New Toy

Bear got a Cat Tower, I'm was so excited for him!!!! For the past couple days I was looking around to see if someone would donate one. I didn't have any luck and gave up. Than Bill Came over to pick up a Kitten I rescued from an apartment complex, I could only help her for one night and Bill runs a cat rescue where I foster from sometimes. He had the cat tower in his Truck and asked if I wanted it? I was so excited I asked him, "Are you serious?" and he was!!!!!

Bear is still getting used to it, I have to put him on there to play. I don't think he even knows what it is yet but I know he'll to scratch and lounge on it soon.

Other than that, Bear is doing great. His eyes only water when he gets a little scared so now I know not to make any sudden movement or noises around him. I don't want to scare him. He's such a big boy! Bill even commented on healthy Bear looks and even thinks he will live a long life with us. I sure hope so, I don't want to lose him. I don't even like to think about it. I'm just thankful that my Bear is doing better. He has changed my life and is such an amazing cat.

Full of Spunk

Bear Has been Full of energy all day and even all night. He's been climbing all over everything in the garage and that's not like him. It's like he's gotten a burst of feel good energy. He jumped up on the dresser knocked everything off it and took a nap, Jumped on top of his litter box and looks at us bright eyed and happy, Than my husband and I were in the drive way and Bear jumps up on the tires and Meows! Like he's calling, "hey come here!" it was just so cute and I did snap a photo of him, it's not clear but it will do.



I was getting worried about Bear for a couple days. His eyes were getting extremely watery! I started him on 500MG of L-Lysine twice a day. I felt like I was pushing it with the milligrams but I think he was having a Herpes flare up, after 2 days I decided to give him some eye drops for inflammation in his eyes because I noticed the inner eye lid was showing, than I gave him is eye cream from the first Vet visit and finally his eyes clear up, I was so relieved. I can see his pretty green eyes again. He's such a handsome boy.

He also loves having short hair now. I don't know how I'm going to keep it shaved for him. I don't want to take him to get groomed and it stress him out. He seems relieved of the hair by just the way I see him laying sometimes. It's just that "Oh yea, man I feel good" look." lol

Bear is Happy and He's doing good right now!

Video I took today of Bear playing

My Bear is getting better.

I gave bear his eye drops for a few days. The Vet did tell me to stop because Bears eye was starting to get very cloudy. He told me it's probably scar tissue.

Bear is doing great now. I did move him back to the garage though. He was depressed in the bathroom and just wasn't healing. I felt like if I left him in there he would just get sick again. As soon as I put him in the garage he perked up right away!!! The next couple days his eye improved and it wasn't as cloudy! He has a big garage to run around in now and is so happy. It wasn't fair to Bear leaving him inside. He didn't want that, his place is in the garage, it makes him happy.

I glad he is doing better. A weight has lifted. People who have seen Bear told me he looks like a happier kitty. I think bear is enjoying having short hair. I will need to keep shaving him if he let's me.

I've been cleaning bears ears out everyday still. They are still very dirty and are itchy. I'm determined to get them dirt free. It may take months since I do it a little every day.

Bear is starting to nip at me alot now. I don't know why. Maybe is wants to put his scent on me? It's never a, I wanna hurt you bite, it's always soft. Bear is always so gentle with me.

The Vet

I took him to the Vet the same day I posted my last entry. The Vet told me it looks like he had a herpes out break from the stress. He wrote out two perscription for eye drops. Bears eye was inflamed along with his mouth and he also had ulcers. The Dr. Was very surprised to find out Bear was still eating because of it.

The Lysine I've been giving him should help. I've been giving him all his previous immune boosters besides the interferon, I don't have that one anymore. The eye drops are helping. He is opening his one eye now even though his eye is still extermly watery.

A good sign is that when he sees me he runs up to me. He gobbles up all wet food with his medicine in it. I do have a hard time giving him his eye drops, but I manage. I also squirt a little black tea in his mouth to help with the ulcers. I forgot to mention he is now on a liquid antibiotic.

It may be a month before his out break is gone because I've been told by other cat owners who have had the same problem.

Bear Bear us doing a lot better and I'm so thankful for that.

Positive

I'm not sure if anyone still reads these updates on Bear, but I'm updating for myself mainly these days.

Bear Tested Positive again for Leukemia and than he tested positive for AIDS. I got Bear fixed because I wanted him to come inside instead of staying in the garage. After months of debating with myself to do it, I finally did it because I thought it would be better for his health. He was Fixed about three weeks ago, going on 4. It's been a battle ever since.

