Back for a Short Visit

Hey guys! Thanks so much for thinking of me and sending purrs - I think
they may have helped in a way. First, off topic, here's what's going on
with the pain thing...

The doctor thinks he's found the source of most of my pain - in the "facet
joints" of the cervical spine. He's been giving me "blocks" there these
last three weeks (one each week in a one-day, out-patient procedure). The
blocks consist of an injection of a short-acting anesthetic and a steroid in
the facet joint of my cervical spine. Sometimes the shots work, sometimes
they don't, but they do pinpoint where the pain is coming from and he thinks
he has most of them mapped. The next step (in about 2 or 3 weeks) will be a
"facet joint ablation" which means he'll go in with a radio-frequency needle
and "zap" the nerve ending, essentially killing the nerve. There may be
even more intense pain for the next few weeks after that, but if everything
goes right the pain will go away for as long as a year, maybe more (that's
*best case scenario* - it doesn't always work as it should, but I'm not
thinking about that right now). Once the neck pain is under control then
we'll have to look into the shoulder/arm/hand pain and determine if it
really is RSD (which seems likely given the weird symptoms I'm having) and
where we go from there to treat it.

Now, on topic, and I need some help. The boys are spraying again! I am SO
tired of coming home to a house that smells like cat pee! As some of you
know, this started way back when we tried to home a stray tom cat, Hunter
(who subsequently died of a heart problem a few weeks after we had him
neutered). Now, we've always fed "outside" or "stray" cats - I can't see
putting cat food down the garbage disposal when there are strays outside
starving to death. Currently we have a little gimpy boy we call "Shadow".
He has a permanent limp (we can't tell if it's from an accident or if it's
congenital - he won't let us get close enough to examine his crooked leg).
He's an intact tom who sprays our upper deck since that's the only source of
food he has. He's been coming around now for about 3 or 4 months. [Please,
no lectures about trapping him and having him vetted - we're in the middle
of claiming bankruptcy, Ben is still out of work, and my medical bills are
through the roof - we'll be extremely lucky if we don't lose our home.
Feeding them is all we can do.] We also feed another little stray, "Miss
Tigerlily" who is even skinnier than Shadow was when he first found his way
here. Now, whenever any of our cats see the outside cats, they go nuts and
growl and yawrll at the glass doors and windows. And the boys are back into
full spraying mode again - the kitchen counter by the window which looks out
over the deck, the glass doors that overlook the deck, but also the great
room and the upstairs bedroom and Ben's office. We've steamed the carpet
over and over with "Nature's Miracle" and used other pet odor solutions and
nothing seems to be working. The Feliway someone here gave me for Hunter
didn't work for my crews, and I can't afford to buy any anyway.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Hugs,

CatNipped

try moving the food source out of their line of sight, Lee
"CatEyes" wrote in message
...
Hey guys! Thanks so much for thinking of me and sending purrs - I think
they may have helped in a way. First, off topic, here's what's going on
with the pain thing...

The doctor thinks he's found the source of most of my pain - in the "facet
joints" of the cervical spine. He's been giving me "blocks" there these
last three weeks (one each week in a one-day, out-patient procedure). The
blocks consist of an injection of a short-acting anesthetic and a steroid
in the facet joint of my cervical spine. Sometimes the shots work,
sometimes they don't, but they do pinpoint where the pain is coming from
and he thinks he has most of them mapped. The next step (in about 2 or 3
weeks) will be a "facet joint ablation" which means he'll go in with a
radio-frequency needle and "zap" the nerve ending, essentially killing the
nerve. There may be even more intense pain for the next few weeks after
that, but if everything goes right the pain will go away for as long as a
year, maybe more (that's *best case scenario* - it doesn't always work as
it should, but I'm not thinking about that right now). Once the neck pain
is under control then we'll have to look into the shoulder/arm/hand pain
and determine if it really is RSD (which seems likely given the weird
symptoms I'm having) and where we go from there to treat it.

