My World of Walter

Home Improvements

2010-08-30T20:34:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting in bed, Walter by my side, sitting on his pedestal. This weekend was a bit of a change for him. I did some very late and overdue 'spring' cleaning. Boxes everywhere, things that were stored away were pulled out into various piles of junk around the house, with Walter safely beneath the covers of the bed. He hasn't really started to act like 'himself' until last night, when we were mostly done everything. So of course to make up for his weekend 'away', he had to be his great, very obedient self last night. It started with him jumping on top of the cupboards once again, nothing new or all that surprising actually, he did, however, decided to try something new last night.
His litter box is currently in our bathroom, conveniently located just under the roll or toilet paper, next the the wall. I heard a different noise than usual coming from the bathroom and went to investigate....ugh. Have you ever seen your cat or dog, wipe their paws after the finish making a deposit? Yeah, Walter does that too, sometimes he even actually covers his mess in the box, but he also wipes his paws on the wall, on the floor outside the box and on the shower curtain. We he must have gotten a bit more vigorous than usual with the wall.....there is a strip of drywall missing from the bottom of the toilet paper roll right down to the top of the litter box. Yup, thanks Walter. It wouldn't be such a big issue, however, we live in a rented apartment. So, in the mean time, before he can do any more damage, I had a great idea. We actually have a hanging corrugated cardboard scratching post (it hangs off door knobs etc.) that Walter has never really ever used. I had an extra picture hook hanging around and hung it right over top of the peeled paint on the wall. It seems to have worked thus far, but we can only hope.....

Vaccine Day!

2010-08-12T21:32:00.000-06:00

So today was Walter's appointment for his annual exam and vaccines, though we were a bit overdue (by like 4 months!). I packed him up in his swanky new carrier and hauled him off to work. His exam went well.....though with a few 'bumps' in the road you could say! He has gained close to 3 pounds since we adopted him over a year ago...not good! It doesn't help that his 'holistic' food is almost 500 calories per cup either, though it has worked a wonder on his vomiting episodes. Other than that, there is a suspect tooth with a possible resorptive lesion on it, so I guess I'll have to keep an eye on that. Heart sounds good, no murmur, which is great as we've been keeping an eye on his heart due to an ultrasound he had last year. Because the ultrasonographer was coming into the clinic anyways to do an ultrasound on another patient, we thought we would take this opportunity and have his heart rechecked today.
Needless to say, Walter wasn't very cooperative (very squirmy) last time, so I thought I'd be proactive and sedate him slightly prior to this ultrasound. I gave him a nice IV injection of a narcotic mixed with a benzodiazepine (like valium). Well....that didn't work too well, though he could hardly sit without falling over, he was even more squirmy. Up comes IV injection #2 (more narcotic and this time a sedative). Well, it wasn't perfect, but it got the job done.
The ultrasound showed no heart abnormalities (murmur, thickening etc), so I am just happy with that.
It has been about 6 hours since I sedated him and he is still wobbling around the house looking for food (benzo's do that!) with his eyes as big as pie plates!

Clean bill of health, now just to work on the weight thing.....wish me good luck.

Lil'Lucy

2010-08-05T20:59:00.000-06:00

Well, unfortunately, this post is not going to be about Walter today, however, it is going to be about Walter's little lop-earred rabbit girlfriend, Lucy.
We adopted Lucy almost three years ago as a teeny-tiny 6 week old bunny. We originally adopted her as a companion for our other lop, Loki. After the first introduction, Loki bit the tip of her ear off (and we never found it and now think that Loki is the first ever omniverous rabbit). Since then, they have become much better friends, however, never completely becoming a bonded pair.
Since we adopted Walter, him and Lucy have become quite the pair. The would lay together on the floor (and even in the cage sometimes), play and chase one another, and even on certain occasions, groom one another.
Lucy is a very sweet rabbit, never had any issues with her, never territorial, would love to snuggle and was just such a well-mannered and sweet rabbit. Loki, on the otherhand, is your typical male rabbit, generally territorial, though very smart and cuddly when he want to be. Actually, they are both very smart, I clicker trained both of them!

Well, unfortunately, we noticed something was up with Lucy on monday night. We had went grocery shopping, and when we came home, I offered the rabbits some fresh cilantro. Lucy has always loved her fresh veggies and hay, and she didn't eat any of it. I opened her cage to let her have some fun time, and she didn't want to move too much. Later that night, I thought I might as well start medicating her (to make a long story short, rabbits can easily go into gastric stasis, essentially colic. They become painful and anorexic, and without early intervention, it can turn out ugly, however, it is generally always secondary to another problem....diet, infection, stress, etc.). So we gave her some sub-q fluids, and an anti-inflammatory pain reliever. The next morning, I brought her to work, started force feeding her, more fluids, more pain meds etc. That night we repeated everything and tried to get her to move as much as possible. By the next morning (tuesday morning), she couldn't hold her head up. I brought her in, and took x-rays. The rads showed a HUGE amount of gas throughout her abdomen, she was pale and cold to the touch. I knew this wasn't going to turn out well. We tried to stablize her...I actually got an IV catheter in (not the easiest thing to do in a rabbit, especially when it's your own animal who needs it so desperately). She was so painful and the only thing we could to to relieve the gas in her abdomen was to essentially trocharize her (insert a needle into her stomach and relieve the pressure). Shortly after that, she started to fight. I've seen all this before, in our last rabbit, Roxy. It's almost like they know that the end is near and they physically fight it.

15 minutes later, she passed away. It went so quickly, thankfully.

We have no idea what made her get so sick so quickly. But now, she's out of pain, and across the Bridge. We gave her an amazing life for 3 years, she was a very spoiled bunny, and I am thankful we were able to spend that time with her.
I know some people may think, "it's only a rabbit", but ask any one in my family or any one of my friends, I love my rabbits as much as I love Walter. They are part of our family, and we love them dearly.

When I think of the animals that we lost, I do find solstice in knowing that they are in heaven....healthy and happy. I also think of my Grandmother, who passed away in September, she was an animal lover (I think that's where I got it from), and I know that she is caring for them and loving them as I did up in heaven,

OMG! It's Been TOO Long!!!!!

