Tanner Tuesday

"Knock on Wood" Tanner is sounding less stuffy these days!  It is like he has turned a corner finally!  He is on week three of his antibiotics and only has 4 doses left. Thankfully, Oliver goes to see the vet on Thursday (annual stuff) so we can discuss Tanner without him having to go in.

Tanner loves to help with the decorating and enjoys sleeping under the tree.  He has never bothered the tree or tried to climb it.  I don't know what it is with this new generation of kittens! 

I make up Tanner's pill case every Sunday for the week.  There is an AM and a PM side.  This helps me when it comes to the every other day pills!

 

Sunday is also arthritis injections for him, Cousin Sophie and Cousin Pirate. 

But first, we all have to weigh.  Tanner now weighs 16 pounds. He will need to cut back on the snacks a bit!

 

Sunday is spa day at our house, which includes weighing and any combination of these, depending on what you need for the day...

Ears cleaned

Chin combed

Nails trimmed

Litter picked out from between toes (my personal favorite)

Back ends wiped off if you are stinky

 

 

Do you have a spa day at your house?  Are there other areas you pay attention to that are not listed above?

 

Thanks for the continued purrs for Tanner...they are working! 

Tanner Tuesday

Tanner continues to be a bit stuffy but has moments of improvement.  We will keep plugging along until it is time to return to the vet for a recheck.  He doesn't seem overly bothered by his cold and eats and plays.  He gained weight this week, so he is definitely feeding his cold!

We have had some beautiful weather lately and the sun puddles are plentiful.  Here's Tanner trying on his bowtie for the Christmas card photos... 

Our trees are just gorgeous right now...

Here is a shot with all four boys...can you find them?  Do you know which cat is which?

We started decorating for Christmas over the weekend, while we had some time, and the boys all helped.

Eventually, Tanner was wiped out and found a pile of tissue to rest in...

More sun puddles...

Fun with a new catnip toy.  This was supposed to be a Christmas present for Oliver.  I had the package on the kitchen island and when I came downstairs the next morning, I started finding these toys all down the hall!  The package was now lying on the kitchen floor and destroyed!  At least I know they like them!  MOL  Yes, I've ordered more and put them in a safe place!!

So while we still have a bit of this cold/allergies/herpes infection, Tanner is enjoying life and living it to the fullest!  Thanks for your continued prayers.

Tanner Tuesday

Tanner is a mystery case for sure.  His results came back simply showing that he had the feline herpes virus.  However, after 3 days off his antibiotics, he was sounding much worse again.

The initial thought was to simply keep going with the steroids for inflammation, and the lysine to possibly help suppress the herpes virus.  I had to advocate for Tanner and explain that the course of lysine and steroids had previously done nothing to help him, and the only thing that has helped has been his antibiotics.  I realize that they will not work on viruses, but wonder if he came back as not having bacteria present because he had just finished two weeks the day before the samples were taken?  I explained to the vet that the symptoms were returning already and asked if we could just try the antibiotics again to give his body a chance to fight.  He agreed and so we are doing three weeks this time. 

I asked if there was anything else we could be doing to try and improve his immune system to help him fight and so we are giving some probiotics as well.  We are also going to decrease the steroids in case they are suppressing his immune system more than we realize.

 

Tanner has gotten pretty stuffy again, so we are now doing the saline nose spray again as well.

 

I am refusing to give up hope that we will get him clear at some point!  Poor boy has been stuffy and sneezing for over two months now.  He is still eating well and asking to play.  We plugged in the heated bed this weekend and he has been happily cooking ever since!

 

We are thankful for your continued purrs!

Tanner Tuesday

Tanner went to the vet last Friday for a recheck.  He had been on antibiotics for two weeks but was still a bit stuffy.  Improved, but still sneezing, etc...

The vet looked in his nose again and was pleased that the ulcers he saw at the last visit were not there anymore.  He could see some discharge and decided to get a sample.  Tanner went to the back for this procedure and came back just sneezing up a storm!  The vet got his sample though and is having it cultured.  He wants to see exactly what we are dealing with to make sure we are on the right medication path.

We are currently still waiting on the results of the culture, so Tanner is off his antibiotics.  I have noticed that over the weekend he started sounding a bit more stuffy.  I feel we will be back on them by the end of the week, and probably for several weeks to combat whatever Tanner has caught.  It seems to be something stubborn!

Tanner Tuesday

Tanner is happy to report that he is doing better.  He still sneezes some, and has a small amount of congestion, but overall is much improved!

He still has a few more days of antibiotics.  The steroids do not have an end date at the moment, but I will get an appointment set up for him again at the VET to discuss.  We want to make sure we stay on the meds long enough to not have a relapse!

 

As you can see in the photo above Tanner is resting well.  He loves this brown blanket on the couch!

 

I picked up the white and grey blanket at Kohl's the other day.  It is SO soft and the boys all love it!  Here's Tanner lying on his side and kneading my blanket.  Auntie and I call this blanket the "mama" because all the boys love to knead on it!

 

Do you have a favorite blanket or place to knead your paws?  Are you happy the blankets have come out because of cooler weather?

 

Tanner Tuesday

So, Tanner went to the vet on Friday afternoon.  He was still sounding stuffy and sneezing more.  The vet spent a bit of time looking up in his nose and noticed some scabs...he is still thinking allergies and possibly eosinophilic granuloma.  He said the steroids should be helping him, but decided that maybe he has some secondary bacterial infection going on, so we have him on a course of antibiotics.  He is taking Zenequin daily for 14 days. 

There are days where he sounds better, as in you don't hear him when he walks into the room!  Then times when he is stuffy sounding, although those are becoming less frequent.

 

He is playing and eating well, but he has lost a few ounces in the past couple of weeks.

 

For those keeping up with Tanner's daily pharmacy routine, here is what he takes now:

 

Morning:

Prednisolone

Potassium

Atenolol

Benazepril

Falimazole

Saline spray in his nose

 

Evening:

Prednisolone

Potassium

Atenolol

Falimazole

Zenequin

Famotadine - injection

Saline spray in his nose

 

I think we are on the right track now and are starting to see/hear some improvements.  He will go back in a couple of weeks for a recheck unless he is completely well.

 

Below are a couple of videos of Tanner.  He has a piece of fleece, known as his "girl".  Sometimes he does strange things with his girl, and talks to her.  In one video you can here him talking to me because I am going to try and take his girl!  He carries her around the downstairs, so one video is him bringing her back into the den.  Enjoy!

 

Here it is on YouTube

 

 

YouTube Version

 

Tanner Tuesday

Tanner's appointment has been moved to Friday.  I called last week, on Thursday, because he didn't seem any better...worse even.  We increased his steroid, and he wanted him on it for a week before we reviewed again, if possible.

Well, I took some of your suggestions from last week and we have been steaming him in the bathroom.  This is helping him breath better, at least for a little while.

He got a new X scratcher for being such a good boy and tolerating things well.

I also bought some saline spray and have been using that in his nose.  This seems to offer a fair amount of relief and lets him sneeze out some of the junk.

Tanner after two rounds of spray...sleeping hard...finally able to breathe better!

We are seeing glimpses of improvement, so I hope we are on the right track.  Thanks for your purrs and suggestions!