through them and I am very sorry to hear that you have had to deal with them. Unfortunately, your comparison of Moki to your cats is illogical, and I can only conclude, that such a comparison steams from the pain of your loss…

For starters, as I am sure you are well aware, and as your vet(s) most likely advised you, many of the conditions you mention are fatal. There are no known cures, and only supportive care can be offered to animals inflicted with such conditions, until such a point, that supportive care is no longer a viable option. Animals inflicted with many (although by no means all) of the conditions you mentioned will inevitably deteriorate, with no hope of recovery, until such a time that a cure is found to treat these fatal conditions. The key here is that until such a time that a cure is found, these animals will certainly die from their diseases, it may take a week, a month, or it may be years before they will die, but in the end, the disease without a treatment leading to a cure, will eventually kill them, it’s just a matter of time.

With that said, I am sure you are very familiar with what it is like to lose an animal to a known fatal disease and I never made any claims to the contrary. However, the comparison of Moki’s illness to a fatal disease is not a logical one. Moki has never been diagnosed with a fatal condition. After recovering from his initial illness, the doctors have never made any claims that Moki’s illness will certainly result in his death. They cannot make a claim one way or the other, because they simply do not know what they are dealing with. Further every diagnostic test ran on Moki, after his initial illness has come back normal, making him appear in spite of his obvious illness a perfectly healthy cat, which is exactly why the doctors are baffled.

Now in regards to incontinence, if you had taken my advice and educated yourself about Moki and his condition, by reviewing his blog and reading the many postings on it, you would be well aware of the fact that Moki is perfectly capable of going to the bathroom on his own. Yes he needs assistance to be held up in the litter box, but no, he does not use the house as his litter box, as your cat obvious did. Moki knows exactly where the litter box is, and when helped into it, will go to the bathroom without fail. If no one is around to assist him however, which is extremely rare, he will not just got to the bathroom anywhere, but will instead walk over to his litter box, and go to the bathroom right next to his litter box. This is not the behavior of a cat suffering from incontinence it is the behavior of a cat living with a physical disability. (With that said, I should note, that these kinds of accidents, if you can call them that, are far and few between, with maybe a total of three happening in the last year.) So again to compare Moki to a cat living with and suffering from arthritis, thyroid issues, diabetes, dementia and brain tumors, as was your second cat, is neither a fair nor logical comparison. On the one hand you have a cat who knows what they are suppose to do, makes an attempt to do it, but needs assistance because of a physical disability, on the other, you have cat with a series of medical issues, getting from the sounds of it, increasingly worse, who is no longer even attempting to use a litter box because they are suffering so much. We are talking about apples and oranges here…

I know you have been through a lot, but please do not project onto Moki, or myself for that matter, the issues of you or your cats. Please take a step back from the situation and work out your feelings about your animals. From your own comments, you obviously prolonged a cat’s life who you knew was going to die, and then prolonged Alice’s life (another cat) when you knew that she was suffering…Moki is neither suffering, nor has he been diagnosed with a fatal condition.

If you where familiar with Moki, his condition and his circumstances you would have already know everything I have pointed out so far, in addition, you would have been well aware of the fact that Moki does indeed eat on his own. You would also have known not to bother pointing out or suggesting an animal wheelchair or cart, since I am obviously well aware of them (see the postings about Bella and her wheelchair,) and you would have already have known that both Moki’s physical therapist and orthopedic surgeon did not and still do not feel that Moki would benefit from a wheelchair/cart at this time. As for Moki’s back legs, he can most certainly move them, which is exactly why neither the physical therapist nor orthopedic surgeon want Moki in a cart and have instead recommended that Moki does hydrotherapy, when he feels up to it, as older blog postings show…

In the future, please take the time to get ALL OF THE FACTS and to get them straight before you go around making accusations. It is obvious you still feel a great deal of pain over losing your cats. It is also obvious that you know absolutely nothing about Moki or his condition. I am sorry to be so abrupt, but this is not the first time you have left such comments on Moki’s blog. I overlooked it the first time way back when, but you obviously have learned nothing about Moki since then…

If you are not here to educate yourself, and you do not support what I am trying to do, then the only reason left for you to be here is to instigate...I really hope that that is not your intent, so I am extending you the opportunity to learn about Moki and to EDUCATE yourself about his condition by asking questions and familiarizing yourself with all that we have done and all that Moki has been through…

Mini Munch Is Missing...

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 04:39:00 +0000

She disappeared about 5 days ago and we haven't seen her since. I searched all the local shelters today, and thus far she hasn't been picked up or surrendered by anyone. She is microchipped so if she does come into one of the shelters, we should receive a call. We filed a missing cat report with both of our local shelters as well, so they are on the look out for her. Last I saw her, she was wearing her collar with her tag, so she shouldn't have been mistaken as a feral cat. She has never had any medical problems and disappearing for this length of time is quite unlike her. We hope and pray that she is safe and will return home soon. We miss her a great deal!

Because we need to focus our attention on finding Mini Munch, printing up fliers, distributing them throughout the neighborhood, and start talking to our neighbors, we are going to postpone selecting a raffle winner for our kitten package until next Saturday. We hope that everyone understands why we have chosen to postpone selecting a raffle winner, in that our attention needs to lie with finding Mini Munch at the moment...We ask that everyone please join us in a round of purrs and prayers that she is found and returns home safely...

