Knowledge is Power: Where to Find Medical Information for Your Cat?

I always remembered the day when Meowko was first diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease, I was so scared, so worried, felt extremely sad. "Oh my god, my furry sister is dying!"--- that probably was the only thing I could spit out whole that evening. That night, I couldn't sleep, couldn't stop googling, reading everything relevant, until I found Tanya's website. On the website it says at the begining, while we can't change the fact that our cats have ckd, at least knowledge is power. With more things we know, we can therefore do the best choice through every stage of the disease for our cats.

Knowledge is power, it is also true for any kinds of feline medical conditions in addition to CKD. In light of this, here is a list of resources that I have been using to find cat medical information for Meowko and Jaja, including preventive care, introductions of different kinds of diaereses,  medication choices,  veterinary news...etc. I will keep updating this list on a regular basis, and hope this list can help cat parents find needed information.

Rainbow Bridge

A month from today, Meowko's body annihilated in flames. Her beautiful face, blue and yellow eyes, white fur, soft body, all gone. At the reception of morgue, we saw a picture frame with a poem "Rainbow Bridge" on it, author unknown. 

阿喵的慢性腎衰竭非再生性貧血中文版

English Version


在阿喵被診斷出慢性腎衰竭以後，我們就被警告可能有一天要擔心貧血的問題。在腎臟功能逐漸喪失以後，一種由腎臟生產的叫做紅血球生成素(Erythropoietin)的賀爾蒙也會逐漸減少。然而，紅血球生成素是一種很重要的賀爾蒙，骨髓需要它才能生產紅血球。當紅血球生成素減少以後，骨髓就沒辦法產生紅血球，這就是慢性腎衰竭非再生性貧血(non-regenerative anemia)。

Meowko's Experience with Chronic Kidney Disease Non-regenerative Anemia

台灣中文版

After Meowko was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease,  we had been warned that anemia would someday become a concern. As CKD progresses, a hormone, Erythropoietin, produced by kidney, would likely decrease over time. Erythropoietin however is an important hormone. Bone marrow needs to use Erythropoietin to generate red blood cells. Decreasing supply of Erythropoietin would then cause bone marrow not able to make enough red blood cells -- that's how CKD's non-regenerative anemia comes.

To Remember, to Share, to Love: the Meowko Project

you are writing a blog about me?!

Clichély inspired by Julie & Julia we watched several years ago, Aspen and I have decided to use this blog as a way to celebrate and remember Meowko's wonderful life. We hope to share the laughs and tears we four together had gone through over these years, in the cat cans she devoured, after the feathers she chased, within the afternoon sunshine she bathed in, beside the medicines she hated, with the love from her humans and littermate. Life was gone, but memories will always be with us.

We hope to write one little thing each week, in both English and Mandarin, in forms of sharing treatment protocols of feline diseases Meowko had gone through, stories of her adventures, or paw reviews of feline world food fair, and.... more!

damm, then i need to check your spelling...

非常老套地在幾年前朱莉跟朱莉亞電影的啓發下，我們決定要開始這個部落格，以此紀念阿喵多彩多姿的一生。我們希望藉此分享我們一家四口在一起的這幾年，那是在貓罐頭裡的日子，追逐羽毛的歲月，午後陽光下的時光，藥瓶為伍的陰霾，還有Jaja與我們對她的愛中串起的貓生。生命已逝，但記憶永在。

我們希望每個禮拜寫一件小事，用中文跟英文，包括阿喵貓疾病的治療分享，旅行的冒險小故事，世界貓罐頭評比，還有....更多!

Our Love Was Gone...

Meowko Chen-Chang, ? ?, 1997- May 26, 2013

Dear family and friends, 

Thank you very much for your great support over the last several weeks. Meowko is now an angel. She crossed the rainbow bridge around 8:45pm US eastern daylight saving time on Sunday, May 26^th,  2013, at Pieper Memorial Veterinary Center in Middeltown, Connecticut, at the age of sixteen. Her passing was peaceful, but our lives would never be the same without her.

I can't stop thinking about the day I first met Meowko back in Taipei city, Taiwan. It was not me who adopted Mewoko; it was Meowko who adopted me. That was also a beautiful May day. She jumped into my window during dinnertime demanding the fish entree in my bento. From that day, she came every night, until one day she decided to stay and never left again. I didn't know anything of cats back to that time. I was actually very afraid of cats when I was little as in many Asian legends cats are evil. So I turned to one of my friend's friend who took care of street cats for years, asking tips about how to be a cat parent. This friend became my boyfriend, later my husband. He is Aspen.

Meowko traveled with us all the time, from Taiwan to the US seven years ago, and from Minnesota to Connecticut last year, not to mention those shorter trips over these years. She was good at taking airplanes, riding for week-long road trips, and had always been calm in front of anything. She was the perfect cat a geographer like me can ever dream for, and I always believe herself was a cat geographer as well. We have been saying that she probably taught geography in feline schools when her humans were in sleep.

We are going to attend Meowko's cremation on Wednesday, May 29^th around noon. If possible, please keep her in your thoughts during that time. We will bring her ashes back to Minnesota this summer, and some back to Taiwan later this year. She will always be in our hearts. She is survived by her two humans and her 7 years old littermate, Jaja, who also jumped into our window several years after Meowko did.

Although Meowko had been sick over recent years as she was getting old, she had very good quality of life until the day before she earned her angel wings. She was deeply loved by many people who knew her, from many places around the world. I hope I could have had a little more time with Meowko... I have already missed her so terribly. To honor her, we will also start a website project to share her stories of traveling and her medical experiences during her last several years in the hope to help other furry friends.

Thank you all again for the support, help and care we have got from you.    

Catherine, with Aspen and Jaja
May 27^th, 2013