After he was neutered he got an awful infection, It stressed my Bear out. I asked the vet for antibiotics and they told me he does not need anything. I had a bad feeling about this when I took him home. I called the Emergency Vet as soon as I saw an infection coming on. She told me since Bear was an older cat he probably shouldn't have been fixed and because he already has a suppressed immune system he needs antibiotics. She told me not to bring him in unless he was bleeding bright red and gushing blood. I held out and was up with him all night until Monday morning came finally. I called a vet nearby that I wanted him to go to and prayed they were open on Saturday. The receptionist told me even though they were booked to bring him in right away, they will make room. They gave me antibiotics to get rid of the infection, and eye cream for his teary eyes because they think he got an URI. i took him home and started him on his medications right away. The infection was going away in both his eyes and where his incision was. I washed all his blankets in bleach and put them back down for him, and the next Saturday he had another appt to check on everything. Everything looked great, the swelling went down on the right side of the incision and the left side needed to be drained. one eye was a little watery but it wasn't nearly as bad. The Doctor gave me more antibiotics for bear since he still had a small infection. Bear was doing great, getting better, getting back to his old self. Than yesterday night i go to look in on him and give him his medications. His left eye is swollen, his eye wont dilate like his right eye. he still is eating and he ate his medicine, I hurried out and warmed up a rag and placed it on his eye, I can tell it hurts him. I cleaned his face and put the e colar back on. I found another brand of eye cream that I used on him last year and I'm treating him with that now and 500MG of L-Lysine. I think he is having a herpes outbreak from all the stress. I'm going to keep an eye on him, and if his eye doesn't improve by this afternoon I will take him to the Vet.

Milo and Libby my two other Kitties have Vet appointments on base today to get there Leukemia vaccines and the base is not equipped for emergency cases. I'm debating if I should cancel Their appointment just so I can focus on Bear. Bear has been to the vet 3 times already because of his infection.

I'm not ready to say goodbye to bear and I hope his leukemia doesn't come out of hibernation. One it does it will be his time to go. I've already have had Bear for 15 months and he hasn't been sick since Feb. 09. I blame myself. If I would have never gotten him fixed he would be a happy healthy boy right now. I can't forgive myself for what I've done. I thought I was doing what was best for him and I was wrong. My vet assures me it was okay to get him neutered but I don't believe it was. I could have lived with the smell of urine in the garage if the meant Bear wouldn't be sick right now.

If I still have followers, Please pray for Bear! I don't want to upload any photos of how he looks right now. Just please send him your prayers we will be thankful.

Getting Retested

Hello to everyone who still fallows Bears blog. I'm getting Bear retested for FeLV. My husband and I are convinced Bear does not have leukemia but that he is ONLY a carrier. A carrier still test postive for the virus but does not get any symptoms. If this is the case Bear can still pass on the virus so that means no contact with the other kitties. A new friend of mine who runs a cat rescue here informed me of all this new information. My husband and I suspected 3 months ago Bear may not have it after I stopped giving him medication because I ran out. But we did not know about the carrier status. Bill is setting up an appointment for me to test bear again.

The next thing will be getting Bear fixed. When I go on the 15 to take Bear to his consult about the leukemia I'm going to talk to the Docs about getting Bear fixed and if it's safe. The reason we haven't done it yet is because the stress may kill him because has FeLV along with the bath. If he is just a carrier or has it we will still fix him though.

When Bill saw Bear he told me right away I don't think he has lukemia. He looks very healthy and big. If Bear doesn't have it than this will be a blessing and he has many more years left instead of a couple.

He Looks Good huh

Video of Bear

Quick update

I need to give Bear a nice little lion cut shave. He doesn't groom himself and has lots of mattes fur. Plus he still has tons of dirt on him from being a stray. He got the tan carpet in my apartment extremly dirty, it was black!!! I'm doing this for bears quality of life. This will be better for him in the long run.

Move day

My husband and I moved to another place and Bear didn't handle the move. He's extremly stressed and I'm praying his FeLV doesn't kick in and make him even more sick. I'm going to try to make it to his vet to pick up his interferon medication in hopes this will boost his immune stystem. I don't want to loose him now that he has a better home.

wow it's been three months!

