PING Lynne

How did it go with Rudy?

Joyce

on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 01:39:58 GMT, wrote:

How did it go with Rudy?

Thank you for asking! Rudy was such a good boy. Everything went fine and
they didn't find anything troubling. There are some tests being run and so
that could change, but they said the winking is probably from mild
allergies or FHV. They are testing for FHV and a variety of other things.
They are also running thyroid tests just to be safe.

He's been symptom free since I made the appointment (of course!) so that's
a relief. Hopefully whatever it is/was is really not a problem.

The doctor told me that the vast majority of cats contract FHV when they
are young, especially ferals, so Rudy (who was from a feral colony) may
have it and just not have outbreaks as severe or frequent as Levi's. Rudy
has been with me since he was ~4 months old and has never had a URI since
I've had him--in fact he's never been sick at all--but he did get an eye
infection a few months ago, so maybe he's got herpes, too. Someone here
suggested that might be what is going on (Cheryl?)--bright girl! I'm
really hoping that's all it is.

--
Lynne

On Wed 20 Jun 2007 10:13:42p, Lynne wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
.97.142:

I'm
really hoping that's all it is.

Glad Joyce asked. The funny thing with the viral infections is
that they can lay dormant for a long time without symptoms. That's
true of feline leukemia, too. Another virus that Scarlett had only
a single outbreak of is calicivirus. She's always had the FHV but
FCV only reared its ugly head one time, and I was so freaked out
over the sore she had on her mouth that I thought it was from
tussling with the boys as she does a lot, so she went off to
emergency since it was on a Saturday. ER vet couldn't do anything
for it, but Lysine seems to work well for FCV, as well as FHV. We
get injuries from claws often here, and I have to always be on the
lookout for punctures or scratches near eyes or mouth resulting in
infections. I try to keep up with the claw clipping, but I can't
do the rear claws at all, and the front ones are starting to get
hard to do now due to my eyesight. I just got a prescription for
progressive lenses, so hopefully this will help me not be so scared
to clip them when I can see them.

I have noticed that both the FHV and the one instance of FCV tend
to flare when there is stress.

--
Cheryl

on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 02:31:54 GMT, Cheryl
wrote:

I just got a prescription for
progressive lenses, so hopefully this will help me not be so scared
to clip them when I can see them.

I meant to ask you about your eyes. If you don't want to answer here you
can email me to the address in my header (just let me know if you do, I
don't check that email unless someone tells me to do so). What is the
relationship between smoking and your eyes?

Facing the prospect of losing your vision is terrifying. I've been there.
Even if you don't want to tell me, I hope that whatever is going on can be
treated effectively with no loss of vision, and no pain.

And to get this back on topic, because of my eye problems (uveitis) and my
mother's experience with her kitten who went blind, I'm hyper sensitive to
eye problems. You don't appreciate your sight or your pets' sight fully
until you face the prospect of losing it. The eyes are amazing but so
susceptible to injury and disease that it's crucial to see an eye doc or
take your cat or dog to one at the first sign of any problem.

--
Lynne

On Wed 20 Jun 2007 10:43:53p, Lynne wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
.97.142:

I meant to ask you about your eyes. If you don't want to answer
here you can email me to the address in my header (just let me
know if you do, I don't check that email unless someone tells me
to do so). What is the relationship between smoking and your
eyes?

I don't mind answering here. I was shocked to hear this, so maybe
someone else doesn't know.

Nearly 2 years ago I had to have my license renewed. I was
starting to notice that things that used to be sharp weren't
anymore, dismissed it to aging (I'm only 44 LOL) but my eyes have
always been perfect. In fact, people used to be amazed at how I
could read road signs from a long distance. When I went to have my
license renewed, I couldn't pass the eye test. Well, they sort of
*let* me pass the eye test by letting me guess at the letters for
as many tries as it took. I went to the eye dr, and since I'd never
had vision problems before, I didn't have a regular eye dr that
knew my history. He saw what he took to be macular degeneration.
I had never heard of that before. He gave me a prescription to
boost my distance vision, so driving now is no problem. I can again
read road signs from a comfortable distance. He also noted high
pressure indicating risk of glaucoma and since there's a history in
my family for that, I've been going to see him every three months
since then. For a while there he seemed more worried about the
pressure, even having me come at different times a day to see if it
fluctuated. But this week he took pictures of the retina to see if
the macular degeneration has progressed since last years pictures.
He said it's still mostly the same. Yes! But he told me that there
are more and more journal articles showing a connection between
smoking ciggarettes and macular degeneration. Funny thing was he
said what he sees in me is either that or something that looks just
like it, but he is hesitant to call it that because he keeps saying
I'm too young for it.

When I told him about the vision change that I've noticed lately
giving the example of claw clipping, that's when I got the
concerned lecture about smoking. He said it's progressing from
distance vision to near vision. Then again, he also said this is
my penence for having perfect vision up until now. LOL

Facing the prospect of losing your vision is terrifying. I've
been there. Even if you don't want to tell me, I hope that
whatever is going on can be treated effectively with no loss of
vision, and no pain.

And to get this back on topic, because of my eye problems
(uveitis) and my mother's experience with her kitten who went
blind, I'm hyper sensitive to eye problems. You don't
appreciate your sight or your pets' sight fully until you face
the prospect of losing it. The eyes are amazing but so
susceptible to injury and disease that it's crucial to see an
eye doc or take your cat or dog to one at the first sign of any
problem.

Copy this.


--
Cheryl

on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 03:00:46 GMT, Cheryl
wrote:

When I told him about the vision change that I've noticed lately
giving the example of claw clipping, that's when I got the
concerned lecture about smoking. He said it's progressing from
distance vision to near vision. Then again, he also said this is
my penence for having perfect vision up until now. LOL

Yikes, scary stuff. Quitting smoking will help more than just your vision,
so long as you don't kill someone while trying and end up in prison. ;-)

You know, the degraded near vision could be from *gasp* aging. You're at
the right age for that to be happening. I don't feel bad saying that
because I'm 43. Now that my uveitis is finally under control with steroid
eye drops (after a 2 year battle!) it has become apparent that my near
vision has degraded during that time. It was nice to hear my doc say that
it is probably just the normal effect of aging.

You should still quit smoking. Things only get worse as we age. Thank
goodness there are some sexy glasses available these days!

--
Lynne

Lynne wrote:

on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 01:39:58 GMT, wrote:

How did it go with Rudy?

Thank you for asking! Rudy was such a good boy. Everything went fine and
they didn't find anything troubling.

That's good to hear!

The doctor told me that the vast majority of cats contract FHV when they
are young, especially ferals, so Rudy (who was from a feral colony) may
have it and just not have outbreaks as severe or frequent as Levi's. Rudy
has been with me since he was ~4 months old and has never had a URI since
I've had him--in fact he's never been sick at all--but he did get an eye
infection a few months ago, so maybe he's got herpes, too. Someone here
suggested that might be what is going on (Cheryl?)--bright girl! I'm
really hoping that's all it is.

FHV can cause serious problems, but if Rudy's never had any, then he
might be more resistant or have a milder case, if that's possible. In
which case, you wouldn't be dealing with anything new, and he probably
will be fine.

Some cats do have major eye problems from herpes, but I think you'd know
by now if Rudy was going to be one of those unlucky kitties.

I'm glad it went well.

Roxy's eye looks about the same, but then, it is only day 3 of the
medication, so maybe it's still too soon to tell.

Joyce

on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:43:39 GMT, wrote:

Roxy's eye looks about the same, but then, it is only day 3 of the
medication, so maybe it's still too soon to tell.

Let us know. I really hope it helps her.

--
Lynne