Elections and Eating

So, I recognise that this is the third post with no picture. I'll get one tonight, and update with P's weight.
The good news is that P is eating again! But, I'm afraid we may have bad news. I believe that eating nothing but Fancy Feast is to a cat what eating nothing but chocolate cake (which I'll be doing this weekend!) would be to a human. We'll see for certain this afternoon. This morning I gave her plain m/d and she ate about half of it. It's not ideal, but she's eating.
We moved her into our "suite" (aka the quarantine room) so that she could eat throughout the day. This was, I was also able to know how much she ate, vs how much the kittens ate for her. I've noticed, though, that P likes to eat with the kittens. Sometimes she wouldn't eat until the kittens were there eating with her. I really can't say what caused her to stop eating. But, I'm so relieved that she's back.
Ok, now for the elections part. IAR is participating in a contest to win a good sum of money. It takes just a minute to vote, and you have the opportunity to say what you think about IAR. Just click on the link below to help IAR out! (link)

Pansy is Having a Bake Sale!!

The kind folks of IAR care so much about my mental well-being that they've agreed to pay for Pansy to have chest x-rays done. The results are hard to read (because of her weight) but there are no signs of lung cancer, or any other large tumors that should frighten us in the night. So, that is a huge relief!
However, x-rays cost money, and IAR has a limited amount of money to spend. So, our sweet Miss Pansy Pie is having a bake sale devoted especially to her! The bake sale will be Sept 27-28 at Petco on 15-501. So, come by and shop! The goodies at the bake sales are always fantastic, and cheap.
Now, on the scarier side, since last week, P has not really been interested in eating. I've had to beg and plead with her to get her to eat anything, and she's probably getting about half of what she'd normally eat. I took a half a can of food with her this morning to the vet, so we'll see how that goes.
I believe that Miss P is not considered adoptable, and Lindsay and I agreed to care for her for the rest of her life, even though she will remain an IAR cat. So, I'm not entirely sure about the future of this blog. However, I think I will continue keeping it, just because P has so many fans! I'd hate to deprive them of updates. Plus, I can advertise bake sales! ;)

Don't forget: Setp 27-28th. Petco on 15-501 (by Target). Yummyness.
See you all there!

The Results are In

So, the tumor was cancerous. We don't know what that means for all the little lumps up and down her abdominal region, but we have to assume they are cancerous, too. I'm not sure what IAR will want to do. It sounds like our two options are to remove all of her mammary-related everything, or to just remove lumps as they get big. The good doc has explained that the cat's life-span will be similar with either option, so I have a hunch we'll go with the second one.

It's a pretty sad day for me. P wasn't eating this morning when I left for work. Perhaps she knew the bad news that was on the way. But, that scares me almost as much as the C-word!

But, she's strong. She's such a bright, determined girl. While I feel emotionally kicked by life, I know that she doesn't care what her chances are, or how bad it could be. She's going to go on just like she always has. Isn't it funny that the people with the cancer always seem so much stronger than those of us who just have to watch their struggle?

New Video

Gray from TCH bought Miss P this wonderful new toy--and she is crazy about it! I wanted to share with you all just how much she loves her Hot Tamale. Sorry about the crappy cinematography! About two-thirds of the way through, I show you her incision, so if you have an uneasy stomach, look away. She's recovering from her surgery, and hates taking her pills and pain meds.



Watching some of the older videos--can you believe this is the same cat? She's jumping up to get the toy! She used to barely reach for it!

Biopsy

The biopsy went well, and Miss P is at home, well-fed (we made an exception on her diet, since everyone should get a free-day if they have surgery!) and resting.

Good News/Bad News

So, at weigh-in today, Pansy came in at 17.1 lb! It's so exciting to be getting into numbers so low. It didn't really hit me until today that she's almost down to 17 pounds! I've started to wonder what our long-term goal is (besides getting her adopted, of course!)

