Your daily cat and kitten news

[Numbers]

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

No box updates today as I was doing maintenance on my widows.



Patch decides to give me a belly rub in return.

 

[Dystopiary]

No box updates today as I was doing maintenance on my widows.

View attachment 318410

Patch decides to give me a belly rub in return.

One little pink paw pad, how cute!

 

[Puddy_Tat]

(((( Epona and jakey ))))

 

[Epona]

The vet hospital texted OH even though I should be down as the main contact (no offense but Jakey is my cat), they have booked him in for an ultrasound on 23RD OF FUCKING MAY.

I am sick of nothing being treated with any urgency, of seeing a different vet each time (I saw 1 locum on Monday and a different vet called me to discuss results, she was unaware of the other symptoms I had discussed with the locum on Monday, I love our regular vet but he is always on fucking leave and if we get to see him it is nothing short of a fucking miracle, I am absolutely sick of sky high fees and lack of continuity of care, difficulty in getting an appointment, and lack of urgency about anything.)

If I knew of any other vets I would be considering switching at this point, but Goddards run everything around here including local clinics and the hospital. They used to be really good, but I've been very disillusioned for a while (and I think my difficulty in being able to get an appointment for Sonic may have contributed to his death, my confidence in them is not great right now).

 

[Puddy_Tat]

 

[Epona]

I want to have an actual conversation with a vet about my cat's health, blood test results, all his symptoms (including his stress at losing his friend without that being brushed off like it's inconsequential) instead of having bits of conversations with multiple different vets in a combination of face to face consultation and phone calls (one of which I was next to a building site trying to have a phone conversation with a vet I do not know and who has never seen me or my cats in person who I would have struggled to hear at the best of times).

I also need that vet to be someone I trust who can give me some guidance about what I ought to do, instead of just suggesting this that and the other when I have little clue as to what it all means.

 

[donkyboy]

I want to have an actual conversation with a vet about my cat's health, blood test results, all his symptoms (including his stress at losing his friend without that being brushed off like it's inconsequential) instead of having bits of conversations with multiple different vets in a combination of face to face consultation and phone calls (one of which I was next to a building site trying to have a phone conversation with a vet I do not know and who has never seen me or my cats in person who I would have struggled to hear at the best of times).

I also need that vet to be someone I trust who can give me some guidance about what I ought to do, instead of just suggesting this that and the other when I have little clue as to what it all means.

I hate speaking to different vets-especially locum ones. My experience with young locum vets has never been good. They are still too 'green' in my opinion and learning. I have started to use the goddards online website to book appointment. That way, I can select the vet I want to see-always the more experienced head vet (whose opinion I trust) at the stockwell branch.

 

[Numbers]

I want to have an actual conversation with a vet about my cat's health, blood test results, all his symptoms (including his stress at losing his friend without that being brushed off like it's inconsequential) instead of having bits of conversations with multiple different vets in a combination of face to face consultation and phone calls (one of which I was next to a building site trying to have a phone conversation with a vet I do not know and who has never seen me or my cats in person who I would have struggled to hear at the best of times).

I also need that vet to be someone I trust who can give me some guidance about what I ought to do, instead of just suggesting this that and the other when I have little clue as to what it all means.

Hopefully this will sort out for you mate.

Who's the main vet in our place now? I've not seen Angel for some time, but he's actually probably the last person you want explaining things with his heavy Spanish accent. I love(d) him tho'. Do you remember when Patrick was the main vet there?

Bit of an aside, soz.

 

[Epona]

Hopefully this will sort out for you mate.

Who's the main vet in our place now? I've not seen Angel for some time, but he's actually probably the last person you want explaining things with his heavy Spanish accent. I love(d) him tho'. Do you remember when Patrick was the main vet there?

Bit of an aside, soz.

Angel is still head vet there, he's on holiday for Easter and is back next week I think - I'm actually OK with his accent, I am quite used to heavy Spanish accents and it isn't accents that tend to cause me issues as such (auditory processing is a weird thing!) I could have/should have delayed my appointment until next week when they told me he was going to be on leave, but I wanted the tests done asap in case they showed anything that needed medication asap.

