New Year’s Medical Edition

I have news.

First Bugs’s urinary issues. For some of you this is TMI, but for those of us who are male-cat guardians, it may be a riveting read.

Followers know that we have been struggling with Bugsy’s plumbing for quite some time now. Maybe I should say “feline urologic syndrome” and sound smarter than I am. The struggle has been on-going since May 2015, to be precise, and even that may lack precision, because likely he had trouble longer than that and, in any event, nobody could diagnose exactly what the problem was.

Thankfully we ruled out struvite crystals, blood in the urine, and mucosal blockage, but other than that limited clearance, off we went down a long and winding road. This included a homeopathic consult and five different remedies, over several months, none of which appeared to do much for us other than to cost a lot, both for the treatment and for innumerable OTC pee-strips that kept showing positive one after the next after the next.

In reviewing my notes – I have 39 single-spaced pages of notes and no, as far as I know, I do not locate anywhere on the autism spectrum – I see we tried antibiotics, cranberry, Vitamins C and E, cod liver oil, and the five different homeopathic remedies. Here’s a representative sampling, from a note I wrote to the homeopathic vet on July 9th: “Three weeks into the last remedy you prescribed, Bugs is still testing positive for WBC. He is mostly peeing in the box in a familiar pattern, but his spraying has got worse. For the past five days he has sprayed every day. On one of those days he sprayed twice, and on one of those days he peed in his bed.”

Brings it all back. May it stay back there.

So in October my friend Kim told me about corn silk. This I have been adding to his food in small doses ever since. Last week the vet tested Bugsy’s pee and I rejoice to tell you it came up clean. “Two thumbs up,” the vet said.

So amen and hallelujah.

The secondary thing is the spraying. This has much improved, as Bugs is spraying less in volume and frequency. Still, this vet suggested that I might try smudging with sage, as she has heard a report from a guardian of fourteen cats who has had good luck with that strategy. The vet speculated that maybe the scent of the sage might cover the aroma of Trespass-Kitty and other unauthorized feline visitors around and about.

I doubt this, but then again I have come to doubt most things in this life.

In any case, I keep forgetting to smudge and this morning Bugs sprayed a little, naturally, who says we get to celebrate entirely whole-heartedly. So I may have to try that, if as and when I can remember. I’m not too keen, as it is smoke, after all, and this is a pretty small place I will be fumigating.

But in any case, as I said, the main thing is that the white-blood cells are gone and Bugs apparently no longer has inflammation or infection.

Soft Bugsy.

Next up, skin issues or allergies or whatever the problem is, once again, nobody seems to know. This problem cropped up two years ago in June and ugly it was then and now. We’ve had the problem intermittently, worse lately. He gets eruptions on his forehead, muzzle, and ear flaps – pinnae, I guess they’re called, if I want to stay sounding smarter than I am. These are like acne but the homeopathic vet informed me that I don’t get to call it acne unless it’s under his chin. Whatever. Looks like acne to me.

Again I have to thank Kim for a pointer to juice up Bugs’s immune system with echinacea tincture. This I add to his food in four drops, two weeks on and two weeks off. There does seem to be a correlation. The spots back off when he’s on and they come back when he’s off. I’d like to get him off soon. He’s on at the moment.

Barney seems healthy. I’m just now listening to the boys duking it out in the other room. Inevitably it’s Barney who instigates, so I’m glad to say there’s no loss of vigor on Barney’s part.

Medical news for the human? My foot is better. I’m off the crutches and surgical boot, I’m into shoes, and I ride the recumbent bike 4.5 miles a day at the health center. You might not believe how much muscle-mass and function you lose with three months’ inaction. Unless you’ve been through this yourself and my condolences if you have.

This healing and recovery thing seems to advance in small increments. Much like the fur-ball I’ve been collecting. Each I time I groom the cats I add a little more. Here’s the current status, with my old cell-phone to show scale.

Happy New Year. May the growth and healing accumulate for all.