Now, for the bad news. As Pansy's been losing weight, I've noticed a lump under one of her nipples. I thought it was scar tissue from a benign mammary tumor she'd had removed back in '06 (I believe that was the year) but Dr. Kirch said we aren't that lucky. Tomorrow they are removing it in order to do a biopsy on it. In order to keep her spirits up, we're telling Miss P that she's just getting a tummy tuck, since she's lost so much weight and has so much skin left over!

I've got a picture of it, but it's not a great one. It's about the size of a gum drop.

So, cross your fingers for our girl, and if you'd like to help with any medical expenses, you can donate at animalrescue.net. I believe there's a field where you can designate that it's for Miss Pansy Pie's surgery. Or, I'm sure The Cat Hospital of Durham and Chapel Hill will take money. I feel bad even mentioning it, but it seems to have been the year for medical expenses, and I hate to think of the medical fund drying up while cats still need help.

I'll let you know as soon as I find anything out.

Summer Slimdown!

I've spent a good deal of time out-of-town this month, but Miss P has been in excellent hands. Such good hands, in fact, that she's lost over 3/4 of a pound! She is 17.18 pounds today. She has adjusted well to her smaller diet, and I must say, it has made her a favorite among her foster siblings. (Of course they love her for who she is, not just what she provides for them!)


Less weight means more activity. Miss P has come upstairs twice in the last week, and we saw her run! I believe that she is to the point where she would be treat-motivated to exercise, if all her foster-siblings wouldn't beat her to the treat.

An Entire Month?!

It must have been a month that has slipped by since I last posted. I know because sweet Miss Pansy Pie has decided, yet again, to take matters into her own hands:

Oh, our sweet pie! She got tired trying to figure out how to get into blogger, and took a nap.

In other news, she has plateaued at 18 pounds, so we have had to cut her food again. She's not a fan of it, but her foster-siblings that get her extra food don't mind!

18.3!!!

Pansy has been doing great. She lost another .3 pounds in the last two weeks. I'm afraid she's really tired of me not updating, and I beg all my readers to forgive me! So, tonight, she reminded me, not-so-subtly, to update:

After just a couple of minutes trying to figure out how to post herself, she gave up:

I felt bad, so here's your post!

Apologies

I'm sorry it has been so long! I'm sure many of you hoped that I stopped blogging because Pansy was adopted, but it's not so. Really, I have just been very busy. Anyway, I will try very hard to do better.

So, in the time since we last reported, our fabulous girl has gotten down to...are you ready for this?...18.6 pounds! She's been doing great! She had some dental work done, and had several teeth pulled. This wet food that she's eating has done a lot of damage to her teeth. But, at her age, her weight is a bigger hazard than not having teeth. She doesn't really need to chew, anyway. :)

So, without further ado, here's a current picture of our pretty girl!

Small Improvements

We had high hopes for the vet this week. But, alas--Miss P is still 20 lbs! Just barely, though! On the bright side, she's lost 15% of her body weight. I wish I could do that! ;)


Dr K and troupe have kept me well supplied with pics of Pansy while she's at kitty-day-care! I'm still not sure how she got herself in there!

Miss Pansy is Worshipped

Miss P is used to the royal treatment. She gets special food, special cleanings, special treatment at the vet. She expects the same treatment from all her foster siblings, too. As you will see below:

In other news, Miss P has lost another half-pound! This is fantastic! She has become much more active lately. She even followed me into the kitchen today, when she thought it was dinner time. I'm very pleased with her progress, and I hope she can keep it up!

More Pics from the Vet

I'm having a hard time getting back into my routine! But, Pansy sure isn't! She's enjoying all the time we've been spending downstairs on our new, super-comfy couch. We had to get a bigger couch because Pansy was taking up lots of space on our old, little one! Now, all three of us can sit comfortably together! :) Anyway, I just wanted to share a couple of pictures the vet took for us.





