Spring time!

Hello everyone!  How are you?

Well, things have been a little crazy for me and mama.  In March she caught a cold and never quite got over it.  She was very tired all the time and just couldn't do much.  This was bad because she was trying to get packed up to move.  Toward the end of the month mama started feeling even worse.  She was having fevers, aches, and nausea.  Early in the morning of the 22nd she woke up, took a sip of Gatorade, and just barely made it to the bathroom before she threw up.  My poor mama!

When she woke up again later in the day she had a sore throat and felt totally miserable.  She called the CF clinic thinking that she might have the flu.  The flu could be very serious for mama since CF is a lung disease.  One of mama's good friends got the flu last spring and then needed a transplant because it damaged her lungs so much.  Luckily mama's friend is doing great with her new lungs now.

Before the CF clinic called back mama decided that she couldn't wait and made a few phone calls to find someone to take her to the ER.  Her good friend N came to get her and took her in.  N stayed with mama while they ran tests.  Everyone in the ER figured that she probably did have the flu because of her symptoms.  Luckily it turned out that she didn't.  She had pretty bad pneumonia and a cold.  The combination made it looked like the flu.

Mama decided that it would be best for her to stay in the hospital until she got to feeling better.  She was still living alone (well, I was there, but no other people) and she felt to bad to be able to take good care of herself.  In the hospital she wouldn't have to deal with her IVs herself and she could just order food instead of having to cook. 

N came back to mama's house and got me, my food, and favorite toys and took me back to his house.  Mama was moving in with N and B at the end of the month anyway.  This way she didn't have to worry about me while she was in the hospital.  I missed her so much though and didn't really understand what was happening.  I cuddled with my uncles N and B when I felt lonely.  I also got to play with Boots, a kitty of N and B's who is about my age.  Now we are best friends, mama says we're brudders.  We love to wrestle and play tag.  We even go outside and explore a lot.

Mama got out of the hospital after 5 days and was able to finish up her IVs at home.  Luckily mama has lots of good friends to help her move.  They were so understanding about her not being very packed up because she had been so sick.  I was so happy to see mama again after being apart for 9 days.  I cuddled and loved her so much!  I got to sleep with her in our bed that night and it was the best!

Mama is feeling really good now and we are very happy at out new place.  Its so nice to have a brudder to play with.  There is a yard here to play in and lots of neat places to explore.  Now that its spring time I spend most of my days outside but I sleep next to mama every night.  I went to the doctor for a check up.  The doctor was really nice and I liked her, I didn't stop purring the whole time, even when I got my shots.  The doctor really liked me too and said that I am really healthy. 

So me and mama are both doing really good right now!  We hope that you are too.

I'm in a contest!

Mama entered me in a contest today.  If I win I will get to be the next Iams kitty!  I do enjoy my Iams food a lot so that would be cool.  Of course mama told them that I'm special because I sense seizures.  This is the picture she sent in.

Mama's problems.

I just realized that maybe you don't know why cystic fibrosis is!  I will tell you all about it.

CF is a genetic disease, mama was born with it.  It causes all the mucus in the body to be too thick.  The thick mucus causes problems in mama's lungs, sinuses, and digestive system.  The biggest worry is with the lungs.  Mama has chronic lung infections because the mucus is a perfect place for bacteria.  Sometimes she has to go on really strong IV antibiotics when she gets sick.  She had to go into the hospital for that last month and I was really sad!  She also has to do lots of breathing treatments to keep her lungs as healthy as possible.  Even with all of that though her lungs get damaged from being sick all the time.  On a good day mama has about 50% lung capacity.  Someday she will have to have a double lung transplant, but hopefully not for a long time!

CF can cause other problems too, like: malnourishment, tummy problems similar to IBS, liver disease, infertility, osteoperosis, and diabetes (which mama has, but its really minor).

Mama's chronic back pain is from all the coughing she does to try and keep her lungs clear.  The muscles are strained and spasm a lot.  When its too bad she takes muscle relaxers and those help.

The doctors don't really know why mama started having seizures.  Luckily though her medication for them seems to work very well, and she has me to tell her of she's about to have one!

Taking it easy!

Hello Internets!

Not much is happening with me and mama right now.  I'm just making sure she takes it easy while she gets over her cold.  Luckily it stayed in her head, she's had a bit of a cough but its because her throat is scratchy.  Friday was the worst day for her but she's slowly getting better now.  I tell her to drink lots of water and tea and to eat her soup.  She lets me have some broth too, what a great mama!  She's been sleeping a lot, but that's good, it will make her better faster.  I cuddle her a lot and sleep on her lap to make sure she rests up.

My story.

Hello everyone!  My name is Savage and I am a seal point Siamese cat.  I am a therapy cat for my mama, Jess.  We decided to start this blog to help spread the word about therapy animals!  My mama has cystic fibrosis, diabetes, epilepsy, and chronic pain.  I help her when she is having a rough day, keep reading and I will tell you how I do that!

