Oscar back from TED

Oscar's left her paw alone for the last week or two, and she's fine
with that, but over the weekend she developed EGC on her chin / lower
lip again.

I called TED this morning and asked if she should get a steroid shot,
or if we should sit it out (TED had warned me that the steroid could
possibly increase the risk of infection in the paw). Since Oscar's
currently not worrying her paw, the paw looks pretty good, and the lip
looks pretty bad, it was time for a shot.

While I was there, I had TED look at a little bump on Oscar's ear.
She thought it was likely a sebaceous cyst, probably harmless. I
asked if it could possibly be her chip, but was told it was too small
of a bump for that to happen (the chip should still be in between her
shoulders; it was just a thought).

We talked a bit about the risks of steroids; TED said that while you
generally want to avoid them, cats handle them better than any other
pets, and that while liver damage and shortened lifespan is a
possibility as the number of shots increases, it's still better for her
quality of life to treat the EGC as soon as possible.

Oscar hasn't had enough shots yet to establish a clear pattern, but my
guess at this point is she will have 3-4 outbreaks a year that get bad
enough to want to treat her with steroids.

It may be my fault this time; I have been letting her drink out of a
very wide plastic bowl that she clearly prefers above all other water
bowls she's had. No more. I'll look for ceramic or metal bowls of
the same general shape. TED confirmed that this could have been the
trigger.

As for the trip itself: getting Oscar into her Sherpa bag was
surprisingly easy. She was being cuddly, so I got some treats and,
closely supervised, put the treats into her bag. From there it was an
easy matter to pick Oscar up and put her in the bag. She went straight
for the treats and ignored me as I zipped her up. Then I had a bag with
a tail. I pushed the tail, which slowly retreated into the bag. Still
no complaint. Rather surprising; usually she puts up much more of a
fight.

I heard, in order of frequency, meowing, panting, and hissing from the
bag while I was driving. TED supposes it's the car more than the new
and lovely carrier that upsets her.

While at TED's, Oscar didn't even have to get out of the carrier. TED
was able to look at the lip and ear, and give her a shot, all in the
bag. Obviously the carrier *did* have to be unzipped =P

On the way back, I left the top zipper open just enough that Oscar
could poke her head out, without allowing her to get her body out.
That seemed to help a bit, and allowed me to provide skritches at
every stoplight =)


--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

Poor Oscar!! I'm glad her paw is better, but I sure hope the shot helps her
lip.

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
Oscar's left her paw alone for the last week or two, and she's fine
with that, but over the weekend she developed EGC on her chin / lower
lip again.

I called TED this morning and asked if she should get a steroid shot,
or if we should sit it out (TED had warned me that the steroid could
possibly increase the risk of infection in the paw). Since Oscar's
currently not worrying her paw, the paw looks pretty good, and the lip
looks pretty bad, it was time for a shot.

While I was there, I had TED look at a little bump on Oscar's ear.
She thought it was likely a sebaceous cyst, probably harmless. I
asked if it could possibly be her chip, but was told it was too small
of a bump for that to happen (the chip should still be in between her
shoulders; it was just a thought).

We talked a bit about the risks of steroids; TED said that while you
generally want to avoid them, cats handle them better than any other
pets, and that while liver damage and shortened lifespan is a
possibility as the number of shots increases, it's still better for her
quality of life to treat the EGC as soon as possible.

Oscar hasn't had enough shots yet to establish a clear pattern, but my
guess at this point is she will have 3-4 outbreaks a year that get bad
enough to want to treat her with steroids.

It may be my fault this time; I have been letting her drink out of a
very wide plastic bowl that she clearly prefers above all other water
bowls she's had. No more. I'll look for ceramic or metal bowls of
the same general shape. TED confirmed that this could have been the
trigger.

As for the trip itself: getting Oscar into her Sherpa bag was
surprisingly easy. She was being cuddly, so I got some treats and,
closely supervised, put the treats into her bag. From there it was an
easy matter to pick Oscar up and put her in the bag. She went straight
for the treats and ignored me as I zipped her up. Then I had a bag with
a tail. I pushed the tail, which slowly retreated into the bag. Still
no complaint. Rather surprising; usually she puts up much more of a
fight.

I heard, in order of frequency, meowing, panting, and hissing from the
bag while I was driving. TED supposes it's the car more than the new
and lovely carrier that upsets her.

While at TED's, Oscar didn't even have to get out of the carrier. TED
was able to look at the lip and ear, and give her a shot, all in the
bag. Obviously the carrier *did* have to be unzipped =P

On the way back, I left the top zipper open just enough that Oscar
could poke her head out, without allowing her to get her body out.
That seemed to help a bit, and allowed me to provide skritches at
every stoplight =)


--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-08-28, Karen penned:
Poor Oscar!! I'm glad her paw is better, but I sure hope the shot
helps her lip.

It should -- so far one shot has been plenty to make it go away.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

I was just thinking of Oscar. Is she still wearing the e-collar?

Winnie

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
Oscar's left her paw alone for the last week or two, and she's fine
with that, but over the weekend she developed EGC on her chin / lower
lip again.

I called TED this morning and asked if she should get a steroid shot,
or if we should sit it out (TED had warned me that the steroid could
possibly increase the risk of infection in the paw). Since Oscar's
currently not worrying her paw, the paw looks pretty good, and the lip
looks pretty bad, it was time for a shot.

