Smokey Says Hello

So I told Smokey I needed to update his blog to let everyone know how he was doing, but I guess he wanted to tell everyone himself.

We heard from Smokey's Vet the other day, Thursday, and found out his diagnosis. Thankfully, its nothing fatal. However, he still does have some risks. The lymph nodes in his throat are very swollen and at this point have some scaring. So now our only option is to give him steroids to reduce the swelling. This was an option we had hoped to avoid since the steroids could very easily bring back his diabetes.

 He started his medication on Monday and will be taking it for the next month. Friday he is scheduled to go see his regular vet to check on his blood sugar. We have to closely monitor his blood sugar and diabetes until he is off the medication. He will also be going back on July 9th. I'm hoping everything goes well. Of course Thursday I will be going out of town for ten days and so I will be worried sick about him the whole time. Fortunately I will be leaving him in the capable hands of my mom who I know will watch him every moment. I know she will keep me posted on everything while I'm gone and maybe even Skype with me while I'm away. I'm going to miss my little baby like crazy, but hope to come back and see him doing much better.

 Until he gets better though, he's living the good life.

Vet Visit

Finally took Smokey to the specialty vet on Thursday to get him checked out. I was nervous taking him because I was sure he'd need to be sedated for them to get a good look in his throat. And that's always scarey no matter what the reasons. Especially with his heart condition and his diabetes, it put him at a higher risk of something happening. But once I was there, the staff was so nice. I knew he would be in good hands.
We did choose to leave him there over night so that by the morning he would at least feel a little more comfortable being there and wouldn't have to go through another car ride. Even knowing they'd be taking good care of him, it was still hard to say goodbye, knowing he wouldn't be sleeping with me that night.

The next day they did the 'evaluation' on him. Good news is, his heart is still doing just fine and he's still down 5-6lbs since last summer. When they did the scope of his throat they did find some abnormalities. I think the doctor described it as 'cobble stone' like in nature, but it was symmetrical on both sides. Which she said strongly suggested that it probably isn't anything life threatening, like Lymphoma. Though there is still a slim chance it could be. Since she wasn't sure of its 'origin' they did a biopsy and sent it to the lab for testing. They just sent it out today, so we won't know for a few days what it could be. However, there is a chance he may not be able to meow anymore. :(
We picked him up around 5PM Friday, and needless to say he was very excited to be going home. Even if he did get the 'royal sweet' for his stay. He is bigger than the average cat you know.

He's been home a few days now, and I think is still recuperating. Friday when we got him home, he was surprisingly chatting and active. Looking back it may have been due to the pain medicine they gave him to help after the 'exam'. Likely its not completely pleasant for him to try and meow. My suspicions come from the fact that since Friday he has hardly made a peep. It makes me worry a bit since before we took him he was talking a little, and now... nothing. He's also been quite sluggish, sort of. He spends 90% of his time sleeping on the chair in my living-room. Otherwise he's eating (good sign) and going outside for a little air. I'm hoping things get back to normal soon, and he's perky again. I'm also hoping his results come back negative of anything ... bad, and that maybe this is something we can treat.

 My advice for anyone who's cat suddenly stops meowing, get them to a vet ASAP. Its best to make sure its nothing serious as quickly as possible, so you avoid the worry. Or so that it can be treated before turning into something that you would need to worry about.

Highs & Lows

Its coming up to one month now since Smokey has mysteriously lost his voice. Strangely some of his behavior has also changed, he sleeps more than usual, and has taken up spending times in places not common for him. I have been waiting to see how things will proceed with him, as I hate to take him to the vet for another visit. His vet had suggested we take him to a specialist since his x-rays came up clear. But doing so would mean putting him under so they could scope him. I'm trying to avoid this stress on him. With his congestive heart disease, anesthesia could be risky. So right now I'm trying to see if maybe his excessive time in our garage could be part of the cause.