Now, on topic, and I need some help. The boys are spraying again! I am
SO tired of coming home to a house that smells like cat pee! As some of
you know, this started way back when we tried to home a stray tom cat,
Hunter (who subsequently died of a heart problem a few weeks after we had
him neutered). Now, we've always fed "outside" or "stray" cats - I can't
see putting cat food down the garbage disposal when there are strays
outside starving to death. Currently we have a little gimpy boy we call
"Shadow". He has a permanent limp (we can't tell if it's from an accident
or if it's congenital - he won't let us get close enough to examine his
crooked leg). He's an intact tom who sprays our upper deck since that's
the only source of food he has. He's been coming around now for about 3
or 4 months. [Please, no lectures about trapping him and having him
vetted - we're in the middle of claiming bankruptcy, Ben is still out of
work, and my medical bills are through the roof - we'll be extremely lucky
if we don't lose our home. Feeding them is all we can do.] We also feed
another little stray, "Miss Tigerlily" who is even skinnier than Shadow
was when he first found his way here. Now, whenever any of our cats see
the outside cats, they go nuts and growl and yawrll at the glass doors and
windows. And the boys are back into full spraying mode again - the
kitchen counter by the window which looks out over the deck, the glass
doors that overlook the deck, but also the great room and the upstairs
bedroom and Ben's office. We've steamed the carpet over and over with
"Nature's Miracle" and used other pet odor solutions and nothing seems to
be working. The Feliway someone here gave me for Hunter didn't work for
my crews, and I can't afford to buy any anyway.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Hugs,

CatNipped

On Jul 2, 7:46*am, "CatEyes" wrote:
Hey guys! *Thanks so much for thinking of me and sending purrs - I think
they may have helped in a way. *First, off topic, here's what's going on
with the pain thing...

The doctor thinks he's found the source of most of my pain - in the "facet
joints" of the cervical spine. *He's been giving me "blocks" there these
last three weeks (one each week in a one-day, out-patient procedure). *The
blocks consist of an injection of a short-acting anesthetic and a steroid in
the facet joint of my cervical spine. *Sometimes the shots work, sometimes
they don't, but they do pinpoint where the pain is coming from and he thinks
he has most of them mapped. *The next step (in about 2 or 3 weeks) will be a
"facet joint ablation" which means he'll go in with a radio-frequency needle
and "zap" the nerve ending, essentially killing the nerve. *There may be
even more intense pain for the next few weeks after that, but if everything
goes right the pain will go away for as long as a year, maybe more (that's
*best case scenario* - it doesn't always work as it should, but I'm not
thinking about that right now). *Once the neck pain is under control then
we'll have to look into the shoulder/arm/hand pain and determine if it
really is RSD (which seems likely given the weird symptoms I'm having) and
where we go from there to treat it.

Now, on topic, and I need some help. *The boys are spraying again! *I am SO
tired of coming home to a house that smells like cat pee! *As some of you
know, this started way back when we tried to home a stray tom cat, Hunter
(who subsequently died of a heart problem a few weeks after we had him
neutered). *Now, we've always fed "outside" or "stray" cats - I can't see
putting cat food down the garbage disposal when there are strays outside
starving to death. *Currently we have a little gimpy boy we call "Shadow".
He has a permanent limp (we can't tell if it's from an accident or if it's
congenital - he won't let us get close enough to examine his crooked leg)..
He's an intact tom who sprays our upper deck since that's the only source of
food he has. *He's been coming around now for about 3 or 4 months. *[Please,
no lectures about trapping him and having him vetted - we're in the middle
of claiming bankruptcy, Ben is still out of work, and my medical bills are
through the roof - we'll be extremely lucky if we don't lose our home.
Feeding them is all we can do.] *We also feed another little stray, "Miss
Tigerlily" who is even skinnier than Shadow was when he first found his way
here. *Now, whenever any of our cats see the outside cats, they go nuts and
growl and yawrll at the glass doors and windows. *And the boys are back into
full spraying mode again - the kitchen counter by the window which looks out
over the deck, the glass doors that overlook the deck, but also the great
room and the upstairs bedroom and Ben's office. *We've steamed the carpet
over and over with "Nature's Miracle" and used other pet odor solutions and
nothing seems to be working. *The Feliway someone here gave me for Hunter
didn't work for my crews, and I can't afford to buy any anyway.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Hugs,

