Miss Scarlett. 2005. Corpulent kitty. (Click pictures for larger view)
"I simply can't resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course." ~ Mark Twain
Miss Scarlett has been a pear shaped kitty all her life. This picture was taken in 2005 after she moved from Mississippi to Virginia. She had a hard time reaching all of her parts and the other kitties loved to torment her. Also she was very dark in her coloration, almost black... with those white tummy spots of course. Then in early 2006, she began to lick ice and turn around and around and walk back and forth all day. It wasn't obvious at first but soon we realized that Miss Scarlett was losing weight and in the process, losing her pear shape.
Miss Scarlet, December 2006.
It eventually became obvious that this wasn't a normal weight loss. She had at her peak, weighed almost 16 pounds and was beginning to feel like a feather when picked up. She couldn't sit still and kept running to the litter box. Her fur looked ratty and she began to have that waif appearance. Something was not right. Then I found the pink tinge in her urine... first just on occasion, then all the time. Miss Scarlett was sick.
Miss Scarlett hits bottom at six pounds.
She still seemed to eat well, but even that started to wane. At the vet, she had lost from 16 pounds to 6 pounds over the course of a year and a half. He tested for diabetes... nothing. He tested for thyroid disease and it was not abnormal but borderline. Additional tests showed hyperthyroidism and she was started on thyroid suppression. Two weeks of treatment and still she didn't gain weight and all her symptoms were the same. Finally we checked an x-ray to rule out tumor and found two large bladder stones! Poor Miss Scarlett, no wonder she couldn't sit down and moved all the time. She was in pain and couldn't get comfortable, yet through it all she purred up a storm.
Post-op patient. Poor Miss Scarlett.
She had her surgery done the end of March and had to wear this collar for two weeks. But then she started to eat her new diet. She ate well and took her thyroid medicine and she began to sleep for an hour or so at a time. No more blood in her urine, no stones to irritate and while she is still quite active, she can be found more often perched resting on the top of a towel or on the back of a chair. She has become more assertive, claiming her place in the sunroom. She has gained about 4 pounds and now weighs a normal Siamese weight of 10 pounds. Her coat is once again lustrous and healty looking. One interesting change has been in her coloring... she no longer is dark with almost black fur all over, but has a delightful light cocoa shade to her body, with only her points darkened.
