Untitled 282

Untitled 282.  Pastel.  Approx. 6" x 5".   Purchase information: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com]

-----

 I haven't posted for a while. Been dealing with crazy weather (more extreme cold, more snow) and with this:

Mojito developed something called a "hot spot." That's not such a serious thing per se (cured by antiobiotics and by letting it heal without him licking it), but the problem was, he wouldn't leave it alone. 

We tried the cone (as I predicted, he was absolutely terrified of it and I can't watch him panic; he's an extremely sensitive dog), we tried a donut cone (it unfortunately still allowed him to reach the wound), I tried various experiments with socks and gauze and tape...

The actual, vet-applied professional bandage you see on him here was on for only three days, then the idea was, take off the bandage and just make sure he doesn't keep licking the area... But he did.

So, that became a rather time-consuming issue for me, along with dealing with things like: a) we had to go back to the vet for more antibiotics and steroids, because he had made it worse after the original bandage came off; b) you have to make sure the bandages don't get wet--and it's snowing pretty much every day lately; c) the steroids make him drink tons of water and have to pee often (see b, above!, so I'm changing bandages many times a day); d) I had to do a lot of experimenting to figure out how to give him his pills (the ideal way, I have now determined, is via ricotta cheese).

Anyway, the wound is looking much better. If he leaves it alone for just a couple more days and quits being naughty removing the bandages in the middle of the night, I think we might be in the clear. Of course, it just keeps snowing and I've already had to make two pharmacy trips to buy more gauze...  Moji adores costing me money, and this has already been a very expensive hot spot, so pray no third trip to the vet!

And I've also been trying to manage Gadjo's Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome, which inexplicably went from maybe 15 minutes a day to almost constantly. He was on steroids as an experiment, which worked pretty well, then the plan was to taper him off the steroids slowly. The first day I started tapering, he had a relapse, poor baby, and we were back to square one. Steroids reinstated daily, and as of today, he seems to be doing better again. I'm not supposed to taper again for weeks or months, so that he doesn't relapse instantly again.

Rumi, in the meantime, has decided to start losing weight again, ever since his urinary problem. No new ideas on the weight-loss problem yet.

Sigh. 

I love them all so much. But why must they make me worry so?

Oh, and I have a cold. Waah!

The heat-vent twins.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 273

Untitled 273.  Pastel.  Approx. 9" x 12".  Purchase information: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com]

-----

The orange members of the family.

------

It's been quite an eventful week or so.

During a period of record-setting cold (e.g., -12F at nights, around 5F during the days), a gas line malfunctioned in the area, and 7200 people, including me, were without heat or hot water for about 40 hours.  I ran my oven and three space heaters continuously and all those kept it at about 55F in the house. We're all really hoping we are going to get a break on our electric bills this month (it's the same company for the gas and the electric.)  

For one of those 40 hours, the power went out as well. The experience was really unbelievable in that kind of non-stop cold.

Then, Gadjo decided to have a very severe flare-up of his FHS (Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome), his worst episode ever. It has lasted about a week now (as opposed to his second-worst episode, which was maybe a couple of days; and most of his episodes, which are maybe a few hours). He hasn't been having many problems with FHS at all for a long time now.

I brought him to the vet yesterday and we are going to try various things to bring him relief. Right now we're doing a trial of steroids. Surprisingly (to me), it seems to be helping already.

-----

Mojito is doing great now, by the way! (My animolecules are taking turns lately to drain my energy and wallet, and worry me to death.) He's completely recovered and enjoying playing in the snow--his favorite thing (other than fetching tennis balls in the lake).

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 168

Pastel on UArt, approx. 4" x 5".

-----

Look how big Fennec's gotten (pic below)! I think he probably outweighs Gadjo now. Gadjo is now one year old and Fennec is...I don't remember...6 or 7 months, maybe, and is definitely going to be a big boy. 

Gadjo has turned out to be one of those long, lean, lithe (but overall not very big) Siamese I've seen before (but never had one). When I pick him up he feels almost weightless, like he's build from little bird bones. He likes to be held balanced along one of my forearms/hand, and folds his long slim legs up in a complicated origami, which always makes me laugh.

