The Hemingway Cats

Harry Truman, from the Hemingwayhome website page.

Ernest Hemingway will be remembered for many things. Most importantly will likely be his literary legacy. His rich stories were, and still are, a part of almost every American child’s English reading list resume. He is described as one of Americas most honored and respected authors. He is also remembered for his extravagant life and his eccentricities. His home in Key West remains a tribute to his life, his love of writing, and his cats.

His home in Old Town Key West is now a museum and is open to the public. It draws thousands of visitors each year. In addition to being able to walk through the place where he created most of his famous writings and where he and his family spent over a decade of their lives the museum maintains a colony of about 40-50 cats. As I learned from their website;  www.Hemingwayhome.com, the first Hemingway cat was named “Snowball” and was given to Mr. Hemingway by a ship’s captain.

Snowball with Patrick and Gregory, Hemingwayhome website photo

(Side note; many ships crews included a ships cat to keep the hungry mice under control on those long sea voyages where you had to carry enough food for the entire crew and be prepared for the long hard months at sea. I could never convince any of my ships captain’s to let me revive this long standing tradition and let me bring a kitty aboard (and also to keep me company.) But IF I had been given my own ship I would have had my own cat! (named King Neptune, of course), and besides they bring good luck.)

“Snowball” was a polydactyl cat. Polydactyl’s have more than the normal 5 front and 4 back toes. (I have seen cats with 7 front toes!) They are usually extra “thumbs,” because they usually occur between the pointer (finger) and thumb toes. From this first cat “Snowball” the colony grew and is now maintained by the museum staff and their Veterinarian Dr. Edie Clark at 40-50. About half of the colony cats are polydactyl but they all carry the gene to pass this trait on to their kittens. It is said that many of the cats in Key West are polydactyl and it is widely believed that they are all likely related. Polydactyl is not a breed, it is a trait.  We, for example, call black and white cats “tuxedo’s”, and brindled cats “tortoise-shell,” and tri-colored cats “calico’s” even though none of these titles are a breed. What makes cats even more interesting is that you can get almost any color kitten out of almost any colored cat. And we see polydactyl’s in litter of kittens from feral colonies. Lots of genetic mixing going on in those cat colonies. It is Mother Nature’s way of keeping the gene pool well blended and healthy!

Hemingway named all of his cats after famous people and the museum continues this tradition today.  (I love this idea! But we will stick to “our favorite Southern US cities” for our dogs).

Ivan, from Hemingwayhome photo

The website stated that the colony cats are sponsored by Pfizer. Pfizer donates their product Revolution which is a spot on topical flea, heartworm, de-wormer, and ear mite treatment to all of the cats at the Hemingway colony. I wanted to give a little shout out to Pfizer for this. I recommend this product, (it is actually my favorite cat topical product, and I am NOT paid to say this, I am just giving you my professional opinion.) Revolution is the best topical spot on for cats, especially those that aren’t in a heavily flea burdened area. It is also expensive. For us a 6 pack (that’s 6 monthly treatments is about $90, so 40 cats monthly is a nice chunk of change.

Capt Tony, benny Goodman, Fats Waller, from Hemingwayhome photo

 The museum website describes their kitties as “sometimes it looks as f they are wearing mittens because they appear to have a thumb on their paw.”

Mittens right front foot.

My surgery schedule for today had a polydactyl “Mittens.” She came from one of our clients who is helping get a feral colony near her home get all of the cats, spayed, neutered, and vaccinated.  Sure enough she had 1 extra toe on her front feet.

We trimmed her extra/inner toenail.

Rear foot, extra toe

In the cat world anything that sets you apart is in most cases a beneficial thing. There are lots and lots of cats out there vying for a limited number of homes, so extra toes on a cat usually indicates a better chance of being adopted. Extra toes are “cute” to most owners and a little extra “cuteness” is always a good thing. I always warn owners that extra toes are also an extra responsibility. A cat’s natural nail shedding ability is made more difficult when your “extra” toe is wedged in between the other toes. These extra toes are also not shed normally because they aren’t used like the rest of the normally functioning toes. Sometimes they lack the ability to extend and retract them, and because they aren’t in contact with the floor, or a tree, or scratching post the excess over grown nails aren’t worn down or shed. I have seen many polydactyl cats come into the clinic with their extra toe(s) having grown into their foot. These nails are very sharp and pinpoint toenail becomes embedded in the pad of the foot until it becomes infected and so painful that the cat won’t use their leg. I don’t generally recommend de-claws, except for these guys. If your cat has extra toes then please check them frequently and keep them trimmed. If your polydactyl is an outside cat then I recommend that you talk to your vet about de-clawing the nails from the toes that are unable to be shed normally.