Just The Three Of Us

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 05:50:00 +0000

Sorry we haven't posted all week, as usual, with all of mom's school work, its been pretty crazy...Anyway, we just wanted to drop everyone a quick note and say that momma bean was able to get Moki's Tamiflu in a powdered formula. This will help save some money, since we can mix it is smaller dosages. (Daddy bean will be doing the math, since he is really good at it, and as some of you may have noticed, momma beans math skills can use some improvement...lol)

As for Moki, he is doing pretty good at the moment. His appetite is very strong, and he is drinking water on his own again. He is still coughing but the Tamiflu has helped a great deal. Other than that he is enjoying life...kicking back with the cats...

We recently heard that Miss Peach's surgery was a success and we are very grateful! Dr. Tweety and the Fab Five have been in our thoughts and purrs, as well as, Aunt Deb, Mom Robyn and the many others who are sick and injured in the CB...

We want to thank everyone once again for their recent donations, and for participating in our current raffle. Once we have raised/saved enough money for another x-ray of Moki's thoracic inlet, we'll let you know when and where (with his old doctor, or with a new one,) that the x-ray will be taking place.

Till then we are sending all of your the biggest of head butts!

Love Always,

Moki and family

Wishing You All A Very...

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:31:00 +0000

Raffle For Moki's Thoracic Inlet X-Ray

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:13:00 +0000

In an attempt to help raise the funds needed to pay for another x-ray of Moki's thoracic inlet, we have put together the above package which will be raffled off. This package is perfect for someone who has either recently added a new kitten to their family, or plans to do so this kitten season. The package includes one brand new, pink cat bed, which measures approximately 14 inches, making it a little too small for a full grown cat, but the perfect size for a smaller cat like Moki or a kitten, two brand new, stainless steal cat dishes, one brand new cat themed photoframe, perfect for displaying a picture of your new kitten, one new shadowbox kit, to display all the things you love about your cat, a cute, new, "Pick of the Litter," cat collar tag, one pink hand stuff catnip mouse, and a small black stuffed cat.

Tickets for the raffle are only $2.00, with the raffle ending on 4/24/09 at midnight (California time.) Shipping costs will be paid by me to ship the package to the lucky winner. Good luck everyone and thanks in advance for participating!

The Doctors Responce: Moki, Tamiflu and his Thoracic Inlet

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:37:00 +0000

So mommie bean left a message asking Moki's regular vet to call her because she was concerned about his retiring and had a few questions she wanted to ask him. When Moki's doctor returned her call, he laughed at momma and said, "I am retiring not dying..." He is such a great vet! He assured momma bean that his brother was going to be practicing for a number of years yet, and that I can always contact him, (despite the distance,) since he knows that we feel equally as comfortable with his brother. He also made some recommendations for other vets in the area who he thought might be good with Moki. I explained what happened with the new doctor he sold the practice too, and he totally agreed with momma that the new vet he sold the practice too was not the right vet for Moki. He also assured momma that he would be practicing for awhile yet, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays while he transitions out of the practice altogether. He could not however give momma an exact date as to when his transition out of the practice would be complete.

Momma bean and the doctor discussed everything that has been going on with Moki and why she brought Moki in to see the new vet, (Moki's bloodwork results came back normal, by the way...) and in the end, Momma bean and the doctor decided to put Moki back on the Tamiflu. (He has been off it since Sunday.) Per the advice of Moki's regular vet when momma bean picked up Moki's prescription for sub-q-fluids last week, momma bean searched Canadian pharmacies to see if she could find a pharmacy in Canada who could compound the prescription for her cheaper. While she did find it is cheaper to get Moki's medicine compounded in Canada, she also learned that Tamiflu comes in a suspended formula (meaning that it comes in a powdered formula which needs to be mixed with water in order to create liquid version of the drug,) which she could purchase just down the street for the same price she could purchase the drug for in Canada. While momma bean has always opted for a compounded version of the medication because of Moki's thoracic inlet problems, she did not know that she could purchase the drug in a suspended version, so she decided to give it a try. After mentioning the suspended verision to Moki's doctor, and how it could be purchased at Long's, Moki's regular vet called over to the pharmacy and momma bean picked up the prescription earlier today. Momma bean did run into one slight problem in that the pharmacy had already suspended the medication, meaning that the bottle is now only good for up to 10 days. In the future momma bean is going to ask that Moki's doctor tell the pharmacy not to mix the medicine for us. The reason why is that when the pharmacy mixes the drug with water, they mix the whole bottle which means that half of the bottle goes to waste and in the long run costs us more money. However if the pharmacy will sell us the powder unmixed, (which they do do in Canada,) momma bean can mix smaller portions of the drug with water, so that none of the drug gets wasted. (As a powdered formula, the medication is good for up to almost a year. Once mixed with water the medication is only good for 10 days.) By buying Tamiflu in a suspended version, we only spend $57.85 (with tax) per bottle, versus buying it compounded at $108.00 (with tax) per bottle. If we can suspend the medication ourselves, then Moki's medication will only cost us $57.85 per month versus $108.00 per month (the compound version lasts up to a month, not sure why...) Hope your following...in the end, if we can get Tamiflu in an unmixed (powder only) suspended version, we can save approximately $50.15 on Moki's medical costs...I am praying that all makes sense to you...lol