2010-07-21T22:34:00.000-06:00

Wow! I just looked back to the last post I did....February, wow, I can't believe it's been almost 6 months since I updated the world of Walter and my mishaps!

Well, to update everyone on Walter, he's doing just fine, same old kitty, perhaps just a bit more frustrating than usual. I had him to work a few months back, I can't even remember why, but he has started to become a pretty stressed out guy en route and staying at the clinic. He doesn't get aggressive or anything of the sort, he just gets anxious. With my research in behavioural medicine, I thought "why force him to be anxious, why not give him an anti-anxiety medication to make him more comfortable", great idea I thought (gave myself a little pat on the back). We tend to do this with a few of our patients to try to make the visit at the vet a more pleasant one; we decided to go with alprazolam, or Xanax, as many people know it as, which is the only oral anti-anxiety medication we have at the present time. We came up with a dose (went low end just to be on the safe side) and popped a pill.....what ensued in the next few hours, I would have never guessed!

As with any medications, there can always be potential side-effects. With anxiety meds, they can sedate you, calm you down, make you drowsy or even make you a bit....well.....off....crazy may be a better word! The alprazolam sure seemed to have calmed Walter down, however, it turned him from a high energy cat to an insane 17 pounds of never-ending trouble making. He is normally a vocal cat, but 15 minutes after giving him the pill.....he wouldn't stop talking. If you have ever had an abnormally vocal cat, you will know what I mean. He started digging to get out of his kennel in the hospital, so I had another great idea and put him in a dog run with a plethora of toys, thinking that will keep him busy. Boy was I wrong!

Yes, that is him crawling up the kennel door.

Thankfully, his dad was at home sick that day, so I just decided to take him home and let Mike deal with it (haha!). Well, the weird behaviour didn't settle down at home. He took to walking all over the coffee table, and obviously didn't understand where the table ended and fell flat on his noggan onto the foor (which being a mom I was very concerned, but when I knew he was ok I started laughing so hard I almost had to make a trip to the bathroom!). Being a cat who is never interested in our people food (thank God), he took to drinking out of everyones glass that day as well as jumping onto the countertop, then leaping onto the top of the fridge and then gracefully making it to the top of the cupboards.

Unfortunately, he has now made this is very annoying habit and although he can get up there so easily, he can't make it down. So one of us has to crawl up there to resuce him.
The effects of the Xanax lasted about 6 hours.....then he crashed and slept the rest of the evening! I do still recommend Xanax (alprazolam) as a very good anti-anxiety medications for pets, however, this will be the first AND last time Walter ever recieves it!

Now, because of this, we have to safeguard the countertops and fridge top with X-mats to detter him from jumping......

Bonitoooooo Flakes! YUM!

2010-02-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

We adopted Walter about 9 months ago, and for 9 months, I have been searching to find treats that he LOVES.....and doesn't make him vomit. We found some a few months ago called "We Pity the Kitties", which he does love and has even opend up cupboard doors to get at. The only issue is, the box is $8 for 20 or so treats...not very cost effective when he steals the box and eats the entire contents. So I finally buckled down and bought a carton of bonito flakes. For those of you who don't know what Bonito flakes are, its like fine, feather-like fish flakes, smokey almost. Japanese use them alot for cooking....or so Alton Brown says...

I have been told by many cat people, that their cats go INSANE for them. Although, I woudln't go as far as saying Walter goes insane for them (as he is insane most of the time), he really likes them. He sits by his food dish yelling for the little flakes...and the best thing about it....no vomit (as of yet...)

Captain Underpants.....

2010-02-08T20:44:00.001-07:00

I think we may have to be changing Walters name.

I have heard that many cats have some sort of fetish, wether it be chewing on hair, sucking on wool or blankets, or just some weird routine that they have developed. I wish I could say Walter had a fetish like chewing on my hair, he does from time to time, but it's not his thing. His thing is something that I don't like to tell alot of people, but it's becoming such a part of our lives, that I just can't hold back anymore. As gross as you may find this, Walter loves.....underwear. Not just anyone's underwear....my underwear. From now on, I have to become a bit more assertive about where I lay my clothes out.

Walter has this thing about finding my clean underwear and deciding to play with them. It usually happens either after a shower, when I lay my clothes out, or when I've washed my clothes and I have them in my laundry basket. He will hunt down my underwear and rub up against them, eventually putting his head through one of the leg holes and walking around the house. This is no lie I tell you. I have found my underwear scattered throughout the house; bathroom, living room and even in the middle of the kitchen floor. Obviously, this could make for a bit of an embarassing mishap. I'm not sure exactly what this is about, he doesn't do this to any of my other garmants or socks....just my underwear.

It is cute though, when he walks through the house with them on, it looks like he's wearing a cape.....

I love my Captain Underpants....

P.S. I promise I'll get a picture :o)

Sorry it's been forever....or should I say Furever....

2010-01-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a very long time since Walter and I wrote our last post. Since the last update, he has had four treatments at the rehabilitation clinic, and boy, it has done a world of good. It seemed to have perked him up a bit right after the first laser treatment, but by the fourth, it's like I have a kitten running around my house again. Every time we go in there, the tech's always ask how he's doing, and it's always been 'ok'. But now....we can really tell that it's working because the level of troubleness is increasing! It seems every time I look at him, he's getting into trouble...jumping up on counters, playing with things he shouldn't, sporadically galloping around the house. Honestly, it's getting hard to keep up with him! As per doctor recommendations, we still need to keep him 'quiet' (yeah right), and try to ice him and stretch him twice daily....which is not the easiest task in the world, just trying to keep up with him is enough work.
For example,

Yesterday morning, I woke up and walked into the kitchen to find a bunch of my clothes strewn across the kitchen floor....nice. I guess that's a nice way of him telling me to put my clothes away. He has also taken to poucing on us in the middle of the night again, oh so wonderful to have him back to normal.....

First Day at Rehab..

