Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms

Our Amazing Ziggy

(current health status - September)
Click here to go back to main page.

Sept 06, 2004:

Ziggy is so funny when he goes outside.

Out of all the grass in the yard, he always chooses to go down the walk and sits on top of this tiny bit of grass that grows out of a crack.

Notes as of Sept 28, 2004

This Summer, although Ziggy has been doing pretty good, he hasn't been quite as good as he has been over the past year. Beginning at the start of June, I heard him cough occasionally (maybe once a week) and could hear a little liquid in his lungs (and his purr sounded different, occasionally) - and I would give him 1/2 tablet of his furosemide pill (diuretic) - one tablet is 12.5 mg. ((The dose he was on last summer (2003) for 2 or 3 weeks was 1/2 tablet every other day.)) This always helped him feel better afterwards and he would pee in the litter box and then race out of it and out of the room and taking a flying leap onto the bed like he was super happy!

I am keeping a separate journal for zig which I hope to go through and put online someday... according to Zig's journal, here is how many times he needed a diuretic pill this summer (1/2 tablet of the furosemide) (he had not had any at all for about one year - since June/July of 2003)

June, 2004 - 5 times
July, 2004 - 3 times (spaced about a week apart)
August, 2004 - 5 times
September, 2004 - 8+ times

I have not heard Ziggy cough since early September, nor have I heard fluid in his lungs for a long time, all seems ok in that respect.

However, the past few weeks I have noticed Ziggy's breathing to be quite an effort for him at times and he opens his mouth on the "in" breath and its slightly audible. His sides move in and out a little more than they should be, I think, when he breathes.

He has also lost a little weight recently, I'm not sure when it started, becuase I hadn't weighed him in so long, but here are my recorded weights (I use a digital postal scale):

Sept 22, 2004

Ziggy's breathing hasn't been the best recently, and he has been more sedentary than usual. Here, he enjoys sleeping on my scanner!

I like him there where I can keep an eye on him, and on his breathing, while I work.

Sept 24, 2004

Sept 25, 2004

Notes from Sept 25:

Ziggy wanted to go outside today! Right before we went out, I noticed a tiny round poop in the litter box and as I discarded it I noticed how hard and dry it was! I am feeling badly because he has had his diuretic more this month than last month, and perhaps it is contributing to this. Although I had not noticed before that he had any problem with his stools. Sometimes they were even soft or runny. However, I didn't realize until this day that he had not been eating as he usually had been and I am not sure exactly what day he stopped.

After we went outside, he quickly found a spot in the yard to dig a hole and try to poop more. But nothing else came out. He tried for the next 1/2 hr to dig in several spots, and he strained himself so that he was panting with open mouth breathing, in an effort to go, but he never went more. After a try, he needed to rest for a while before he tried again and I let him rest under a large brush he crawled under. After half hr or so, I got him out of there, and tried to give him a warm water enema to help him out (using a few tablespoons of water in a tiny infant ear syringe, I think it was) ; he didn't seem to mind at all, and just lay there, perhaps he was too tired to move, but I am not sure whether or not I actually got any water into him or I merely washed off his butt! (because the water seemed to drip out onto the ground so I don't know if I did it right!) He never tried again after that, so maybe me doing that eased the feeling of having to go, I'm not real sure.

Ziggy enjoys resting on his blocks outside, although I know he isn't feeling very well. He is drinking on his own but I wonder if he is getting enough water since his stool seemed so hard and dried .

Sept 28 notes:

Sadly, Ziggy's health is on the decline. He has not attempted to eat much of anything on his own since at least the 25th, and possibly several days earlier I am not real sure the exact day he stopped... Sometimes he seems real interested when I bring food upstairs for myself, he perks up as if he wants some too, and several times he licked yogurt off my finger, and did the same with a bit of egg yolk. Then he does something with his tongue, makes a grinding sound like he is chewing on something and then doesn't want any more. Because of that, I'm wondering if he could have a mouth problem? He did that with his mouth yesterday too.

