Conference misery::feline

Hmmmm....sounds like what Beth went thru this past summer.  Even though you
didn't touch any cats, you still could have transmitted some kind of virus
to him.  I'd suspect URI.  Poor Spiro!!!  

You better watch out...THE FIRM could have the house transferred to them
today and you could be out on the streets.  Don't they have power of attorney
over you????

Kitty prayers are going out to Spiro..

Mary

    Mary, did Beth have that high of a fevor? Could that high a fevor
    result in brain damage (like it could in people)? What really has me
    thinking is that Jimmy was under the weather for a day about a two
    weeks ago, but I attributed his problem to his annual shots + an
    antibiotic that he got because he had broken two teeth and they had
    gotten infected.
    
    Deb

    well, I just got off the phone with the vet; Spiro's temp is HIGHER;
    between 105.8 and 105.9. The doctor said that he isn't reacting to
    the antibiotics so he put him on a different antibiotic. Hopefully,
    what ever he has will respond to this. However, if his temp
    goes over 106, they may need to give him a cool enema to bring the temp
    down. The vet isn't sure what the probelem is, and he is afraid to draw
    blood because of the cats weakened state.
    
    On the plus side, they did get him to take some nutrecal orally, and
    the vet said that he didn't fight him this time when he gave him
    fluids.
    
    Deb

    Deb,
    
    If he has congestion along with fever, it definitely sounds like a URI. 
    I once had a cat who spiked a 104.5 temp, and the vet put him on
    cefatabs once/day and had me administer ice packs to the sides of his
    body to bring the temp down.  Also had to force feed him with a
    syringe.
    
    Hope Spiro is better real soon!  The fact that the vet is monitoring
    him is a great relief, as it will remove (some of the) worry from you. 
    Nursing sick kitties is a draining, emotional job!
    
    Keep us informed.
    
    -Roberta
    

Hi Deb,

Poor Spiro!!  A cat's normal temp is about 102.5, so 105 is cause for
concern, but not as critical as 105 in a human.  Beth's temp was 104.9
when I took her to the vet and did get to 105.5 before it started to
go down.  Her lungs were very congested and she was coughing.  Antibiotics
can take 12 hours to kick in, so hang in there.  He's right at that critical
stage right now where if the temp goes higher, it calls for drastic moves,
like cool enemas, ice packs, etc.

As for him not fighting the fluids and nutrical, it's amazing what they
allow vets to do that they fight you over.  It's called "White Coat Syndrome"..
the person in the white coat wins......

More kitty prayers are heading to Spiro (although I'm sure he'd prefer cash...)

Mary

    You and Spiro are in my thoughts,
    
    Karen
    

    After talking with the vet, I'm not sure that he thinks Spiro is
    congested, which is why this is such a puzzel. (Not sure=can't remember
    what the vet said). He did say that Spiro is breathing hard and fast,
    which is what he was doing at home, and not coughing, and a technitions
    that was patting him told the doctor that she thot he was drooling since
    there were some little spots of water on his kitty bed (I brought his bed
    in for him to sleep in while he is in his cage; I thot it would make him
    feel more comfy).
    
    Roberta, are cefatabs another form of penicillian? How long do they
    take to kick in?
    
    Mary, if 105 is cause of concern, is 106 cause for high concern before
    things get critical, or is it critical?
    
    Deb

    thanks Karen.
    
    Deb

    Has Spiro been xrayed?  Would that be a good idea to check for something
    that might be causing an infection, like a foreign object?
    

    I discussed that with the vet; he had palipated Spiro's body and
    things seemed to feel ok to the vet (no tumors, bladder empty, no stool). 
    We discussed the possibility of somthing like paritonitis but the vet
    said that he would have been throwing up if that were the case.
    
    I'll ask again when I speak to the vet tonight.
    
    thanks,
    Deb

    Deb, I am not sure if Cefatabs (or Cefadrops) are a form of Penicillan. 
    I do know that they are a derivative of Keflex, a very powerful
    antibiotic.  Keflex is usually prescribed when nothing else works.
    
