Gracie, too!

Oh Yoda didn't want to go at all. I have a scratch to prove it!

Gracie likes going to the vet but she sure wouldnt want to be told she has to eat less!

Right, that's Cheerio too.  From certain angles she looks like a raccoon!  (slight exaggeration)

We didn't think Yoda looked overweight at all. In November he was 15 pounds 14 ounces.

Wow.  Cheerio at her last weigh in was just under 13 (I'm not going to tell you how long ago that was, don't want the pet police after me!)   Yoda must be a big cat, structure wise.  In his pics he never looked over weight.

Yes he is super long and pretty tall, I couldn't believe it when they scale said that.  The Vet did tell me his bread, Russian Blue are big cats. How are Desmond and Norma?

Don't hear much about them.  Guess they have settled into the household routine, and their antics quieted down.  I'm posting with G.T. as we speak - I'll ask him -

I think Gracie tips the scales at a little too hefty 80 lbs.

I just inspected her ears (clean and healthy) and clipped her nails.  Now, to throw all her stuff in the wash while I do the same to her at the dogwash.  I'm going to look for something we haven't tried yet (going to be a challenge) at the shop, too, to protect her pads from the road salt.

On my way out.  Nothing from G.T., he must be "working"!  lol  I'll check when I get back later - being after Y&R, probably.

This post probably should be back a few pages, but here is my two cents -  I lurked for a long time on the Chat before joining in, and always felt that it was, as someone described, like a bunch of longtime friends sitting over tea.  That was still the case when I started speaking up, and, and even now when I drag my cup to the table, I still feel like I fall right into place. Each poster has her own personality, and I don't think anyone should change what or how they post.  OK -- off my soapbox.

Happy February!

Good morning,
I don't know, how much our son's male cat weighs, but he is huge. Not overweight looking, just big. And I have seen, they don't overfeed him. The female is much smaller and they give them the same amount of food. Both gorgeous kitties.
I can see, why a dictionary is needed, when you play board scrabble. I don't feel it is cheating, if you look up the word, after it is on the board. I play with DS on our iPads; here the game will not accept the word, if it is not a word. But on the board, one must make sure it is indeed a word. DS throw some strange words at me. Words I have never seen or heard. So I look them up and learn something in the process.
Winter, I hope Yoda will be ok and you will get a good report from the vet today. I believe you said, you found blood in the tub. Does Yoda go in your bath tub? My DIL had that problem with their male cat. Then she started to spray orange oil in the tub, and he stopped. She also put citrus peels on top of the soil on her indoor plants. The cats don't like the scent and leave the plants alone.
I am off to the office as soon as I get up from here. Happy shopping tt and Kar. Hope you find some "goodies". Chat later.

Just got back in in time for Y&R and Jason, I hope!  Anyway, here is a reply from G.T.:

(for those who may not know, Desmond and Norma are - cats - !)

No, they are doing great and have a check-up coming soon.

Desmond waits for the mailman and if we are upstairs when he comes, Desmond will grab an envelope as it gets pushed through the mail slot and bring it upstairs.  He loves to play fetch.

like a bunch of longtime friends sitting over tea. 

I like that vision!!

Kar, here I was thinking Gracie was a little dog!! Of all the dogs I owned, only 1 every liked going to the vets, the others started sqirming as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. 

See... this is why we NEED pictures!!

All the posts are saying at the top that I am choosing to ignore posts from 'membername' so B.C must be working on that....does anyone else see that or am I just 'lucky'?

and as soon as I posted the ignore messages went away.....

The Vet called, it  is in fact this disease, Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD). There is no 100% cure, it could come back. Pingo, he never went in the tub before, however, this condition much like a UTI is very painful for him to urinate. The doctor said many cats go to a cold floor tile or a bath tub and this helps him. Once the antibotics start to take effect (48 hours) it should stop. As for the long term, we will probably have to look into special food or food low in magnesium and ash. He currecntly gets Blue Buffalo dry food. Most likely the dry food will need to stop as Yoda needs as much moisture as he can get. 

Glad you have a diagosis, Winter.  I'm sure the vet will direct you to the food that would be best for his condition to help it from reoccuring.

Hats, I now have "Ignore xxxxx" at the foot of everyone's posts.  At last.  So glad to have that feature back.

Stopped in the library while I was out, returned Alice Munroe's short stories which I never got to get all the way through - you can't just sit and read through her book, each individual story is so thought provoking.  Anyway, saw one that was being returned, "War Brides".  Thumbed through it and it mentions the Land Girls in England - remember we talked about that book and the film?  Am hoping this will be in some part as good.

@Winter,  FUS in cats is similar to bladder stones in dogs, a condition that I have found increased fluids and large amounts of potassium citrate to be helpful with my pet (male dog).  A special diet is crucial too.

http://www.2ndchance.info/fus.htm

Of course check with your vet before adding any supplements to their diet.

Also, I encourage you to check out the "Ask a AngellVet" forum, recently someone asked a question about cat nutrition. 

I hope this helps.

PS: Add a 1/2 to a cup of water to the dry food and put it in the fridg for 4 hours prior to being served, add a little more water to it when you present it to him.

It forces them to drink the water to get to the food.

Thanks Robin. If I had a cup of water to his half cup of food, it's going to be soup. The Vet is going to give me some food options though, but I'll check out your link.

The food poofs up if you put it in the fridg for a few hours or the night before, not soupy at all. 

If they are hungry enough they go along with it.

Pick it up after 10 minutes if they are not interested and offer it again later.

Who is in charge, you or him?

I remember a dog we had had problems and we bought the vet's food which was lower in ash.  She lived for years after that.  We used to pick it up by the case.  Hope you don't get discouraged, I'm sure Yoda has a long life ahead of him.  It's just a matter of finding the proper diet for his particular case.

Usually the vet will prescribe a special diet for cats dx with FUS   http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-feline-cd-multicare-feline-bladder-health-dry.html