I think what I'll do is I'll ring on Tuesday and see if I can arrange a time to have a conversation with him about the whole thing (like his elevated heart rate for 2 appointments now and his existing heart murmur seem to have been forgotten about in all this), he sees my cats most of the time, I just seem to have terrible luck with stuff going wrong with my cats when he is away so every time one of them has a crisis I see a locum - I think he tends to book long blocks of leave at a time to visit his family which is completely understandable.

I was in a bit of a state about it last night, but am feeling more rational this morning - I do on the whole get very good care from Goddards and always have, it is the recent difficulties in getting appointments and waits for stuff like this that is getting to me - they are a large organisation at this point, and if they are struggling to see their clients they need to pull their finger out at a higher management level, hire more vets and nurses, and increase clinic opening hours, maybe lease another building in our area and set up a new clinic so there's a Canning Town branch too or something. The vets and other staff are themselves wonderful and do a great job.

I remember Patrick - I loved him and so did the cats, he'd always pick them up and talk to them and give them loads of kisses I was amazed when I saw him back at work after he became ill (he looked so frail, poor sod), and was very sad when I heard he had died, although it was not unexpected really. Wonderful man.

 

[Cloo]

Today's floor-lump

 

[Numbers]

Angel is still head vet there, he's on holiday for Easter and is back next week I think - I'm actually OK with his accent, I am quite used to heavy Spanish accents and it isn't accents that tend to cause me issues as such (auditory processing is a weird thing!) I could have/should have delayed my appointment until next week when they told me he was going to be on leave, but I wanted the tests done asap in case they showed anything that needed medication asap.

I think what I'll do is I'll ring on Tuesday and see if I can arrange a time to have a conversation with him about the whole thing (like his elevated heart rate for 2 appointments now and his existing heart murmur seem to have been forgotten about in all this), he sees my cats most of the time, I just seem to have terrible luck with stuff going wrong with my cats when he is away so every time one of them has a crisis I see a locum - I think he tends to book long blocks of leave at a time to visit his family which is completely understandable.

I was in a bit of a state about it last night, but am feeling more rational this morning - I do on the whole get very good care from Goddards and always have, it is the recent difficulties in getting appointments and waits for stuff like this that is getting to me - they are a large organisation at this point, and if they are struggling to see their clients they need to pull their finger out at a higher management level, hire more vets and nurses, and increase clinic opening hours, maybe lease another building in our area and set up a new clinic so there's a Canning Town branch too or something. The vets and other staff are themselves wonderful and do a great job.

I remember Patrick - I loved him and so did the cats, he'd always pick them up and talk to them and give them loads of kisses I was amazed when I saw him back at work after he became ill (he looked so frail, poor sod), and was very sad when I heard he had died, although it was not unexpected really. Wonderful man.

2nd to last paragraph. I just remembered, last weekend we wanted to pick up some flea spray and rang, but it when through to head office who tried calling them but no answer so we decided to just stop off, I stood outside for about 10 minutes ringing the bell but nobody answered - thought it was odd because they've never been like that.

I'm glad you remember Patrick

 

[Epona]

I just spoke to someone at the vet hospital, they said it was referred as non urgent diagnostics and that was their earliest ultrasound appointment.
I think it's kind of semi-urgent, as in he's unlikely to drop dead in the next few days, but more than 5 weeks is too long to wait.
They suggested that I phone my local branch (which I'll do tomorrow, they are closed Thursday pm) and request to get an urgent referral.
It seems the fact that he has other symptoms has been forgotten somewhere in the process, I wouldn't want to be vomiting every other day and nauseous for that long.

Part of the problem is I think that he was weighed back in July at 4.9kg, then again in Feb as 4.6kg so that is coming across as gradual weight loss. He is now 4.3kg.