Sorry it's been a long time, Here is my excuse, I forgot the email and password Combo lol. Then things have been hectic with my husband’s PCS. First our orders were set solid so we set off with our new plans with Bear in mind, than UH OH never mind our Orders aren't so sure anymore because of Cut backs in the military and for a couple months we were busy looking for a bigger home for us and our furbabies. You know how stressful moving can be and trying to get that in order. So now my husband and I are back at the stage of looking for a new home for the third time. Each home we consider if it will be a good place for bear and all of our cats. You know you're a cat person when you think about them first lol.

Update on Bear

He has to be more than 20 lbs he is fat!!!!!! and he is HEAVY!!!!!!!! oh man that little boy is healthy. I can't believe how much bigger he is. He is still stinky as ever. He poops more than any cat I’ve seen. He is still dirty, since I can't give him a bath. More good news, I finally have gotten rid of the flees on him and the other cats. It has been a battle since FEB. I've found a tropical flee treatment that works great. It's called Revolution. I couldn't find a Vet in Orange park that sold it and for a decent price. I have to order it online for them but it's wonderful, it killed the flees!

Bear is still a little scardy cat. He runs and hides from the smallest things falling that make a noise. He loves to rub his head all over you and everything. He loves to claw at your feet. He lets us know when he's hungry too, he'll bang on the bedroom door by pulling the towel. He tries to jump in front of us when we try to leave the bedroom lol.

one of his ears is still nasty. I've tried to clean it with 1 part vinegar and 10 parts water but once he smelled it he threw up everywhere. I clean the tips of Libby’s ears with this solution and it's done a good job of clearing up her infection and she didn't hack up anything so I’m assuming Bear is sensitive to scents.

From now on, I’m going to just try to record videos of him and post those for everyone instead. It will be faster and easier for me plus you all can see Bear.

Playful

Bears Eyes are starting to look Iffy again. I think it may because I ran out of Lysine. I'll get him some soon now that I know he needs to stay on it.

he's getting heavy now! he's 13 lbs. I can see him being a solid 16 lbs. He's a big boy.

Milo and Bear play with each other through the door crack. they stick there paws under the door and try to grab each other. It's cute. Whatever makes Bear Happy. They like being playful. Never any hissing.

we upgraded Bears Litter Box. It now has a Cover over it. He flings his dry litter every where. I had saved Milos Old litter box and found it hidden in the closet so now it's Bears.

Very Well

Bear is doing extremely Well!!!!! over all he seems like a happier kitty. I haven't seen him go down hill, it seems like his health is steady now.

I did figure out why Bears hair is falling out. One day last week I was in the spare bedroom with him and I was faxing over paper work to the local college. I looked over at Bear because I do get annoyed when I hear the cats licking and chewing on there fur. (don't ask me why it's just the sound of slurps I think.) I was just about to tell Bear to stop when I see him GRAB a CHUNK of fur with his teeth and yank. Right away I call the vet to ask them if I can give him a bath, of course they tell me no because he has FeLV. They did tell me what to do to clean him since I can't get him wet. Which I have been doing.

I know he is yanking his fur out because he still has flees, but as most of you know I've been treating him for the flees. I'm going to try another flee treatment called revolution.

My husband and I decided that Bear needs the Litter Maide. He poops and pees so much more than our 2 cats combined in one day. It's starting to stink up the apartment. I did buy a Litter Maide for my two cats in June and my apartment didn't smell like I owned cats, but now with Bear the cat smell is coming back. I love my cats I just don't want my home to smell like them.

Update

I'm updating from my phone. Please excuse any spelling or grammer errors.

Bears hair is still falling out, It does not bother him though. A part of me thinks he could be shedding? His fur is really soft and smooth now. I'm seeing that improve so maybe he is just shedding off the icky fur.

He doesn't fight me when I give him his liquid meds. Well he fights me just a little. After he gets his meds he gets a treat after so he's catching on, if I let momma give me the meds I'll get goodies.

I still feel guilty and sad when I think about him in the spare room alone.

I love bear more than anything. He's such a sweet boy.

My special angel

I haven't updated in a Couple days.

Bears Hair is falling out again. I really Don't think it's from stress, I think it's from old scabs falling off now. Whenever I comb him with the flee comb scabs come off with his hair. I'm going to keep an eye on the hair falling out though.

