Lap-ish Uschi

Uschi has been soaking up all of the extra attention that he has been getting on his road to recovery. He is feeling much better, playing like a little kitten, and power-napping like one too. Today Usch was leaping and yelping like a crazy cat, and meowing at me from "his" cat cup on the floor. I picked it up and put it next to me on the bed, and he fell right back to sleep.

This is almost like having a lap-Uschi.

Easy access for petting.

Happy stripe.


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Lap-Spot ??

Our boys do NOT sit on our laps,...
They like to be close, but not touching.

Ok, Vladi did at the cat show and the VET
but he was just showing off.

So, when I walked in the door
from a bike ride and found

Tanji sleeping on Les' lap,...
I was shocked. What the heck,...

Tanj was all stretched out and happy.

(hear that Uschi !!!)

Happy Tanji-mo.

(You're next Uschi !!!)


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Feed Me!

Our quest to find food that Tanji and Uschi will eat continues. Vladi is not a big eater either but he is willing to sample everything. Our goal is to have "good" (high nutrient quality, low filler) dry food available for them at all times, and since the boys won't be in the same room as the "quality" wet foods, to tempt their appetites with any wet foods they will eat twice a day.

Tanj and Usch inspect the latest dry foods.

Luckily, Tanji and Vladi still munch on Royal Canin Baby Cat or Kitten,
and all three boys like Orijen dry and Hill's Prescription Diet t/d.

Helping with the shelving of the latest wet food cans and packets.

Our "shelf of shame," anything it takes to tempt the boys.

Each boy now has his own bag of treats:
Uschi likes Ziwipeak, Tanji likes Pounce,
and Vladi likes Petrodex Dental treats.

It would be way too easy if they liked the same things.

Let's get these open!

All this tasting is hard work, its time for a nap.


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Prince And The Pea

Uschi, our little Prince,

likes to sleep on multiple pillows.

What?,.. this is comfy,...

Tanji was sleeping in one of his "comfy" positions.

But soon woke,...

to check on his Uschi.

How are you feeling ?

"Feeling better T,... "

Thanks.


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Comfy Chair

Isn't this comfy chair nice,...

T relaxes while

V is looking for trouble,...

Tanji loves this part,...


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New Foods

Uschi is full of energy and seems to be doing better,

back running on his wheel...

And kick-pickling the cat cup too.

Uschi was so sprightly today that we took him outside for the first time since last Tuesday, and he took off down a trail, caught a vole, and ran back to Les to deliver the live vole at her feet. Maybe it was a thank-you for all of the hand-delivered meals this week, in the middle of the night.

I'm hungry!

Now its time for us to figure out how to get weight back on Uschi (and Tanji). Both brothers lost a lot if interest in food ever since the 2007 food recall, and we've had on-going difficulty in getting them to eat enough food to match their active lifestyles. Uschi was so thin when he got sick, he didn't have much reserve energy to rely on.

We leave out two types of dried food all of the time for the boys to eat: Royal Canin Baby Cat or Kitten (Tanji likes this), and Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck (Uschi and Vladi like this). In the morning and evening, we split a can of fancy feast between the three boys (two small cans a day). There is a very long list of foods that Tani and Uschi won't even be in the same room with. We've tried all the brands of "wet" canned food carried by Safeway, PetCo, and our local pet store. Fancy Feast is the only one they will even sample, and that is only in very small amounts, and they typically don't finish their twice daily 1/3 can servings.

Of course they get all the water they want.

We went shopping for more foods to tempt the boys' tummies...

What did you get me?

Innova? Nope.

There better be something else in this bag!

How about some frozen raw food.
(Nope)

Luckily we had a lot of goodies to investigate...

Mmmmmmm.
The packages always seem of more interest
than the contents.

I want this one!
(ZiwiPeak 'Good Cat' Venison & Green-lipped Mussel Treats)

Open this, please.
(ZiwiPeak 'Daily-Cat' Cuisine Lamb)

Tanji wants some too.

Vladi munches while Uschi focuses on his favorite,
the ZiwiPeak 'treats'.

More, please.

Its nice to see the boys this enthusiastic about food.
Although they usually lose interest the day we buy bigger bags.