2010-01-11T22:41:00.000-07:00

My Schedule for the Day:
6:30am- Wake Up
6:35am- Feed Walter
6:40am- Slowly start to gather head for day
6:50am- Wash face and begin to look presentable for other people
7:00am- Brush teeth and get dressed
7:05am- 'Sedate' Walter with Bach's Rescue Remedy
7:10-7:25am- Try to locate Walter (hiding)
7:30am- 'Stuff' Walter in kennel
7:35am- Pack Walter in car and drive to rehab clinic
8:00am- Rehab appointment
8:45am- Home
8:47am- Feed Walter again (reward for being a good boy)
9:00am- Sleep before work

Yes, that was our morning, Walter's first rehab appointment. All in all it went very well, the Technician used the laser to help release and repair the trigger points throughout his back and front legs. He did well, at least I thought so, especially for being a cat, he just didn't like the idea of having to be forced to sit in one spot for more than 30 seconds.
It seems like he's had a pretty good night. He's eaten alot and has been running and jumping around like usual. During my morning nap, he even woke me up by pouncing on my stomach and rolling around for belly rubs. Tonight he hasn't been sleeping in the bedroom like he has been either, so maybe this whole Laser thing is working! We can only hope for the best!! Next appointment scheduled for Wednesday morning! Keep your fingers crossed!!

Long Road to Recovery..........

2010-01-06T13:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I think we may have finally hit the nail on the head when it comes to Walter's 'illness'. Pancreatitis has been ruled out (recieved the blood results yesterday), and he still continues to not have any gastrointestinal symptoms. Like I mentioned in the last post, we think that it may actually be his back, as back pain can manifest as abdominal pain in many circumstances. He has continued to be on the metacam (anti-inflammatory) and we have since discontinued the buprenorphin (narcotic), and he has been doing extremely well; almost back to normal, but we can still tell that something is still not right with him.
He was at work with me this morning as we had one of the vets from the rehabilitation clinic (specializes in only rehabilitation and physiotherapy of animals) in to do a couple of exams on our patients, including Walter. This doctor has speicalized training in diagnosing and treating complex pain in animals. While doing her exam on Walter, she confirmed that he had quite a lot pain in the mid-back and hip area. She could actually palpate several 'pea-sized' knots in the muscles along his back as well as tense muscles in his front end, most likely due to him over-compromising weight distrubution from his sore back.
Looking through the x-rays, she couldn't confirm if he has a 'slipped disk', but there are a few areas that are questionable, or it may just be all soft tissue injury. We may send the films to one of the board-certified surgeons in the area to get his opinion as well, however at this point, the only 100% way to diagnose a disk problem in Walter would be to do a CT scan. I know it sounds crazy to many people, but all I have to say...'again' is thank GOD for insurance!
So for now, he will continue on the anti-inflammatories, possibly add in a muscle relaxant (Robaxin) and start with laser therapy at the rehab clinic on monday.
So now I have a few things going through my head. I have been very reluctant to agree with my vets that Walter has Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) with pancreatitis flare-ups as we have not been able to accuratly diagnose any of these, nor has he had any of the clear cut symptoms, I'm wondering if this has been a problem all along.....

Healing Light: The Miracle of Cold Laser Therapy

High Anxiety Level.....

2010-01-02T01:22:00.002-07:00

If I didn't have enough to worry about on my plate....

I wasn't really looking forward to Christmas this year, wasn't really feeling it. I was looking forward to my week off between Christmas and New Years though. However, this week has come and gone, full of anxiety, worry and multiple trips into work with Walter. It's sad when you think, just for a second, to take one of your dogs anti-anxiety pills!! (I didn't...don't worry).

We're not exactly sure what's up with him this time around. He's just off, he seems painful. At first I thought it was his stomach again, either pancreatitis or some sort of gastritis, however, he's not vomiting and he's begging for food (signs that don't go with gastrointestinal issues). He's been lethargic, with a few bursts of energy, sleeping alot in the bedroom and sitting on his cat tree hunched into a ball. We've done x-rays (we're up to so many now it should be considered radiation therapy), and bloodwork and haven't been able to find anything but a few spots along his back that seems painful and spasms after touching. As for the moment, we're just treating him for pain. Metacam (anti-inflammatory) and buprenorphine (a narcotic that they actually use now instead of Methadone for patients undergoing addiction problems!).

He's been a pretty drugged up little guy for the past few days. Today I decided to decrease the frequency of the buprenorphine, and it seems (don't want to jinx it though) as the buprenorphine is wearing off he's beginning to be a bit more of 'himself'. I know my mother says I get too worked up over this kind of stuff, but when you have the track record that we have had you can't help not to. Walter is my best friend, and when he's not his usual fun loving self, it's very hard to go about your every day life, especially when you can't put your finger on what's exactly going on.

Hopefully we're over the brunt of it. We have a veterinarian from a clinic that specializes in therapy and rehabilitation coming in on wednesday that is planning on taking a very thorough look at Walter and his x-rays, in case she can see something with her 'specially trained eyes'. We're also planning on getting him in with my co-workers wife, who's also a vet, to do acupuncture on him for pain relief.

Cross your fingers for us.....

The Story of my Unfortunate Pets....(sorry it's long)

2009-12-22T21:24:00.007-07:00

Sorry, but I need to do a bit of venting with a bit of recent bad news.

As many of you know, I share my house not only with Walter, but with two rabbits, and what used to be three guinea pigs.

Here's the story of the guinea pigs and the bad luck that seems to follow my animals.

When I first moved out of my parents house, I wanted to get a suitable apartment pet. Mike and I went to a local pet store and looked around. We were thinking a hamster or some other small rodent, as I always thought they were too fun to watch!

Then we met Murph. A tiny little peruvian (long haired) guinea pig, all alone in a big cage, of course we had to take him home. We purchased a cage and every single guinea pig friendly toy we could find. I loved Murph (or Murphalurf as we called him), he was wonderful, and so fun to play with. I learned very quickly why they're called pigs. About a month or so after we adopted Murph, we though he needed a companion. We went out and found a little white and orange peruvian female and named her Lily. They lived in the same house together, though we found out quite quickly that they didn't get along too well.

One night, while at a different pet store, we spotted a white abbysinnian cross (long spikey hair) female, and of course, couldn't resist temptation and brought her home too....thought she may be a better companion for Murph that Lily. We named her Abigail Appleseed (Abby), and set her up in her own cage as we had a neuter scheduled in a few weeks for Murph.