    The hard and fast (labored) breathing has me a bit concerned.  Any
    chance you can have the vet do an xray of his heart to detect for
    enlargement?  If Spiro has an underlying disease, it might have
    stressed his immune system to a point that allowed infection (fever) to
    take hold.  We call this type of infection, "opportune."
    
    Not to be an alarmist, just going on my own past experiences.
    
    Best wishes and big hugs for Spiro.
    
    -Roberta
    

    I don't think that you are an alarmist, and I really appreciate the
    information since I was never much of a bilogy student. The
    new medicine that he said he was giving Spiro was a very powerful
    antibiotic that came in drop format, so maybe it is Cefadrops (he might
    have told me but if I had never heard of it, I wouldn't have
    remembered). I am also going to talk with him about an x-ray tonight at
    about 5ish (during hospital visiting hours). One other thing that has the
    doctor concerned is that Spiro is 10+ years old, and in the 5 years
    I've had him, he has been pretty healthy, but he lived his previous life
    as a feral; since he has never really been sick before, we don't have a
    good history of what works/doesn't work (Amoxie did work in the past
    when he had a small absess, but since it was small, he wasn't sick
    I was cleaning it with hydrogin peroxide, and it was really a
    precaution, we don't know if it had any effect). 
    
    
    The doctor promised to call me if things don't remain stable/get
    better. So, I guess it is a good sign I havn't heard anything! He did
    mention that it might take a few hours to work, so it could be that I
    am just overanxious/nervous.
    
    Thanks for all the info about drugs; I used to think that I knew a good
    deal about feline medicine, but now I realize that my knowlege area is
    just in the FUS area.
    
    Thanks so much,
    Deb

    And I know very little about FUS!  :^)
    
    Amoxi is an antibiotic that has been prescribed for a long time, so
    many bacteria have grown resistant to it.  It is also one of those "all
    purpose" antibiotics, while others tend to target more specific areas
    (skin, intestinal tract, etc.).  Cefa, in drops or tablets, is very
    powerful in keeping secondary infections at bay when battling URIs.  It
    is adminstered every 24 hours usually for a 10 day period.
    
    Baytril is another new and effective antibiotic.  It was prescribed
    for a bacterial infection a former cat of mine had.
    
    I am glad you are amenable to the xray.  Here's hoping Spiro has a
    speedy recovery!
    

    I'm sending good wishes for a speedy recovery for Spiro.  I hope
    you find out what the problem is soon.  Bailey used to get these
    really high fevers we could never pin down to any particular cause.
    She generally responded very well to the amoxicillin though and 
    was feeling better within a few days.  We never did figure out 
    what caused them.  Hope you have much better luck at it.
    
    Jan

    Kitty prayers for Spiro...I hope that when you went and visited him
    last night he was a bit more perky!!!  Please keep us posted....
    
    Sandy
    
    

    I told Silver, Tabitha, PITA, and Kyra about Spiro's illness and we all
    prayed for him last night.  He'll continue to be in our prayers until
    he's well again!
    
    Holly
    

    Things seem to be looking up! As you remember, yesterday his temp was
    up to 105.9. The vet switched his meds to something that sounds like
    cloromycine, and when I went to visit they told me that his temp was
    104.8 at 5pm. Spiro had taken a bit of food from a spoon, and he was
    having periods of alertness, but he was drooling. Thy told me to call
    again after 10 am.
    
    So, promptly at 10:01 am I called. Spiro's temp was down to 101.8, and
    he is alert. The vet says that if he doesn't fall below 101 that
    probably means that he is going to be ok. (My vet is fairly cautious
    about things, and he reminded me that when the end of life is near,
    temp tends to fall below normal, and since Spiro is "geriatric", he
    wants to make me aware of the possibility; however, I have faith that
    Spiro is going to be OK). The bad news is that Spiro isn't going to be
    home for T-day, and will probably be in till Saturday at least, so he
    is going to miss a great football weekend :-(.
    