CatNipped

First, I"m so glad the docs finally have a plan for you -- hope & pray
there's a big
payoff for you of being painfree soon. The process sounds just awful
to me and I'm
sorry you're having to endure it.
Second, spraying -- gah. I wish I had some magic words. I'd guess it's
more due to
the outdoor cats than anything, and "habit" from previous marking. I
don't think Nature's
Miracle works as well as it used to, and I'm looking for something new
also.
My daughter's Tommy does this, but ONLY in the spring/early summer.
Lots of mating
activity going on out there, I guess, and it threatens him somehow.
It was so extreme one year she used medications on him.
I do know from experience around here that strays agitate them
terribly. This is a lame
suggestion -- you probably already know this -- but be sure to feed
the outdoor cats so
your cats can't see them.
Yoda takes spells where he pees in the floor, and occasionally sprays
too. I tried Feliway and
it had no effect at all. But he does this when he doesn't feel well,
and started it up again with
the last flare-up with his bad eye. I think Feliway only works to calm
down cats who are marking
their territory because they're feeling that it is threatened.
I've used NAture's Miracle so much that the smell if IT has become
offensive to me.

Sherry

On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 07:46:32 -0500, "CatEyes"
wrote:

Now, on topic, and I need some help. The boys are spraying again! I am SO
tired of coming home to a house that smells like cat pee! As some of you
know, this started way back when we tried to home a stray tom cat, Hunter
(who subsequently died of a heart problem a few weeks after we had him
neutered). Now, we've always fed "outside" or "stray" cats - I can't see
putting cat food down the garbage disposal when there are strays outside
starving to death. Currently we have a little gimpy boy we call "Shadow".
He has a permanent limp (we can't tell if it's from an accident or if it's
congenital - he won't let us get close enough to examine his crooked leg).
He's an intact tom who sprays our upper deck since that's the only source of
food he has. He's been coming around now for about 3 or 4 months. [Please,
no lectures about trapping him and having him vetted - we're in the middle
of claiming bankruptcy, Ben is still out of work, and my medical bills are
through the roof - we'll be extremely lucky if we don't lose our home.
Feeding them is all we can do.] We also feed another little stray, "Miss
Tigerlily" who is even skinnier than Shadow was when he first found his way
here. Now, whenever any of our cats see the outside cats, they go nuts and
growl and yawrll at the glass doors and windows. And the boys are back into
full spraying mode again - the kitchen counter by the window which looks out
over the deck, the glass doors that overlook the deck, but also the great
room and the upstairs bedroom and Ben's office. We've steamed the carpet
over and over with "Nature's Miracle" and used other pet odor solutions and
nothing seems to be working. The Feliway someone here gave me for Hunter
didn't work for my crews, and I can't afford to buy any anyway.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

All I can suggest is block their view somehow... preferably feed the
outside cats somewhere where they can't see them, or else put
something up in front of the window so they're not staring at each
other.

"CatEyes" wrote

| full spraying mode again - the kitchen counter by the window which looks
out
| over the deck, the glass doors that overlook the deck, but also the great
| room and the upstairs bedroom and Ben's office. We've steamed the carpet
| over and over with "Nature's Miracle" and used other pet odor solutions
and
| nothing seems to be working.

Odo-ban from Sam's club will work. It's fairly cheap too.

"CatEyes" wrote in message
...
Hey guys! Thanks so much for thinking of me and sending purrs - I think
they may have helped in a way. First, off topic, here's what's going on
with the pain thing...

The doctor thinks he's found the source of most of my pain - in the "facet
joints" of the cervical spine. He's been giving me "blocks" there these
last three weeks (one each week in a one-day, out-patient procedure). The
blocks consist of an injection of a short-acting anesthetic and a steroid
in the facet joint of my cervical spine. Sometimes the shots work,
sometimes they don't, but they do pinpoint where the pain is coming from
and he thinks he has most of them mapped. The next step (in about 2 or 3
weeks) will be a "facet joint ablation" which means he'll go in with a
radio-frequency needle and "zap" the nerve ending, essentially killing the
nerve. There may be even more intense pain for the next few weeks after
that, but if everything goes right the pain will go away for as long as a
year, maybe more (that's *best case scenario* - it doesn't always work as
it should, but I'm not thinking about that right now). Once the neck pain
is under control then we'll have to look into the shoulder/arm/hand pain
and determine if it really is RSD (which seems likely given the weird
symptoms I'm having) and where we go from there to treat it.