In the weeks that followed, there was an accident with Lily, and unfortunately passed away following an injury to her foot. (#1)

One evening we had the two remaining pigs out to play, careful not to get Murph TOO close to Abby (didn't intend for babies), however, nature seems to take it's course and within seconds innocent little Abby was impregnated by Murph.

It was quite amazing following her through her pregnancy though, the gestation period for GP's is actually longer than that of dogs and cats. However a week before Abby was due, we came home and Murph had died unexpectedly, and I was heartbroken. (#2)

Abby had her babies, three in total at 5:00 in the morning; two little girls (Daisy and Calla) and one little boy (Max-my favorite). It was incredible (the pictures I posted are of the three babies on the day they were born), they were covered in hair, eyes and ear open and already eating solid food and vocalizing...absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, it was about 3 weeks after the babies were born, we woke up one morning and Abby was dead. (#3)

Let me remind you, this all happened in the span of about four months...it's very disheartening when you have three animals die unexpectedly in a four month span.

So, we tried again. We were out at another pet store (seems like this is all we ever do) on a very snowy night, looking at guinea pigs. There was an open pen in the small animal department with a young red mini rex rabbit. Mike bent down to look at a guinea pig and this rabbit just jumped right into his arms. She didn't struggle to get away, she just laid there, content. He looked at me and I said "No, there is no way we're getting a rabbit, they're dirty, and poo everywhere..." (this was before I knew that they could be litter trained, are as clean as cats, very trainable and social). He put her back into the pen and she immediately came over to me and hopped in my arms. Ok, she had me. It took only another 30 seconds of discussion and we signed the papers to take her home. The next day we learned that she had a very tough time eating her hay and pellets, so I checked in her mouth. It was the most awful sight I ever saw. Her incisor teeth were so overgrown (rabbits and guinea pigs, like horses, have continuously erupting teeth that are ground down and maintained with roughage, unless they have a predisposing condition or a hereditary trait) that they had curled out of her mouth. I took her into work with me the next day, and once monthly there after, to have her teeth trimmed. Her name was Roxy. I never had a pet like Roxy. She opened my eyes to the world of rabbits. And because of her, I can't see my life without a rabbit. She was so much fun, she cuddled all the time, was very well litter trained and I had even clicker trained her...she was a good friend, and I am glad that it was us who adopted her because she got the medical treatment she deserved, rather than just being ignored or euthanized.

One night, about 6 months after we adopted her, we walked into our bedroom (where her cage was) to a horrific sound of Roxy screaming. If you have never heard a rabbit scream, let me tell you it is a gut-wrenching sound. We immediately ran her into the emergency clinic to find out that she had a urinary tract infection and began to treat her with pain medication and antibiotics. Two days later she stopped eating. This is considered an emergency in rabbits. Fortunately I was able to bring her to work with me every day for treatment, unfortunately not ONE of the vets at work wanted to treat her. I had to phone specialists in different cities and provinces to get treatment plans for her....we did everything we could for her; force fed her, gave her IV fluids, pain medication, antacids, etc. Friday, she started to open mouth breath and we had to unfortunately euthanize her.
She was the first animal that I had to decide to euthanize. I was such a wreck, my mom and brother had to come and pick me up from work. (#4)

Thankfully, I don't work there anymore.

When it was the right time, Mike and I decided that we needed another rabbit, so we adopted Loki and shortly after that Lucy, and thankfully they are both still with us today.

Last Christmas, as you all know, we adopted Blitz. And unfortunately, he only shared 6 months of his wonderful life with us as he passed away at home from complications of a very strange inflammatory condition in which he endured two open heart surgeries and was happy, head bunting and purring the entire time. (#5)

Then came Walter.....sick all the time.....battling a bit of pancreatitis/gastritis again....but I don't want to get into it.

About a week and a half ago, we were cleaning and bathing the three remaining guinea pigs, when we noticed that Calla had dropped a ton of weight and was not wanting to move, she had blood coming out her back end and was having difficulty breathing. I treated her with everything that I could for that night and decided to bring her in the next day......however, the next day she had passed away in her cage with her brother and sister along side of her. We did a post-mortem and found that she had passed away from cancer, likely from her reproductive tract and had spread throughout her organs. (#6)

I had been noticing over the last week or so, that the two remaining guinea pigs had not been wanting to eat their pellets (still eating veggies and hay). I thought maybe it's because they're still in mourning...yes, many animals that are bonded to others will go through a mourning phase as one passes away. I picked up Daisy, who has always been the alpha female...and FAT may I add....had lost a ton of weight...very skinny along her pelvis. This got me worried. I picked up Max, and he had lost a bunch of weight over the last week too, though not as skinny as Daisy.

I brought both of them into work today for exams....couldn't find anything wrong with Max. However, we found a large mass in Daisy's abdomen. We aspirated it and collected clear fluid.
The diagnosis for now is a cystic ovary, however we will have to wait for the pathology report. As I read up on cystic ovaries in guinea pigs, I realize that there is a good chance that she could have concurrent cancer elsewhere in her reproductive tract as well. There isn't much we can do. We could spay here, however I have a good feeling that at this stage of the game she wouldn't survive the surgery as guinea pigs are not the best surgical candidates in the first place. At this point, we likely will just have to palliate her, until it's her time to cross the bridge, and this would make it #7 in three years.

I am beginning to think that I'm a bad pet owner, though I pride myself on continuously educating myself on many different topics of animal health. It just seems that we keep adopting these sick animals. I understand that it's better us adopt these animals as we are able to give them the best life and health care possible, however it is beginning to become emotionally draining on me. I look at many other pet owners and think "why can't I have a pet who just needs an annual check up once a year, why do mine either just spontaneously die, or develop a strange medical condition that cannot be cured, or are just continuously sick" WHY!!??

I'm sorry for this long rant, I'm not looking for sympathy from anyone, I'm just looking for some understanding.

I love animals, I would take every single one in that needed a home and some TLC, but I just can't do this anymore. I have a box of urns that sits on my bookshelf, and that box is full.

If I could have one thing this Christmas, it would be for the health and well being of my family, and this includes my furry family. I know that some of you are sitting there and saying "they're just animals, or it's just a guinea pig..." No....it's a life. A beautiful life that God put on this earth. And a guinea pig or a rabbit, is just as important as any other animal in my mind.

