UPDATE ON OLLIE AND BASIL (sorry it is a long one!) These two beautiful babies are 15 years old. We rescued them two weeks ago. Their elderly owner unfortunately has dementia so went to live with her daughter. The two boys were left behind in the flat, with the grandchildren only feeding them every two-three days. Basil (short hair) is in perfect health, the vet doesnt believe that he is 15 and commented that he hopes he look as good as Basil when he is his age in human years. Although he only has two teeth left, with one constantly sticking out! Unfortunately Ollie isnt a well little boy at all. He was diagnosed with epilepsy before being taking into our care, and prescribed medication. The well known charity who runs low cost vet clinics didnt even run blood tests to determine if there was something else causing the seizures. Luckily he never had any of the medicine as I took him in to our vets for a blood test and he has mild kidney disease/renal failure. Taking those tablets for epilepsy would have put a huge strain on his already poorly kidneys. Ollie has only had two fits, one week apart so I have decided not to put him on the medication yet. The seizures are very scary to watch, but I now have special medicine to give him which almost immediately stops the seizure. As mentioned he has renal failure, which is never a good prognoses. Good news though is that his blood pressure is within normal range and he is not dehydrated. I have decided against the traditional route of renal food as I personally do not agree with the approach of a low protein diet for a feline when no clinical studies have been carried out on cats to determine if they need less protein with renal failure (the only tests carried our have been between commercial low nutritional food vs renal low protein food). Instead he is on a good protein diet of fish and poultry, mixed with cooked egg white. No red meat at all. The egg white weakens the phosphorus in the protein. As the kidney disease is only mild I have decided not to give him fortekor, at least for now. Ollies appetite has returned, and he has stopped drinking too much water/urinating constantly, so fingers crossed he seems to be on the right track. Kidney disease/renal failure is not curable (at least not at the moment) so all that can be done is to manage it as best as possible. Some cats do not live very long, while others can continue a very happy and normal life for years. I am praying and hoping for the later as he is such a happy boy. Ollie also came to me with a cold, which now seems to be clearing after some steam treatment (which basically means me locking him in the bathroom whenever someone has a shower!). Basil seems to now be coming down with the cold so I have started doing the same with him. If improvement isnt seen in a few days I will put them on antibiotics and some powder that breaks up the mucus. I also think that Ollie is deaf or very, very hard of hearing. They both had lots of dead, dry skin throughout their coats. After a good brushing routine, their coat and skin has improved dramatically. I am so happy already with how much this has improved. We were also told that Ollie has fallen out of a third storey window at least twice. How he managed that I do not know, one of our volunteers suggested that perhaps he had a seizure and fell, which is very plausible. Apart from falling out the window, they have never gone outside. So I plan on harness training them, so they can enjoy a little wander around, once they are both vaccinated. I am so happy we saved these two boys, they are so special and loveable. They have old man croaks and tap your arm or face when they want attention, Basil will even take it as far as to chomp on your hand with his gums if he is ignored! They want nothing more then a lap to sit on and to be cuddled. One will sit on my partners lap, and the other on mine, and then swap throughout the evening. They follow us to bed and up and down the hallway. Each day I CANNOT wait to come home to them. Love you Ollie and Basil! So happy I have the chance to help you and make Ollie feel better.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 09:00:00 +0000
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