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XXIX Olympiad

The games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, People's Republic of China closed today. We found the Olympic venues, the young and old city architecture, landscapes, and competition shown on the TV coverage in the United States to be stunning. Tonight we held our own closing ceremony, taking down our Olympic flag and playing games with the boys. Next up are the 2010 XXI Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

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Uschi Update

The path to recovery is sometimes a bit rocky! Yesterday (Saturday) Uschi seemed to be feeling better and was more active. He drank a bit and ate very small portions of wet and dry food in the morning. His digestive tract started back up (diarrhea, with a little blood, but its something!) and he appeared hungry. Last night, after munching down a small amount of Royal Canin Baby Cat food, Uschi vomited it up (~36hrs since his last vomiting). He looked like he felt bad again (scrunched up face and body) and turned down the water and food we offered.

We went into panic mode. In our minds Uschi had gone way too long without substantial meals (since early Tuesday), and we felt he needed to be able to eat regularly, or we were headed right back to the emergency Vet. So we researched possible "tempting foods for sick cats" on the Internet, and rushed out to the supermarket before it closed (apparently only an ill cat will pry us out of the house at 11:30pm on a Saturday). We tossed anything we could find in the basket, from human baby food, to canned chicken, to kitten milk substitute, to old favorite cat foods. We headed back and prepared for a long night of tempting Usch to eat something. Luckily Les had napped during the day, so we could keep an eye on him at night.

Anyone who has had a cat that won't eat, knows that sometimes the cat knows best (or at least thinks they do). Uschi wanted to sleep, and Les ended up staring at him for a few hours. When he woke up, he wanted a little water, used the litterbox (no more blood), then back to sleep. An hour later, back up and... only water.. and more sleep. Meanwhile, Tanji and Vladi were wheedling bits of the "gourmet" food. Finally at 6 a.m., Usch licked about a teaspoon of turkey baby food off of Les' finger, and after an hour of resting, was ready for more. Then it was time for small pieces of wet food, and he selected Fancy Feast soufflé, something he "grew out of" months ago. Now Uschi felt more energetic, so we had to remove all of the dry food so he wouldn't scarf it down, vomit, and start this all over again. Tanji and Vladi did not understand this move at all.

We've been feeding Uschi little bits of dry and wet food every hour or so and he has perked back up. Now we are also trying to keep him from jogging on his wheel and spending too much time playing in the kennel...

Uschi, its time to come in for a nap.

No!

Drinking water like a good boy.
Thank goodness for the drinking fountain, it is irresistible.

Now that Uschi is feeling better again, he
apparently has to resume his Vladi grooming duties...

Lick me instead!

Good buddies taking a much-needed nap.

We're back on track, but watching Uschi like hawks.
Even if he keeps eating, tinkling, etc., we are not ruling
out another Vet trip tomorrow for more tests to be
sure he's on the road to recovery.


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Uschi Is Feeling Better!

Uschi seems to be doing a little better! Last night around 8 p.m., Uschi showed some interest in his dry food bowl and actually ate a few little pieces. It had been over 24 hours since he had eaten, and the poor little guy was probably pretty hungry. Uschi went back to sleep, and around 11 p.m. we offered him a small amount of ground-up Fancy Feast mixed with a bit of water and he ate it, and then went back to sleep again. We watched anxiously to make sure he kept it down, and then moved Usch to a spot next to Les on the couch, where he slept most of the night. This morning at 6 a.m., Uschi ventured out into the kennel and sat for a while watching the latest clutch of swallows. This was a good sign! At 8 a.m. our Vet called, and let us know that his tests looked good, just a slight elevation in white blood cells, and no indications of kidney problems (whew!). We were to watch for urine output, and water intake. Around 9 a.m. Usch finally tinkled in the litter box and dabbed a bit at his water bowl and we knew we were back in business. We're keeping a close eye on him though!

Uschi is still leaning a bit, but he is upright!

Watching ants.

Gently scratching.
(while laying down)

Tanji was quite upset last night when we brought Uschi back from the vet. It probably was the smell of the alcohol and Tanj spent most of the night hiding out in the kennel...

What did you do to my Uschi?

He's MY Uschi!

Tanji is keeping a close eye on us.

Lots of mushies for our Uschi!

So what is happening? It may take more testing to figure this out for "sure." Usch may have eaten an object that lodged in the digestive tract, or maybe something toxic; been over-stressed, or just had a pathogen that has gotten the upper hand for a few days. I cleaned out the kennel looking for dead animals and problem plants. We also are considering possible problems with the boys' food, considering his weight loss and ongoing lack of interest in eating. Hopefully U-boo will keep getting better and the vomiting won't return.

We will keep you posted.

Thank-you so much for your e-mails and comments!


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