Like I said, a life is a life, and any life is worth saving.

A Friend in Deed

2009-12-13T18:36:00.006-07:00

It's so wonderful as a pet owner to have your pet be your right-hand guy. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, Walter is there by my side always willing to hand a paw. Whether it's going to the bathroom, or cleaning the fish tank, you know Walter will be at your aid.
I was attempting to make the bed after doing laundry this afternoon when Walter decided he would help by putting on the sheets. He immediately stretched out on top the mattress while I was trying to put the fitted sheet on. I got two corners done, and of course while trying to get the third and fourth, there he is under the sheet swatting at the corners. I proceeded to finally get the rest of the sheet around the corners when he slinked out from under the sheet, and jumped right back on top of my clean sheet. I moved on to the duvet. Have I mentioned I hate trying to put a duvet cover on, I must be the only person on earth that takes a half an hour trying to do this. Anyways, While I'm trying to match the corners up of the duvet and cover, Walter decides he'll help by actually going in the duvet. What a ham...wanting to get this done as fast as possible...I climb in and extract him from within the cover and quickly zip it up.
Oh what a help is always is!!
It's so wonderful to get into a nice clean bed....covered in cat hair....

Walters Life In Technicolor

2009-12-05T22:45:00.002-07:00

A little while ago, while scanning through various discussion topics on Blog Catalogue, Walter made me enter him in a contest. The contest was for animal owners to submit pictures of their pets to win an original pastel pet portrait from Suzanne Overton. Needless to say, after a bit of convincing, I entered a picture of Walter and myself to Suzanne.
To much of my surprise, I received an email this week, Walter had actually won! I am very grateful of Suzanne, as I have always wanted a professional portrait of one of my pets, though could never afford one.
Her work is absolutely beautiful, please visit her site for more information.
http://artisticpetportraits.blogspot.com/
Thanks Suzanne!! I look forward to seeing the finished product!

When you really need toilet paper....

2009-11-28T00:31:00.004-07:00

Ever come home after a long days work, sitting in rush-hour traffic for an hour and really have to go #1? You're walking up the stairs to your apartment knock-kneed, jumbling the keys in the door, throw your bags and coat on the floor and just run into the bathroom. I'm sure we've all had moments like that, I just had one recently.
But thanks to Walter, when you really need toilet paper, well....it is there.. it's just everywhere. It seems like he somehow has a 6th sense of knowing when you have a bathroom 'emergency' and decides to have rolled all the paper off the roll (no matter if it's a new roll or not) and has strewn it from one end of the apartment to the next.
It's a really nice feeling when you know that you're going to feel the 'relief' when you get into the bathroom...and a nightmare when you have found out what he's done in his spare time and you need to go to the utility closet to get a new roll.
Thanks Walter.

Red Underwear...

2009-11-17T23:18:00.002-07:00

Do you ever sit and look at your pet and think, "what would you be like if you were human?' I've thought about it many a time. Mike and I have a running joke about Walter's human wardrobe. Well, I don't know if you would call it an entire wardrobe when it only consists of one article of clothing, and that's.....red underwear.
Don't ask me where or how we ever came up with that, but we always just imagined Walter walking upright with a pair of fire engine red underwear with a hole in the back for his tail. They wouldn't be boxers or boxer-briefs, but tight, red men's bikini briefs. (The thought of that on a real man makes me shudder, but on a cat, that's just plain adorable...)

Mike and I were talking about the possibility of me writing a book one day and I said I should write one about Walter. I even came up with the name 'Wallywood" with a picture of him on the front cover wearing his red underwear, a feather boa and sunglasses while walking down the red carpet at a Hollywood event. Clever huh....well, I thought so anyways.
Here's to hoping one day.

Perks of the Job..

2009-11-09T21:08:00.002-07:00

Well, I have to apologize in advance for the topic of this post, you'll find out if you read further.
When I tell people what I do for a living and that I work in a veterinary hospital, it is usually followed by "awww, that must be so nice working with puppies and kittens everyday" or something to that effect. Well, let me set you straight. Sure cuddling and socializing puppies and kittens is a very nice perk, there are many things that people don't realize that come with the job of working with animals.

Let me go back to when I first started working in an aquarium and the injuries that ensued.

My first injury or shall I say illness, came when I started working with a flock of african penguins. The habitat was old and not very well ventilated prior to getting it's new facelift. I spent alot of time in there everyday, cleaning and scrubbing poop, feeding, getting in the 3 degree water to clean glass, I'm sure you get the picture. I came down with a nasty cough and raspiness in my chest so I went to the doctor. After a thorough history, she said "I think you have a respiratory infection, cause by chlamydia", nice huh. Let me point out that this isn't the clap that many people first think about, birds shed chlamydia in there feces and therefore can be inhaled and lead to respiratory conditions. Antibiotics got rid of it, but it wasn't fun explaining to my mom that I contracted chlamydia from bird poo.

My second injury came from the penguins as well. It was the middle of January in cold Alberta. I was suited up in my shorts, fleece pullover and rubber boots, cleaning the poo from the habitat. I turned the wrong way and fell straight onto my thumb. Unfortunately, it swell up like a banana, and my co-workers took me to the hospital and called my mom to come and keep me company. We sat in the emergency room for hours, but we had most of it to ourselves as no one wanted to sit near me. I had no idea why, I know that I looked ridiculous in my shorts and sandals in January....and then then smell came. I could smell myself...fish and poop. I stood up to ask my mom if she could see anything on me, and she started laughing, I guess when I fell, I fell in a big pile of poop. I had penguin poo smeared all down my back and bottom. No wonder no one wanted to sit near me. Needless to say...the diagnosis this time was a broken thumb.

After that, I had a few more injuries working in the aquarium setting. I was bit by a snake (non-venomous thank God), bit by a shark, nearly bit by an alligator (he lunged and hissed, but missed thankfully), whipped by an 8 food iguana (felt like a baseball bat!), bit by a green sea turtle, bit by a flamingo, and yes the list goes on.