I'm confused because it seemed like he stopped eating all of a sudden instead of slowing down, although he must have been losing weight this summer according to his weight records, but he was still eating every day. Another thing I realized today that may or may not be of importance I am still tryint to figure it out: On the 23rd I added one new supplement to his health regime (which had pretty much remained unchanged for 15 months and included fish oil, vitamin E, taurine, l-carnitine, CoQ10 and brewers yeast) and that is "hawthorne extract" .. I have researched it extensively to find it is very beneficial for people, cats, and dogs, for all heart ailments. I realized it may be too late to be of any real help to him but in a desperate attempt to help his worsening condition, I thought it wouldnt hurt to try, as it is on the "non-toxic" list at aspca.org and is in commercial pet supplements as a natural diuretic and aid to the heart. Everywhere I search it is all postive, nothing negative about it, - however (as of today) I decided to discontinue it (he received only 3 or 4 doses so far, either 1/3 or 1/2 capsule) because it seems to coincide with the fact that he isn't eating, although to be honest I am not sure whether he stopped eating before, or after, I began this. I thought his breathing even looked better after he had a few doses, but will have to stop just to be safe. Have been searching extensively for any kind of toxicity but have turned up nothing, everywhere says its non-toxic, even for cats.. If anyone had any kind of bad experience with it, please let me know. I am grasping at straws, trying ot figure out whether he is on the decline naturally from his heart condition (have been expecting this to happen "someday" for over a year now, but never quite prepared for it!) or whether something else may have happened, such as, perhaps his kidneys are failing, and if so, is it natural because of his age and condition, or could it be something he ate?. As of today (evening of 28th) I am going back to his usual supplements- or possibly none at all depending on how he feels... Because in the past he had tolerated taking his supplements mixed in 2 tsp of baby food, just fine. He did great with them actually, thats how we were able to do this for so long! But now, he does not want to take them, period! He is hating taking them more and more over the past week and I don't want to cause him discomfort so we may be stopping completely, or, I am thinking of just trying plain food only, like an egg yolk, since he seemed interested in eating that on his own anwyay. I may be losing him, so if you are reading this, please say an extra prayer for Ziggy. I don't think he has a whole lot of time left!

He is still drinking on his own, and peeing on his own! In fact I changed his old litter box (huge one) to a small one with short sides, so that he doens't have to "jump" to get in it, since he appears to have stopped "jumping" on things (although he is still able to "run" to the litter box!) and he is generally getting weaker, probably from not eating. Anyway a short while ago, he peed in his box, and whereas he used to pee on the inside side of the high box, now he stuck his butt up in the air and completely missed the box (although he was inside it!) and instead he peed all the floor! (I did have newspapers under the box and on the floor around it, but they quickly got soaked through... guess I will have to quadruple up on the layers from now on!) He still purrs occasionally as when he is brushed, but sadly, not as often nor as loud as he used to. It reminds me of Clao's last days when his purr eventually dwindled down to a solitary tick :-( ... Ziggy's brother, Clao, passed away in September 2 years ago.

Ziggy also wanted to go outside today. I carried him downstairs because I no longer let him go up and down the stairs since he seemed a little wobbly on his last trip down (sept 25th) so I am carrying him from now on to be safe.. He went all the way outside onto the sidewalk by the driveway to rest. But he only went for about 10 feet each time then stopped and rested before getting up and going more. He gets tired out very quickly in recent days. I tried to get a few photos today but my camera didn't work, will try again tomorrow. He is almost 1 month away from his 16th birthday!!

February 2005:

I apologize to anyone who may have been following Ziggy's story and had been wondering about his current status. I tried, but found it too painful to complete his story. After more than four months I am updating Ziggy's website with a final report.

It is with great sadness that I write that our beloved Ziggy passed away on Sept 30, 2004 at about 1 or 1:30 AM. He was in the comfort of his own home and he passed away quickly (within in a matter of minutes) after coming out of the litterbox. I believe he was in my hands as he passed away, as he had just lay down on the hard floor to rest.. I was concerned he may not be comfortable (thought he was probably too weak to move to a more comfortable spot) and I carefully slid my hands under him and moved him over just a foot or two onto the layers of the soft blanket recently prepared for him to rest on, he was lying on his side, and the moment I set him down, he passed urine on the floor where he lay and never moved again. Just moments before, he had been unable to urinate in the litter box. We stayed with him a long time after that telling him how special he was and how lucky we were to have him.

Someday I may put Ziggy's full journal online, as the notes that occompany his photo history are only a small fraction of the notes I have, and basically a very brief summary that I wrote as I added the photos. There is a lot more that may be of interest to someone else in this position, but for now there is one more important note I need to discuss.

After extensive research, I have come to the sad conclusion that it was indeed the hawthorne supplement previously mentioned in notes above (as I frantically searched for answers during his final week) that led to Ziggy's death. Ziggy's symptoms as I came to discover during his last days, were NOT cardiac related. They matched up with renal failure (kidney failure), although I did not learn this until it was too late. He eventually was unable to urinate.

