Smoke for my sister's cat

I don't get the smoke part, help.

As you can probably guess from my handle, I have a true love for big cats. I hope that a turn for the better comes. It'd be a horrible loss to have to let him go.

How long has your sister had Apache... since he was a cub? How old is he?

Apache was bought at an exotic animal auction in Missouri. They are very common throughout the midwestern U.S. and are also called "Alternative Livestock Auctions". Breeders go to these auction/flea markets to sell their surplus animals. Cats are often bought here as cubs on impulse. The man that bought him realized that he had gotten in over his head and abandoned him at a Nature Center as a cub. They, in turn, took him to a wildlife rehabilitator in Kansas that had the room for a growing, rambunctious baby cougar. They could not, however, keep him throughout adulthood. And he could not be "rehabbed" and released. This is because he was purchased at nine days old and had imprinted on people, and he was also neutered and declawed on all four paws.

He came to us after a 12-hour flight from Kansas, with a layover in Salt Lake City, as a 6-month-old. When we went to pick him up at the airport, there was also live birds on this flight. The cargo employees searched but said that they could not find him in their warehouse. Finally, they let us go in the back and we quickly realized what the problem was. Young cougars chirp like birds sounding like a whistle instead of a meow. It's a form of "aural camouflage" in the wild. They were searching all around his carrier assuming that he was a bird. We looked into the crate expecting to see a very unhappy, traumatized youngster hissing back. But much to our surprise, he was very well-balanced, purring and rubbing the crate.

smoke sent

Thank you for the prayer chains, they are working! Apache has pulled through the worst of it and is now more comfortable on a narcotic to control the pain. There are no non-steroidal anti-inflamatories available in cats, so we will try steroid treatment if that helps, but we just want to get him over the hump of the severe pain he was dealing with. Then I will be trying some prednisone, and pulling him off the narcotic to see if it works for him. This weekend as soon as Tom is able, we will be knocking him down again for full xrays and bloodwork to see exactly what we are dealing with. I am just praying that it will be fixable.

Thank you again everyone for your support. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Dawn

Here's the update from my sister. Thanks for all the smoke, it looks like it's working.

15 pills a day in 4 feedings...we change up the regimen a lot trying to find out what works. He's doing okay. Wobbly and some pain, but rests well and has an appetite. Hoping he can beat this. He is blind at night, but still has vision during the day. There is no record of Lyme in wild cats. They probably get it in the wild, but nobody knows. And nothing documented in zoos

Glad to hear he's still fighting. Hopefully your sis is documenting everything about his care to help others in the future since there's no documentation on it.

He has bad days still and days that aren't so bad, but this morning was the first time he actually gave me a little meow/chirp at breakfast time. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Honestly, I haven't heard that for about 5 months. He's on a full load of meds right now, which we don't want him on longterm, so I am scheduled to withdraw one or two tomorrow and see the result. But each time, he gets a little better. He's been on antibiotic for 2 months. So, I hope that we are starting to beat this.

His daytime blindness comes and goes, about 50% of the time. His pain is being managed better, I don't think it's my wishful thinking, he hasn't growled this week at all. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

We've decided not to continue waiting, we need to do the knockdown and see where he's at. I was hoping to see much more improvement after 3 months, so that the anesthesia wouldn't be so difficult/risky. But Tom feels he'll be okay being tranquilized while on the Tramadol. I can't seem to ever pull him off the Tram, the pain soars. He has severe breakthru pain in his upper back/spine, behind the shoulders. Even on the Tram and Prednisone when I pet him there and he just sinks to the ground, even with the lightest touch, and his muscles are hard as a rock there.

So, we plan on doing full bloodwork and xrays to see what we are dealing with... It will have to be a weekend, since I work Mon-Fri. Possibly Saturday, Oct 25. LMK who of you may be able to come and help? We will have to tranq him here, then transport him to the clinic, then someone to sit with him here afterwards as he wakes up. It has to be a reasonably warm dry day, so holding thumbs on that. Tom said he may be able to do it on an earlier Sunday when the clinic is closed, weather permiting, will update you when I hear from him.