Two sweet siblings named Jazzmin and Durango, each with their own unique personalities, are our amazing patients for the month of May.

Jazzmin is an outgoing, sociable, "daddy's girl." She enjoys the finer things in life like boiled shrimp, which she has been known to steal if you are not careful, and her own Vera Bradley bag, which she prefers to travel in. Jazzmin likes spending her days lounging in her own personal laundry basket filled with fluffy blankets suited to her taste or curling up in her daddy's cowboy hat. She waits for her daddy to come home so that she can sit on his lap and let him rub her chin while she rubs her face on the bill of his hat.

Jazzmin modeling her adorable Halloween costume 

In 2010, Jazzmin's senior panel revealed that she was in stage 2 kidney disease and that she was hyperthyroid. Methimazole was prescribed to treat her hyperthyroidism, and a senior panel is performed every six months to monitor her kidney function and thyroid levels. Jazzmin's condition remains stable right now, and she enjoys her happy, healthy home life.  

While Durango may be Jazzmin's sister, she has a personality all her own. She is a quiet, "secretive" girl who likes to save her affections for her mommy. Named for the city (and state) in Mexico, Durango is a dainty brown and black tabby who prefers to slink around in the shadows unseen. During the day, Durango can be found snoozing under her owners' bed or playing with her favorite cat dancer toy. She loves to "talk" to her toy while holding it in her mouth then turn in circles in order to let the toy chase after her. At night after the lights are off, Durango likes to jump on the bed and snuggle up with her mommy.

Durango looking very dignified 

In January of 2012, Durango's owner came home to find her partially paralyzed and crying. They brought her to the clinic and an examination and lab work was performed. It was suspected that Durango had a spinal cord infarction. There is no specific treatment for this condition, but many patients will recover spontaneously over a period of weeks or months. To facilitate recovery, a hospital kennel was set up for her at home, and slowly she regained her mobility. Durango is now able to jump up and down and run about with almost no difficulty.

These two fabulous felines do not let any of their medical concerns hinder them, and their one-of-a-kind personalities continue to shine through. They are truly amazing.

This month, in celebration of The Monthly Meow’s 10 year anniversary, we are recognizing two amazing patients: Rupert and Purrie. We hope you enjoy their stories!

In 1993, RUPERT was waiting patiently for his forever home in Lawrence, Kansas.  His soon-to-be owner was in graduate school there and had considered adopting a kitty as a companion for her cat Columbine.  On a cold November morning, her veterinarian had a surprise awaiting her: a pregnant calico, who gave birth later that day.  The mama and three of her babies were quickly adopted, but Rupert was waiting for the perfect person, and he found her! Little did she know what a character he’d turn out to be. 

Rupert was named after the WWI poet, Rupert Brooke, a very dashing man whose name suited her new kitty very well.  Rupert has many nicknames, such as Rupe, Mr. R, His Royal Highness (HRH) and sometimes Mr. Tail (he has a luxurious tail that allows him to do some amazing jumps).  On the occasions when Rupert gets into trouble, his owners call him by his full name.

Money spent on all the toys over the years hasn’t impressed him all that much, but he loves bottle caps and performing impressive acrobatic tricks.  He used to enjoy sleeping in high places, but as he has gotten older he prefers resting in his heated bed or in front of the bathroom heater. When he was younger, he loved sleeping in the drawer of the night stand next to the bed. His owner says it was quite amazing to watch him strategically open the drawer, and she wishes she had filmed it. He also loves to give hugs and placing his head on his owner’s shoulder.  Rupert has a very accurate sense of time, and he closely monitors his owner’s sleeping, making sure to wake her on time every morning regardless of whether it’s a weekday or the weekend.  He likes to paw at her husband’s face, applying just the right amount of pressure, steadily increasing, and--only if strictly necessary--extending a tiny fraction of a claw to wake him up.

Rupert spends a lot of quality time with his owner, even when she’s taking a shower--he even has his own bathtub toy.  He’s very interested in birds. He wears a snappy red harness when he goes outside, but this doesn’t slow him down. He’s caught a few birds, so his owner’s father-in-law calls him “Killer”.  Rupert intrigues all human beings.  He’s described as being very chatty and he purrs loudly.  He likes to be held and told how handsome he is ALL the time.  He was very attached to his long time companion, Columbine, and misses her a lot.

Rupert snuggling with his friend Columbine (OTRB)

Rupert’s adventures at The Cat Clinic started in October 1996 when he was 3 years old and came for his annual examination and vaccinations.  He continued to visit us every year for his annual examination, vaccines and the occasional teeth cleaning.  At one of his dental visits in 2005, he had a complete metabolic profile and thyroid check; the results showed that Rupert had hyperthyroidism.  Then in 2011, during a routine senior check- up, Rupert was diagnosed with high blood pressure. He takes medication for both conditions.  Twice a year, Rupert has his lab work checked to make sure he is getting the correct dosages of medicine and to monitor his conditions.  With the help of his loving family, Rupert is able to enjoy his senior years and still look dashing!  We are honored to have HRH Rupert as our amazing patient.

PURRIE is truly one lucky kitty. His story began in September of 2007 when a dad and his three sons visited our local animal shelter to adopt a kitten.  Purrie’s new owner wanted to bring an animal into his home to teach his boys about compassion, love, and responsibility; and what better way is there to teach important lessons in life than caring for a sweet and loving kitten? Of course two are always better than one, so not only did he adopt 7-week-old Purrie, but his sister Bonzi also came home with them.  In addition to his human family and Bonzi, Purrie also shares his home with Smokie, a smart kitty who wandered into their garage in February 2010. 