While I was there, I had TED look at a little bump on Oscar's ear.
She thought it was likely a sebaceous cyst, probably harmless. I
asked if it could possibly be her chip, but was told it was too small
of a bump for that to happen (the chip should still be in between her
shoulders; it was just a thought).

We talked a bit about the risks of steroids; TED said that while you
generally want to avoid them, cats handle them better than any other
pets, and that while liver damage and shortened lifespan is a
possibility as the number of shots increases, it's still better for her
quality of life to treat the EGC as soon as possible.

Oscar hasn't had enough shots yet to establish a clear pattern, but my
guess at this point is she will have 3-4 outbreaks a year that get bad
enough to want to treat her with steroids.

It may be my fault this time; I have been letting her drink out of a
very wide plastic bowl that she clearly prefers above all other water
bowls she's had. No more. I'll look for ceramic or metal bowls of
the same general shape. TED confirmed that this could have been the
trigger.

As for the trip itself: getting Oscar into her Sherpa bag was
surprisingly easy. She was being cuddly, so I got some treats and,
closely supervised, put the treats into her bag. From there it was an
easy matter to pick Oscar up and put her in the bag. She went straight
for the treats and ignored me as I zipped her up. Then I had a bag with
a tail. I pushed the tail, which slowly retreated into the bag. Still
no complaint. Rather surprising; usually she puts up much more of a
fight.

I heard, in order of frequency, meowing, panting, and hissing from the
bag while I was driving. TED supposes it's the car more than the new
and lovely carrier that upsets her.

While at TED's, Oscar didn't even have to get out of the carrier. TED
was able to look at the lip and ear, and give her a shot, all in the
bag. Obviously the carrier *did* have to be unzipped =P

On the way back, I left the top zipper open just enough that Oscar
could poke her head out, without allowing her to get her body out.
That seemed to help a bit, and allowed me to provide skritches at
every stoplight =)


--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-08-29, Winnie penned:
I was just thinking of Oscar. Is she still wearing the e-collar?

Not right now. If she starts really working her paw, nibbling and
licking it, we put her in the e collar for a few days. Then we take
it off and see if she can stand to leave the paw alone. Rinse, repeat
until she finally does leave it alone.

We've done either two or three cycles of this now -- can't remember
exactly.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On Mon 28 Aug 2006 03:34:11p, Monique Y. Mudama wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
):

We talked a bit about the risks of steroids; TED said that while
you generally want to avoid them, cats handle them better than
any other pets, and that while liver damage and shortened
lifespan is a possibility as the number of shots increases, it's
still better for her quality of life to treat the EGC as soon as
possible.

This is what I've also had to come to peace with. While Shamrock's
frequency of steroid shots is probably going to shorten his life,
it will be a more comfortable life. I wish there was a better
treatment, or a better way to eliminate their triggers.


It may be my fault this time; I have been letting her drink out
of a very wide plastic bowl that she clearly prefers above all
other water bowls she's had. No more. I'll look for ceramic or
metal bowls of the same general shape. TED confirmed that this
could have been the trigger.

Rhett also had a lip erruption from drinking from a plastic dish
(Drinkwell Fountain), and once I got rid of it, he's been fine. He
also has had a couple of erruptions that were "cured" by changing
either diet or dish. He does well on a diet of limited ingredients.

Best to Oscar and you and DH. It's so hard to deal with allergies
and/or EGC.

--
Cheryl

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

On the way back, I left the top zipper open just enough that Oscar
could poke her head out, without allowing her to get her body out.
That seemed to help a bit, and allowed me to provide skritches at
every stoplight =)

What a good girl she was! Frank once broke out of the Sherpa bag when
I'd left the top zipper open a little bit. That had potential for a
disaster, because the bag was in our boat while we were loading the rest
of the stuff on board. I caught him just as he was going to jump on land
(he was wearing his harness, so I had a 'handle' to grab). The d*g in
the next boat didn't fare as well. That boat had just landed, and the
owner had just taken off its little life jacket (it was a doxie, if
memory serves me). The d*g made a jump for the jetty, but fell in the
water. Luckily, the owner managed to fish it right back up. Hope they
learned their lesson, do not remove life jacket until d*g is on dry land.

Oh, and purrs for Oscar's lip.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
Oscar's left her paw alone for the last week or two, and she's fine
with that, but over the weekend she developed EGC on her chin / lower
lip again.

I called TED this morning and asked if she should get a steroid shot,
or if we should sit it out (TED had warned me that the steroid could
possibly increase the risk of infection in the paw). Since Oscar's
currently not worrying her paw, the paw looks pretty good, and the lip
looks pretty bad, it was time for a shot.


Hope the shot does the trick for her.

--
Sam, closely supervised by Mistletoe

On 2006-08-29, Sam penned:

Hope the shot does the trick for her.

Thanks! I have every expectation that it will.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote:
Oscar hasn't had enough shots yet to establish a clear pattern, but my
guess at this point is she will have 3-4 outbreaks a year that get bad
enough to want to treat her with steroids.

It may be my fault this time; I have been letting her drink out of a
very wide plastic bowl that she clearly prefers above all other water
bowls she's had. No more. I'll look for ceramic or metal bowls of
the same general shape. TED confirmed that this could have been the
trigger.

Purrs for that to clear up. I know that cats are just too good at
making you give them anything if it turns out to be their favorite
watering dish. It might be your favorite cup. Or a Ming vase. Or a
flowerpot. They're just too cute drinking with their flickety
tongues, and you want to see them drink as often as possible.