In addition to putting Moki back on the Tamiflu, Moki's doctor and momma bean both agreed that another x-ray should be taken of Moki's thoracic inlet soon. We need to take a look at his thoracic inlet to see if it is continuing to move upward towards his spine, which may explain Moki's cough and not wanting to drink. It's hard to say, what exactly is going on until we can get another look at his thoracic inlet and rule further movement of it out as a possible cause. For those of you who do not remember, or are new to Moki's blog, you can check out the prior x-rays taken of Moki's inlet on his catster page just click here (to spot Moki's thoracic inlet just look at the bone structure above Moki's elbow in the first x-ray, and then the bone structure directly above his leg in the second x-ray and you will spot a noticable curve, which is his thoracic inlet moving upwards towards his spine.) We are thus going to keep the donation button going for awhile yet, with all future donations going towards a thoracic inlet x-ray fund. So that is where we stand at the moment. Momma beans own schedule is going to be super-duper crazy these next three months, with momma bean taking a communications class, art history class, algebra class, and two anthropology classes, on a quarter basis. Once she gets through this quarter though, it's off to the teacher program, with a much lighter schedule for the remaining two years, while she finishes up her B.A. and earns her teaching degree. In the mean time, momma and daddy beans are taking shifts, so as not to leave Moki alone for extended periods of time. We have our schedules currently worked out so that Moki is not left alone for more than an hour or two at most on any given day. Momma bean will continue to stop by and visit everyone when she can, and will write a more personalized thank you message to all those who donate as time permits throughout the quarter. Please know that if she doesn't get around to sending you a personal thank you right away, it is not because your donation is not appericated. In fact we couldn't appericate it more or say how much everyone's kindness means to us, be it a purr, prayer, well wish or donation, we want to thank everyone for every thing they have done, and for their assistance which enables us to keep providing Moki with the medical care and attention he needs.

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Ok so here is where we are at, Moki has stopped drooling, but is still not drinking on his own. We ran out of sub-q-fluids on Tuesday, so we have been using a syringe to assist him in drinking. Fortunately, the sub-q-fluids we ordered last week showed up this afternoon, so we can start him on the sub-q-fluids again this evening. He is alert, but his cough has come back. His regular doctor who is retiring will actually be in the office tomorrow, so we are going to call him and ask him to write a prescription for some more Tamiflu, we will also speak to him about finding another doctor and getting an updated copy of Moki's medical file then. We will let everyone know more tomorrow after we speak with Moki's regular doctor. In the mean time, we just wanted to let you all know that Moki is hanging in there....

Not Liking New Vet

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:30:00 +0000

Ok well, the verdict is in and neither Moki or I care for the new vet who has taken over Moki's old vet's practice. He did not want to listen to what momma bean had to say, could care less about Moki's latest symptoms and was more concerned about Moki's muscle tightness, which we already know is a result of Moki's orthopedic and neurological problems. The vet instead of being honest and saying well I really don't know what to tell you (which, would have been fine with us, it's not like we haven't heard it before...) instead tried to pull off the old bait and switch. He redirected the appointment to make it more about kinesiology, and less about what we where there to seek answers/advice for. Further he tried to push a number of tests off on us, which Moki didn't need, including another urinalysis, even after I explained that we already knew what was causing the blood which used to be in Moki's urine. In addition, he was VERY rough with Moki, grabbing him by the nap of his neck and caring him around (which is fine with a normal cat, but is not ok to do to a cat who has the kind of orthopedic and neurological problems Moki has.) He also tried forcing Moki to walk on the tile floor even after I told him that Moki could not, causing Moki to bang both his head and chest against the hard tile, until finally I had to step in and stop him. Ultimately though, my opinion of the doctor doesn't matter as much as Moki's, who expressed a great distrust, unlike anything I have ever seen out of Moki before. When the doctor tried to open Moki's mouth to look inside, Moki started to instantly growl at the doctor. (After everything Moki has been through, the only time he has ever growled prior to this, has been in his sleep.) When the doctor did get Moki's mouth open Moki tried his hardest to bite the doctor repeatedly, until finally I had to hold Moki's mouth open so the doctor could take a look. (The growling and biting stopped the second the doctor pulled his hand away from Moki, who was ok with my opening his mouth.)

In the end, we agreed to run a blood test since Moki hasn't had one done in awhile and thought it might be best to check his levels. (All levels, blood cell count so on and so forth...) of course however even that got screwed up with the tech who has taken Moki's blood countless times before, bringing Moki back with a big bump on his neck from where she took the blood. She did say that the bump should go down in a day or two, but still it scared me. I can only guess that the new doctor has her stressed out hence the error.

In any event, we did not get any answers to the questions we sought, but did learn that Moki's weight is within his normal range, 5 pds 4 ounces, and his temperature was a normal 100.3. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the results of the blood work to come back, which will hopefully be normal. If the blood work results do come back normal, the doctor does wants to prescribe a muscle relaxer for Moki to see if maybe it will help aid in Moki's ability to walk. (Moki's reflexes are intact, but his muscles are very tight.) Hence the new doctor thinks that if we can relax Moki's muscles he might walk better. To be honest I am not thrilled with the idea of doping Moki up with muscle relaxers to improve his walking ability, I much rather prefer that he goes to physical therapy, but I am willing to give the idea a shot for a few days to see what kind of results we get. Maybe they will be positive maybe not, I guess we will have to wait and see. In the mean time, his vet bill today came to $144.00. (As noted in the opening photograph.) I am not sure how much the medication will cost at this point, or if we will even go that route. The one thing I do know for sure though is that this doctor isn't going to work out, so we are going to have to start hunting around for a different doctor and hope and pray that we find one before Moki has any more serious episodes...

P.S. After all Moki went through today he is being spoiled rotten!