    The reason that the vet used cloro mycine rather than cefa is that
    while it is a bit less potent, it is less "dangerous" from the side
    effect point of view (once again, Spiro's age came into play; his age
    has been guessed as at least 10 but the vet thinks he is older). The
    vet says that he has had very good luck (and usually near immediate
    response) with the cloro mycine in the cases where the cat didn't
    respond to amoxie, and where the cat would traditionally have been
    given cefa. At this point he believes that Spiro has a virus; I think
    that he said something about amoxie works on bacteria, but wouldn't
    work on a virus? 
    
    I asked about the xray, too. The vet said that his primary concern was
    to get the temp down, because even if he had swallowed something he
    couldn't be operated on until the temp was lower. Also, when a cat has
    problems due to having swallowed something, if you palapate his abdomen
    the cat will scream; Spiro didn't react when this was done to him, and
    the vet couldn't see putting the cat thru an xray (or making me pay for
    one) if he didn't think it would yeild any results. Pretty much the
    same with a diagnostic blood test that would have run about $150. It
    would have taken a couple of days to get back and probably would have
    just come back with a result of "an unidentifiable virus".
    
    Finally, I had said that I thot he was congested; he wasn't, so it
    wasn't a URI. The vet told me that the hard breathing was one of the
    ways that a cat uses to cool themselves off as the only other place
    they sweat is thru their feet.
    
    Anyhow, I am going to spend my lunch hour with the little striped
    attorney.
    
    Thanks for all the info and good thots and I'll keep you posted!
    Deb

    Glad to hear he is doing much better, Deb!  That is great news!!
    
    I agree with your vet about drawing blood.  If the cat is sick, the
    results could very well be inaccurate due to the virus running it's
    course.  Sounds like he knows exactly what he is doing.
    
    Well, now your Thanksgiving has been made!  :^)  Save him some turkey!!
    
    -Roberta
    

    Freeze some slices of white meat and save some stuffing!
    

    Well, I visited Spiro at lunch time and he looks a lot better! I was a
    bit concerned that he didn't want any of the baby food I brought him,
    but the assistant told me that he had been fed at 10 AM, so I assume
    that he wasn't hungry. He was very alert but seemed a bit
    scared/wondering where he was; I suspect that the chorus of barking
    dogs in the back had something to do with this. I held him and he
    purred for me, but was kind of reserved (I think that he was mad about
    not being home). When I took him into an exam room to spend som time
    with him, he seemed a little cold (shivering), so they are going to
    put a blanket over him in his bed if he does it again (the didn't do it
    before since so many cats don't like to be under the covers, but Spiro
    likes tobe tucked in at night.
    
    Oh, and he went to the box. One of the vet techs told me that she saw
    him get out of his bed and urinate, and she changed the box right away.
    Apparently, he kept a few drops in reserve since as soon as she put the
    fresh litter in, he got out of the bed and christened it and went back
    to bed purring. I think that this proves that he is feeling much more
    like himself. 
    
    On the down side, he seemed a bit puffy, probably because of getting so
    many fluids, and seemed very tired (but think that battling off the
    high fevor might have have been very exhausting.)
    
    As for freezing some slices of turkey for him, there is no need to do
    that; This holiday is my vet's turn being the "on-call" vet hospital
    inthe area, and he says that I can come in and visit :-) (This is a good
    excuse to get home early). And I'm going to tape the games so that we
    can watch them togeather when he gets out.
    
    Deb

    
    Prayers for Spiro for a quick recovery. :-)
    
    Shaw

    Kitty prayers from us too.
    
    Steffi + 4
    

Does Spiro do sports law? Or is he the one who does entertainment
law? ;^q (<- now *that's* a tongue in cheek!)


Hope he gets better. I read about these sick kitties and know I'd
be devastated if anything happened to my girl.


