Check up and what ifs

So it officially seems like it has been forever since i wrote in this blog. And with good reason to. When there is nothing new to report, there is no need to do any reporting!

Recently i took both Gizmo and Gadget back to the vet to get their shots updated. Gadget was in need for his one year boosters and Gizmo for his 2 year. It seems like time passes so quickly. While we were there both of the cats had to be weighed. Gadget is 12.1 pounds and Gizmo is 11.9 pounds. The vet said that Gadget was perfect weight, he didn't look to skinny or too big. He is just a bigger built cat. They said that Gizmo should try to get down as close to 11 as possible. So i guess we are in for more dieting, but i think this time I'm just going to take it slowly and see what happens. I hate how miserable Gizmo is when he has to cut way back on his food.

But other then that, health wise, there is no news to report. You all remember Gizmo breaking himself last fall, well since then he has gone back to normal. You cant even tell that he ever hurt himself. I'm not sure how long that will last though. He keeps testing himself and jumping onto the highest point possible. No matter what i do to prevent him from jumping he finds a way around in. When i took him back home with me for vacation this summer, he decided jumping on top of the entertainment center seemed like fun. And that thing is almost 7 ft tall. I don't know how he gets up there. Now just last night, back at my apartment, he decided jumping from the toilet seat, onto the metal rim of the shower door would be a good idea. ITS NOT. And I'm not sure how to prevent him from doing that. I cant move the toilet or take off the shower door. But it scares me because then he walks along the shower door rim then hops onto a cabinet that i have hanging on the wall. I don't think the cabinet is strong enough to hold him for more then a few minutes. So I'm scared that he will jump on the rim while I'm gone and then walk across or lay on the top of the cabinet. Either way it is a long jump or fall down to the floor. I just don't want him getting hurt. and i really don't want him teaching this stuff to gadget. This fall gadget will be the same age gizmo was when he hurt himself. I just don't want to be going through this all over again.

Brothers

I snapped these two photos while they were laying together on the computer chair grooming each other. It started off as playing and then they got tired and started to groom each other. So cute!

Long Time

Well It has been almost two months since i took Gizmo in to be weighed. He looked like he was losing weight, or at least he wasn't gaining any and things had been so hectic with school, finals, work, and holidays that i just couldn't bring myself to taking him to get weighed. But i finally made it in today and Gizmo weighs 11.5 pounds. Though that isn't his goal weight, it is almost a pound less then last time. I asked the vet assistant, while i was there, if Gizmo needed to lose any more weight. To me he looks thin (not unhealthy thin, but just thin) but i have always been used to fat, lazy kitties. She said that he looks very healthy at the weight that he is at now. I figure i wont try to get him down to the 10 pound mark, because by that point I'm pretty sure he will be so little he will disappear.

I will still keep him on the food regiment that i have him on now. I am feeding him what a 10 pound cat should be fed to maintain weight. If he looks like he is losing any more weight then i will up the feeding just slightly.I will just have to try to get the perfect amount that he can maintain the weight that he is at without gaining any more weight.

I am thinking that next time i take Gizmo to the vet (which probably wont be for another month or so) i will probably take Gadget with me and see how much he weighs. I am feeding him around the same amount that i had been giving Gizmo, but i have been sneaking Gadget some extra food here and there. Gadget is only 9 months old and i don't want to not feed him enough, but i also don't want to over feed him and have him become over weight and break himself as well. Gadget is also a Siamese mix and he is going to be naturally long and lean so putting to much extra weight on him wont be good at all. But i still want to make sure that everything is going good and I'm giving the kitties enough food to stay healthy!

Nothing new or exciting has happened with Gizmo's recovery. I think its just slow going from here. He still limps, not as much as he used to. I think it is the limp that he will have forever. He is jumping fine, playing great, and is trying to sneak up on top of the refrigerator every time i am not looking. He is doing good. Though every time i pick him up or try to put him in his crate i always worry that i will hurt his leg. I hope that i eventually wont have to worry all the time. Plus i a, paranoid that Gadget will do the same thing. Gadget is going to be a bigger cat and he is fearless and would probably jump off a roof (if he was ever let outside). 9 months from now Gadget will be the same age Gizmo was when he hurt himself. And i know that between 1 and 2 years old are the most common ages for that type of break to happen. I will be very happy when he gets past 2! But boy do i love him still being a kitten!!! :)

Weigh In Time

Well i tried to take Gizmo in for his 2 week weigh in last Wednesday, but that sneaky little kitty decided to hide under my bed and not come out. And since Wednesdays are the 'scheduled' weigh days i had to wait until i had time to take him to the vet. I was going to take him in tomorrow morning, but my last class of the day got cancelled so i was able to get home before the vet closed.

Gizmo weighs 12.2 pounds which is GREAT. He lost a pound in 3 weeks. Right now he is at a healthy weight for his size, but because of his hip they would prefer her be on the smaller size to help healing and prevent any complications with the recovery. Speaking of recovery, Gizmo has been doing really well. I don't have a picture to show but his hair is starting to get longer and soft. He is still limping more than i would like and favoring the leg, but he is getting around perfectly. He has finally started to roll over on his back to get his belly rubbed and he will spread both of his back legs apart (which sounds like nothing but that means that the hip is being able to pivot and it doesn't hurt him). I'm hoping things continue to get better with time.