What beautiful, amazing creatures they are. Not a day goes by without me being utterly in love with cats.

By the way, it's been a while since I mentioned the possibility of Gadjo having FHS (Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome). For a few months there, it seemed he was symptom-free and I had stopped holding my breath and thought perhaps he had escaped the disorder after all. But out of the blue, he had some bad episodes a few weeks ago. Just as I was about to give up and try some meds on him, his episodes began diminishing again and now they are almost nil. He does seem to be a high-strung cat, certainly the most nervous and hyperaware one I've ever had--traits of many Oriental breeds, apparently. In a way, FHS is kind of a magnification of those traits. 

My guess right now is that he does have the disease, but if we are very lucky perhaps he won't have a severe case. If it ever gets bad enough, I will try him on meds, but it would be great if we didn't have to. What worries me most is it usually doesn't develop until a cat is one or two years old or more, and little Gadjo showed symptoms before even turning a year, which makes me fear an especially severe case. My poor darling. I'm just happy when I see he's having a day with no or few symptoms.

Fennec, on the other hand, is your classic laid-back big orange guy. My vet says there is a real tendency for male orange cats to be especially mellow and sweet and easygoing. Fennec certainly seems to be headed to fulfill that destiny. 

I'd only ever had two male orange cats before, two brothers that were not at all laid-back or mellow, but I suspect they were somewhat feral when we got them, and we ended up not keeping them, giving them to a friend (of course we had too many cats anyway [!]), as they were very alpha and had been causing problems with the rest of our cats as they grew up. I had named them Uno and Dos, and unfortunately Uno disappeared from my friend's one night, but Dos is still there and very much cherished.

-----

At the weavers' cooperative, Hyderabad, India.

$115.00 - Untitled 168 (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Gadjo update

It seems that Gadjo has either an injury and/or FHS (Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome).

I'm really hoping it's not the latter, but unfortunately, all signs seem to be pointing to that. It's not a common or well-understood condition, and it happens more in male cats and in Oriental breeds. It seems to be a neurological problem in which some combination (a lot of "and/or") of things come together: nerves in the lower back/tail are deformed/too many and/or overly sensitive and/or don't convey impulses in a normal way; possible seizure activity in the brain; a form of feline OCD.

These are the symptoms: "dilated pupils; twitching of the tail; appearing to be annoyed with the tail; biting at the tail, sometimes to the point of mutilation; behavior change from loving to scared and depressed; staring into space; hiding and isolating self; persistent, loud meowing; dashing off madly and aimlessly around the house or yard; visibly rippling, twitching skin on the back just above the tail; finding being touched, especially along the back, sometimes unbearable; compulsive, excessive grooming, sometimes to the point of self-mutilation; sudden, random aggressive behavior; possible seizures and/or intermittent muscle spasms in the thoracolumbar epaxial muscles." It's like invisible monsters are biting him in the back and freaking him out.

I'm especially worried because if it occurs, it usually manifests in cats ages 1 - 4 years. Gadjo's only five months old, which makes me think he's going to have a very severe case of it. Cats can have from very mild to very severe cases. In the worst cases, cats have seizures and can die or become paralyzed from them, and/or they self-mutilate uncontrollably. Episodes can happen every few days, every day, or virtually constantly.

At the moment, the vet still wants to rule out the possibility of a simple injury, and/or an injury which may have set off otherwise normal nerves in his back. So he's on pain meds which, if he has FHS, are suppressing some of the symptoms. But I really have a sinking feeling that he has FHS. I've been doing a lot of reading about it and it sounds exactly like what we've been witnessing.

If he does have it, we'll be trying either antiseizure meds or antianxiety meds. Some cats benefit from one or the other. It's terribly scary and I am so afraid for him and so sad for us, because it seems that starting at one sudden moment a few days ago, his constantly sweet, loving, calm, gentle, bold personality disappeared. He won't even purr.

I want him back.