Give me a break!...
Ok I'm obviously not talking to Carole anyways, so who gives a F.R.A.!

Back to our discussion, are you still there Hatwoman?

GPM - Thanks for the homeopathy vet referrals. Unfortunately, my husband is at the point where he doesn't want to spend any more money on the cats unless it's to either get them adopted to someone else or to have them euthanized because the expense of repairing the damage done to the carpets by them is a serious financial strain on us at this point. We're on the verge of having to replace carpets that are only four years old because of the cats. That's a few thousand dollars in addition to our expenses to repair the damage done earlier by the cats since we adopted them. He's also tired of vet bills for tests that come back negative. He likes animals but there's a limit. Still, I'll contact your references and find out how much it will cost for Timothy (and eventually Titus) to visit one of them.


Krista - Hi, still here!

Regarding dandruff and weight: Timothy is not overweight at all. He's the ideal weight for his size.

Regarding blood with his B.M.: The blood is more bright red and surrounds the B.M, not mixed into the B.M. I don't know if this resulted because the stool was difficult to expel since I didn't witness the expelling except when he was so scared the night of his "episode". He didn't have difficulty then but did it so fast that he could have torn himself enough to cause some blood with the stool(there was mucus, too). He was obviously very frightened to do this at that time and not in the litter box. So far no evidence of dark blood that I've been able to detect.

Regarding warmth/cold: He desires warmth and is a normal tempurature cat. I don't feel any excessive heat coming from him when I pick him up.

Regarding ears: He might have been experiencing a "crawling" sensation. I'm not sure a this point because lately he doesn't scratch his ears as often as he used to.

Regarding herpes: No current outbreak at this time.

Regarding motion: I'm not sure; while he'll let me carry him around at times, usually he wants down after a few steps. When he's in a playful mood he'll run through the house pretending something is chasing him and his tail will be bristled out. He often coaxes Titus into chasing him; they take turns chasing each other during this game. I guess he's fine with motion if he's causing the motion, but not as much if others pick him up and move him around.

Regarding sight: I suspect Timothy has a vision problem. He steps slowly and gingerly around dark objects, even ones that have not moved for three years (furniture). He sometimes bolts just as he's passed something dark, as if it might jump out at him. However, he manages to see the bubles lingering on the surface of water in a sink and waits for them to pop before he drinks. I'm puzzled as to how he can see bubles if he has a vision problem. Perhaps a kind of color blindness?

Regarding hiding under the bed: He does this when his feelings are hurt and from disappointment.

Have not been successful at testing his urine with strips. Is there a better way to do this than trying to catch him urinating?

Interesting development: During Timothy's solitary confinement in our bedroom, I discovered that Titus is also urinating in the dining room! I cleaned the carpet again (used club soda since it doesn't leave an odor like some cleaners that encourage cats to repeat their marking habit). A few days later there was a fresh stain from Titus. Now I'm keeping the carpet protected there with layers of plastic and towels over the plastic to absorb any further urination. Timothy and Titus are getting along again so they both have access to the house, although Timothy is more subdued than he was before he "flipped out" (the catalyst of that episode is still a puzzle to me). So far the only one to urinate again in the dining room on the towels has been Titus. I set up fresh towels and no further urination since last night. I am puzzled why the urination behavior is sporadic. There was no change in behavior towards either cat from me. Any thoughts?

Final note: I'm not sure I understand what RUS is, and its correlation with herpes. I appreciate your time (you sound very busy) and hope it's not too much trouble for you to take more time to explain this to me.

[ 05. June 2003, 05:47: Message edited by: Hatwoman ]

What stamina! I know how hard it is for you to take this kind of time to try to help and I applaud you, Krista. Clap, clap, clap.

__________________
Sometimes on Earth, you can find something that resembles a little piece of Heaven. And sometimes on Earth, a little piece of Heaven can find you.

Hi Hatwoman,
Sorry to leave you hanging! We are going into our busy time at the shelter right now and my day job is also very demanding as of late and I'm not able to check in as frequently.

Re: urine strips, you can confine him again and offer only an empty litterbox or one with shred (comprised of plastic bags). I usually wait for an "accident" to happen and test urine before cleaning it up.