In summary, the hawthorne extract caused a drop in blood pressure which in turn put him into acute renal failure. This is what I know in my heart to have occurred and it is with great sadness, and shock, that I came to realize this. I hope and pray that this will never happen to anyone else or any cat ever again and that is why I am telling it here and may provide additional details at a future date if I ever put his complete journal online.

It is no surprise that many people, including myself, are willing to try holistic treatment when their kitties have no other options left. And I will always believe that the supplements he was on for the previous 15 months - played a BIG role in keeping him healthy and strong for so long! But I will never know just how many MORE months he may have lived if I had not decided to add the new supplement, hawthorne, to his regime. He beat all the odds and had what I believe was the best time of his life, getting spoiled rotten and made sure he stayed happy and comfortable at all times. He will always be our miracle kitty and hero.

For those considering hawthorne supplement for their kitty with heart-related illness, please use great caution (get professional help if at all possible) before doing so. In comparison to the other supplements (listed below), I believe the hawthorne extract is much more potent and dangerous, and if you are going to err, you want to err on the side of too little, rather than too much. It is not as safe as other websites may lead you to believe. Even though it is not poisonous, it can still have toxic effects on the body by affecting one system, which in turn, affects another. I now realize that it is too risky to even try without professional guidance. I hope to provide more details about this at a future date.

For those interested in the other beneficial dietary supplements he was on for so long, and the amounts he was on, they are listed below, as well as his prescribed medications:

PRESCRIBED MEDICATIONS:

furosemide - from June 24 to July 3 - every other day he got 1/2 tablet diuretic (tablet 12.5 mg) - then he was off it completely for approximately a year.

Note: After about one year, I found he occasionally needed the furosemide again.. In retrospect, and in re-reading his health journal, I discovered that when we ran out of the "digestive liquid supplement" described below, he started coughing and I thought I heard fluid again in his lungs and I gave him the furosemide which always helped him.

It wasn't until much later that I made this connection and I realized his digestive supplement contained cranberry which must have been acting as a natual diuretic for him!

Although I was using the digestive supplement mainly as a nutritional way to dilute the baby food, and because it also contained vitamin E which he needed, I never realized it was helping his heart through its diuretic action! And if I could go back in time, I would make sure we NEVER ran out of it. I believe it was much more important than I gave it credit for at the time and I believe he MAY not have needed the furosemide again, or as often, as I thought he did, during his final months. In going back over his journal, I see that there is a definite connection between running out of the liquid digestive supplement and his need for a furosemide pill! Astonishing, but very understandable given cranberry's diuretic effects!

pain pill (torbutrol) - he was on 3 X day, from the time he came home from the hospital until beginning/mid July, going down from 3X to 2X then only occasionally as needed. I gave him one during bad thunderstorms because they terrified him, and it helped relax him a lot! I also gave him some at the time his leg fell off, to make sure his stump wasn't sore and painful. Otherwise, he was not on any pain medication.

heparin injection (I gave him heparin injection 1000 units 3times/day from when he came home from hospital, June 24 until approx July 4, after which I began giving 2 times/day for the next 2 months, ending on Aug 27. Then he never had another heparin injection again.

antibiotic (Clavamox) - He started on Clavamox on June 29 and remained on it through sometime in late December. Then I took him off it, as I felt his leg was no longer a threat to him and it seemed so dried up, unchanged, seemed to be sealed off from the rest of his body anyway. I figured if it didn't make him sick all this time, its probably not going to start now. He was off the clavamox for 3 months when his dead leg fell off, and I again put him on the Clavamox for about 3 weeks to make sure the stump healed over without infection. Then he was not on Clavamox again.

---------------------

DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS:

l-carnitine (250mg capsule) - I give him 1 a day, divided into 2 doses: 1/2 capsule in morning and 1/2 capsule in evening. The brand I used is "TwinLab"

taurine (1000mg capsule) - I give him 1/4 capsule once or twice a day (usually twice) - for example 1/4 capsule in morning, and 1/4 capsule in evening. The brand I used is "TwinLab"

coQ10 (30mg capsules) - I give him 2 capsules every day, 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening.. The brand I used is called "Solaray" and I opened the capsule and spilled out the orange powder into one of his other oil supplements like the fish oil, because it works better when in an oil base than when dissolved in water. This is also called coenzyme Q-10.

Omega-3s (in the form of codliveroil, salmon oil, or fish oil) - amount varies

At the time he was on heparin I was giving him only about 1/4 tsp codliver oil and up to 4 salmon oil gelcaps a day (I would give 1 or 2 gelcaps twice a day, in morn. and eve). Once he came off the heparin, I increased the fish oil (and vitamin E) as I was always scared of another clot forming. I knew if he ever got another one, it would either be fatal or would result in the need for euthanasia. I also knew from what they told me that most cats in his condition, do eventually get another blood clot and that the heparin only reduced his chances of getting another one, not eliminating them entirely.