The extra toe

A Call From The Governor

Clients always ask me if euthanasia’s are the hardest part of my job? It is a difficult question to answer because  it is most often being asked as I am standing next to their pet, tears streaming down their face, grief evident in every mannerism of their face and body, and I know they are asking me to seek commiseration and companionship at one of their darkest hours. And I feel obligated to respond “yes,” as a small kind gesture of my empathy.

It is in truth a very hard part of my job. To be present and surrounded completely in someone’s pain and to try to be strong and supportive with them at such a difficult time. But for these parents I understand and want to be helpful in ending their loved ones suffering. That is what I feel my job is; to help their pet not suffer any longer. In most cases this is by treating them and getting them better. But I know that death must be a part of life. It keeps us from wasting a day, from worrying about things we cannot control, and it reminds us to be humane and compassionate. 

I take every pets' euthanasia to heart. I will only participate in it if I feel it is warranted. I hold the ability to end a life as a responsibility and I am prepared to answer every single one of my actions to a higher power should I be called to testify on my own behalf. I have to live with my conscience for the rest of my days and I have to want to wake up tomorrow morning and come back to work. I have refused to euthanize more than 1 pet in my life for reasons that I could not deem warranted, and I have given away many a euthanasia to people whose pets were suffering and could not afford to pay for this service.

I have also interrupted a euthanasia in progress because I was afraid there were options that hadn’t been laid out for the parents whose pet was brought in to be put down.

Here is one of those cases.

Di is a mature, plump, peppered, black Dachshund owned by a young couple who appeared to be hard working reserved country folk. They arrived holding their weathered aged, un-animated dog Di and sat quietly but obviously upset in the waiting area. Any parent bringing their pet in to be put down is placed as fast as possible into an exam room so that they do not have to try to remain emotionally composed at a time that is so emotionally difficult. We quickly moved them into the exam room that was set up for them. The next time I saw Di was when she was in the treatment area for her intravenous catheter. She looked grey and older but not sick or suffering.

I asked the doctor attending to her "What she was here for?" 

She told me that "Di had a large tumor in her ventral neck area." She then proceeded to remove the hands of the technician who had the tumor covered which revealed a very large, firm mass that encompassed the entire left side of Di's neck. The tumor went from her left side of her cervical (neck) spine all the way down to the inside of her two front legs.

“Oh, I see.” I said. 

These pictures were all taken on 1/16/2011. the day before Di started Kinavet.

She went on to explain that this mass had been surgically removed a few months ago and the biopsy results had revealed it to be a mast cell tumor.

Mast cell tumors are invasive difficult nasty buggers. We, unfortunately in veterinary medicine, see them frequently. Veterinarians try to remove as much tissue as we can on our first mass removal surgery because our hope is that the first surgery will remove enough of the bad tissue (tumor) and not leave any tumor cells behind to re-populate and allow the tumor to grow back. Many vets will recommend that the tissue we surgically remove be submitted for biopsy. This means that a veterinary pathologist will examine the tissue under a microscope to identify the cells that make up the mass so we can diagnose the tumor type. I always remind clients that without the biopsy, and the pathology report I cannot diagnose your pets tumor. I can make "an educated guess only." Without a diagnosis it is harder to make a treatment plan.

Thankfully for Di’s parents we had done a biopsy. But the diagnosis of MCT (mast cell tumor) was not what we had hoped for. Tumors are also “graded.” Di’s MCT was a grade 2. The scale ranges from grade 1 to grade 3, 3 being the worst.

When Di’s tumor came back it came back fast. It grew much faster this time than it had originally and now it was so large it was affecting her desire to eat and interact with her parents. Her parents brought her to us this day because they believed her quality of life had diminished to the point where she was suffering. A catheter was being placed in her leg to allow the attending vet to give her the euthanasia injection.

“What about Kinavet?” I said. “Have you offered them this?”

She looked up at me questioning what I was referring to?

“Kinavet, the new MCT drug. We had the meeting on it on Friday.” She had not been present for the meeting and I had not yet given her my notes summarizing the meeting about this new drug.

“Do you think it will work?”

“Well the drug manufacturers say that she would be the ideal candidate for it. But I am not sure that they give us unbiased advice? We have never used it before, so I can’t give them any advice other than what the drug  rep claims.”

She looked at me like “how the hell am I supposed to go back in there and mention this?” I knew exactly what she was thinking without her having to speak.

