Leo Update

Hi Everyone,

Leo is doing very well and I've now had him almost 15 months! We've had some dose fluctuations, and he's now up to 27u BID, but stable and mostly blue and lowest yellows which is exactly where I want him. I don't really care about the dosecreases because I know it's got nothing to do with how I'm treating him and everything to do with his acromegaly. He's happy and that's what counts.

WCR = Peeing, playing, pooping, preening and purring are all normal, he's quite a happy boy. All good with the previous constipation and things loosened up a little too much! :shock: So we've backed off the miralax a bit but I think we might now have an anal gland issue cuz his butt stinks!! At first I thought he was gassy but then I though.. he's never been gassy before, duh :mrgreen: So I need a little advice on what to do with that.. can't afford a trip to the vet if there's something I can do to avoid that....

Here's a pic of him being cute just trying to be outside without freezing his heinie off.. pretty embarrassing for a Jersey boy huh! LOL
http://picasaweb.google.com/wnstnbabe/2 ... 4286414114

 

What a beautiful kitty! And what a great WCR!

 

Hi Carolyn! :smile: Nice WLR. :smile:

I have to take Lil Kitty to the vet's to have her anal sacs cleaned. It's usually about $20 - a vet tech does it. They can teach you how so you can do it yourself in the future. It is something that you want to take care of though, because the anal sacs can get infected or rupture.

 

:lol: Great report! I hope Leo's stinky butt problem gets taken care of. Glad he's happy though that's what counts!

 

Great update! I love the photo. That tail should keep him nice and warm.

 

Aww he's beautiful

 

Great Leo report...well minus the stinky butt :mrgreen:

He is such a beautiful kitteh!

 

Thanks for the update on handsome Leo....what a beautiful tail he has!
Hope you get lots of pointers for the stinky butt issue....
He sounds like a very happy boy! :thumbup

 

Nice to see Lucky Leo is doing so well. His coat has really come in nicely, too.

 

oooh check out that tail. what a beauty. does he let you brush it? somekitty here won't let me brush her tail

and leo, there's nothing to be embarassed about. you're making good use of that tail. and if you whisk it just right when mom is close, you can give her a good whiff of you-know-what

carolyn, we paid around $30 to express m's anal glands. would be good to get it done; if it gets infected and ruptures, you may have to clean it and put compresses on - how are you going to explain to him why you keep molesting him :roll:

 

Hey check with your cry about that. Mine does it for like 13.00. They may not charegr as much as you think. He's really an amazing cat.

 

for people not familiar with Leo

Thanks for the compliments everyone, I'll make sure Leo knows what you said about himself.. his nickname round these parts is "Hansum Debble" as in handsome devil LOL

Here's a couple of pics of what he looked like when I adopted him:






He weighed 7 lbs. He now weighs over 20

 

Thanks for the Leo update!

We've missed you around here!

 

Hey Carolyn!!! Miss you! I've caught a few Leo updates on FB and alwasys love hearing about that special, handsome big boy!

Winston too had anal glands issues. If it's just at the smelly stage, I'd have your vet check him and see if they need to be expressed. As someone above mentioned, they can teach you to do it at home. Does he have soft poo? That's usually part of it, the normal firmness usually express the glands as they potty.... has he been scooting his butt on the floor? For Winston, that was a clue they were getting to that stage.

You want to avoid them getting impacted.

Nice seeing you!

 

Oh, Carolyn, your handsome Leo is so gorgeous. I could not view the two pics you posted of him today in your second post, but I do remember how he looked way back then when he first came to you. The transformation is nothing short of miraculous...20 pounds from 7?? Amazing. He's a super boy, that's for sure.

And you are a super Mom for taking such wonderful care of your acro boy. But, of course 'Hansum Debbie' surely deserves such wonderful care, right? :mrgreen:

Thanks so much for the great update on your boy.

Judith and Thomas (GA)

 

Ohhh.. he is a "Hansum Debble".. LOl!
Wow! Look at him now.. He truly is a miracle kitty!
Thank you for the great update on Leo... and all you do here Carolyn..

 

Hey there stinky butt!!! Oh, not you Carolyn....that was for Leo of course.

Nice to see both of you here today

 

What a beauty! I hope stinky butt situation gets resolved.

 

oops fixed pic links

duh LOL

Leo's first pics 11/2008
http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z254 ... t=leo1.jpg


http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z254 ... t=leo2.jpg

Yep Amy, they were recently soft poops, you might be on to something

and yes Choy-Foong, he does let me brush his tail, and anything else I want to brush except his back legs. He does most of his own grooming though, I rarely need to touch him up... in particular, that plume of a tail is all his handiwork LOL

Maybe Dr. T can help me out with a gland check this week

 

No advice on the stinky butt problem, eeesh poor Leo being embarrassed like that in public

Just wanted to stop by say hi and have a cawfee Carolyn makes goooood cawfee!