Now, working in a veterinary clinic has been relatively good for me. I've only been bit a few times by cats and only once has it put me on antibiotics (and that was from a kitten no less). Never bit by a dog, but of course now that I say that, I'll go to work tomorrow and get bit. And of course, bit by my very own rabbit (and those bites have to hurt the most! But I have been scratched to the point of no vitamin E or bio-oil will ever get rid of the scars. And this leads me to today.
I have an incredibly swollen finger, thanks to Walter scratching my cuticle, (yes it hurts to type, but I'm bored so I gotta do something) and nail, it's bright red and insanely hot to the touch. I have kept a band-aid on it with polysporin, but it hasn't helped. I was slightly excited to wake up this morning and find a nice little pus pocket and abscess on it, but I was very disappointed, maybe tomorrow.
So just to reiterate the fact, working with animals, though very fun and rewarding most of the time, comes with many consequences. I consider myself lucky to only have to go on antibiotics once (though if this finger thing continues, it will be twice), never on IV antibiotics as a few of my co-workers have, and never been seriously injured. To those of you who own animals and take them to the vet regularly, please try to socialize your animals as early as possible as many of these injuries are caused by fear. Take them to a veterinary clinic that highly praises your animal when they come in to try to make the experience as positive as possible. Even though we pride ourselves on doing this, accidents do happen. It's not your fault as an owner, I don't blame animals for biting most of the time as I wouldn't want to be held down to have blood taken either. But with owners taking time to socialize and veterinary staff taking the time to learn less stressful restraints and techniques we can hopefully decrease injuries to both owners and staff.

.....Now, to go soak my finger like my mom said.......

Feeling Better

2009-11-07T16:03:00.004-07:00

Well, I can finally say that everything is back to normal, for now. Walter has been feeling much better for the past two days, and thus getting in much more trouble, as per usual. You can especially tell first thing in the morning when he feels compelled to wake you up prior to your alarm clock ringing by leaping off his cat tree and onto your belly signifying that it's BREAKFAST TIME! And boy, has his appetite come back with a vengeance. Because he hasn't been through enough lately, I'm starting him on a strict diet. Poor guy. Since we brought him home from the shelter, he has gained just under 5 pounds (in 7 months) and that number is steadily climbing, he's a grand total of 15 pounds. In all honestly, he doesn't look that big, but he sure has a belly pouch hanging off him, and it's especially noticeable since it's been shaved for the ultrasound, truthfully, it kind of looks like a bum in the front...

The vet at work suggested trying him on a homemade diet. There's a great website called http://www.balanceit.com/, where both pet owners and veterinary professionals can go to to order balanced homemade diets constructed by veterinary nutritionists for a variety of health problems. The only thing is, while I was searching for hypoallergenic diets, the two diets that came up were ostrich and venison based. Now venison is a bit easier to find here in Alberta, if you know someone who hunts elk or deer, but ostrich? Where the hell am I going to find ostrich meat? Don't get me wrong, I love Walter, I'd do anything for him, but honestly, I don't think going out and trying to find ostrich in the Canadian prairies is going to be the easiest or most cost effective thing I've ever done. Sorry Walter, but it's canned Iams for now...

...Sick....Again....

2009-11-03T19:53:00.002-07:00

If it isn't one thing it's another.....
Well, Walter was back at the clinic on saturday, sunday, monday and today. Ugh...isn't it enough? Vomiting one week, asthma the next and now this.
He started to become picky again with his food last week, started hiding and was obviously painful in his little abdomen. Took x-rays again, normal. And we started treating him for pancreatitis. He was more painful on sunday so we upped his pain meds by giving him something called buprenorphine (a drug that they use with methadone treatment :o) which really seemed to help. By sunday night, his abdomen was big and hard as a rock...I panicked thinking his belly was full of fluid and he had something called FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) which comes with a wonderful 100% mortality rate. I woke up at 2am monday morning with flashbacks of my last cat Blitz. I couldn't bear losing my best friend in such a way.
I rushed him in again monday morning. Bloodwork normal, thank God, x-rays normal....thank God again. We continued to treat him monday and he had an ultrasound today.
Results were good, abdomen normal (not all cats with pancreatitis show inflammation in their pancreas, but he sure was painful when the put the probe on). Though, they did find a spot in his little heart where one of the ventricles is slightly enlarged....hopefully nothing, but something to watch for.
Tonight he's feeling much better, still dopey from the pain medication, but eating and playing with his toys, still hiding a bit though.

Unfortunately, this probably isn't the last of this pancreatitis saga. Cats with IBD and inflammation in their intestinal tract tend to have bouts of pancreatitis as well....but hopefully he'll be good for a while.

Though, as you have read through my previous posts, I can't stress enough about the importance of pet insurance. I, myself, don't have alot of extra cash for medical treatment for my animals, and we all know how expensive it can get. Fortunately, I have wonderful bosses that give me a great discount at work, and I generally pay cost for treatments and medication. Just for example, in the last month, I have spent about $700 on diagnostics, treatments and medicine for Walter. Which when you think about it, at cost, that's alot! Thankfully, with insurance, I only end up paying about $140, while only spending $25 a month on his premium.
I think that's a pretty good deal, don't you?

Anyways, I need some cuddle time with the little guy, he's not very happy with me for forcing him to come to work with me these past couple of days!
Hopefully he'll be back at his regular antics soon! Keep your fingers crossed and thanks to everyone with your support (both for Walter and me pulling out my own hair).!

Throwing in the towel.....

2009-10-28T22:27:00.003-06:00

Well....I'm throwing in the towel on the holistic stuff..bring on the steroids!!!

This all comes with an 'episode' that happened last night. Needless to say, Walter scared me half to death and I was all ready to throw him in the car and head to the emergency hospital.

I had just sat down to a marvelous dinner of fettuccini and shrimp when I heard a God awful sound, a very strange coughing noise. I immediately knew it was Walter, I found him in the bathroom, crouched down with his neck extended and his belly trying to heave something out. It almost sounded like a reverse sneeze of a dog, a hacking cough, but deep...you could hear some fluid, but his mouth was closed and he wasn't bringing anything up. At first I thought he was trying to hack up a hairball, but that didn't seem right. Then I thought back to a cat we had in the clinic last week suffering from an asthma attack.....yep, that was it. I sat next to him, tried to calm myself down to try to calm him down. He coughed for about 2 or 3 minutes or so and it was done.