What I have tried to explain to them (but hasn't gone on his notes) is that at the beginning of January this year, his weight was higher than it was in July last year at over 5kg, he sits on my lap and I stroke him every day, so I can tell - he was killing my legs when he was on my lap in January and I was worried about him squashing Sonic in his last few days, and when Sonic died I thought "at least Jakey is plump and healthy" - because he was a little bit plump. I also think they are used to slightly smaller cats so anything over 4kg seems a reasonable weight, and it is, but not if he is losing rapidly right now.

So by that projection, if he carries on losing weight at that rate, he could be down below 4kg and starting to look emaciated in 5 weeks time. I would rather we didn't get to that point while waiting for an appointment - and will be stressing this when I talk to our local clinic tomorrow to try to get him re-referred.

 

[May Kasahara]

View attachment 318464

Today's floor-lump

Aspirational

 

[May Kasahara]

Eccentric posture here



Evolving into classic longcat.



He is very long.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Eccentric posture here

View attachment 318475

Evolving into classic longcat.

View attachment 318476

He is very long.

Have you considered clamping him in place to prevent longness?

 

[felixthecat]

Can't have a quiet poo in this house without supervision...

 

[Epona]

I have an old dog crate (used to be used whenever one of the boys needed feeding separately due to medication or for quiet post-surgical recovery - I highly recommend having one to hand just in case, they fold up for easy storage) which is currently set up so the top can be used as a feline sun bed in the window as it is just the perfect height for maximum sunbeam exposure from our south facing window on a sunny afternoon. It was one of Sonic's favourite spots, I always think of him when the sun is streaming in.

Jakey is taking full advantage of the sunshine today




(He is now relocated to my lap and I have sung him his theme tune, which is of course the Pink Panther song, he is extremely happy and purring like a good'un, he loves it when I sing his song to him, daft bugger )

 

[Calamity1971]

Can't have a quiet poo in this house without supervision...View attachment 318480

I normally have one idiot in the sink, one in the bath and when the mood takes, Red on my shoulder trying for head rubs.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

(which I'll do tomorrow, they are closed Thursday pm)

will they be open what with it being good friday?

i may be confusing you with someone else, but have a feeling you've said you're not at your best on the phone - is it possible to e-mail and be able to set out what you're saying without interruptions?

 

[Epona]

will they be open what with it being good friday?

i may be confusing you with someone else, but have a feeling you've said you're not at your best on the phone - is it possible to e-mail and be able to set out what you're saying without interruptions?

LOL You are absolutely right, it is Good Friday tomorrow. I think our regular vet is back on Tuesday so a carefully constructed email over the weekend sounds like a really good idea, they can have a look at it when things open up next week.

Of course if anything becomes urgent in the meantime (it doesn't look like it will mind you, fingers crossed it stays that way) I'll take him up to the hospital in Wanstead anyway which is open 24 hours and acts as our regional vet A&E, that option is always there in emergencies. I don't think that is likely though, we're dealing with weight loss and some elevated numbers on the blood tests which need investigating before he loses too much more weight, but doesn't seem likely to escalate over Easter (mind you I've said that before and been proven wrong, but for definite will take him to hospital without delay if anything goes south for him).

 

[Puddy_Tat]

and in other news, when i went out for something at lunch time (i'm working from home most of the time) next door's kitty actively approached me for fussings, and accepted tummy rubs

(she's very variable - sometimes doesn't want fussings, sometimes will accept them, very occasionally asks for them. not to be confused with downstairs kitty who swears at me if i want to put my bags down and open my door before getting on with the fussings)

 

[Dandred]

Been a while , but I ended up getting two more rescue cats, five now and the six dogs........

 

[seeformiles]

Lil’ Bob’s been out all day so he’s come in all needy and wanting to chill with his bestie

 

[donkyboy]

Chloe, Rogue and Akiro in the garden.

Akiro and fox

 

[philosophical]

Bloom playing air guitar in the shadows (see what I did there?) this morning.

 

[polly]

Best way to pet this hot, irritable grouch

 

[clicker]

TBF he had a busy night. Half eaten mouse left in the garden. Two magpies have just fought over it, the victor flying away with its entrails hanging from its beak.

 

[Schmetterling]

They call him The Caterer?

 

[waxoyl]

Stan’s out with his sun flower head last night,