                                      Susan

    It's just great that Spiro seems to be doing better.  And I just came back
    from a job interview that went really well, I thought.  Happy turkey day
    everyone....
    

      sounds exactly what my Max had a while ago.  One Sat. night, he
    went and hid, when I found him he was breathing very rapid and shallow.
    His eyes were huge, and he was very hot.  I watched him for about 30
    mins. and this didn't change, so I called the emerg. #, thevet said
    to bring him right in.  After his night and day stay, and all kinds of
    tests, he was back to normal and no one knows what it was. some mystery
    bug, I guess.  Maybe the antibiotics helped him get better so quick,
    I don't know but he was fine when he got home.
    strange,
    Denise

    re: .23
    >Does Spiro do sports law? Or is he the one who does entertainment
    >law? ;^q (<- now *that's* a tongue in cheek!)
     Well, sports IS entertaining (especially to someone that spent much
    more of her college years in the gym than the library), but yes, he
    does both.
    
    RE:. 24
    Karen, that is great news about the job interview. Is it at DEC? We
    will keep our paws crossed for you.
    
    RE. .25
    Denise, *when* did this happen to your cat? What drugs did the cat
    respond to/not respond to. And was anyone in your house hold ill
    with a bad cold or flu around that time? (I still swear that Spiro got
    the bad cold that I have).
    
    Deb

    No, not at DEC.  There are a couple of tiny DEC nibbles, but they look
    pretty faint.  Thanks for the crossed paws.
    
    I have the dim idea that colds aren't contagious between humans and felines.
    

    Things have been up and down. When I left the vet on Wed night, Spiro's
    temp was 102.1, and we thot he'd be going home Saturday. Unfortunatly,
    ir spiked back up to 104 on Thursday and 104.8 on Friday; Saturday it
    was 104.4 in the morning, and 104.3 in the afternoon (after he ate his
    dinner). The good news is that he is not disoriented and is quite
    alert. The vet is stumped. He took blood and is pusseled by the
    results. The results show that he is slightly malnurished (which is no
    surprize since Spiro hasn't wanted to eat much; he is now being force
    fed Hill's a/d (critical care diet) twice a day (the vet isn't too
    concerned about this as a lot of cats don't want to eat while there and
    Spiro will eat when I come to visit.) Spiro is slightly anemic, but not
    so much that it is anything to worry about. What is strange is that there
    is a range for everything that the blood test tests for, and Spiro is just
    under the low range of nearly everything, but except for the fevor (and
    depression/no appitite when I'm not there), he seems fine. The vet has
    been talking to others and looking through books, and the only think
    that sounds even remotly like what Spiro's blood test indicates is a
    form of feline maleria, and that vet doesn't believe that is Spiro's
    problem. So, the latest hypothosis is that he probably has a nasty
    virus that has become resistant to the current medication, and today
    (Sunday) he is going to switch medication again to something that
    sounded like tetracycliine.
    
    Keep your paws crossed.
    
    Deb

    God, I'm at my wits end (as is my vet). Saturday, the temp was holding
    at 104ish, so the vet changed medications to tetracycline. On Sunday,
    morning it was 105.5 and climbed to 106.0 in the evening. This morning,
    it was 105.2, and at noon 104.8. I just left there and it was back up
    to 105.0 In addition, this am he had an edema (swelling) in his neck.
    The vet that owns the practice wasn't in yet and the other vet told me
    he had only seen such things in a cat with a tumor in the lymph glands.
    When I went in at noon time, Dr. Bigman told me that yes, it could be a
    tumor, or more likely, it was from the cat sleeping on something (like his
    toy mousie). This evening, the swelling was noticeably down. Also, he
    vomited last night and this noon, but took his food OK this evening.
    And while I won't call him alert (he seems tired), he gets up to use
    the box and has not dehydrated. And he has put on a half a pound.

    Dr. Bigman is on more than a first name basis with the director of
    clinical medicine at Angell Memorial. He is going to call him tonight
    to discuss the case, and try to see if we can make arrangements for me
    to see this vet personally. 

    Deb

    The poor guy been through alot.   Kitty prayers for the big guy...
    and for you because I'm sure you've been going crazy too!!
    