Hugs & Smooches, for Leo of course, no smooches for Carolyn, just Leo, well Carolyn gets a hug though, no smooches, don't want to start anything here in LL

 

leo's tail is... magnificent! he's looking so good , carolyn. i've said it before, but he's one lucky kitty to have found you!

 

Carolyn, leo looks so magnificent...what a difference....LOVE the tail....sorry about the stinky butt problem
:roll:

Sherry & Zoe

 

Does Leo KNOW that you posted personal info about his little butt problem. Sleep with one eye open, is all I'm saying.

Thanks for sharing your story. Leo is a handsome man.

 

That is such a cute picture! What a good, lucky boy you have.

 

Hi Carolyn--So good to see you & Leo so well & happy(except for the buttress prob) This is the nicest day to hear from everyone from our past--Thanks for all you do here & for what you have accomplished here with others & Leo--HUGS~!

 

Carolyn,
I'd take him in and get those anal glands checked - Doodle's ruptured a few years ago and it was painful, messy and expensive.

But you can feel around back there too -- to see if you feel anything marble like, near the lower part of the anus. (google anal glands for more info)
You shouldn't feel anything.

I hope it's just a day of stinky butt that will be gone in no time!

 

I'm so glad to see that Leo is doing so well. He looks fantastic! You sure have done well by him. Hope the stinky butt problem is cleared up soon.

 

Oh Carolyn, he is so fantastically gorgeous! He just looks better and better each picture you take!

You've already gotten lots of butt advice, so I just have tons of for both you and Leo.

 

how to empty anal sacs........

i knew there was anal sacs waiting in this condo, was forewarned by ya yesterday, been trying to get here all day/night. damn these slow typing fingers.
first about his coat, just magnificent. and he has a coat and a half, is a lot of work to take care of, that right there seeing the pic on porch tells me all i need to know for an overall WCR. kwim?

now on to the nether regions....yes normal consistency poo is suppose to express anal glands naturally, but it doesn't always happen, remember those glands were designed to be expressed by a feline eating live prey including bulkier parts that such a diet would consist of hence bulkier stools than what modern (wo)man feeds their kittans.

since he is such a mellow boy you can try to express at home first and see how it goes, if not like most said (there is one in every crowd, 30 bucks to express anals? holy moly! it was always free at my vet and last time i was there i saw sign that they apologize but have to charge 5 bucks nowadays for it) you can run him up for some quick back end work.

HOW TO EMPTY FELINE ANAL SACS~
grab a bunch of white paper towels. put on latex gloves. place cat on table facing away from you. now at 5 and 7 o'clock to the anus are the glands. you can see the little opening duct to them if you look closely. at vet's we do the internal method of emptying them, you are going to do external method at home. hold the paper towel up to sacs and feel around by grabbing 'deeply' into flesh of the anal area. they are not right on surface, there is this whole duct down to where they are so you have feel around until you locate them. they will feel like 2 marbles in flesh there if they are full. grab from base (base would be towards head) and then gently yet firmly squeeze them against each other, it does take a bit of pressure before the junk starts coming out. do not squeeze so hard that you rupture them! also there is times when it has 'solidified ' in them sacs and you are not going to be able to empty at home, that is a vet visit. normal 'stuff' that comes out is a thin brownish gray liquid, with a lovely dead fish smell. if it comes out like toothpaste being squeezed out of a tube, it was in there too long and has been annoying him, like a hemorrhoid (often see them scooting on carpet if it is like that). if there is white chunks in it, you have infection. no good. have to tell vet and get some AB's. anal sacs are a common area for an abscess to form! and ruptured infected anal sacs are not pretty plus what is such a simple issue can escalate to full blown abscess surgery at vet's under anesthesia and a big old bill. if you cannot follow these directions to empty and are having problems, go to vet and let them empty and give you a hands on demo on how to do it yourself at home, really it is not hard but it IS hard to describe over internet, i could teach ya in 2 seconds if could do hands on demo. if you google there are videos that show dog's anal glands being emptied, it is same thing.
good luck! nailbite_smile
p.s. if you do end up going to vet please take that opportunity to have them teach you how to palpate a feline abdomen. everyone that owns a male cat should be able to do that at home, it saves lives. but also anyone that has a cat prone to constipation will find that invaluable knowledge to have, you can adjust constipation meds based on palpation of colon!


okay my dear that was a lot of typing at this hour. i hope it helps. please let me know tomorrow via FB PM how it worked out!