So I offered, “would you like me to go in and discuss it with them?”

She said “yes” before I finished my sentence.

Into the exam room I walked, Di still in the treatment area. Di’s parents were huddled together sobbing on the bench. I introduced myself and said that I had spoken to the vet taking care of Di and I had met Di and seen her tumor. I told them that I was sorry to interrupt and I didn’t want to be disrespectful of how hard this decision was, but that I had just been to a meeting that discussed a new drug for Di’s tumor. I told them that we had not used it in the clinic yet, but there were neighboring clinics who had used it already and had had success with it. I discussed the details that the rep had gone over with me. I told them that the new drug was a pill that the owners give at dinnertime, and that based on Di’s weight it would be about $100 to try.

As I spoke I was very relieved to see that they were letting me continue to discuss this new drug. I am always afraid that my butting in is going to be met with hostility and angst, (understandably.) I mean who the heck am I to jump in with a new plan in the last play of the game?

After we had finished the talking and question and answering time they looked at each other and smiled.

“Talk about getting the last minute call from the Governor!” Di’s dad said. We all erupted in nervous relieved laughter.

Di went home with a new plan and a second chance.

One week later she returned. Her mass had shrunk by more than half. Her parents said that she was acting like the dog she was 2 years ago. They were so grateful to have their dog back, and they said they were happy to be our first case.

Di has been back weekly for the last four weeks and there is almost no trace of that nasty bugger left.

We wish her great success!

These photos were taken on 2/6/2012

 These were taken at her weekly check-up on Weds 2/21//12. You almost can't see any mass on her neck anymore! Congratulations to Di and her family.

 

Kinavet is sold by MWI and available through veterinarians.

Too Cute Not To Share

I thought I would keep it light and fun today.

And I was cleaning my photo library and thought these were just "too cute not to share."

Here's my beloved Jekyl-pup looking irresistible as always.

Nothing bring a smile to my face faster than those ears and that timid "you can't resist me" little bow and fast wag. That boy knows how to work the charm!

It's a very good life.

Catching some sunshine. (It gets crowded)

Happy Pups

Oh, Big yawn~! Joe not so happy I am taking pictures, especially because he knows I will post them, no matter how bad he looks or what he is doing.

Always riding shotgun.

Did any of you count how many different dog beds he is in? There are 3 dogs in this house and 9 dog beds. I was actually looking at the new Orvis Dog catalog yesterday and Joe said, "No more dog beds, please?" I said "OK." He might be right about that one.

The Incredible Generosity of Mankind

I wanted to send a Big Thank-You out to the universe!

Bo, our newest rescue. I am working on his story. It isn't easy to write because I can't figure out how to tell the truth (as I see it) and be a responsible DVM.

We received a check yesterday for $750 to go toward the rescue animals currently residing at JVC. It was an anonymous donation so I am going to be respectful and just say "Thanks!" to the universe.

There have been so many days where I asked myself what I was going to do with this particular pet with this particular situation who needed help, and I had to sit there for a moment and ask myself what I could do, and if I could live with myself if I didn't do something.

There were many times when I had to remind myself that I couldn't save everything (which is s silly futile, pathetic excuse to do nothing, in my opinion), or that I needed to remind myself that JVC is not a non-profit (something my husband argues), and that I needed to be able to find a home for this pet that its owners were abandoning. There were some difficult, tragic cases, and at every single bump in the road I simply told myself, and my staff, that we always have to try, we always have to help, and we always have to have faith that this obstacle isn't the reason we abandon our compassion. And I keep a strong tie between JVC and the local rescues who are always willing to help us find a home or help a pet in need.

JVC has surrounded ourselves with kind, caring, generous, and empathic people and I am reminded everyday that the good we put out there always comes back to us. Maybe not immediately and maybe not in a form we expect, but it comes back to us.

So to whoever you are out there that made such a generous donation I say, "Thanks Again!," and to whomever sent me flowers about a month ago, (also anonymously), they came on a day that was one of the lowest in my vet career, and they meant the world to me. It relit my spirit, and reminded me I am not alone fighting the world for the sake of something that wasn't my responsibility to begin with.

I am soo grateful to all of you who help, who care, and who try to save the world, because really what else is more important?

The True Measure of Success

In these tough economic times as my husband and I try to run our veterinary hospital in the "black," (which is, I am told, the way you are supposed to run all businesses, crazy, I know!) I thought that I would share a recent discussion we had.