While i was at the vet i also picked up a supplement for Gadget. I forget the name but it is a powder form of L-Lysine. I'm not sure if i mentioned this before but Gadget a form of the Feline Herpes Virus. In his case his eyes just get a little goopy from time to time. And i am not a bad kitty mom, i had Gadget vaccinated against the virus when he was a baby kitten and got all the other shots as well, but it turned out that he was born with the virus or was exposed to it before he was old enough to be vaccinated. But luckily, his case isn't as severe as it could have been. But the powder is supposed to suppress the virus from surfacing. The virus is one that will always be with him, but sometimes it becomes suppressed as they grow up. But since he is still a kitten i wanted to prevent it from surfacing now, hopefully to increase the likelihood of it suppressing when he's older.

Unless anything unexpected happens i shouldn't be posting again for another 2 weeks-when Gizmo gets weighed again. Cross your fingers that his diet keeps working!!!

Chunky Monkey Kitty

Well today i took gizmo back to the vet to get weighed again. I didn't get the best news this time. Gizmo is back up to 13 pounds. I was hoping for him to be around 12 pounds, but i guess after the last weigh in he was determined to gain back the weight he lost. I am going to try feeding the kitties separately now. I give them each half a can of cat food in the morning, and they eat their own portion. Then i was giving them some dry cat food over night. Obviously this isn't working. So I'm still going to give them the morning wet food, but i think i may cut down the dry cat food at night and only leave it out for 10 minutes and then let them go the whole night with out food. I hope this works because if it doesn't I'm not sure what I'm going to do to help Gizmo lose weight.

Oh and i also took gadget to the vet with me this morning. He wouldn't get out of the kitty crate so i just took him with me. He also got weighed today. He is around 7 months old and weighs 9.5 pounds. I am afraid that he is going to get chunky too. He looks completely healthy and only has a slight belly. The vet didn't say anything about Gadget's weight so I'm not really too concerned, but i think cutting down his intake of food may be good for him too. I don't want him to be losing weight, but if i could slow down his progression of gaining weight that would be nice. Plus I am pretty sure that Gadget is mixed with a Siamese breed and they are supposed to be thin cats, so keeping him at his weight now will be good. (Oh yeah, and seeing gadget at 9.5 pounds makes me dread what Gizmo is going to look like if he gets down to his 'goal' weight of 10 pounds. I still think that it is just too small for a cat of his build. To me he looks healthy now. I would like to get him down to under 12 pounds, but 10 just seems so skinny.)

Wish me luck, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need it.

3 Weeks and Weight Loss

I took Gizmo to the vet today to get weighed. I have been having trouble keeping him on a diet, so i was worried that he had been putting the weight he had lost back on. To keep him on a diet the vet had recommended feeding Gizmo and Gadget separately. Good idea in theory, not so great in real life. Neither Gizmo nor Gadget liked the idea of scheduled feedings ( Which is what i had to do to feed them separately). Gizmo wouldn't eat when he was supposed to-which was okay cause he's supposed to be losing weight anyway- but the problem was that Gadget wouldn't eat when he was supposed to either. I didn't want Gadget to be losing weight, he's still just a kitten and that would be bad for him. So i decided to just leave food out for them but i cut the amount i left out by half. I also have been giving them between 1/2 a can and a whole can of cat food each a day. When i give them the wet stuff they eat it right away, so i know Gizmo is getting some food. Then i leave around 3/4 a cup of dry stuff out for Gadget. Gadget will eat the dry stuff when he gets hungry so most of it is gone before Gizmo can get to it. Yay for my hungry kitten. Since Gadget eats the dry stuff before Gizmo can, Gizmo is only getting the regulated wet cat food and losing weight!!!

1week after his surgery-13.3 pounds
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3weeks after his surgery-12.8
__________________________
Difference of .5pounds.
Countdown-2.8pounds to go!

P.S. I tried their Halloween costumes on them last night. They didn't like them but i thought it was GREAT. Here are some pictures.

Gizmo wearing his Devil Kitty Costume. (It hides his shaved behind)


Gadget in his witch's hat. Or should it be a warlock hat
because he's a boy?

2 Weeks after surgery

It was two weeks yesterday that Gizmo had his FHO surgery. He is doing very well. He is still limping, but he is back to running down the hallway and being playful. I decided to let him and Gadget play around (even though i was a nervous kitty mom and didn't want them playing too rough). I figured that the playing is only going to help Gizmo in his recovery and if it is too rough for Gizmo then he will stop the playing. So far they seem to be doing really well with each other and are playing all the time.

One way i know that Gizmo is starting to feel a lot better is that he has started to wake me up in the mornings again. Before the surgery Gizmo would come running to my bed as soon as my alarm clock went off, or if he saw me starting to wake up. Then if i decided i was going to sleep for a little longer he would crawl all over me and put his face directly in front of mine and head butt me or lick my nose until i got up. (What a good kitty right? :) ) Well he has started up with the head butting and licking again. Even if i bury my face in the covers he will dig under the covers and smash his face onto mine. That must mean that he is feeling like his old self.

His limp is still a pretty large and noticeable limp. The vet said that he may always have a limp (because in the surgery they cut off part of the bone, so now one leg is longer then the other), but i think that he is still building up muscle and rebuilding a 'false joint' so hopefully the limp gets less noticeable as the weeks go on.

Oh and his hair is slowly but surely growing back. The hair is not just long enough where it doesn't stand straight up and feel spiky. Here is a picture of him at a week and a half after surgery...