P.P.S. Thank you to everyone who made a donation and helped Moki get the care he needs. Also thank you to all of those who purred and prayed. Your support means a great deal. Momma and Daddy bean don't say it often enough, but we hope you all know how much your support means to us!

----------UPDATE----------

We'll have an update on Moki posted tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon after momma bean gets out of her morning classes...

Moki - Excessive Drooling

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:17:00 +0000

Well, momma bean was hoping to avoid this, but it looks like she is going to have to take Moki to the vet. While he has been doing good these past few weeks, yesterday he started acting kind of strange. He was slightly lethargic and drooling. Momma bean chalked it up to the warmer weather making him slightly dehydrated so she gave him some sub-q-fluids last night and waited until this morning to see how he was doing. This morning he was still acting a little under the weather, so she gave him some more sub-q-fluids. She was going to make an appointment with the vet today, but within an hour or so after giving him the sub-q-fluids, Moki started to perk up and was acting normal again, so she didn't worry too much about it. As of tonight, he is drooling and acting lethargic yet again. Some thing is not right and momma bean isn't sure what is going on. Momma bean did open Moki's mouth and his tongue looks slightly swollen. She may have to take him to the ER tonight if things get any worse. In the meantime, we ask that everyone please pray that whatever is going on, that it is nothing serious...After having just ordered more sub-q-fluids we are down to our last $30.00 in Moki's medical fund, and momma bean doesn't get her financial aid check for another couple of weeks, so if anyone can spare a dollar or two to help out with Moki's medical cost once again, we would greatly appreciated it. As always we will post a copy of his medical bill here on his blog after his appointment...

Thanks in advance for all your purs and support...

UPDATE:

Moki made it through the night ok. He slept curled up contently in my arms the whole time. At the moment he's not eating much and is rufusing to drink, but his physical appearance and attitude seem to be normal. So for now, we are going to continue to keep an eye on him until we can get an appointment to have him checked out by the doctor.

2nd UPDATE:
Momma bean needs some advice and she would really like your opinions. After calling the vet, momma bean learned that Moki's regular doctor, the one who is retiring, will not be in the office until Friday. The new doctor who bought the practice can see Moki before then if we want to give him a shot. Momma's concern is that the new doctor being unfamiliar with Moki's case, may miss something or send us down a direction we really need not go simply because he is unfamiliar with Moki's medical file. However in the same breath, waiting until Friday to get Moki checked out is an awfully long time, so momma bean isn't sure what she should do and would like your feedback as to what choice you would make.

3rd Update
Ok, momma bean went ahead and scheduled an appointment for Moki with the new doctor for 3:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. This way Moki can get seen sooner rather than later. Then if the new doctor doesn't work out for whatever reason momma bean can call and speak to Moki's regular doctor, the one who is retiring on Friday...So thats the game plan for now...

Finals Finally Over--Dr. Lecutor's Review Of Moki's Medical File

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:58:00 +0000

Well, finals are finally over. Unfortunately, momma bean didn't plan things out to well. By attending two different colleges at the same time she ended up having two weeks of finals, last week at one school and this week at another school. Unfortunately classes start again on Monday at the first school, so momma bean wont be getting a break this quarter...

In other news, momma bean did hear back from BAND Together who asked Dr. Lecutor the head of neurology at UC Davis to reevaluate Moki's medical case. Dr. Lecutor after consulting with another doctor in Boston, remains baffled as to the cause of Moki's condition. He did however mention that we should contact our regular neurologist at UC Davis, so maybe our regular neurologist has heard back something from the degenerative disease researcher in Missouri. Momma bean will have to send our regular neurologist an email to find out.

Yesterday afternoon we learned that Moki's regular practitioner is retiring and has sold his medical practice. (Moki's regular practitioner has been with us since before Moki got sick, and knows Moki's case inside and out.) Needless to say, we are now a little concerned about finding another doctor. Moki's regular practitioner is going to stay on at the hospital part time and consult on ongoing medical cases temporarily, so we have a little while to find a replacement, but it still concerns us. The doctors brother, who is also a doctor, and has worked at the hospital part time over the years, and is also familiar with Moki's medical case, will be leaving the hospital as well to return to his regular practice in Merced. (Merced is about 100 miles from here.) As for the new doctor who is taking over the practice, I am not entirely happy with his qualifications. His main background is in exotic animals, not domestic. He is also a much younger doctor who graduated in 1996, so he is relatively new to the field, which can be both a plus and a minus.

I think at this point, because Moki's condition is so special, we are going to ask Moki's regular practitioner if he will continue to consult for us in his retirement. If not, we'll see about keeping his brother on as a consultant. We'll try the new doctor, but I am a little scared about having someone completely unfamiliar with Moki's medical case taking over. In most part because people who have not been with us since the beginning do not really get that a lot of what works for Moki is not conventional. Often times they are less willing to write up many of the prescriptions which we know work for Moki, like Tamiflu, simply because they cannot explain why such medications work. Moki's regular doctors on the other hand, go with what works because they know that nothing about Moki's condition is normal and that we can't always think about things or expect them to happen in a conventional manner.

As for Moki himself, he is doing ok at the moment. His regular doctor has written up a number of prescriptions for us, with a few refills, so we can get through the transition period ok, as long as nothing goes seriously wrong with Moki in the mean time...In regards to his general state, his temperature is back under control, he is alert, happy, eating well and even appears to have put on a little weight. I wanted to get some new pictures up of him, but the battery on my camera died, so I am having to recharge it at the moment. Once the battery is fully charged, I'll get some new pictures up. In the meantime, I'll try to stop by and catch up with some of our friends. It has indeed been awhile and we have missed you all so very much. Not a day goes by that momma bean doesn't think about each and everyone of you...