I was born some time in July of 2011.  I didn't know it at the time but mama had her last kitty put to sleep that same month.  I think we were meant to be together, we just had to find each other!  My kitty mama was a stray on Whidbey Island in Washington state.  In January of 2012 there was a big snow storm (big for WA anyway) and someone found my kitty mama, me, and my two sisters outside.  None of us were doing very well because it was so cold.  We all had colds, one of my sisters had a bad eye infection, and I had frost bite on my left ear.  This nice person called Oasis for Animals and the woman who runs the rescue came to get us.  She took all of us to the vet to get checked out, get fixed and get our shots.  My sister lost her eye, and I lost the tip of my ear from the frost bite.

One day the lady from Oasis took me and my sisters to a pet store with some other kitties hoping we would find our forever homes.  My mama came in to get some things for her pet mouse but saw the kitties and came to look.  She looked into my cage and saw how cute I was, just a little six month old who'd had a rough start in life.  The Oasis lady told mama how sweet I was, but mama could tell because I was so calm in my cage.  The dogs in the pet store didn't bother me, neither did the kids, or other people looking at all the kitties.  Mama fell in love with me and I went home with her that day.

It wasn't long before mama could tell that I was pretty special.  Once I settled into the new home I was so happy.  Mama doesn't work because of her medical problems and I loved having someone at home with me all the time.  Mama would play with me, and when I was tired she snuggled with me.  It was so nice, I just wanted someone to love and so did mama.  We both felt lucky to find each other.  Even when we wrestled I never scratched her or bit her hard.  Mama thought that was pretty amazing for a kitten!  She also learned that she could pet and scratch me anywhere, even my tummy and feet!  Whenever mama wasn't feeling good I would give her extra snuggles.

We had been together for a couple of months when we moved into a new apartment.  Mama was a little nervous because most kitties have a hard time with moves.  She was worried that I would be stressed out.  When I got to the new place I explored and smelled everything.  After about 10 minutes I realized that mama was going to stay so I was happy.  As long as I have mama I don't care where I am.  So, we got started on getting settled in to our new home and we were so happy to have each other.

My mama knits, and sometimes when I'm feeling playful I like to try and sneak away with the ball of yarn or play with the yarn in mama's hand.  On May 8th 2012 though I did something different.  Mama was knitting and I came to sit on her lap.  Then I slapped the project out of her hands.  She said I was a silly boy and picked it up again.  But I slapped it down again and looked at her hard.  Mama asked me what I was doing and started to pick it up again, but then she realized that something was wrong.  She started to get dizzy, which is what happens before she has a seizure.  She threw her project on the floor so she wouldn't stab herself with the needles and laid down.  When she woke up again she saw me right there with her.  She started petting me and telling me what a good boy I am for telling her about the seizure, I even got extra treats!  That was the first one she had since I came to live with her, but I knew.  She hasn't had any more and I have never made her drop her knitting again.  I still like to take the yarn balls though.  It was after that that mama did the paperwork to make me her therapy cat.  I am so glad that mama hasn't had any more seizures but if she does I will be there for her.

Since then mama has realized that when her pain is flaring up I cuddle with her more to make sure she rests and doesn't over do things.  She had surgery on her tummy in October and one day she started coughing, which hurt her a lot.  I wasn't next to her at the time, but as soon as I heard her coughing I came running.  I gave her a kiss right on the lips (I like to do that a lot) and let her know I was there.  She started petting me and pretty soon she was calm and feeling better.  Mama's dad was there helping take care of her (I don't know how to cook so grandpa did that) and was very impressed that I came running to help mama.

A couple of weeks ago mama came home with her boyfriend and she had a migraine.  They laid down in the bed so that mama could try to sleep.  I came to see how I could help.  I was fussing over her trying to figure out what was wrong.  Pretty soon I realized that her head was hurting a lot.  So, I laid down across her jaw and neck.  Mama's boyfriend tried to move me because he thought that mama couldn't breathe, but I became very upset.  Its my job to stay with mama when she doesn't feel well!  Mama said it was ok, I wasn't smothering her, so I laid back down right on her face again.  Pretty soon mama was sleeping because I am so warm and the sound and vibration from my purring was relaxing to her.  She slept for a few hours and I never left her.  Even when she rolled over I made sure that I was still touching her somewhere.  That night I got to have some ham and tuna from their sandwiches because I'm such a good boy!

Mama's back hurts her a lot because cystic fibrosis makes her cough a lot.  Her boyfriend will massage her back for her sometimes and I like to help.  I will walk across one part of her back while her boyfriend massages another part.  I always make sure I push on the worst spots too!

My normal routine is to wake mama up around dawn to go outside.  I have to make sure that there is nothing out there that will get mama!  She has a cold right now though so she needs me and she needs lots of sleep to get better.  This morning I just let her sleep, and when she started coughing I came to lay on the pillow next to her so she knew I was right there.  She started petting me and soon she was sleeping again.  I didn't go outside until mama got out of bed.

I hope you enjoyed my story so far!  Mama is going to help me fix up this blog to look nice and keep updating about us.  If you have a story about a therapy or service animal we would love to hear about it.