Your "interesting" developement is a dangerous development. You are sure that Timothy is also peeing outside the box? could it be Titus all along? Unfortunately if one cat starts to pee, others will follow along either thinking its another designated spot to go, or to try and cover up the scent of another with their own. This is not good! You can not rule out health here either, although the odds are against both having troubles, its not impossible. If he is "covering up" Timothy's scent and Timothy has sporadic incidents, so too would the cover up be.

FUS is a blanket term to describe disorder of the urinary system (Feline Urinary Syndrome). Its like IBS (inflamatory bowel Syndrome) is used to describe disorder of the bowel for no known specific cause. Cystitus is inflamatory urine usually containing blood, slightly elevated white blood cells and sediment, the cause of the periodic inflamation is not usually known and they are now speculating that is could be a reoccuring herpes virus infection. Much like you break out when infection is active. Apparently according to one of our vets that I talked to about it, they have done simuliar research into the calici virus which was eventually ruled out as a cause.

Anyways, I was hoping that others would join into the discussion with possible remedy suggestions you may want to look at. (I'm surpised that Dr. Leela has been absent). I did receive an e-mail suggesting that you may want to look into puls as a possible remedy for Timothy, why don't you have a read through and see what you think as it looks pretty sensible from the info you have listed.

As for looking for outside help as suggested by gpm, that is up to you. I know its difficult because you have no doubt spent a lot of money in tests that have lead no where, but really allopathy and homeopathy are apples and oranges. And if you don't choose the proper remedy and muck up the case, you will be further behind still. If you can scrape up another hun for a 2nd opinion, it might save a lot of grief/money and time in the end.

you may also want to check out the following list:
link

A further reply about the "herpes" infection. There is no known transmission of herpes virus from cats to people and visa versa. Although to me its interesting that Hatwoman suffers periodic infection of type 1 and that her cat also shows periodic symptoms of Feline type 1 (eye). However it is just as likely, given the fact that herpes type 1 in felines is quite prevalent and that 80% of those cats initially infected will continue to shed the virus for their lifetime and sometimes suffer periodic and recoccuring infections.

For my experience, I have certainly had periods where viruses "go around" at the same time to effect the animals and people, but obviously one can not say that they are the same virus and that zoonosis is taking place.

Although I can't say for sure that I have no herpes1 antibodies, I'm fairly certain that I have not had any active infections despite closely treating over 100 cases of feline herpes1.

HI KKrista, Hatwoman and GPM (who knows),
Sorry I've been out of touch.
I've got 3 kids (since the last 4 months) and only 2 hands and one lap. You can't imagine what its like stretching that to fit 3. I'm completely out of shape!
Then there are the patients ...

So since I've got a bit of time just now, lets see if I can come up with something helpful.
doctorleela

__________________
http://www.homeopathy2health.com

Welllll, I'd say it's about time, young lady!

__________________
Sometimes on Earth, you can find something that resembles a little piece of Heaven. And sometimes on Earth, a little piece of Heaven can find you.

HI Kkrista, HAtwoman, GPM.
I think the first prescription this poor cat neds is a dose of Hyos.

I can't see any of the physical sympotms being important at this point.
Once he's out of this "stressed out" behaviour, one can ressess what's left and find something that will help with the remainder of his problems - herpes, etc.

HAt woman please tell us his response to a dose of Hyoscymus 30 and we'll see if he needs more repetition or a dose of 200 as he sounds pretty intense.

Finally, is it my imagination? Some posts seem to be missing.

All the best!
doctorleela

PS; HEre are the rubrics I looked at:

MIND; DELUSIONS, imaginations; deserted, forsaken (K23, SI-264, G19) (affection of friends) (alone) (despised) (neglected) (repudiated) (Forsaken)
MIND; AILMENTS from; alone, being (Anxiety; alone) (Company; desire for; alone, while, agg.) (Fear; alone) (Sadness; alone)
MIND; AILMENTS from; jealousy (SI-20)
MIND; STRIKING (K84, SI-963, G67) (Delirium; strike) (Jealousy; strike) (Kicks) (Rage; striking)
MIND; HIDE, desire to (K51, SI-575, G41) (Escape) (Run) (Timidity)

__________________
http://www.homeopathy2health.com

Dr. Leela,
You were missed! And yes some of the posts were removed, not sure why as my answers to them now make no sense, but oh well...
Hopefully Hatwoman will re-emerge to let us know what is happening.