    Keep us posted....
    
    Sandy
    

    Deb,
    
    In version 1 of feline notes there is a topic called "Fevers of Unknown
    Origin."  Jo originated it, and made reference to a drug that is
    supposed to immediately reduce high fevers in cats.  Although the name
    escapes me, you might want to access the file and search for the note.
    
    Still thinking good thoughts for Spiro!
    
    -Roberta
    

    I searched for "unknown" thru the titles of all the notes and replies in
    FELINE_v1 and came up empty.
    

              <<< MUTTON::USER2:[NOTES$LIBRARY]FELINE_V1.NOTE;1 >>>
                    -< Meower Power is Valuing Differences >-
================================================================================
Note 2727.2                     Mystery Infection                        2 of 20
WR2FOR::CORDESBRO_JO                                 34 lines   2-AUG-1989 13:10
                         -< More info on fevers, etc. >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I just went through this last week with Kallite.  He spiked a fever
    of 106.6.  At 108, there can be permanent brain damage.  There is
    a drug that the vets can give the cats to bring a severe temp down
    in a hurry.  It is called Dipyrone, and is given as an injection.
    
    Kalliste's white count was 28,000.  We took in a urine sample and
    they found crystals, but cystitis usually won't cause that high
    of a fever, or that high of a white count.  We put him on Ditrim
    and I monitored his temp at home for a few days.  It started to
    rise again so we changed his antibiotic to Cefa-tabs (Cephalosporin).
    He is doing much better.
    
    The vets that I have consulted about this described a syndrome in
    cats called "fevers of unknown origin".  They say that we may never
    know what caused the fever.  But, there are two things that we could
    do to try and identify the bacteria that is causing his white blood
    cell count to go up, maybe you would consider them.  First, they
    can culture a blood sample and then identify whichever bacteria
    grows from it.  This is helpful because they can then perform
    sensitivity tests to determine which antibiotic will be most effective
    against it.  The second thing they could do is culture the urine
    sample, then do the sensitivity tests on it.
    
    If the cat is on medication for 48 hours and shows no improvement,
    then the antibiotic should be changed.  Do be afraid to call your
    vet and express your concern if your cat is still not feeling better.
    
    It may take a day or so after the cat starts feeling well before
    it will start eating again.  Kalliste fasted from Saturday to
    yesterday, but he was still drinking plenty of water.  Sounds like
    your piglet has enough reserve to keep her going for a day or two
    without food.
    
    Jo

    I hope I didn't need Jo's permission to extract that.  If so, my
    apologies, and the mods can delete the note.

    I'm speaking for Jo here but I'm pretty darned sure she wouldn't
    mind.
    
    Jan
    Sister and moderator
    

    Spiro had an appointment with the head of clinical treatment at Angell
    Memorial at 3:30 this afternoon. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to keep
    this appointment. This AM his temp was down to 103, but
    unfortunately, it continued to fall. I got a phone call at work at
    12:45, and flew to the vets office. When I got there, his tempo was
    under 99, he was breathing very hard, was totally exhausted and was in
    obvious pain. I had no choice but to have him put to sleep. I held his
    paw while they gave him the injection, and he went peacefully. Just for
    my own piece of mind, they are going to autopsy him. 
    
    I've made arrangements to have him buried on Friday afternoon with Argus
    at the MSCP Nevin Hill Cemetery in the family plot (they just got AJP's
    monument put in on Monday, and I'm just sorry that I'm going to see it for
    the first time under these conditions. I've already made the arrangements
    for them to come up and inscribe Spiro's name on it). 

    Anyhow, Roberta, thanks for the pulling Jo's info out of FELINE. I
    think that it might have been something else since they had done
    cultures and didn't find any bacteria. I have a sneaking suspicion that
    he got into something and poisoned himself.
    

    To quote the queen, this has been a *very* bad year. Of all my ferals,
    Spiro was my prize; he went from being a terror to being the most
    well socialized (and most gentle) of all my cats. I'm just glad that
    his last years were in a home where he was loved instead of on the
    streets were he was always trying to steal scraps of food to just try
    to keep alive.