Lets see, I have a cute story for you guys. My husband and I like to hang out with Bear in the spare bedroom. I was in there on the bed studying a CLEP book, taking a test and Jaime was on the computer. I decided it was time to take a break. I went into the Kitchen and grabbed some strawberries and whip cream. I went into the spare room to eat and study. Bear comes running out from under the bed, his little black nose detects something sweet. He starts begging and we cannot resist his Face we have to give him a little taste of the whip cream. Jaime dapped a little on his finger and Bear was too excited and got it all over his face. It was adorable, I took Photos. I will Upload them for everyone later. They will surely make you smile.

Not a Day goes by that my Little Bear doesn't make me smile. He's such a good kitty and just wants love. It's going to be hard to tell him goodbye when the time comes. I don't want to think about how much Longer he has with us. I don't want to think about the FeLV he has. I wish he could come out and play and be around the other kitties. We are just going to let him enjoy his last years or months on this earth with us. A family that loves him and that are taking care of him. Bear is my Little Angel. He's special and no one can't tell me any differently.

$100

11:30 pm
I tried a new approach to giving Bear his powder meds. Mix them with Water and squirt it in his mouth, I used a Bigger feeder syringe. Much harder to do than with the smaller ones that slides in his mouth. I'm trying my best to keep him a live. He seems so Happy now. I love him.

6:00 pm
My lovely angel Bear didn't even have a vet appointment today and he still cost me over 100 dollars. His Tri Fractor meds are A LOT. I was not expecting this.Well Bear perfers to eat dry food. Giving him his powder meds is now a pain. He is becoming a picky kitty now. Before he didint care what he ate as long as it was food.

I'm updating from my phone so this is short.

Little Begger

Bear is Something else I must say. Tonight My husband and I were in the spare room he was working on a Test and was eating a Chicken sandwich. Bear hurries out from under the bed and starts meowing and looking at him. Bear starts to stand on Jaime's knees and tries to get some while rubbing his little head all over him. I start laughing because Bear is a little beggar

I later went back in the room to give bear his liquid medication and he runs up to me and starts to love, usually I pet him back and love him but this time I didn't because I was talking to my husband while leaning on the ground. I didn't acknowledge the love from bear so he bites me and runs lol. Jaime starts laughing because he was looking in my direction while talking to me. I asked why are you laughing? Because bear had bit him earlier on the knee for ignoring him.

It's not a hard bite, it's just hard enough to leave little red dented teeth marks in your skin for a little bit. He hasn't made us Bleed YET but I'm sure it will happen soon :o)

More Meds

Bear is running out of his Transfor Factor. He only has a couple left, They will last four more days. It's a powder capsal pill. I break them in half and give them to him. I'm going to try to get Bear more Friday. I want to take him in to see the vet again so they can check him out and see how well he is doing, But I'm going to have to hold off on that. Maybe until april 15th.

Bear seems REALLY hyper today. I was in the room with him this morning and he was Rubbing all over me!!! He had fresh food and water, a clean litter box so he must have been in a loveable mood. We had to start using a small squirt bottle to get him from trying to get out of the spare bedroom. He is tempted to walk out now. At first when we pointed it at him he just looked at it, like What is this? now when it's pointed at him he squints his eyes and turns the other way. Cats catch on quick he was only squirted with it twice.

I'm going to try to upload more videos Of bear tonight.

I Wonder

I wonder what Stage Bears FeLV is in. There are six stages 1 through 6. He seems to be in Stage 5 or 6

"At phase six the cat's body is overwhelmed by infection and mucosal and glandular epithelial cells (tissue that forms a thin protective layer on exposed bodily surfaces and forms the lining of internal cavities, ducts, and organs) become infected. The virus replicates in epithelial tissues including salivary glands, oropharynx, stomach, esophagus, intestines, trachea, nasopharynx, renal tubules, bladder, pancreas, alveolar ducts, and sebaceous ducts from the muzzle."

Next time I take him to the vet I'm going to ask them what stage they think bear is at. His Belly is Bloated looking so it's in it's late stages, I bet this is why bear doesn't like his sides touched or his belly, just his head. The good news is Bear is feeling better. Like I said he still is sneezing a lot. I'm going to try to get him some Clavamox tomorrow and I need to call up his Holistic vet to get more Transfor Factor. He only has enough left for six days.

We are still working on payin Bears Vet Bills off, but I hope to have them paid off in 2 months. I'm trying my best with what I get each month. I'm just happy to keep him alive.

Bear is Sleeping next to the bedroom door right now. His new favorite spot is under the bed. he doesn't Snore anymore. I just wish I could pick him up and give him a Bear Hug and lots of kisses but he wont like it.