Well that's all for now...hopefully we will see each of you sometime really soon!

Love Always,

Moki and Family

Oh P.S.

The owner of Thriving Pets (https://www.thrivingpets.com/products/item-detail.php?formStockId=860P112) emailed us this week to let us know that he has dropped the prices on his lactated ringers solution even further. You can now get a box of 12 bags for $20.00. That works out to approximately $1.66 a bag (sorry about the earlier miscalculation, momma bean's oversight...) before shipping and tax, which is the cheapest we have ever seen them. So if your like us and need or use lactated ringers solution (sub-q-fluids) then you might want to stop by and check out their website.
:)

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:06:00 +0000

Sorry it's been so long since our last update. With all that momma bean has going on, sometimes time just gets away from her. To make it up to everyone, we thought we'd start by showing a video recorded just moments ago of Moki. (As most of you know, it's been awhile since we last posted a video of Moki.)

As you can see from the video Moki is doing much, much better. His URI is mostly gone with only a lingering cough left. His appetite is now completely back, and Moki just can't seem to get enough food. He is now eating about two and 1/2 small cans of wet food a day. At this time, he is remaining on the Tamiflu and sub-q-fluids, both of which are working extremely well. His body temperature is remaining within normal ranges as well. While Moki still has difficultly walking, he doesn't let that stop him from getting around. For the most part at the moment, he is a happy, playful, little purr bug...

A while back, we mentioned that a friend of ours sent Moki, a Platinum Drinkwell Fountain, which we all hoped would improve his water intake. We have been meaning for weeks to reveal the name of the friend, and show some pictures of the fountain...so finally we got a picture taken...

As for the name of our mysterious friend, it is Daisy! We ask that everyone please join us now in expressing our thanks to Daisy! Thank you so very much Daisy for sending us this lovely fountain! There are a few kinks which we need to work out between Moki and the fountain, such as, the fountain sits very low to the ground, and with Moki's orthopedic problems, it is difficult for Moki to bend far enough over to drink out of the fountain. When Moki does attempt to drink out of the fountain, his lack of balance often causes him to stick his head in the fountains water stream, thereby getting it all wet. I think if we play around with somehow elevating the fountain, we can eliminate both sets of problems, but it will take a little tinkering with. In the meantime, to make things easier on Moki, we still have his normal elevated water bowl set out, (you can locate it in the far left of the picture...) while we run the Platinum Drinkwell Fountain next to it. We decided to keep both set up, to help get Moki use to the sound of the Drinkwell, and because Mini Munch, Little Kitty and particularly Orange Boy took a liking to the Drinkwell fountain right off the bat. To be honest I think Orange Boy may believes the fountain is the greatest invention since catnip...lol!

On a final note, yesterday afternoon on her way to a pastry shop in San Jose, momma bean took a short cut through a hotel lobby. While walking through the hotel's lobby, she noticed some people setting things up for a benefit. The name of the benefit caught momma beans eye, so she just had to go in and talk to the people setting things up a little further. It turns out that the benefit, B.A.N.D. Together was being held to help fund money for research into neurological diseases which afflict animals. How coincidental is that? Momma beans personal belief is that she was meant to be in exactly that place at exactly that time. In any event, she got the names and contact information of some of the people involved in holding the event, and will be following up with them over the next several days. Perhaps someone in the group can help Moki, or Moki can help someone in the group...She'll update everyone once she learns more.

Well thats all for now...We hope everyone is doing well, and will be around to visit you all in about two weeks, when spring break begins!

A Lazy Day

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:28:00 +0000

I know many of you have been patiently waiting for an update on Moki, and I apologize for not being able to get one out to you sooner...I also want to apologize for the delay in sending out thank you's to everyone who has recently made donations and or sent their well wishes. Please bear with me a little while longer and at the end of March, when I have a week long break between quarters, I will set some time aside just to show our appreciation and thanks! In addition, a friend of ours sent Moki a DrinkWell Platinum Fountain, and we plan to get pictures up of it and reveal their name hopefully later on this week...Now on to the update...

Moki has shown major signs of improvement since our last update. His eyes are bright and clear and his nose is no longer runny. He continues to remain a little stuffed up, but over all is doing well on the Tamiflu. His temperature is remaining within normal ranges, but do to the colder weather and his inability to generate body heat from exercise like most cats, we are continuing to use the many clothes sent to us to help keep him warm. Since it has been a little colder outside lately, Moki prefers to spend most of his day snuggling up and sleeping away in his cat bed with a nice blanket placed on top of him. The blood in his urine did come back slightly when we started to give him sub-q-fluids every 2 to 3 days, so we have moved back to giving him sub-q-fluids every day to every other day. Since changing the routine, the blood has disappeared again. Over all Moki is doing pretty good at this moment in time compared to all the health problems he suffered from in the past several months. His appetite is back, and we have found that when offered, Moki will eat approximately 1 1/2 cans to 2 cans of food a day. The increase in the amount of food offered, and Moki's willingness to eat it, have thus resulted in Moki regaining some of the weight he lost. He now has a nice, round, little belly, and we couldn't be happier to see it. Regaining the weight for Moki, is probably the biggest sign of improvement. Having the weight back on him means that he is becoming stronger, and can continue to fight. We are very blessed to have him still here, and our very thankful for all of you for purred, prayed and showed your support...

Happy Valetine's Day...