The brand I used for cod Liver Oil is "Twinlab" it comes in a brown bottle (12 oz) - I bought the plain, unflavored kind. It says "Norwegian Cod Liver Oil" on the front.

The brand I used for the Salmon Oil is "Solaray" - each softgel has 5 IU vitamin E also. (1000 mg salmon oil per each softgel), also listed on the front of the bottle says 130 MG EPA and 70 MG DHA

Once off the heparin, he has up to 1 tsp codliver oil, and 4-8 fish oil/salmon oil capsules per day (divided up into twice a day, morn, and eve.)...if I did not use the codliver oil that day, then I'd use more of the fish oil capsules. If using the codliver oil, I would give up to 1/2 tsp codliver oil and 1 or 2 salmon oil gelcaps twice a day. I didn't use the codliver oil on a daily basis because it also had some other fat soluble vitamins in it I did not want to build up. So when using it, use a tiny amount, like 1/4 or 1/2 tsp. Using the measuring spoon.

Most of the time, I used the two kinds of oils described above but a few times when I ran out, I did get a bottle of general "fish oil capsules" to replace the salmon oil until I could get another, but I was never sure which was best so the vast majority of the time, it was the salmon oil brand described above.

Vitamin E:

I used two different kinds of vitamin E, one kind was natural vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) available just about anywhere, this was the only supplement on his list I got at Walmart. The other kind of Vitamin E I used was a more full spectrum vitamin E that contained a blend of tocopherols. (This, and all the other supplements described above, were bought at my local health food store). I would alternate bottles, and when I ran out of one, I'd buy the other because I was never sure which was best so I used both kinds. The mixed tocopherols was brand "Schiff" it said Natural Vitamin E Complex on it. Each capsule was 400 IU. I cannot remember at this time how many IU of vitamin E were in the plain vitamin E - but I think it was 200 IU per capsule.

When using the vitamin E capsules - I only punctured the capsule, and gave one or two DROPS twice a day - not the entire capsule, but just one drop! I usually ate the rest of the capsule myself, so as not to waste it, and so he would be getting a fresh one with his next dose and not leave it out exposed to the air, but occasionally I'd save the capsules and give the next drop out of the same capsule like when we were running low on a bottle and we only had a few capsules left.. But most of the time I punctured a new capsule every time he had a drop or two out of it.

What I'd do in the beginning when I first began is figure out how many drops were in a capsule of Vitamin E by puncturing one and then spilling out the drops one by one, counting them. Then I divided all the drops by the total amount of vitamin E that was supposed to be in the capsule, to get an average of how much IE of vitamin E was in each drop.

I learned that each drop has about 40 IU of vitamin E. I'd give just one drop (sometimes two drops) maybe twice a day. It varied, because in the beginning when he was still on heparin, I did NOT want to use too much vitamin E, because I did not want to thin the blood too much, as that was always a big concern, because heparin also thins the blood.

Once he was off the heparin entirely, I increased the vitamin E to compensate. When he was on the heparin, I may have given just one drop a day, I'm not sure because I'd need to dig through his early journals to find out.

But once off the heparin, I'd give the vitamin E twice a day (sometimes skipping a dose so it didn't build up) and I'd give one or a couple drops. There were some other supplements (such as the digestive supplement) which also had vitamin E in it as well, in a different form. (see below) and there was also a small amount of vitamin E in the salmon oil capsules (used as a preservative I think) as well. (5 IU I think)

Digestive Supplement:

This was bought at PetSmart. It contains digestive enzyme + acidophilus, vitamin E, C, taurine and papain enzyme. I gave him the recommended dose, which is 2 tsp per meal. (I used one or two tsp in the morn. and same at night). There are 40I.U. of vitamin E per 2 tsp.

It came in a white plastic bottle sold where the supplements are. Once opened, you need to refrigerate it. It was the only thing that needs refrigerated, all the other supplements do not. It is in a cranberry base and thus, is a red or pink liquid. I used it to dilute the baby food, and as another source of vitamin E because it was in a different form than the tocopherols described above, and I was never sure which was best. It was many MANY months later that I realized how beneficial this digestive supplement was for his condition. The cranberry base was acting as a natural diuretic for him so that when we ran out, he would need his furosemide! I never gave it credit for much at the time, but I now believe that this supplement was very important for him, and did him a lot of good. I don't think he would have done as well without it.