Now, on topic, and I need some help. The boys are spraying again! I am
SO tired of coming home to a house that smells like cat pee! As some of
you know, this started way back when we tried to home a stray tom cat,
Hunter (who subsequently died of a heart problem a few weeks after we had
him neutered). Now, we've always fed "outside" or "stray" cats - I can't
see putting cat food down the garbage disposal when there are strays
outside starving to death. Currently we have a little gimpy boy we call
"Shadow". He has a permanent limp (we can't tell if it's from an accident
or if it's congenital - he won't let us get close enough to examine his
crooked leg). He's an intact tom who sprays our upper deck since that's
the only source of food he has. He's been coming around now for about 3
or 4 months. [Please, no lectures about trapping him and having him
vetted - we're in the middle of claiming bankruptcy, Ben is still out of
work, and my medical bills are through the roof - we'll be extremely lucky
if we don't lose our home. Feeding them is all we can do.] We also feed
another little stray, "Miss Tigerlily" who is even skinnier than Shadow
was when he first found his way here. Now, whenever any of our cats see
the outside cats, they go nuts and growl and yawrll at the glass doors and
windows. And the boys are back into full spraying mode again - the
kitchen counter by the window which looks out over the deck, the glass
doors that overlook the deck, but also the great room and the upstairs
bedroom and Ben's office. We've steamed the carpet over and over with
"Nature's Miracle" and used other pet odor solutions and nothing seems to
be working. The Feliway someone here gave me for Hunter didn't work for
my crews, and I can't afford to buy any anyway.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Hugs,

CatNipped


Dear girl, I'm sorry I don't have anything right at my fingertips about your
boys spraying- Stinky sprayed exactly once in his life, and it was right
into the litterbox. Too civilized for his own good. I am so sorry that the
little boogers are picking this time to be so obnoxious. Don't this girls
give them a piece of their minds when they act up like this?

I read the story of your treatment with absolute awe, and I'm not sure what
to take away from it except your steel lady-balls. We are sending you
the extra grunty-snorty purrs, of which Dante is the East Coast Purveyor,
and subliminal brainwaves for your family and kitties to gather around you
wilth love and compassion and gratitude for all you have done, and all you
have given.


--
Theresa and Dante

Stinky Forever: http://pets.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh

That's a great idea Lee. Yeah, that might work . And as for the odor in
the house, I use baking soda when I vaccuum. It's cheap, and it freshnes up
the air I put a little in the dishwasher, the doodleboxes, the laundry,
baking soda is a good odor blocker and fresher upper. Kyla

"Stormmee"
try moving the food source out of their line of sight, Lee
"CatEyes"

Hey guys! Thanks so much for thinking of me and sending purrs - I think
they may have helped in a way. First, off topic, here's what's going on
with the pain thing...

The doctor thinks he's found the source of most of my pain - in the
"facet joints" of the cervical spine. He's been giving me "blocks" there
these last three weeks (one each week in a one-day, out-patient
procedure). The blocks consist of an injection of a short-acting
anesthetic and a steroid in the facet joint of my cervical spine.
Sometimes the shots work, sometimes they don't, but they do pinpoint
where the pain is coming from and he thinks he has most of them mapped.
The next step (in about 2 or 3 weeks) will be a "facet joint ablation"
which means he'll go in with a radio-frequency needle and "zap" the nerve
ending, essentially killing the nerve. There may be even more intense
pain for the next few weeks after that, but if everything goes right the
pain will go away for as long as a year, maybe more (that's *best case
scenario* - it doesn't always work as it should, but I'm not thinking
about that right now). Once the neck pain is under control then we'll
have to look into the shoulder/arm/hand pain and determine if it really
is RSD (which seems likely given the weird symptoms I'm having) and where
we go from there to treat it.