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:44:00 +0000

Love Always,

Moki and Family

Can You Find A Bright Spot On A Rainy Day?

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:57:00 +0000

We did!

Thankful to be Alive

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:56:00 +0000

Sorry I dont have a picture for this entry, but I am in the middle of midterms now through Tuesday. Anyway, I just wanted to give everyone a quick update. Moki is now back to eating regularly on his own. He still wont eat much wet food, but he is chowing down a couple of times a day on dry food. As for his drinking, the sub-q-fluids has had a positive effect on it. I guess Moki doesn't like being poked with needles, because he has started to drink more ever since we started the sub-q-fluids. Moki still is not drinking quite as much as he needs to, but he is drinking enough now that we dont need to do sub-q-fluids everyday. At the moment, we are getting by on doing sub-q-fluids every other day.

One of Moki's good friends (you'll have to keep checking in, to find out who,) actually offered to send Moki a Platinum Drinkwell Fountain that they can no longer use. (We will reveal their name when the fountain arrives...until then we want it to be a surprise!) Anyway, it's our hope that the Platinum Drinkwell Fountain will get Moki drinking enough on his own that we can take him off the sub-q-fluids altogether. We'll have to wait and see. In any event, Moki's urine continues to appear normal, with no blood in it!

As for Moki's congestion and runny/stuffy nose, he is continuing to do well on the Tamiflu. While still not completely gone there has been a HUGE improvement! We can tell that Moki is feeling much, much better. All I have to do is just walk in the room and the minute Moki sees me he starts purring just as loud as he can. If I stay in the room for more than a minute, he insists on walking up to me, being picked up and snuggled. It's funny I have nursed many a cats back to health, but I have never encountered one as grateful as Moki. It's as if, he seems to know that his life keeps hanging on the line, and thanks to all your help, we keep pulling him back from the edge...It's hard to put into words, but I have honestly never seen another animal, so thankful to be alive.

Tamiflu: Panleukopenia, Pavro and Moki's Virus

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 05:57:00 +0000

Well it's now officially three days into the Tamiflu, so I thought I'd give you a little update. So far there has been a marked improvement in Moki's chest congestion. Over the past few days Moki has been coughing and has had a deep chest rumble (the kind of sound you hear when a human has bronchitis,) well, the congestion and sound have both improved quite drastically. They are both still there but Moki is coughing much less, and the sound is much quieter, so I think things are starting to break up. Moki's runny/stuffy nose is now almost completely gone, and he is breathing much easier. In turn Moki's appetite has picked up and he is now eating small quantities of dry food several times a day. Moki normally loves to eat wet food in the mornings, but as of right now still isn't quite up to eating it since his nose despite being much better, still remains some what stuffy/runny. As for Moki's energy level, it has definitely picked up. He's alert and playful. A fly got into the house sometime this afternoon and Moki believed it was his job to catch it. Believe it or not, he actually succeeded, but in the end, the fly got away when he lifted up his paw to take a big chomp at it. (Moki: "Darn Fly...")

So for now, since things appear to be working, we are going to continue down our current path. As those of you who have been following Moki's blog for some time may be aware, the doctor's originally suspected that Moki suffered from either Panluekopenia (distemper; otherwise known as the feline version of the Parvo virus. Turns out he didn't and the Parvo snap test came back negative...) or Cerebellar Hypoplasia, (which after his MRI has since been ruled out and, ) which in most cases, is the result of a kitten being born to a mother who has Panleukopenia. So with the above ruled out, why mention them again? The answer is simple. Moki's virus causes Moki to suffer from very similar symptoms as the Panleukopenia virus. While not the Panleukopenia virus itself, I have been able to make some very surprising connections to Moki's virus, Tamiflu and success rates being reported by private practices and shelters in their use of Tamiflu to treat both the Panleukopenia and Pavro viruses.

Now at this point I must say that the veterinary community is very divided when it comes to the topic of using Tamiflu to treat viruses like Moki's, or Panleukopenia, or Parvo virus for that matter. For starters there really hasn't been enough published research on the topic. Add to that the fact, that no one seems to understand quite why Tamiflu would work to treat these viruses, when other drugs have little to no effect, (remember that Tamiflu was not created to treat these conditions, but was instead developed to treat certain strains of the flu virus,) and we start to understand why some doctors hesitate to use the drug to treat these conditions. There is however one doctor that I found who is conducting research (or at least was according to the latest information I could find.)

With that said, momma bean has tracked down the doctor's contact information. Why did she bother to do this? Well, his research may help us to understand Moki's condition better. Further if the doctor is willing to look at Moki's case, it may aid in the doctors understanding of how Tamiflu works when used to treat viruses like Moki's, Panleukopenia or Parvo. At the moment I can't say for certain that this will actually lead any where, but it is definately worth a shot. After Moki's most recent round of illness, momma bean has furthered her resolve to figure Moki's illness out. The answers are out there some where, it's just a matter of putting together the pieces of the puzzle...

-----On A Seperate Note------

We wanted to let those of you who may be unaware known about the auctions Deb and ML are holding to help out with Moki's medical bills.

Deb and ML are raffling off the beautiful jewelry set shown above! This set would make a perfect Valentine's Day gift for those of you who may be interested. In addition to the jewelry raffle, Deb and ML are also auctioning off many wonderful cat themed items. So if you haven't already done so, and you get a chance stop by their blog. There are many cute items are your participation will help to benefit Moki.

Sub Q Fluids = No Blood In Urine: Momma Beans Assumptions Prove Correct

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:09:00 +0000

(Above graphic courtesy of ML at the Cat Blogosphere. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers ML and everyone at the CB!)

