Toxins that you might not think about...

Hi all!

The new kitten Pyewacket is doing well, but we did have a scare and I wanted to share, so that the info might help someone else in the future.

June 6th she started displaying neurological symptoms out of the blue: muscles twitching, sort of dancing in place or swaying as she couldn't seem to stand still, eye's glassy. My son Xander woke to her crying and called me at work immediately. I took one look and grabbed the cat carrier.

At the vets, she had a seizure. She probably had at least one at home too, but we didn't see it.
He ran basic labs and her BG was elevated. Did an xray but that was inconclusive. Valium didn't calm her down the way it would have if it was a regular seizure like epilepsy. He sent us up to the ER at NorthStarVets.

I was told it isn't uncommon with a seizure for the BG to elevate then drop low, which is what it did, then it came back up to normal again. She also developed a slight fever from the seizure and muscle spasms, but it also came back down to normal within a day.
They kept her for two days, pushing fluids and giving her something to stop the muscle spasms. Regular bloodwork and virals came back inconclusive.

Now...the possible causes...

MOLD TOXICITY
On the way to the ER, Xander called me to find out what was happening, and I quizzed him about anything he might have seen her get into the day before. He said at 3 a.m. he caught her coming out of his room with a piece of paper that was covered in brown/black mold, that he thinks she dug out from under his dresser (he'd cleaned everywhere else before we brought her home). This is our most likely culprit, since she was dancing around for an unknown time with it in her mouth. The timing works with when the neurological symptoms started, as well, about 8 or 9 hours later.
We live on the water, so mold can be an issue here. There has been some in Xander's room before, but we thought we'd gotten all of it.
http://www.coem.com/programstreatment_MoldToxicity.shtml

PLUG-IN AIR FRESHENER
I thought of this when I was looking around the house for any other things I might have missed in the original kitten proofing. About a week before this happened, I plugged in the air freshener that I hadn't used for awhile. Never even crossed my mind that such a thing could be a danger.
But it occurred to me then that maybe she'd stuck her curious little nose up in the top of it where it vents and what if? So, I looked it up.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5421665_dangers-plugin-air-fresheners.html
http://www.mcs-america.org/airfresh.pdf
Needless to say, it's thrown out and I will never use another one.

Hope this helps keep others from getting sick. It was very scary!
She's back to herself again.

Living with a Bengal kitten

Well, we've had Pyewacket with us for a month now. She was nervous at first and more restrained.
She is NOT nervous anymore!

The Ferret Nation crate is working out well, just like it originally did for Cricket previously. Pye likes to have her own space and we have seen her go in there to sleep on her own, not just when we say so. It's also helped keep the dogs from stealing her food or raiding the litter box.

Now that shes warmed up!
Nothing is safe, lol. I knew they liked to climb, but I didn't expect her to climb the window screen. I'm discouraging this but it might be a lost cause. She does adore her climbing tree and we are still laughing about the older gentleman who asked us "How many cats do you have?" when he saw us in line at PetSmart with it. We knew she would need something that she was allowed to climb and scratch!

I'm thinking something more elaborate and even taller for the future, like maybe this?
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12843513

Well named, indeed.
Pyewacket is the name of the Siamese cat from "Bell, Book and Candle" starring Jimmy Stewert and Kim Novak. A long time favorite movie of mine. The name originated in the 1600's as the name of one of five imps claimed by a witch during her trial.  It was also the name of a rock band more recently in the 70's. And...our Pyewacket is definitely an imp!

She does something you don't want, like digging in my amaryllis pots. You make her stop. A few seconds later, back she goes, and she looks at you like. "So? I'm having fun, here!" It's a game to her.

Five minutes before that, she was leaping through the gauze curtain just behind my head where I was sitting on the sofa, claws out, latching onto my scalp, then jumping back, and repeat.


Scott reminds me with a grin, "You wanted this."

Yes. Yes, I did. I still do, lol. Wouldn't miss a minute of it.

Mojo's Stalker.
Mojo is being excellent with her! I was really worried about him, with his high prey drive, but he's been trying really hard to be good and he seems to enjoy having a cat here again. I think he really just wants to play with her at this point. She has to get more comfortable with the idea though.

Right now, she stalks him when he's not looking. She's jumped across the sofa at him and landed right in his face, then arched her back, hissed and growled like he invaded hers. I've seen this about six or seven times now. Eventually, she's just going to jump on him.

Yesterday, she was playing in the vine that sits on our coffee table. Mojo got really interested in what she was doing, so he came over for a closer look. This turned into a back arch/growl scenario, but Pye didn't leave the coffee table and Mojo didn't wander away very far before he came back. Pye finally just continued to play in the vine while moving around and watching Mojo watching her.

It's going to be really fun and really noisy when they finally comfortable enough to rough house. Both breeds play really rough with a lot of mock biting and growling. 

Risa touches noses with the kitten and moves along. She's such a big, gentle girl.  Pyewacket is mostly comfortable around her.

Nursing and insecurity.
For all her bravado (and she has tons), little girl has some insecurities. I have seen cats nurse before on shirts, blankets and pillows, but I have never seen one nurse on her own belly! Pyewacket does this while purring like a lawn mower. She'll purr even louder if you pet her at the same time.



I had the vet look her over during her recent trip for vaccination. She's not hurting herself, so I'm not going to stress over her stress. We'll give her lots of love and hopefully, she'll outgrow it.

Pyewhacket's Gotcha Day!

Today is the day! We pick up our little girl.
The den is as cleared as we could get it since we are not quite done with the utility room, but it will be done later this week.

Her Ferret Nation two story crate is ready and loaded with toys and comfy places as well as a dining area and rest room. Her cat tree awaits. The food is thawing.

We are as ready as we can be for the Bengal invasion. *gulp*

More later.....

Pyewhacket - House Prepping for the Kitten

It's Tuesday! We pick her up next Monday. 6 days! Woot.

The utility room is painted, just have to put in the wire shelving and I'll have my den back to more or less normal. Then we can set up the two story ferret nation crate as the kitten crate.

Pyewhacket's raw food is prepped and in the freezer.
We have a nice tall climbing tree and a bengal spotted kitty bed. CAMO KITTY!
I have an appointment set for the vet to look her over the day after we pick her up.

This is what she looked like at 4 1/2 weeks - She'll have grown so much!

TO DO LIST:

• Assemble crate. Spray it with the SCO10x solution to remove any previous cat scent.
• Clean the cat carrier. Spray it with the SCO10x solution to remove any previous cat scent.
• Put breakables AWAY/behind glass. Jersey Devil glass piece in particular!
• Get a shelf for inside the china cabinet to add space?
• Put things away!
• Kitten proof as much a possible, block crawly type spaces somehow.
• Tie up all loose cordage shop cyberguys tiebacks? use releasable  cable ties? 

I don't expect her to be unattended enough to actually get a chance to chew on a cord, but you never know.

So excited!