Rest in peace sweet Gus. We’ll never forget you…

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We rescued Gus from Hamilton Animal Services where he ended up as a stray. Gus was a little worse for wear when he arrived at HAS. His fur was sparse, he had an upper respiratory virus and he was a bit wobbly on his feet. After some medication, and lots of pats from HAS staff, he started to feel better.
On his rescue day, we got Gus to the vet for a check-up. He’s still sneezing a bit, but he has a great appetite and a happy purr. The vet would like to see him back again in a few weeks for a re-check.
Gus is settling in at his foster home now and making himself right at home.
We’ll keep you posted on how this little character is doing.

Welcome Gus!

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UPDATE SEPTEMBER 17/18
Poor Gus.
As if he didn’t have a rough enough go before he came to us, this past four days have been a roller coaster ride for him.
The day after his rescue and initial vet visit, Gus was doing okay one minute, and then lethargic and unresponsive the next. His foster family rushed him back to the vet and he was put on fluids and medication. The vet wasn’t sure what caused the crash, but Gus eventually felt a bit better, so he was sent back to his foster home.
Yesterday, he had a seizure. Then another. His foster family rushed him to the emergency clinic where he had another. After blood tests and an x-ray, the vet could see no obvious reason for these seizures. The blood test ruled out epilepsy, and the x-ray showed nothing that would be related to why he had these episodes. Gus spent the night at the emergency clinic, and was transferred to his regular clinic this morning.
Thankfully, Gus hasn’t had any further seizures. He’ll be on “seizure watch” for the day at the clinic, and our vets are going to run more comprehensive tests while he’s there. Hopefully we can get an answer as to why he’s having such a tough go…
We are keeping our fingers crossed for our little guy, and we hope you can too!

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UPDATE SEPTEMBER 19/18
Gus made it through the day at the vet without any seizures and he was sent back to his foster home. But early this morning, he had three more seizures. Back to the vet with him for anti-seizure meds and more tests. If this new set of tests is inconclusive, we’ll have to take Gus to the Ontario Vet College to try to get some answers. We really hope we can get to the bottom of this and get Gus feeling better soon!

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UPDATE SEPTEMBER 24/18

Good news… we finally have a diagnosis!

Here’s the report from Dr. Kornya at The Cat Clinic​:
“Gus is suffering from an uncommon genetic condition called “cysteinuria”. This is a result of a malfunction to a part of his kidneys that allows certain amino acids (the building blocks of protein) to be lost in his urine instead of staying in his blood. The main amino acids that are lost are called “cysteine” and “arginine”. Cysteine in the urine crystallizes and forms stones and crystals. These result in bleeding, trauma, and inflammation to the bladder. There is a risk of urinary obstruction later in life.
Loss of arginine in urine results in low blood levels of arginine, which is an essential nutrient in cats. This nutrient deficiency causes a poor hair coat and body condition, pica (eating nonfood items) and leads to seizures.
Gus is currently being managed with pain control (for the bladder inflammation), anti-seizure medications, and a specific nutrition plan. Gus’s diet is intended to be low in cysteine, alkalinizing, and with additional arginine supplemented. This should hopefully resolve many of his signs and allow us to stop or reduce medications.
Gus’s condition is not curable. While lifelong nutritional management may help minimize signs, he will always have a risk of urinary disease and neurologic disease and may have a shortened lifespan.”

As well as the seizures, Gus did have urinary issues during his time with us (frequent urination, sometimes outside the litter box) and much to his foster family’s shock, he had attempted to eat his own poop on a couple of occasions. So gross! But now we know why all of this was happening, and we’re on a path to making it better!
Since his last vet visit, Gus hasn’t had any more seizures (thank goodness!), and his urinary issues and poop eating have almost disappeared. The medication, special food and arginine supplement have all helped this little guy, and we couldn’t be happier!
He still has quite a journey ahead of him, but we’re thankful to Dr. Kornya, and to Gus’ foster family for all they’ve done for him.

Gus is now on a special diet from the vet. It’s Royal Canin brand canned food – “Renal Support.” He’ll likely need to be strictly on this diet for the rest of his life, so donations of this food would be very welcomed!
Monetary donations towards Gus’ care are also needed. All those tests and vet visits definitely put a drain on our bank account! Thank you to everyone who has already donated and sent well wishes for this little guy. We are so thankful we have all of you right here along with us, so we can continue to rescue animals like Gus and get them the care they desperately need.

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UPDATE OCTOBER 3/18

We have heavy hearts today. Last week, Gus had another bout of seizures and ended up at the vet and then the emergency clinic for overnight observation. He went back to his foster home, and was up and down after that. One day of being normal (as normal as a kitten on phenobarbital can be) and then back to frequent litter box use and trying to eat his poop again.

When his foster family got home yesterday, Gus was clearly not well. He smelled very strongly of urine, was sitting in the litter box and not leaving, and his penis was out and inflamed. They took Gus to the vet where Dr. Kornya diagnosed a urinary blockage. Certainly not something a young kitten should have. Gus was in a lot of pain.
Though attempts could have been made to fix the blockage, the chances of it happening again in the future were 100%, because of Gus’ condition.
Dr. Kornya noted that all of the issues Gus was suffering from were going to continue throughout his life.
The cysteinuria diagnoses, all those seizures, the urinary and bowel issues, and now a bladder blockage, all before Gus was four months old. Gus was not having a happy and comfortable life now, nor would he in the future. He was sad and hurting.

After talking to Dr. Kornya, and Gus’ foster family, the agonizing decision was made to end Gus’ suffering. His foster family held him in their arms and surrounded him with loads and loads of love as they said goodbye.
We’re heartbroken, but we’re thankful we got to know this funny little kitten. Everyone did their best to get him better, and he was very much loved during his short time with us.

Thank you Dr. Kornya for all your efforts. And thank you to Gus’ foster family for everything you did for him.

Rest well Gus. We’ll never forget you.