Momma beans assumptions are proving correct. Above is a picture of Moki's latest urine sample, taken only moments ago. If we can maintain these urine sample results for the next 10 days while Moki remains on sub-q-fluids, then we can assume with some certainity, that the blood in Moki's urine is being caused as a result of Moki not fully expressing his bladder. The thought process here is that because of Moki's neurological condition, he does not consume as much water or fluids as a normal cat. This in turn means that Moki's bladder does not fill up as quickly, which means that the urine is sitting in Moki's bladder for a longer period of time then normal. Because the urine is sitting in Moki's bladder and not being expressed as often as would be expected in a normal cat, Moki's bladder is getting irrated, hence the blood.

So the trick is to find a way to increase Moki's water consumption moving forward...Moki will remain on sub q fluids while we paly around with various ways to do this, such as getting him a drinkwell fountain, and or placing more bowls of fresh water closer to the areas of the house that he frequents. (Currently there is a bowl or two of fresh water in every room of the house, but if we keep the bowls of water closer to where Moki sleeps he may be adapt to drink more. We'll have to play around and see.)

(http://s494.photobucket.com/albums/rr301/MokiJoe/?action=view&current=VetBill3.jpg)

(http://s494.photobucket.com/albums/rr301/MokiJoe/?action=view&current=VetBill1.jpg)

( http://s494.photobucket.com/albums/rr301/MokiJoe/?action=view&current=Medicine1.jpg)

So that is where we are currently at. As of an hour ago, Moki started the first dose of Tamiflu. He is still congested, but the blood in his urine is gone. His appetite has become touch and go, as of today he is not eating large qualities of food, but is taking a few bites here and there. I am going to up his dose of L-Lysine and Super Charger and see if maybe that will stimulate him to eat more, if not, we'll just do a combination of him eating on his own and force feeding. I think once the Tamiflu kicks in he'll be alright. For the most part, he appears not to want to eat a lot and I believe that is because of the congestion. Once the Tamiflu starts working to clear the congestion, I think we'll see him eating on his own regularly again. In the meantime I am going to play it safe just to make sure he is getting enough food in him, since he is so small.

Thank you to everyone who is continuing to purr and pray for Moki. Your support means a great deal to us!

-------------P.S.-------------

Ikaika, we couldn't find your blog, so we thought we'd leave a message for you here being as it may be useful for others as well. A friend of ours on Catster, Doc emailed us about a company who sells Lactated Ringers Solutions (sub-q-fluids) for only $3.00 a bag, or $23.00 for a box of 12. This is by far one of the best deals we have seen and wanted to pass the word along to others who may be needing sub-q-fluids. If you need sub-q-fluids and are interested in checking the company out, their web address is: http://www.thrivingpets.com/products/item-detail.php?formStockId=860P112 (You will of course need a prescription from your vet to get these...)

Anyhow, if you know of a company that can beat this price, please let us know. We'd be more than happy to share the news with everyone. Thus far however, Thriving Pets, has the lowest prices on sub-q-fluids that we have found.

--------UPDATE--------

The Tamiflu is working! We will have a full update for everyone later tonight after momma bean finishes studying for and takes a geology test which is due this evening.

Moki's getting Sub-Q-Fluids

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:39:00 +0000

Well, we are back from the vet and we have a bit of good news...Moki's temperature is back to normal! We gave Moki some more sub q fluids and the doctor wrote us a prescription for the Tamiflu. The pharmacy was closed by the time we got out of the vet's office so we will have to pick it up tomorrow. Now that Moki is hydrated again, he actually weighs a little more, mostly weight gain from the fluids, but still good to hear. The congestion is still present, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Tamiflu will knock it out. Going forward we are going to try an experiment. I bought a bag of sub-q-fluids to bring home with us to help keep Moki hydrated until he starts drinking again, he will thus receive fluids everyday to every other day for the next 10 days. During this time we are going to monitor the amounts of blood in Moki's urine. If I am correct in my assumptions, then the regular dose of sub-q-fluids should eliminate the blood in Moki's urine in addition to keeping him hydrated. At the end of 10 days, I will report my finding back to the vet and we will go forward from there.

As long as we can keep Moki hydrated and eating then I think we may be able to get every thing under control once again. We have done it before and I WILL NOT give up hope that it can be done again. As long as Moki's chooses to fight, we will stand by him!

Thank you so much to everyone who is purring, praying and showing their support for Moki! God is listening and he is working on answering our prayers!

Moki - Moving From Bad To Worse...

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:02:00 +0000

For those of you who may be unaware, Moki is now battling a life threatening URI in addition to the blood in his urine...
As of yesterday, he was congested, dehydrated and running a temperature. He also weighed in at 4.5 pounds. As of today his condition has gotten worse and he is now refusing to eat or drink anything. At his current weight he cannot afford to lose even an ounce! To be honest I have not seen Moki this sick from a URI since whatever virus originally attacked him got a hold of him. (Despite being extremely congested, Moki is still purring and walking around on his own, which are both promising signs...)
However their is a chance that Moki may not pull through this. If Moki is continuing not to eat or drink on his own as of tomorrow, we will be left with no other choice but to have him hospitalized and hooked up to an IV.
Moki needs our prayers and help now more than ever...
If anyone can spare even a dollar or two to help out with Moki's medical costs it would be deeply appreciated. Deb and ML are currently holding a raffle on their blog, and we will be accepting direct donations here on ours.