    Spiro S. Pussycat, Esq, may your memory be eternal!

    Deb

    Deb, I am so sorry about Spiro.  He was so lucky to have found you and
    have your love.  May your precious memories bring you comfort.
    
    Steffi

    Deb,
    
    I'm sooo sorry about Spiro!  It's all I can do to keep the tears from
    spilling over.  What a roller coaster ride the last few days have been
    for you!  And, I know how you feel.  My Nic keeps getting into
    everything.  I keep finding empty tea bags and loose tea all over the
    floor, among other things.  I'm really afraid he's going to get into
    something toxic one of these days.  (I've got to get some of those
    cupboard baby-proofer things!)
    
    Please, if it's not too hard on you, will you let us know if the
    autopsy reveals any possible causes?
    
    You have my heartfelt sympathy.
    
    Best wishes,
    Michelle, Nic & Lasher

    My sincere sympathies as well.   Please take comfort in knowing that
    for the time you had Spiro he was loved dearly and you saved him
    from a miserable death if he was still in the streets.
    
    There is something about those X-feral that I truly admire.  To know
    the terrible life they must have led...but to still have faith and
    this special love for some humans.  They are truly very special kitties!!
    
    Spiro will watch over you...
    
    Sandy

    
    Deb, with tears in my eyes, it is hard to type this. My deepest 
    sympathies. Spiro is in Kitty heaven now with all the other furr
    face we lost this year.
    
    Shaw

	Our sympathies, too.  I'm sure Spiro knew he was loved and wanted
	in the end, which means a lot.

	Take care,

	Sandy

Oh, Deb, I'm so so sorry about Spiro.  He left knowing that in all the world
he loved you most.  And he knew you loved him, too.

It has been a bad bad year....let's hope things turn around for all of us!

Hugs and pats,
Mary and THE FIRM's best 8 clients

    Deb, I am so sorry to hear about Spiro's passing.  You did absolutely
    everything possible for him, so take comfort in that.  In a world full
    of too much misery and neglect, Spiro lived his final years with you
    being loved and cared for every single day.  Not many feral kitties get
    the second chance you gave him.
    
    Please let us know the results of the necropsy.  I think you were wise
    to have it done.  Sometimes knowing what happened makes acceptance that
    much easier.
    
    Hugs to you and your other kitties,
    
    -Roberta
    

    Deb, I'm so sorry about Spiro. 
    
    May he live in your heart forever.
    
    ng

    Spiro was lucky to have been loved so much. I'm sorry his time to leave
    came so soon...
    
    Linda

    Folks, thanks for all the kind words; this is very hard to wright.
    
    I spoke to the vet today and his first words were that he was
    astonished. Spiro had two problems; he did have an intestinal
    infection, and he had liver cancer. The former caused his fevor, the
    later his death. The liver had atrophied (shrunken) as opposed to 
    formed a tumor. If I understood what the vet told me, I guess that the
    liver cleans the blood, but it wasn't functioning properly, so each
    antiboiotic would bring down the temp, but since the liver wan't purifying
    the blood, the infection would get worst (or the cat was sort of being
    poisened?), causing the body temp to go up. I do remember reading that
    if a cat is poisened, the saliva will be thick and slimy, and Spiro
    was drooling thick saliva. That is how I understood it; bear in mind that
    I barely passed high school biology (because I refused to kill and disect
    any non-plant form of life).
    
    Part of the diagnosis problem was caused by when the vet took blood
    tests and x-rays. His conclusion about the x-ray was that all of the
    organs looked small for an adult male, but Spiro was a small cat, and
    all the organs looked proportional. The other vet had remarked when he
    saw the xray that he thot the liver looked a bit small, but agreed it
    was proportional, and since the blood test didn't show a high amount of
    some component that would have indicated a tumor, they were ruling out
    cancer. When they autopsied him, his liver was much smaller than the
    xray indicated; Had we taken another x-ray a few days later, we would
    have seen that it shrunk dramatically.  
    
