Fairy Floss Update
I have had Fairy Floss for more than a year now, and she went from a special needs cat that I wanted to help in tribute to my previous cat, Thunder, to being my best little pal.
As you may recall, I adopted her from the Cleveland Animal Protective League because nobody wanted her. She has skin allergies that were hard to control. She was at the APL for 6 months, except for a short time she was out for adoption and was returned because of her allergies.
I was able to manage them fairly well through last fall and winter, but they flared up in the spring, so we were back to the vet. We did some experimentation with bathing, worming and medicines before the vet figured out where most of the problem was stemming from. A blood test showed that she was allergic to a number of things but most allergic to yeast--and she was getting yeast infections in her ears. Now, I treat her ears once a month and flush them out twice a week. She is still itchier than the average cat, but she is so much better and doesn't need any other sort of treatment. The hair is growing back on her belly!
Then there was the incident with her torn ligaments in June. Most of the problem was caused by her getting tangled up in my legs, but some of it might have stemmed from all the steroids she had been on to treat her allergies. Steroids can cause ligaments to weaken--which I am positive contributed to Cruiser's torn suspensory after we treated him for a few months with steroids for that awful cough he had. Anyway, the operation was a success. I did everything the vet said, and she healed quickly, but she still had a little limp. The vet felt she may never have full extension of the leg after the operation.
Once she was cleared to have regular activity, I set up a physical therapy box for her. It is a long, low box with three poles to step over in it. So, she has to step over the side of the box, step over each pole and step out of the box. If that wasn't enough, I put a small box outside each end of the physical therapy box for her to step up onto each time.
You may wonder how I got Fairy Floss to participate in her physical therapy sessions--with clicker training, of course. She was a clicker cat before that accident ever happened. I had her jumping over jumps and through a hoop, climbing up boxes and spinning. It took no time at all to teach her a physical therapy routine. She just loves it. She would go through it 12 to 15 times a session.
Wouldn't you know it--my instincts were right. She no longer limps; even at a trot.
The silver lining to the dark cloud of the accident was that the x-rays showed that Fairy Floss has severe arthritis in her hips. I am now treating that, too. She can run faster than ever!
She has become extremely attached to me and follows me all over the house, sleeps with me at night and loves to cuddle. The only way I could have a better cat was to get Thunder back--she is that great. She lost her home because her previous owners got a baby and she became depressed and quit using her litter box--a terrible thing to happen to a cat. I am so happy I was able to give her a happy ending to her sad story--and she did the same for me.
I am so glad to adopted special needs cat.
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