Brewers Yeast Flakes:

Out of all the supplements described above, there is only one supplement (this one) that he was already familiar with. All the others he got for the first time in his life after he came home from the hospital. But this one, he was familiar with since he was a young cat! For many years I would frequently supplement my cats diet (Ziggy and his brother) with brewers yeast flakes. In the beginning, I did it because I heard it was a natural way to repel fleas (they still got fleas sometimes, even while taking the brewers yeast, so it did not prevent or eliminate the fleas!) and later I continued because of the fact that there were a lot of vitamins in the yeast flakes, and they were taking no other vitamin supplements so I thought it would be good for them. I'd sprinkle a little in a dish, and they loved it, and licked it right up! Sometimes I added it on top their food also. Mostly they took the yellow flakes, which is very high in vitamins. But sometimes in their younger years, I bought the brown granules which has more minerals, and less vitamins. Anyway, the yeast flakes I used was brand "KAL" and there is a very high percent of B vitamins in it, as on the label on the jar. It comes in a large round yellow container (like oatmeal does) with plastic lid. During the time described above (15 months) Ziggy received 1 tsp of brewers yeast flakes every day. 1/2 tsp in morn. and 1/2 tsp in evening. As I calculated, 1 tsp is 1/10 of the "human dose" as there are 10 tsp in the scoop provided, and in one scoop are the following:

Vit B-1 640%
Vit B-2 570%
Niacin 280%
Vit B-6 480%
folic acid 60%
Vit B-12 130%
magnesium 6%
zinc 20%
selenium 30%
iron 4%
sodium 5 mg
potassium 320 mg
fiber 4 g

Remember that the above percentages are based on human consumption and the large scoop provided, and you have to divide them all by 10 to see the amount contained in just 1 tsp, which is how much I gave Ziggy daily.

------

All of the above supplements were given as follows: First two tsp of the liquid digestive supplement were measured out into a tiny measuring cup which was exactly the shape and size of a shot glass except it had measurements written right on the side. A tiny jar would work as well.. Then I'd add a spoonful of baby food (turkey, chicken, veal or beef) - Mixing that well, then adding the other supplements mixing them in any order, but one thing I always made sure to do, was when I added the fish oil I would always sprinkle the coQ10 right on top of that, before mixing it in, since it works best in an oil base. Sometimes I'd have to dilute this even further with water to get a consistency that would go through the syringe.

I'd end up with one or two syringe fulls of food, which was fed orally through small syringe by squirting into the back of his mouth and he swallowed it. He never gave me any trouble, and always did really great with this, although I'm sure it must have tasted pretty badly! When he first came home from the hospital in fact, this was how I had to feed him ALL his food because he would eat nothing (or very little) on his own for many, many weeks. It wasn't until he was off the heparin (2 months later!) that he really started to eat well on his own again and I no longer worried about him getting enough to eat. I continued to give oral syringe only for the supplements, and I'd also need to mix 1 ML. of clavamox in as well, as he also needed this twice a day, and was on it for many months as well.

------

I hope my notes will help someone else in the future who may be in this situation and filled with worry and uncertainty as I was. Although I will never get over losing Ziggy, I am still proud that I was able to help him outlive his expectancy by a longshot, trying my best at everything I did for him, and giving him some of the best and most spoiled months of his life! There were also lots of people sending up prayers for Ziggy, including myself, many family members and friends, and what he had most of was love! When he came to me (and I often went to him, as well!), I was never too busy to stop and pet him, brush him, hold him, talk to him, see if he wanted to go outside, play with him, make sure he exercised that "purring apparatus" lots!! Also making sure he always had new and exciting beds and places to rest, and just trying to keep his environment purrfect for a fabulous feline like himself! He enjoyed every minute of being "top cat" and I think he must have realized just how special and loved he was!

Looking back on it, I have to smile when I remember the specialists and doctors who last examined Ziggy not long after he got the blood clot, when they saw the circulation did not return to his leg.. the doctors mean well and do their best, but they don't always have all the answers, even when they say they do. Surgery and euthanasia obviously weren't the only two options for Ziggy, were they!! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine how great he would do and for so long. I took each day at a time and cherished every day with him, never knowing when it may be our last. That's why I took lots of pictures, as many as I could, and those shown here are just some of them!

I hope Ziggy's website may help someone out there... some day.

We love you Ziggy, you will always be our miracle kitty and hero!

(please click here to view a musical tribute slide-show, in memory of Ziggy)