9/2 Loose Lips - video

No condo in a few days. There are a number of members that still need hugs and prayers vines and snowflakes. Tarragon, Rocket and Tableau are ones I remember off hand. Garland continues to improve under Violets care and is getting feisty again.

Henry will be going to the vets on Tuesday. Right after I adopted him from the shelter in April I noticed his tail didn't work like the others. He never has a happy tail. There is a dip and the tail goes horizontal - as shown in the video. But never past horizontal. He also bunny hops down the stairs and doesn't jump very much. He is quite overweight gaining two pounds on wellness kibble. I am a bad bean not prioritizing his weight loss. This involves daily monitoring and I keep saying I'll start tomorrow. Well I'm starting today. He's had the sniffles since he got here too. The problem is his system is so sensitive - anything I mix the lysine with causes diarrhea - and he won't touch wet food or even tuna juice. So I don't know why it took so long to think of this but I started last night soaking and blending kibble and watering it down to mix with lysine to syringe him. The GI issue may be related to his tail. He doesn't groom his private areas at all and I don't think its weight alone. And due to his tail not lifting he always has poop around his butt. Soft poop is the worst for this. BLECH.

So Henry is off to get checked out. For those that don't know his history. He was surrendered March 2010 and the report said he was 8 months old and the owner couldn't afford his care. He spent 13 months at the shelter. THe first four months or so in a small cage then into a bigger run with 7-9 other cats. He just spent most of his time on the flat top of a scratching post. So I thought maybe he was lacking muscles. But its been 4 months now. So maybe there is something causing all of this and I owe it to him to get him checked out.

Here are the videos:

Video of his version of the happy tail:
[youtube]DmjbY-hPw2Q[/youtube]

More:
[youtube]4VeVsu7OE[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-4VeVsu7OE

Hi Karrie, those are two great videos of Henry, and I see what you mean about the tail being horizontal. I wonder if he got it injured at one time! He's a sweet kitty and I wish him and you lots of luck at the Vetty next Tuesday. I'll be interested in how Henry makes out at the Vet. I saw the hopping, too. I don't have steps here, so I've not noticed how Maggie travels down steps. Hope you're having a nice day and thanks for stopping by our condo to see Maggie.

LOVE the videos! They're sure a handsome crew.

He's either had an injury or has something going on but it looks like it may be in his lower back/hip area instead of the tail. The tail is only a symptom.

...just my two cents...

Karrie, I also think that maybe he had an injury or break early in his life that causes his tail to be like that? I hope you get some answers from the vet. My Cleo was also pretty fat and only ate kibble before I switched her to canned. She always had trouble grooming her rear and had issues with a "dirty butt". Switching to the canned has made all the difference in the world and now she is very clean and able to groom better. Another cat I had was a manx and had trouble pooping because of "lack of feeling" in her rear (something to do with damaged nerve endings, I think). She always had poop hanging out. Sorry this is probably too much information but just brainstorming about what could be the issue with Henry. He is very cute, by the way!

Lower back / hip area would be my suspicion, too. Glad you are getting it checked out, hope it's nothing.

Love the videos....he is so handsome and looks like he is getting settled in finally. My vote is with all the others.

On a different topic (sorry, Karrie), I was sent this in an email recently. It's about stress:

A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience; with a raised glass
of water, and everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, 'half empty or half full?'..... she fooled them all. "How heavy is this glass of
water?", she inquired with a smile.

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a
problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case it's the
same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "and that's the way it is with stress.

If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can
carry on with the burden - holding stress longer and better each time practiced.

Click to expand...

Here's for a stress free life.

Love the videos....he is so handsome and looks like he is getting settled in finally. My vote is with all the others.

On a different topic (sorry, Karrie), I was sent this in an email recently. It's about stress:

A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience; with a raised glass
of water, and everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, 'half empty or half full?'..... she fooled them all. "How heavy is this glass of
water?", she inquired with a smile.

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a
problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case it's the
same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "and that's the way it is with stress.

If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can
carry on with the burden - holding stress longer and better each time practiced.

Click to expand...

Here's for a stress free life.