You see every January we spend a few days "going over the numbers" from the previous year. This past year, 2011, was a tough one for many. We are in the midst of one of the worst economic times in recordable history. There isn't one day that I don't hear a terribly heartbreaking story from one of our clients. I had no hopes or expectations as we wrapped up 2011. I was honestly just fine with us not being behind on our bills. I had no lofty expectations of meeting any "industry standard for a well-managed practice."

I was merely happy with still being in business.

When my husband, (aka "business partner") had crunched the 2011 figures he asked me to "Guess how I thought we had done for 2011?" I said "Well, I don't know what the numbers told you, but I can tell you that this year we received more cookies, brownies, and goodies than we have ever in the last 5 years combined. We have also plastered the front office with more Christmas cards than I ever remember receiving. So for me, I will say that I can measure our success on that."

He smiled, and said, "You're right honey, that seems as good a measure as anything else."

Here are some of my favorite 2011 cards. Enjoy! and may 2012 be a year of peace, love, joy, and prosperity for you all!

Leroy is one of my dear favorite boys, (you all know that I am already a big softy for Bassetts). His story is coming. He is even more incredible than it is.

I love this incredibly photogenic kitty. His mom dresses him up often, and sends us photos. Love it!

Stella, always the same, "pity me" face. A great client, a great family, all of them are very close to our hearts.

My dear friend, Mrs. Andrews, who always sends us a Christmas card with her (real pet) pig dressed up. This card is as adorable as the rest are. It cracks me up.

Mrs. Hagan, a wonderful person who donates much of her time, and her own resources to helping dogs in need. She even volunteered 1 day with us at the Pet Expo. Simply because she wanted to help. Thank-You!

How cute is this card? Peanut is one of our rescues. She found the best home in the world. She is now a buddy for the most adorable, and definitely most spoiled pup (deservedly) on the planet, Chica.

I have been lucky enough to watch the two cutie pies grow up with their dog sisters. I am lucky to be thought of as part of so many other peoples families. It is the most rewarding part of this life.

Some of the dogs of all Shepherd Rescue. Some have been a part of our JVC family and gone on to find their own. It is so wonderful to sea them so happy and healthy. 

A great card, with every pet in the house included.

Minnie is one of our rescues. You can read about her story here on my blog, titled, "Minnie's Meancing Gracile Grimace."

From the owner who lost their loved "Toby" in 2011.

And from Diedra, my sister, who lives 3 hours away, but knows every staff member in my clinic. And helps at every function we have.

The Cruelty Of Mankind

Otzee, The early days.

One Monday morning I was asked by one of my associates to look at an x-ray of a patient she was seeing in an exam. Somehow I have been designated the resident orthopedic specialist in the practice. I am one of five vets under the JVC roof. It is a title I am reluctant to don and confused as to how I assumed it. I suppose it is simply because I am the only one amongst us who will jump into a broken bone and try to fix it. As much as I shouldn’t confess it, I think it is simply my love of challenges much more than my ability. Present me with the following scenario “If you don’t do it then ___ has no chance,” and I jump in without much thought as to how I am possibly going get that bone fixed.

It is more a badge of sincere desire to try to help without any regard as to how incredibly stressful it is to me when I am in there, all by myself, without a clue as to how to get out with my mission accomplished. I understand why general practitioners just say “No,” to these patients. It is too hard in most cases to fix these poor guys broken bones without the training to know how to correctly fix a fracture. This training is the reason boarded surgeons need 4 years of a residency, and also why they command the prices they do.

As I began to peruse the video screen I asked her “What the story on this kitty was?”

“She is an outdoor kitty who has never been to the Vet before. No vaccines, no history. But the owners have been feeding her for awhile.” It is a typical scenario for us in rural northern Maryland.

“Do you know what happened to her?” I asked as I started to assess the picture on the screen in front of me. I then started my internal assessment as she started with her patients’ story. “No evidence of fracture in the radius or ulna,” I said to myself as my mind started to assess the rest of the film. We are taught in vet school to assess an x-ray in some order and then taught to repeat this every time. It doesn’t really what order you use, but that you use the same order each time so that you don’t inadvertently overlook anything. My order is top to bottom when I am looking at extremities (aka legs).

The foot on the right shows soft tissue damage, just above the carpus (wrist)

“We think that she got her foot caught in a leg hold trap.” My mind stopped scanning the film, and I looked at her, giving myself a moment to switch from film assessment to digesting her words.

“Good god! People still use those things?” the expression of disgust and horror evident in both my words and my expression. “I thought that they were illegal?” As the words came out of my mouth I realized I was once again preaching to the choir and once again I knew I was just voicing the thoughts of everyone else in the room. I cannot imagine a more cruel device. Can you imagine being trapped by your leg by a steel device that is ripping into your flesh, chewing at your bone, and you are helpless to do anything about it? Stuck there until you starve to death. It is torture in the worst most imaginable way. Please lord let me die quickly and painlessly. Please lord let me not know the cruelty of mankind.