A. captioned this: A nice day at the office....Pansy, hard at work...ensuring the customers have nowhere to sit!

And, what fun they have with her there! Pansy loves to play dress up! :)

Vacation

Vacations always seem to take longer than the actual amount of time spent out of town, don't they? Sorry for the long absence! Pansy's vet sent us this picture that was taken clear back in Feb! And I'll get another feather-wand video up soon! The last time we played feather-wand, Miss Pansy actually moved a couple of steps to chase it! Remember when she wouldn't even lift her shoulders to get it? Things are progressing nicely!

The house-sitters did a fabulous job, and Miss Pansy is doing as well as ever! I think she really missed her visit with the ladies at the Cat Hospital last week, though. She did not want to come home last night! And, her weight? She lost another .6 of a pound in the last 2 weeks! What a great rate of weight loss!

Centerfold

Miss Pansy was born to be a model.

Vet Trip

At the vet today, we learned that Pansy is 21 pounds!!! She's lost 1.4 pounds since she came to stay with us!! What happy news! We celebrated with some feather wand action!

I know that I give Dr. Kirch and her team a shout out every week, but they really deserve it! What a wonderful group the Cat Hospital has! While Pansy doesn't love the car ride there, as soon as I open the crate, she makes herself right at home. And the entire staff is so happy to see her there!

Also, we discovered that Pansy likes slow jazz. :)

The Cat Hospital

Our last trip to the vet was such a success that they invited us to join them every Wednesday. Pansy Pie wasn't too pleased to be in the crate again, but was more than happy to explore the office. The entire office staff gathered to watch as she sniffed around, climbed in the cat house and behind the sofa. When I came back after work to pick her up, this is what I found:

She insists that the catnip lid isn't hers. :)

Oh, and she lost .1 pound. They insisted that it's a step in the right direction, albeit a small one.

Adoption Event

Today, we went to Pansy's first adoption event since she returned to us. She got a lot of attention--and a lot of rubs! She was tired out by the time we got home. Here she is hiding under my sewing machine table. Forgive her grumpy face--she still has crate hair! ;) Anyway, it didn't take her long to readjust, and she's now sitting next to me, demanding that I give her as many loves as she got from everyone today.

Another Vet Trip

Over the last week, Pansy decided to take her diet a little too seriously--I've had a very hard time getting her to eat anything! So, back to Dr. K and Adrienne we went! Turns out, Pansy has lost just over a half a pound in the last two weeks. And the real reason she stopped eating? She was lonely. See, I put Pansy into her room to eat so none of the other cats or dogs would get her food. She didn't like that so she stopped eating. So, from here on out, Pansy and I will eat together, and I moved her bed and her litter box downstairs. She's got to get used to having so many other animals around, but I think she'll like it.
And, as I promised, here is her video debut! We call it The Feather Wand.

News from the Vet

Well, Pansy got good news and bad news from the vet. First, the good news: all the bloodwork came back normal. Hooray!

And the bad news? Well, it might be bad for her pride...

Who wants to see pictures of herself like that? ;)

Soon, we will post a video!

First Day

Hello, world! This is Pansy's blog, so let's go over a little about Pansy.

Pansy first came into my life as a foster rescued from an overcrowded home. She and her brother, Moby were my first fosters. When Pansy arrived at my house, she was overweight. I didn't realize that she had stopped eating until she started throwing up. By that time, it was almost too late for sweet Pansy. Her kidneys had gone into failure.

Thank goodness for the angels at NC State Vet School! They put her on a feeding tube until everything started working again. Luckily, when they removed the tube, Pansy started eating. It was a wonderful day!

Pansy never really stopped eating, though! She is now morbidly obese. The vet said on Friday that if Pansy doesn't shed some pounds, she will not live more than another year. Right now, the vet couldn't do an abdominal exam because when she laid Pansy on her back, the fat in Pansy's neck pressed against her windpipe and she couldn't breathe.

So, I'm here to report on Pansy's first weekend on her new diet. She has come out of her room more, with less enticement. She hasn't ventured out of the cat room, though. Small steps, right? Please keep checking back as we make this girl as fabulous on the outside as she is on the inside!