He's been kept out of the garage for about a week now and I feel he's improving some. This morning he greeted me with a meow, and has been howling at my door a time or two. But my mom still doesn't see the improvement. I'm hoping that given a little more time he will be back to himself. You start to miss the constant meowing and nagging when you don't hear it anymore.

I know there are spoiled cats out there, but some... I sometimes wish I could get inside his head and figure out what on earth he could possibly be thinking. Since he hasn't been quite himself lately, we decided to bend a little more to his wants. On the 9th, my brother's birthday, he was laying low. In other words he was sleeping in my room to avoid the commotion upstairs...so my mom gave him some food down in my apartment.
This was a bad idea from the start. Now he has decided that downstairs in the only possible place he will be able to eat. And drink. And sleep. Who knows, maybe that's what he's been trying to spell out all this time?

Another of his food creations

The orange blanket I posted him with last week, was one I was making for my brother for his birthday. It took a good bit longer than I had planned, even with all of Smokey's help. I've still got several others I'm currently working on (including the very first one for myself), and he's still helping me out with them. Regardless of there being a plethora of yarn and half made blankets around, he seems to really miss that neon orange one. Can't hardly image why, it was no different than the others. Lucky for him I have some left over orange and will likely whip up a little blanket just for him.
The problem of course being that when a cat knows something is theirs they more often than not, no longer want anything to do with it.

 

WIP, Smokey being big help

 For anyone interested, I do make blankets to sell. Both for humans and non humans. Anyone interested, feel free to contact me. Depending on size, I can often have them completed within 30 days.

Silent Nights

On May 18th, Smokey lost his voice. He has taken his required medication and yet still remains fairly silent. The good news is he has begun some speech again. From being one of the most talkative cats I know, to a quite creeper, has been hard adjusting to. Right now he's most vocally active when he really wants something, such as a treat or his food. Unlike usual though, his meows are quite, and slightly... off. So until he has fully recovered he is coming up with new ways to get our attention.

When he wants to go outside and I am heading towards a door, he will dash in front of me just to make sure he gets there first or if no one is around he will use his paw to bang the shades against the door. Its quite obnoxious. Now when he's hungry he's come up with a very... unique way of letting me know he's hungry. As you can see by his paws, he has strategically lined up bits of his food in some sort of pattern. And that look on his face means, "why are you taking my picture, you're suppose to be feeding me!"

We are still hoping his full meow will return soon. We are likely going to take him back to his vet tomorrow to get a check up and make sure things are still okay. I've got my suspicions that it may have something to do with his shedding. While we are transitioning from 'winter' to spring/summer I know that cats and other mammals are busy shedding their thicker coats. Strangely he seems to be shedding much more than usually and has itchy skin. Which has led him to more constant grooms. This of course has resulted in an unusually large number of hairballs for him. Probably 6 over the course of a few weeks.
I'm hoping that might be the reason for his 'sore throat' and that it will be an easy fix. I want to hear him meowing again, and I also really don't want to keep cleaning up hairballs all over the house!

I am still not up to date with any of my Smokey projects, as I have been busy with other art projects, classes and clearing out our house. I am planning to work on a painting of Smokey as soon as I find the room again to work on it. But as is Smokey's nature, he doesn't care what it is that I'm working on, he likes to be ever so helpful. Right now I'm currently working on 4 different blankets, and he likes to help out...in his own special way.

Thankfully he doesn't much care for chasing yarn and rarely does he like to gnaw on it. Cause you know, I really hate crocheting and all of a sudden coming across a wet, soggy bit of yarn. No thank you!



And one final note, mostly just to share a few more cute photos of Smokey. He has in the last month or so decided that cat beds are just not for him. Instead he's taken to sleeping in/on trays. We have several around the house and Smokey believes these to be his. No matter that they might have things on them, like glasses, cups, an iPad, whatever. He will either stare at you till these things are removed from his space, or simply sit down on top of them just to make a point.

There is a tray under his 'cat bed'

Size is never a problem