Hi Karen: In answer to your question, the bladder should be expressed roughly every 8 hours. I express Simon and Harley in the morning between 6 - 8 a.m., during the noon hour or early afternoon and then in the late evening. And yes you will get the hang of this with practice and using some of the i...

I have never had to care for a Manx kittie but I have several with hind limb deformities including two who are incontinent and need their bladders expressed and one with radial hypoplasia (front limb deformities where Sundance is missing bones). You know I had all of them radiographed too which is n...

Hi Karen: I think your idea to talk to the kitty's vet is a very good one so you can get an idea of exactly what her disabilities are. I have said before that if I had more cats like Simon (who needs to be expressed), I would have a cleaner house. He does not leak out because I express him 3 times a...

Leslie: I think it is great that you are taking such an interest in this kitten and you certainly have reason to be concerned about your friend not expressing her incontinent kitten. I have heard this before that they go on their own; they leak out and retain urine and to avoid bladder infections I ...

Karen:

Have you considered having the vet put in a gastric feeding tube. I have only had this done with my cats. My cat Charlie had stomatitis and squamous cell carcinoma in his mouth and I would have lost him the first go around if I had not had them put in a feeding tube. Diana

I also would get a full blood panel done including a T4 and a UA. His insulin needs may have changed so he is not regulated, he could be hyperthyroid or he could have kidney disease. Is he urinating or drinking more or is he eating more and still losing weight. I don't know if you have tried an ear ...

Lindsay: Great for you and Libby being registered therapy partners. Have you read the book Brave Norman which is about a dog, I think, a Golden, who loses his sight, saves a little girl from drowning and goes on to be a therapy dog. Two of my special needs animals recently became registered therapy ...

Karen: I think I would go ahead with the board certified cardiologist and have him do another echo since heart problems/respiratory problems are not something to fool around with and yes, I would definitely want answers rather than risk this happening again. "Interstitial" refers to the sp...

Karen: So glad Whiskers is doing better. I am not a vet and don't want to cause you anymore expense but I also know Whiskers is very important to you. I know with Simon, his heart appeared normal on the radiographs; the vet, however, recommended an ultrasound or echo of his heart---I went ahead with...

Karen: I think that's also called funnel chest which I believe involves a depressed sternum or breastbone. That's really all I know about that and I am not sure how it affects breathing but I would assume Whiskers would have had problems by now if in fact that was the problem. One of the other thing...

Sorry you are going through this. It is clear you do not want to give up on your dog and although I am not in your shoes I would not either. I have had a number of animals with cancer diagnoses and they were given a certain amount of time to live. My cat Gideon was 17 when he was diagnosed with lymp...

When I volunteered at a shelter with the Cat Behavioral Helpline a number of years ago, the first thing we were told to ask when a cat had litterbox problems, was have you ruled out any medical problems. You have obviously taken very good care of your cat and continue to try to help her but I would ...

Absolutely hang in there with him. I also have a cat named Simon who is 7 years old---he was found under a trash dumpster by a man who questioned whether he should stomp on him. (I can only assume he thought he was putting him out of his misery because Simon has severe congenital deformities and par...

To whomever has Tiffany, do you have contact info that you can provide---please PM me. I may be able to help with this girl. Diana

Regarding medication for pain, although I assume the surgeon gave you pain meds, Raven was on metacam---both for her FHO in 7/04 and when I got her from the shelter in 9/03 as a 7 month old kitten after she damaged the nerves in the brachial plexus from trying to pull her front limb out of the cage ...