Beer Forum

Glad to see you and Ninkasi are still kicking. Haven't heard from you in a while. I just figured you might still be digging out of the snow from this winter. Did you end up getting any meds for the cat's seizures?

good to hear from you, Ozwald.
Hope the kitty is doing better.

brewinhard wrote:Glad to see you and Ninkasi are still kicking. Haven't heard from you in a while. I just figured you might still be digging out of the snow from this winter. Did you end up getting any meds for the cat's seizures?

My old vet (who was the large cat curator for ZooMontana) moved out of state so I had a hell of a time finding someone else who was qualified to look at him. Since it's really dangerous to put large cats under we were hesitant at first but when he continued to have them it was necessary.

We gave him a real light dose & scrambled to get as many tests done as possible. X-Rays came back good, organ function was good (worried that it could be liver/kidney failure) & the bloodwork came back clean with an elevated white cell count. There were no signs of viruses, so the only assumption from there was some sort of a bacterial infection.

We tried a wide spectrum anti-biotic for a few weeks which showed a slight improvement. He was still having episodes so we went for another round of the same drug. 6-7 weeks after the initial episodes he wasn't 100%, but he wasn't having episodes & had 80% mobility (even when he wasn't having episodes he was walking like he was drunk & falling over a lot). I kept a close eye on him hoping that he would just continue to improve.

Unfortunately a couple weeks later he had another series of massive episodes, just like the first ones & I almost lost him again. This time we tried a different drug, another wide-spectrum antibiotic. He's seemingly kicked it after that. 99% mobility & we haven't had an episode for a while now.

His 5th birthday was 2.5 weeks ago. I got him a new harness & a tough mouse toy. He hasn't stopped bouncing around the house since, which is a huge relief. He loves that stupid little mouse. I'm still keeping a pretty close eye on him for any indicators that it might come back, but so far we're looking pretty good.

Man, that is crazy! Always tough to see a loved one struggle through something like that. I liken those treatments to when my daughter (now 5) had 8 straight ear infections (really just one that never really cleared) for about 10 months straight. We kept trying different types of antibiotics (progressively stronger) until one finally clicked and was right to tackle the specific bacteria buildup.

Good on you for hanging in there and trying new things. Glad you are in a better place.

Thanks man. It was a stressful several months to be sure. Not that there was ever a good time for it to happen, but it couldn't have been at a worse time. It was the busy season at work & there's only 2 of us in my position. We work solo; never at the same time & from Thanksgiving to April we're doing the work of 4 people. 14+ hour shifts definitely didn't make it any easier, especially when all you want to do when you get home is take a shower & sleep a few hours before going back in. It's a lot like a brewing job - long, hard hours, but so damned rewarding at the end of the day.

Glad to hear your big pussy is doing well!

Ozwald wrote: long, hard hours, but so damned rewarding at the end of the day.

You da man Oz!


Good to hear that Ninkasi is doing well!

Hey all you asshats.

It's been a while, but I thought a few of you deserved to know. Ninkasi hasn't been doing well lately. He had a stroke a while back & then started circling the drain a month or 2 ago. I made the call last month to have the vet come over, but out of nowhere that was the exact day he decided to start eating again.

As of last week his health has degenerated considerably & I had to take a long, hard look at his quality of life. I keep second guessing myself, but I don't think it's fair, and maybe even a bit selfish, to continue. The vet is coming in a few hours & we will be taking him to the crematorium later this afternoon. He would have turned 10 years old this Friday.

This is also coming on the heels of my tortoiseshell house cat being diagnosed with a baseball sized fibrosarcoma. We don't believe it's in the bone yet, so we have a tentative surgery scheduled on Wednesday.

Please, raise a pint in memorium. It would be much appreciated.