He looked up at me and started meowing, his voice was a bit hoarse, and he went to lay down in bed. 5 minutes later he was running around the house, hunting his toys like nothing happened. (Come to think about it, it's not the first time ithis happened, but the lightbulb has thankfully gone off in my head)

Ugh....into the clinic we go again this morning. Between the x-rays and the description I gave the vet, we decided to diagnose and treat for asthma. But just incase he had some funky parasite (knowing my cats, he probably would...from where he would get it, I have no idea, but that's the joy of adopting animals) we started treatment with a few dewormers.

So tonight, I started him on steroids (which if he as Inflamatory Bowel Disease, that will help as well...something I was trying to get away from in the beginning), gave him a topical dewormer, and then an oral one (which I think I wore most of it....can't blame him, it tastes awful, but now at least I know I'm dewormed too...thanks Walter) and picked up an Advair inhaler from the pharmacy.

**I must reiterate the importance of pet insurance as I just spent $200 on the inhaler!!! Most of which will be reimbursed, thank God**

Anyways...that's the World of Walter for now. Stay tuned as everyday seems to get more interesting and thus...more expensive.

*Note: Feline Asthma occurs in about 1% in the population of household cats......what are the chances that it's mine.....

www.felineasthma.org

Sleep is a good thing, when you have enough room....

2009-10-26T22:22:00.004-06:00

I'm writing this post this evening with my eyes being pulled shut by lack of sleep...due to? Well wouldn't you guess it, Walter.

About a month ago, we got a second cat tree for the bedroom, a little place of his own between the bed and the window where he can chatter at birds or pounce on your belly in the middle of the night. Lately, he has either been sleeping on his cat tree, or pedestal as we call it, or a plushy cat bed under the TV stand in the bedroom.

I'm not sure what was with him last night, but he was determined to sleep on my side of the bed.

I went in the bedroom to get ready for bed where he was in the utmost relaxed cat position; completely sprawled out on his side, belly showing and eyes shut tight. I managed to squeeze myself between him and Mike, trying most importantly not to disturb the cat (Mike won't be pleased when he reads this!). Generally when I do this, I disrupt Walter enough that he at least moves over a bit, or just gets upset and goes to his own bed. Not last night, I don't even think he batted an eye.

As I tried not to disrupt either of my boys, I covered up Walter with the remaining square of my comforter. Again, did not move. As I got into the most comfortable position as I could (which was not comfortable in the least), he stretched out his arms and proceeded to cover his eyes with both his paws, adorable....

I'm sure many of you are saying "why didn't you just move him and kick him out of bed?", well I'm sorry, but if you saw that there is no way you possibly could.

For the next two hours of trying to slip away into a blissful sleep, I tried my hardest not to disturb him or Mike. Obviously I did a good job, Walter stayed in bed all night, but I only got 4 hours of sleep. I've never been good with physics, but how does a 13 pound cat take up half a queen sized bed??

Stupid cat.....but gotta love him.

Anatomy lesson #1

2009-10-25T22:09:00.003-06:00

While I was out on one of my 'food hunting endeavours' at a local holistic pet food store for Walter, some treats were recommended to my by the store owner. I had told her that for a cat as obsessed with food as he is, I can't seem to find any treats that he actually enjoys. And yes, I can hear it now "he doesn't need any treats!", but isn't one of the ways we show love and affection to our pets is through feeding? Anyways, she recommended Solid Gold L.A. Treats, which are essentially lamb lung jerky.

Disgusting, I know, but animals don't seem to mind.

So, I was putting a few in his food dish this evening, but took a second to really look at them. It was honestly like looking at a very detailed anatomy book. You can see the blood vessels and the bronchioles, it really does look like a chopped up piece of lung.....spongy, but jerky like.

I mean I love being able to feed my animals treats, but when I can look at them and know exactly what they are, it's a bit much, even for me!

Personally, I don't like eating food that looks the same cooked and placed on my plate as when it did when it's alive (frogs legs for instance), but I guess I'll just have to get over it!

New Food.....Again...

2009-10-23T23:57:00.004-06:00

Well, as we all read on my last post, Walter started vomiting again.

Because he gets into everything, I brought him into the clinic again, ran some bloodwork and a barium series of xrays to see if he ingested a foreign body (which would never surprise me). Everything normal, again.

We are waiting for one set of results to come back, measuring his vitamin B levels, which if too low, would suggest a chronic gastrointestinal disease such as IBD or Inflammatory Bowel Disease......which, would suck. Sorry to put it so rudely.

It just reminds me of the path we went down with my last cat Blitz, IBD is how it all started.

It's not a bad disease, though in some cats it may lead to lymphoscarcoma (lymphoma) of the intestine. Actually, lymphoma isn't even a horrible diagnosis in cats either, if caught early it can be treated quite easily and even put into remission with daily medication.

Anyways...back to what we're dealing with now.

After an email consult with a board-certified Feline Practitioner, she has suggested feeding some novel protein diets (by novel I mean.....different, odd, uncommon) and has had great success with holistic remedies. So again, going back to my original plan, we're still on the holistic food approach, just with novel proteins and holistic treatment in the future.

SO....going against almost everything I ever stood for, I broke down and bought RAW food for Walter.

It's actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be, just really nasty for my taste.

For now, it's rabbit (and I feel horrible because I have two in the house, so I call it Ribbit). I warm it up in the microwave and squash it with a fork and that's when the lovely aroma fills my house. Oh how wonderful warm, succulent rabbit meat smells....ewww.

He also gets canned rabbit, which is mixed with carrots, so it looks like sloppy, stinky vomit. Which I guess is ok because I've been dealing with vomit for so long it just seems homey now.

So far so good, I just hope that he doesn't think that substituting the packaged raw rabbit for live rabbit is going to happen.

How often do YOUR pets go to the Vet?

2009-10-23T23:18:00.005-06:00

Really? How often do you really take your pets to the vet, and by pets I mean dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, guinea pigs etc. Once a year? Twice maybe...or just when they get sick?

Me?

Well Walter is a completely different story, he has a VIP pass to our clinic it seems, but I am a completely anal retentive owner as well (since the hooplah with my last cat Blitz). Yes, I work at a vet clinic, and it is slightly easier for me to bring my own pets in with me to work, however that being said, all pets, just like us need check-ups.