As you can probably guess, Purrie got his name because he purred nonstop.  He is a handsome cat with soft orange fur and a single white dot on his chest.  Everyone who meets Purrie says that he is one of the sweetest cats they’ve ever met.  He’s affectionate, laid back, carefree, and very adventurous with random spurts of energy, but most importantly, he is very loyal to one of his owner’s sons.  Dad says that the two of them developed a spiritual bond; they are two peas in a pod! Purrie’s favorite snack is tuna and he goes crazy over catnip. 

As a kitten, Purrie suffered an injury that left him wobbly on his back legs. He can’t jump, kick, or push off with his back legs like a normal kitty, but he has adapted very well to his handicap.  When playing with his housemates, he wrestles with his big front paws and gives bear hugs.  He has a carpeted perch made just for him that can be placed in a tree so that Purrie can be outside with his family.  

Purrie started coming to The Cat Clinic in September 2007 for his first veterinary visit and kitten vaccines.  Purrie was a happy kitty and all was well in his world until October 2011.  One day we received a call from his family and they reported that Purrie was missing.  His owners had been frantically searching for him. They looked for him every night, walking around and calling his name, but no Purrie. 

Several days went by, finally one day while Purrie’s best friend was outside, he heard a faint meow; Purrie had been stuck in their neighbor’s tree with two large dogs barking at the base.  Purrie’s rescuer quickly climbed the tree, retrieved Purrie, and carried him home. The family was relieved to have found him, but Purrie was very sick, so they brought him to The Cat Clinic the next morning.

Purrie’s stint up in the tree left him with hypothermia, azotemia, and a urethral obstruction.  An obstruction is a serious condition for male cats and requires immediate medical attention.  Purrie was hospitalized and had to have supportive care with intravenous fluids, urethral catheterization, and medication.  His family visited him every day while he was hospitalized, and after 6 days in our care he was able to go home with his best bud.  The months following Purrie’s illness were very critical; his urine was reevaluated every 2-4 weeks for bacteria, and medicine was prescribed appropriately.  He is now doing very well at home and has his typical spurts of energy.

Purrie makes everyone smile. While all the staff members here at The Cat Clinic became very attached to him during his stay, we are thrilled to see him healthy at home with his family.  We love having Purrie as a patient, and look forward to seeing him in all the years to come.

This month we would like tell the story of LAZARUS, our clinic cat.  He is a miracle cat who came back from the dead to save the lives of other cats.  In 2001, a feral mama cat and her three kittens, including Lazarus, began to visit the yard of one of our staff members. One night she heard some stray dogs barking and fighting. The next morning there was no sign of Lazarus and his family. Our employee feared the worst.  Amazingly, a couple of days later a scraggly, undernourished orange and white kitten appeared on her back porch. It was Lazarus! He weighed little more than a pound, but he moved into The Cat Clinic and quickly began to thrive.

Lazarus is a hard-working cat who wears many hats. His most important role is blood donor; he is blood type A, the most common blood type for cats. He is also our product tester; he tries out toys, foods, treats and even Power Paws and lets us know what he thinks. He frequently gets to volunteer as a staff trainer, helping employees learn how to bathe kitties, administer medication, and scratch behind his ears.

Laz demonstrating removal of “Power Paws” booties

In 2011, his work was recognized on a blog about cats with careers.  With assistance, he maintains his Facebook and Twitter pages to share important information with his kitty friends and their human families.  Laz is an important member of The Cat Clinic team, and we think he is pretty amazing!

One afternoon the lady who would become Sweet Pea’s owner rode her bike past a house with many, many kitties. She saw a precious calico kitten with a cute orange nose and a short tail, and asked the man who owned the house if he was adopting out any of his kitties. He said, “Take as many as you want!”  She could not take Sweet Pea with her that moment, but when she returned to get Sweet Pea, the kitten was sitting right by the door, ready to go to her forever home!

Sweet Pea showing off her beautiful markings
during a photo shoot at The Cat Clinic 

Sweet Pea loves nothing more than to spend special time with her owner, especially around bedtime. Every night when her owner goes to bed and has turned out the light, Sweet Pea will come and curl up on her owner’s shoulder. She purrs, kneads, and generally loves on her owner. During the day, she enjoys supervising while her owner does chores or cooks.  Sweat Pea also gets along with her housemate, Dolly (a d.o.g.).  Her owner says Sweet Pea is just the right mixture of independence and loving companion.

Sweet Pea’s owner has bought her a number of toys, but Sweet Pea is too smart for your average kitty toy. Once her owner bought her a laser pointer thinking that Sweet Pea would enjoy it immensely, but Sweet Pea caught on right away. She looked at her owner’s hand and figured out where the laser was and decided not to chase the light. 

Sweet Pea does have other toys she enjoys: a circular scratch pad with a Ping Pong ball and cat nip and the new toy wand her owner got her for Valentine’s Day. Her owner is amazed at how active she is for a senior kitty.

Sweet Pea has been a very healthy kitty. For many years the only care she needed was her annual examinations, vaccinations, and an occasional dental. Then in 2008, during a routine health check, her senior panel showed that she had become hyperthyroid.  Her owner had a hyperthyroid cat previously and willingly accepted the challenge of giving Sweat Pea medication twice every day. With her owner’s dedication to her health and happiness, Sweet Pea is doing great and enjoying her senior years and the simple pleasures in life: her scratch pad, her midnight snacks, and of course her owner. We are very lucky to have Sweet Pea as our amazing patient.