How To Help Your Surviving Pet

Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian. This advice did not come from a veterinarian. It came from another writer whose pet has been surviving chronic renal failure for the past six months.E sent me a wonderful e-mail yesterday full of helpful information about kidney failure in pets. Her beautiful dog has been surviving kidney failure since last October, so she has some experience with the problem. From what I’ve been able to find in my research, I agree with her, but she has also enlightened me about a medication that could help. Be sure to ask your veterinarian about prescribing it for your pet! First, she says she’s learned a great deal from a mailing list she belongs to, called “K9Kidneys." Much of what they talk about would be applicable to cats, too. And there may be a feline analogue. The address is:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9KIDNEYS/

Regarding low protein diets for animals with kidney failure: Research is now showing that the most critical element to limit is phosphorus. Low-phosphorus, bio-available protein is necessary for kidney-failure animals, because without it, they develop muscle wasting. Egg whites are the best low-phosphorus protein source. Cook them lightly. I offered some to Sneezy, but she wasn’t impressed. I’ll have to become creative to get some down her, I suppose.

Phosphorus binders are essential to prevent the phosphorus the animal does ingest from being absorbed. If your pet's calcium levels are normal, a calcium phosphorus binder will work. If her calcium is also high, plain dried aluminum hydroxide gel is the best phosphorus binder. Tasteless powder. Mix with food.There is a new probiotic supplement on the market called Azodyl.

http://www.vetoquinolusa.com/pages/global_06.html


Make sure your vet knows about it! She said she doesn’t know if it does all the company claims it does, but when her dog was given three weeks to live in October, she started him on it, and he's still with her, although he's having a bit of a rough patch at the moment. We all wish him well, right? Positive thinking is so important! Or, she suggests giving your pet organic live-probiotic-culture yogurt as an alternative.

She adds that subcutaneous fluids at home can be a big help. Your vet can help you set up to do it.She also recommends the site I told you about a couple days ago:

http://www.felinecrf.com/managd.htm

I asked this writer if it was okay for me to share this information, but I haven’t heard back from her, yet. I can’t imagine she’d say no, and I believe it’s important to get help for our pets as quickly as possible, so I’m going ahead. She can yell at me later if she wants. If / when she says it’s okay, I’ll tell you who she is (and hers is a name you’ll want to remember, because her book will be on all the best-seller lists as soon as it's published.)

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Classifieds - "Kittens, Free to a Good Home" Needed

I need a new kitty. Sneezy misses Catfish, and she’s lonely.

There were some other cats, four, I think, that must live in the house behind mine, who were here constantly up until we had the thunderstorm last week, but now they seem to have disappeared. I shudder to think what may have become of them. I cannot go to the shelter and look for them, because if I found them, I would have to adopt them. I could never take one or two, and leave the others behind. I simply couldn’t. Nor can I afford to adopt them all, much less feed them, and pay for their vet bills. The good news is that the shelter in my town is a no-kill shelter. People who discard their pets like yesterday’s newspaper irk the shit out of me. When I adopt a pet, it’s for life, come hell or high water.

I’d like to get a solid black male, like Catfish. Someone told me the other day that Sneezy will know the difference. Ya think? I didn’t know whether to laugh or be annoyed. I’m pretty sure when the term “dumb animal” was coined, it’s because they can’t speak, not because they aren’t smart. In many ways, I think they’re smarter than we are. I’m certain none of them ever voted for Dubya Bush.


I checked bulletin boards and the paper today for “kitties, free to a good home,” but there were none. I couldn’t believe people want from $20 to $$$ (hundreds) of dollars for a cat, when normally, you can’t give them away. It’s why I had Sneezy spayed before she ever had a litter. God bless the animal shelters, but I can’t go there. It reduces me to tears. When I fantasize about winning the Powerball, the first item on my list of things to get are all the animals at the shelter, and round-the-clock employees to help care for them. Of course, I’ll need a big ol’ plantation to house them all.

So anyway, if any of you in the Memphis area have friends who are trying to give away kittens, and they have a solid black male, would you please let me know? Sneezy will love it to pieces.

P.S. There's an update about low phospherous diets and binders in the comments here. Hopefully, there will be an update about Azodyl next week.
low phospherous binders Azodyl low phospherous binders Azodyl low phospherous binders Azodyl low phospherous binders Azodyl low phospherous binders Azodyl
UPDATE May 7, 2007: I ran into Matt this weekend. He's the vet tech who's sharp as a tack and truly cares, and he looked into Azodyl for me. He said it works well for animals with chronic renal failure as opposed to acute renal failure. So while it would not have helped Sneezy at the time she ate the tainted pet food, it will help her now. This is worth asking your vet about.

Someone came here by way of a Google search with the term "chronic renal failure cat makes clicking ticking sound." I know nothing about that, but I'd like to, if anyone can clue me in!

Can Anyone Identify This Furniture?

I know, this is a strange post, but this furniture is bugging me. I need to know what it is for a story. Can anyone identify the maker of the furniture in these photos?

The red upholstery with the gray horses has stuck with me all my life. There was more furniture, all blond, but not cane. Heavy pieces, but minimalist in design. I'm searching for a photo of that furniture, too. I think it may have been a forerunner of the modern style that developed in the 60's.




(I like this photo because in a year or two, the world would be on the verge of Beatlemania, and nothing would ever be the same again.)






Since you came all the way here expecting a real post, sorry--it has been a tough week--I will, at least, tell you something amusing.

My grandmother, who was visiting for Christmas, took these pictures. The top photo was taken first. Then Grandma had my older sister get up on the table for her picture. Did you catch that? Her picture. Where was my picture? The entire family was in the previous photo, so it couldn't be my picture. I was in the background. My sister was front and center in my picture. And I wasn't about to let her get away with it. When Bossy realized I was behind the curtain, she had a screaming hissy fit. We have continued that same rivalry all our lives.

It's been a lot of years since I paid any attention to this. I don't know why I'm taking a look now (2/1/2020)  - I just am. Nostalgic, maybe. Here are all the Haywood-Wakefield pieces I can remember we had. I want to cry because I don't remember what became of them. Any one of the pieces shown on Google might once have been in my house. It makes me sad.

We had some of each of the end tables above. As a kid, I thought they were ugly. WTF did I know?

We had two of these. When we lived in the farmhouse above, these stood at the end of my and my sister's beds as room dividers.

This was in my Mom's room, and 40+ years later, my little sister's.

We had this desk (but not the chair) right into the 90's. Or my sister did. I don't know what became of them. Somebody got incredibly lucky at a yard sale, I suppose. I'll probably see it on Antiques Roadshow someday.

We had this hutch. The handles on the side doors were a little different, I think.

And this dresser. At least that's what my mom used it for.

We did't have a dining room then, but if we had, we already had this to put in it.

Look! Here's the table I'm standing on!

Here's our sofa and side chair without the upholstery!

We had a couple of these bookcases.

We had at least one of these. I don't remember more.

Now that I think about it, our bedside tables were these, not the ones pictured above.

I have no idea who the Anonymous person is who identified this furniture maker for me, but thank you from the bottom of my heart! It's brought back so many happy memories for me.