----------------------UPDATE---------------------

Moki is continuing to hang in there. He is also taking to the force feeding pretty well. Mom has been giving him water and feeding him small quantities of food every two hours. Because she has been breaking up the feeding times, she has been able to get half a can of food down Moki today. Hurray!

-------------------2 Update----------------------

The purrs and prayers are working! Yesterday momma in a attempt to get Moki eating on his own today, mixed in some Lickables Super Charger with the food she was force feeding Moki. The Super Charger is a appetite stimulate which momma has used on Moki numerous times in the past with great success. Well, it worked! Every night before momma bean goes to bed, she carries Moki past his food dishes and to the litter box. Last night while caring Moki to the litter box, she noticed him turn his head towards his food bowls as we passed them. After Moki went potty, she decided to place him by his food bowls since he was showing some interest in them. To momma's great surprise and relief, Moki started chowing down on the dry kibble which stood before him. He didn't just have a bite or two, but ate for a full 30 mins! He then walked over to his water dish and took a few small drinks. By the time he was through, momma bean could feel his now round full belly. She was so HAPPY!

As of this morning, Moki's eyes look much brighter, and he is continuing to eat on his own. He is still congested, and not drinking a whole lot, but we are seeing positive signs of improvement! As for the blood in Moki's urine, it is getting lighter as well. We are not sure if the improvement in Moki's urine is a result of the antibiotic or the sub-q-fluids. So based on our updated findings, here is what we are going to do. Moki is going to go back to his regular vet for another round of sub-q-fluids and we are going to speak to the vet about starting Moki on Tamiflu for the URI. The sub-q-fluids will help keep Moki hydrated until he starts drinking enough on his own again. If after receiving the sub-q-fluids today we see a further decline in the amount of blood in Moki's urine, then we may have some thing to go on helping us to explain it's cause. For the most part we have ruled out the cause of the blood to be a result of Moki not fully expressing his bladder as a result of his neurological condition, if this was the cause of the blood then we would all expect to see scar tissue on the ultrasounds which have been done and we are not seeing any. However, if today's sub-q-fluids cause a further decline in the blood level, then we may have to re-examine the possibility, since the sub-q-fluids actually force Moki to express his bladder more often...

Tamiflu has always worked wonders on Moki's URI's in the past, so we are going to try giving it a shot. As long as Moki continues to eat on his own, and doesn't show any further signs of decline, then we are going to work with the doctors and try to keep Moki here at home since it is less stressful, if however Moki starts to slip, even a little, we will have him admitted to the hospital for his own good. Fortunately the hospital is open 24 hrs so we can check him in anytime if need be.

--Momma Bean Thinks She May Be On To Something--

As many of you know momma bean has been super busy these past couple of weeks, with school starting and all, so she hasn't really had much time to stop and think everything over in regards to Moki, at least that is until yesterday. Some thing was eating at her and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. On Thanksgiving we shared the happy news that the blood in Moki's urine had completely cleared up. (You can see the pictures or re-read the posting by clicking on the Thanksgiving link.) At that time we attributed the blood clearing up to a shot we had given Moki. When the blood came back a few days later, we tried in vain to duplicate the results we received from giving Moki the shot which we believed clear up his urine, but nothing worked. Over the following weeks we tried breaking the shot up in individual dosages, tried up-ing the dosage, but still nothing work. We just could not duplicate the results. On Tuesday we gave Moki another shot (a different one) and some sub-q-fluids. Immediately the blood in his urine started to get lighter, it didn't completely go away, but there was a noticeable difference. At first I, as well as the doctors, attributed the changes in Moki's urine to the shot. Then this morning while in the shower it donned on me, we gave Moki sub-q-fluids last month, and at some time during the month the blood in his urine went completely away. We then gave Moki sub-q-fluids on Tuesday and since we have seen a marked improvement in Moki's urine. If I went back through and looked at Moki's blog, could I make a connection between the dates that we gave Moki sub-q-fluids and the dates that Moki's urine started to show signs of improvement? Well after taking the time to go back through and look at everything, the answer was an astonishing YES! Could this be the break through we have been hoping and praying for??? Could it be that Moki's doctors and I have been on the wrong path assuming that it was the drugs which have been helping to clear up the blood in Moki's urine? Could we possibly have overlooked the most obvious answer??? I will be discussing my findings with Moki's doctor today at 4:00 p.m. when we take him in for more sub-q-fluids. I'll let everyone know what he has to say after our appointment. In the meantime, let's all keep our fingers crossed that mom may be on to some thing here!

Pictures of Bella's Wheelchair/Moki Update

questions@savemoki.com (Save Moki) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:14:00 +0000

Here is Bella in her new wheelchair.

I know everyone has waited a long time to see Bella racing around but unfortunately we are all going to have to wait awhile longer...

You see Bella's new wheelchair doesn't quite work. (At least not for Bella...) The rear end of the chair is to heavy and she needs some more support. We where hoping a two-wheel cart would work for Bella, but it looks as though she may actually need a four-wheel cart.

We have thus contacted Doggon Wheels to find out more about exchanging the cart. We'll keep everyone updated as soon as we know more.

In other news:

Orange Boy is continuing to look after Moki while he remains sick.

Moki's regular doctor has reached the limits of what he can do for the blood in Moki's urine. (In addition to the blood in the urine, Moki now has a runny nose and watery eyes. ) He has thus suggested that we bring Moki back to UC Davis to see if maybe they can help. Please continue to purr and pray for Moki. We are starting to run out of options...