Even though Walter has an ongoing problem, that doesn't mean that he, and the rest of my menagerie of animals don't need yearly physical exams.

All animals, whether they be furred, feathered or scaled, should be seen by a vet at least once a year. It's amazing how often I hear Joe Blow call in because his cat hasn't eaten in a week but she MUST be healthy because I haven't had to take her into the vet in 15 years.
Well sorry Joe Blow, but your cat is dying of kidney failure, and she could have been treated years earlier to prolong her life. And then he turns around to fight about the price of diagnostic work up and says "that's more than I've spent on her in her entire life". Ugh.
It's heartbreaking to see health problems of pets either not being diagnosed or being put on the back burner and the owners end up euthanizing animals because the disease is too far progressed, but could have been treated many years earlier if only they had brought them in for annual physical exams and bloodwork.
Unfortunately, many times it seems like dogs are a much higher priority for many people than other animals including cats, birds, and small mammals. With cats, I know the stigma is that they can take care of themselves, and with small mammals and some birds it's usually because in the beginning the pet didn't cost very much to buy or adopt, many people say "it's only a $25 rabbit, so why would I spend $350 treating it when I can just get a new one".

Do these animals not get as much love, affection and care as a dog would?

Not in my books!

I have a cat (obviously), two rabbits and three guinea pigs. They all get the same 'preferential' treatment. I have always said, my $20 rabbits are loved as much as any dog I have ever met.
In my own opinion, if you would like to own a pet as a companion, then you must treat it as a companion. And if you can't afford the health care, then just don't have one.
I know I can't afford a child, and therefore, I am not going to be blessed with one anytime soon, it's just not fair to the kid or to me for that matter.

Fortunately, there are many options out there nowadays to help owners pay for the cost of veterinary bills. Insurance is at the top of my list. I even have insurance on Walter, and with the way that he's going, if it wasn't for insurance, there is no way I would be able to pay for his bills.
Pet insurance works very similar to car insurance (but way cheaper!). You pay a monthly fee, sometimes depending on options or package you choose, and submit a claim when you go to your vet. With some companies there is a premium that you first have to pay, and most insurance plans just cover a percentage of your bill, and usually just for accidents and illness, however some do pay for preventative health care (vaccines, dental cleanings etc.).
I chose Trupanion, I pay $25 a month and receive 80% coverage of all accident and illness related bills (minus the exam fee). http://www.trupanion.com/
Unfortunately, in Canada there is no insurance company that covers 'exotic' pets as of yet.

Anyways, to cut a long story short.....in general:
Dogs and cats should be seen yearly (bloodwork yearly if animals are on medication) until senior age, then have exams and bloodwork every 6 months.
Birds, small mammals and reptiles, should be seen at least yearly and your vet should thoroughly go over habitat maintenance, lighting and nutrition and these things can drastically shorten the lives of our exotic companion animals.

Always check and see if your vet has 'monthly specials' with can also help cutting down costs. Many clinics may do senior month and dental month specials.
I know that many of you love and cherish your furry, feathered and scaled family as much as I do and they have added many months and years of fun, happiness and companionship to your life, ensure that you can spend as much time together on this earth with them by keeping them healthy.

The vomitus has eruptedus.....again.....

2009-10-17T20:11:00.003-06:00

Well, it's been over a month now that Walter has been on his 'holistic' diet. I have found that he really enjoys his Acana Grasslands dry (although it is insanely high in calories and thus has gained over a pound!) and he seems to have preferred the Snappy Tom and Almo Naturals cans (seafood only, no chicken). He was doing so well up until about a week ago and KAZAAM! The vomitus has eruptedus. Ugh.....just to be on the safe side, we treated him with an antibiotic for 5 days, to see it if was a bit of gastritis, but to no avail, the vomiting has ensued, though it seems to only be limited to the canned food, stupid allergies....
So, here we go again....onto plan A, version 2.0
Because I still don't want to have to medicate him with steroids (stubborn, I know), I have found a few cans of 'holistic' food that are duck and venison based that he likes (Natural Balance). So, I will try to keep him on this, as well as a bit of dry and see where this may take us in the next few weeks. If this STILL doesn't help (because cleaning up piles of undigested canned food vomit is on my favorite things to do list) Walter and I will be off to a colleagues clinic who practices both western and eastern medicine to see if possibly some Chinese herbs and acupuncture will help.
Until then, keep your fingers and paws crossed.

Cats are NOT the independant, aloof creatures YOU think they are...

2009-10-14T22:14:00.002-06:00

Many cat owners either purchase or adopt a cat for some sort of companionship. Many people bring cats into their homes on a good premise, they truly want to give this animal a good life. But unfortunatly, for alot of cats, it stops there. Many people think that if they feed their cat on a regular basis, clean the litterbox from time to time and maybe play with a laser pointer every once in a while is giving a cat a good quality of life...think again. Throughout history cats have been given the stigma of being able to take care of themselves, they are aloof, independant, cold etc. Sure some cats do fit that persona, some are feral cats and do take care of themselves, but when they are a pet, they are your responsibility. This means, in order to have a healthy cat, it must be healthy both physically AND mentally.
Even though they may not show illness or even injury as outright as dogs, they still need routine physical exams and bloodwork to show any underlying disease. They also need daily grooming, mental and physical exercise, and not just with a laser pointer. Get up off the couch and play fetch. Cats are natural predatory animals, and usually hunt around 20 small meals a day, that essentially means playing 'fetch' at least 20 times. Catnip toys are great, for cats who respond to catnip, and no not all cats do (especially young ones). For those of you who don't necessarily want to get off the couch there are some great toys on the end of fishing poles for you to cast out and reel back in. Essentially, anything that can somewhat mimic a predatory instinct is a great toy for cats, but make sure that you routinely switch out toys so they don't get bored.
And because cats naturally eat several small meals per day, try to at least feed him twice daily, or more if you can...if you're not home, hide some kibble around the house for him to find later, or purchase a treat ball (as he rolls it around, kibble falls out). Several small meals and lots of exercise will help to prevent obesity and a multitude of associated problems.

We all love cats, that's why they are the world's most popular pet, they give so much to us, lets make sure that we can give them the best possible life that we can give.