Now, on topic, and I need some help. The boys are spraying again! I am
SO tired of coming home to a house that smells like cat pee! As some of
you know, this started way back when we tried to home a stray tom cat,
Hunter (who subsequently died of a heart problem a few weeks after we had
him neutered). Now, we've always fed "outside" or "stray" cats - I can't
see putting cat food down the garbage disposal when there are strays
outside starving to death. Currently we have a little gimpy boy we call
"Shadow". He has a permanent limp (we can't tell if it's from an accident
or if it's congenital - he won't let us get close enough to examine his
crooked leg). He's an intact tom who sprays our upper deck since that's
the only source of food he has. He's been coming around now for about 3
or 4 months. [Please, no lectures about trapping him and having him
vetted - we're in the middle of claiming bankruptcy, Ben is still out of
work, and my medical bills are through the roof - we'll be extremely
lucky if we don't lose our home. Feeding them is all we can do.] We also
feed another little stray, "Miss Tigerlily" who is even skinnier than
Shadow was when he first found his way here. Now, whenever any of our
cats see the outside cats, they go nuts and growl and yawrll at the glass
doors and windows. And the boys are back into full spraying mode again -
the kitchen counter by the window which looks out over the deck, the
glass doors that overlook the deck, but also the great room and the
upstairs bedroom and Ben's office. We've steamed the carpet over and
over with "Nature's Miracle" and used other pet odor solutions and
nothing seems to be working. The Feliway someone here gave me for Hunter
didn't work for my crews, and I can't afford to buy any anyway.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Hugs,

CatNipped

On Jul 2, 6:46*am, "CatEyes" wrote:


Now, on topic, and I need some help. *The boys are spraying again! *I am SO
tired of coming home to a house that smells like cat pee! *As some of you
know, this started way back when we tried to home a stray tom cat, Hunter
(who subsequently died of a heart problem a few weeks after we had him
neutered). *Now, we've always fed "outside" or "stray" cats - I can't see
putting cat food down the garbage disposal when there are strays outside
starving to death. *Currently we have a little gimpy boy we call "Shadow".
He has a permanent limp (we can't tell if it's from an accident or if it's
congenital - he won't let us get close enough to examine his crooked leg)..
He's an intact tom who sprays our upper deck since that's the only source of
food he has. *He's been coming around now for about 3 or 4 months. *[Please,
no lectures about trapping him and having him vetted - we're in the middle
of claiming bankruptcy, Ben is still out of work, and my medical bills are
through the roof - we'll be extremely lucky if we don't lose our home.
Feeding them is all we can do.] *We also feed another little stray, "Miss
Tigerlily" who is even skinnier than Shadow was when he first found his way
here. *Now, whenever any of our cats see the outside cats, they go nuts and
growl and yawrll at the glass doors and windows. *And the boys are back into
full spraying mode again - the kitchen counter by the window which looks out
over the deck, the glass doors that overlook the deck, but also the great
room and the upstairs bedroom and Ben's office. *We've steamed the carpet
over and over with "Nature's Miracle" and used other pet odor solutions and
nothing seems to be working. *The Feliway someone here gave me for Hunter
didn't work for my crews, and I can't afford to buy any anyway.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Hugs,

CatNipped

I'm partial to Zero Odor inside, but you have to get them to stop. As
others have suggested, moving the dish to somewhere where the cats are
not face-to-face with each other may help. Getting Shadow and Miss
Tigerlily 'away' from the innies is probably your best bet.

Outside, I've found that a mix of vinegar and water will cut through
the smell of spraying Tom Cats (we have several). It dissipates
pretty quickly, but I haven't noticed the "spray" smell being back.
Could be they dont' like it, so go elsewhere to "mark".

Fingers crossed (and offerings made) for the ablation to work as it
does for PTH smile.

Smokie Darling (Annie)

"CatEyes" wrote in message
...
Hey guys! Thanks so much for thinking of me and sending purrs - I
think they may have helped in a way. First, off topic, here's
what's going on with the pain thing...