    About a week before Spiro took sick, Jimmycat was a little under the
    weather, like he had a kitty cold; He came out of it after being on
    amoxie for about a day. Spiro and Jimmy were pretty friendly, so I
    honestly think that Spiro picked up the bug from Jimmy. However, from
    what I know about liver cancer, it is very fast growing, and had he not
    picked up a bug from Jimmy, his days still would have been numbered.
    
    I have to say that when Spiro came down for supper and was delerious,
    the tape of Argus doing the same thing played thru my mind. Argus also
    died of liver cancer, and it was just this past Feb. And my vet told me
    something very disturbing. It seems that the neighborhood I live in has
    a fairly high incidence of liver cancer in older humans. My vet is on
    the board of health, and the health dept has been trying to make a
    connection with some oil tanks that were known to have been leaking.
    (The neighborhood is mostly starter homes, densely populated, younger
    and don't usually stay there too long, so statistacally they can't seem
    to make any connection).
    
    Anyhow, I want to thanks everyone that offered their support through
    all of this. Spiro and I both appreciated it.
    
    THE FIRM and Deb

Deb, please accept my heartfelt condolences. Thank you for
sharing your ordeal with us.


                                  Susan

    Deb, I'm glad you found out what happened;  I had my Pussycat autopsied
    after he died suddenly, and I think knowing the cause removed some of
    the anxiety about what I might have been able to do had I known
    earlier that he was sick.
    
    About those oil tanks -- if they're leaching contaminents into the ground
    water supply, perhaps using water you buy in the supermarket to fill the
    cats' water dishes would be a good idea?  (Not to mention the water you
    drink yourself.)
    
    Karen
    

    Deb, I am SO sorry to hear about Spiro.  I read your note yesterday,
    but just didn't have the heart and courage to respond until today. )-:
    
    I'll echo what Karen said in both respects.  It certainly put my mind
    at ease when I found out what Michaela actually died of two years ago
    and to find out that there was nothing we could have done. 
    
    Also, just in case you don't know, Digital employees get a discount on
    the Belmont Springs water coolers and water!  We've got one at home and
    just love it!  We don't drink any of the water out of the faucet, and
    neither do the kitty babies.  Better to be safe.
    
    Lots of kitty hugs and head butts!
    
    Holly
    

    Thanks, everyone. I used to do bottled water, but stopped not only
    because it was getting expensive and my back got tired of lugging it,
    but because I installed (myself) a water filter; the water comming out
    of my tap is so pure it is flat tasting. That is besides the point,
    though, because our tap water is piped in from the Quabbin Resovior
    which has to be at least 50 miles away; of course,  the resovior down
    the street from me that is getting the effect of this is the water
    supply for the city of Cambridge. 
    
    Many years ago, before this area got built up, it was a dumping ground.
    I suspect that maybe it is somekind of gasous substance that can come
    thru the soil. Also, I am going to test my house for Radon again, since
    the foundation is built into a ledge. And I do have a wet basment, so
    that water (that literally has it's own river path thru part of the
    cellar) could be contaminated, and I would imagine that it could
    evaporate and go into the house. In fact, I wounder if I brought a
    sample of water that came into my cellar to the board of health if
    they would analyze it.
    
    Deb
    

    I wasn't able to connect to FELINE all weekend. I just thot that for
    the record I'd post the pathology results. They confirmed liver cancer.
    Something was said about the lymph nodes, but I guess that the liver
    cancer was the root of it.
    
    Deb

    Deb, I am very sorry and my hear goes out to you.  Considering that
    this has been a bad year for a lot of us, maybe we should look forward
    to the new year that is just around the corner.  In retrospect, all
    these terrible things can make us stronger and more knowledgeable for
    the future.
    Fondly,
    Karen
    
    (line one should read "heart"):^}
    
    

    Thanks Karen.
    
    I want to think that 1993 will be better than 1992 (or 1991 for that
    matter).
    
    Deb