I looked at the x-ray and said aloud, “Good news! There is a great deal of soft tissue injury, but I don’t see any evidence of a fracture.”

Same foot, but lateral (side) view

 “OK, but can you look at the leg for me?”

“Sure,” I said.

I walked over to the surgery area and saw a very frightened, fully dilated pupils and frozen to the table top tabby cat. There is an acquired art in reading a cat. If you ask a vet what they are more afraid of they will tell you a cat vs. a dog everyday of the week. A dog will tell you in advance that they want to rip your face off, but a cat will just attack you without any advanced notice.

Before me crouched one very scared seemingly on the verge of striking, tabby cat. Dr. H told me that her name was Otzee. I skipped the introduction assuming she didn’t want to know me in the first place. I approached her slowly and quietly. When I looked at her foot I realized that the x-ray had not done her foot any justice. The soft tissue trauma I had diagnosed was instead a circumferential wound that left only her bone visible. There was a small strip of skin that attached the upper part of her leg to the foot.

I have done this job long enough to know that there is a bit of truth to the old saying about a “cat having nine lives.” I have learned to not make an assumption on a wound until you give that patient a few days to decide whether or not they are going to heal. Never assume you are smarter than the body’s ability to heal (remember Abby’s story?).  Now, don’t get me wrong that leg looked terrible.

Being a good patient, mostly because she feels soo bad.

I asked Dr. H what she had discussed with the owners so far. “Well,” (long pause), “I haven’t said much to them yet.” “They have told me that this is an outside cat, and that they can’t keep her inside. They also don’t have any money to pay for any extensive treatment.”

“I think that at minimum this kitty needs to stay inside so someone can monitor that wound in the hopes of saving that leg.” I said. “Do you think they will let her stay inside for a few days?”

“I can certainly ask.” Off she went to discuss the treatment options for Otzee.

She came back to me and said they Otzee’s owners were willing to give her a few days to see how her leg did.”

Otzee went home and her owners kept her inside and quiet for four days. When she returned for her re-check Dr. H brought her back to the treatment area she called me to verify what she thought she was looking at.

Her foot was now three times the size it was. She was not using the foot at all and the smell of rotten flesh permeated the air.  There was now no doubt that this foot wasn’t going to heal. There was just enough tissue to allow some blood to flow into the foot but not enough infra-structure left behind to allow any of that to flow back up the leg. That foot was rotting off of her leg and it was time to say goodbye to it.

The foot, much bigger than it should be.

We talked about this, the cost of the surgery, and that her life needed to change from “outdoor” to “indoor.”

Dr. H went back to the exam room to talk to Otzee’s owners to see what they thought about our plan.

She came back to me and said that they were going to leave Otzee with us while they went home and talked about whether or not they could handle her as an indoor cat.

They called a few hours later and told us that they had decided to euthanize her. I asked them if could make a few phone calls to the rescues to see if I could find them some help for her. They politely and gladly accepted.

I called Animal Rescue and presented Otzee’s case to them. They offered to perform her amputation but said that they didn’t have room to keep her. They suggested that I offer to Otzee’s owners that they would do the surgery for them but that they then needed to take her back home.

I wanted to clarify the conversation because I couldn’t believe they honestly were suggesting this. “You mean you don’t mind doing her surgery for free if they take her back?” I said.

“Yes, that’s right,” they replied.

“OK, I’ll let them know.”

I called Otzee’s owners and asked them if they could keep her inside if we did her surgery?”

“No,” they quickly replied. I let it go at that.

Otzee went to Animal Rescue for her spay and leg amputation and returned to us the next day. She stayed in the far corner of her cage and never said a peep. She was as much a part of the woodwork as she could make herself to be. We tried to talk to her without intimidating her, without getting too close, and without forcing her to join the civilized world.

It has been a few weeks and she has decided that life with humans around isn’t as awful as it first appeared. She has made a friend with Kiki and has slowly come out of her shell.

She remains with us, looking for a second home that will allow her to be safe inside.

This is a picture I found on the internet. This is NOT Otzee.

UPDATE: 2/8/2012

Otzee was adopted today by one of our very kind, very understanding clients. This is the second "hard to place" kitty that she has adopted from us. We all wish her and Otzee a very long, happy, healthy, and peaceful life together! YIPPEE for Otzee!