The doctor thinks he's found the source of most of my pain - in
the "facet joints" of the cervical spine. He's been giving me
"blocks" there these last three weeks (one each week in a one-day,
out-patient procedure). The blocks consist of an injection of a
short-acting anesthetic and a steroid in the facet joint of my
cervical spine. Sometimes the shots work, sometimes they don't,
but they do pinpoint where the pain is coming from and he thinks
he has most of them mapped. The next step (in about 2 or 3 weeks)
will be a "facet joint ablation" which means he'll go in with a
radio-frequency needle and "zap" the nerve ending, essentially
killing the nerve. There may be even more intense pain for the
next few weeks after that, but if everything goes right the pain
will go away for as long as a year, maybe more (that's *best case
scenario* - it doesn't always work as it should, but I'm not
thinking about that right now). Once the neck pain is under
control then we'll have to look into the shoulder/arm/hand pain
and determine if it really is RSD (which seems likely given the
weird symptoms I'm having) and where we go from there to treat it.

Now, on topic, and I need some help. The boys are spraying again!
I am SO tired of coming home to a house that smells like cat pee!
As some of you know, this started way back when we tried to home a
stray tom cat, Hunter (who subsequently died of a heart problem a
few weeks after we had him neutered). Now, we've always fed
"outside" or "stray" cats - I can't see putting cat food down the
garbage disposal when there are strays outside starving to death.
Currently we have a little gimpy boy we call "Shadow". He has a
permanent limp (we can't tell if it's from an accident or if it's
congenital - he won't let us get close enough to examine his
crooked leg). He's an intact tom who sprays our upper deck since
that's the only source of food he has. He's been coming around
now for about 3 or 4 months. [Please, no lectures about trapping
him and having him vetted - we're in the middle of claiming
bankruptcy, Ben is still out of work, and my medical bills are
through the roof - we'll be extremely lucky if we don't lose our
home. Feeding them is all we can do.] We also feed another little
stray, "Miss Tigerlily" who is even skinnier than Shadow was when
he first found his way here. Now, whenever any of our cats see
the outside cats, they go nuts and growl and yawrll at the glass
doors and windows. And the boys are back into full spraying mode
again - the kitchen counter by the window which looks out over the
deck, the glass doors that overlook the deck, but also the great
room and the upstairs bedroom and Ben's office. We've steamed the
carpet over and over with "Nature's Miracle" and used other pet
odor solutions and nothing seems to be working. The Feliway
someone here gave me for Hunter didn't work for my crews, and I
can't afford to buy any anyway.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Hugs,

CatNipped


I really can't think of anything that will help with the cats except
putting the outside food somewhere that the inside cats don't see
the outside cats.

On Jul 2, 8:46*am, "CatEyes" wrote:
Hey guys! *Thanks so much for thinking of me and sending purrs - I think
they may have helped in a way. *First, off topic, here's what's going on
with the pain thing...

Numero uno, I'm glad that there is the potential for some relief for
you. Have you tried also some non-traditional means, like accupuncture
and chiropractic? I know many who swear by--not at--the acupuncturist;
and myself, if I don't get my regular dose of chiropractic I turn
into a walking pretzel. He doesn't cure my chronic back pain, but he
does help make it manageable.

As to the boys, I have used Feliway with good result. Also, the lady
from the cat shelter where I volunteer swears by a combination of
vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. I'll get the proportions over this
weekend or next, as I don't know if we'll be doing a PetSmart show on
the holiday. From my experieince, my cats have tended to spray during
times of very high stress, as if they react to the Two-Legs wigging
out. I know the night before Odessa-Doll left us for RB they went
ballistic and were spraying and tearing the snot out of the house.
You've certainly had more than your fair share of stress. Maybe some
relaxation techniques for you will rub off on the boys. It's worth
trying anyway. We had issues with the occasional spray, too, before
Louie went to therapy for his work issues. They are so much calmer
now, my clowder.

As always, purrs and kitty-cat-kisses continue for you mind and body
health!

Blessed be,
Baha