Hey Everybody

You may remember I lurk but had to post when I saw a picture of little Cheeto as at about the same time an almost identical kitten had found his way into my life. I wanted to give an update on him and give a warning to all with curious kittens.

He ended up with the name Stitches after surgery to repair puncture wounds from another animal. That went fine but about a month later he began to have a terrible nasal noise and nasal discharge which eventually led to violent blood tinged sneezing. Working with our vet, he was diagnosed with feline HIV and tested for cat scratch fever, leukemia, etc. 3 rounds of antibiotics had no effect. I suspected an object in his nose but he was so small, no one had a probe small enough to fit up his nose. He continued to be the most loving cat I have ever owned though he sounded like Darth Vader most of the time.

I next took him to the Ohio State University Veterinary Clinic hoping they might have tools and expertise to help Stitches. They did a CAT scan suspecting polyps but found none. After two probes from two angles they found the culprit. Stitches had swallowed and then upchucked synthetic strings from the edge of a carpet remnant my grand daughter played with and then left forgotten on a low shelf. The strings are tangled where the end of his throat and nasal cavity meet. Stitches will have to have an invasive surgery to hopefully remove the mess. He does not have feline HIV either.

I am embarrassed and distressed that we overlooked the danger of his ingesting the strings. We knew he chewed on everything and we checked the toxicity of the plants he attacked and knew yarn, cotton strings, etc. were potential problems, but we just didn't check enough for what little Stitches would find.

We are extremely fond of this little guy and hope he survives the surgery and can be a "normal" cat. He certainly has a lot of personality.

Jane

Best wishes to Stitches, don't beat yourself up about it !

Thanks for the kind words about Stitches.

Fortunately my husband is very fond of him also and is anxious for the little guy to have his breathing back to normal.

Just wanted to give everyone a word of warning.

LESA!!! *So* nice to hear from you! I know there are many of us who miss your designs. Yours were the first ones that actually tempted me to try hardanger and drawn thread work!

Take time to do what you need to do. I'm sure you'll know when that muse calls you again!

In the meantime, stay and chat with us.

Joan

"LesaLesa" wrote

(snip) VBG-- I have never been anybody's brethren. When I took this up with a previous priest in our parish who was always saying "my brethren this" and "our brethren that" (particularly funny at evening services attended entirely by women) he gallantly decided to try to change. So I had to duck down behind my prayer desk one morning when he addressed the congregation as "my brethren and sistern". Dawne

"Jane Yeoman" wrote .

If we started a list of all the things curious cats can get in to---it would be a very long list indeed. Glad to hear Stitches is on his way back to normal.

Dawne

Must have heard some stomachs rumbling lol

It's good to see you again Lesa! Pick up your needle when you're ready Cheryl