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My Girls

Treasurecat

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Hi, my name is Megan.When I got my first Sphynx I had actually gone to look at a Cornish Rex that the breeder had. It was an older kitten and not very typey or friendly. She brought out a litter of three Sphynx and I was hooked,lol. I put a deposit down on the female and took her home. She ended up having Herpes and needed some major meds to save her eye but it healed just fine. Her name is Peaches. About a year later we went back (yeah, didn't learn my lesson with the whole Herpes thing...) The HOA had made the woman move all her cats. Some we went to see at a friends house, were too young and sneezing. I didn't want any of them,but my Mother talked me into taking this not-very-pretty, sneezing, fuzzy-footed 5-6 week old babt. Who also had to undergo the extensive eye med ritual because of the Herpes. I named her Treasure. She is built like a Whippit. Next is Lula. She came from a new breeder in a different state. She was healthy but unfortunatley caught the herpes virus from the others leaving her withcronic sinusitis. Last is Isobel. I had typed her long and ugly story but the forum booted me off and it was lost, it just saved the first part of this post, weird... I will tell her story another time, when I don't have to get up early.
 

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Mews2much

V.I.P Lairian
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Welcome to Sphynx Lair.
Your cats are all pretty.
I have 2 sphynx and will be getting a 3rd sphynx.
 

ilovemysphynx

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Hi Treasurecat, glad you joined us. You have a nice looking bunch:ThumbsUp: Sorry about all the problems you have had with them, but it sounds like you have it under control! Great job!
Love the pictures!
 

PitRottMommy

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Welcome, Treasurecat, your three are absolutely adorable. In addition, your story is one that many can take a lesson from in finding a breeder with healthy babies.

I'm sure you'll hear a lot about it on this forum, but were the breeding cats scanned for HCM? I hate to pass judgement on someone I don't know, but many breeders that aren't keenly aware of FHV aren't aware of HCM either. There are some of us on this forum (whether we breed or not) that do annual heart scans to make sure our cats don't have the heart condition, HCM (known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). All breeders should be scanning their cats to make sure their hearts are in tip-top shape--HCM is a disease that can afflict cats without ever so much as a heart murmur.

It would be wise to have all of your girls scanned, just to be certain there wasn't more than an underlying virus to worry about, having already had so many problems with all three, bless their little hearts. I recommend this for everyone who owns a sphynx because of the extreme problem that exists with this breed. Breeders, if they are actually responsible, scan all of their breeders annually. I've heard of some waiting for "signs and symptoms" before performing cardiac scans. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, this is a heart condition that can lie dormant without a murmur or any other outward signs until the pet is in congestive heart failure. I feel compelled to share the information with as many owners as possible, because many breeders aren't frank about this risk and I've known many people in my career to lose pets to this disease. It's heart-wrenching. And the lives of pets are greatly improved and extended when it's caught early, so scanning just to be certain can truly be a life saver.
 

2sphynxgirl

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Welcome Megan! I hope you will enjoy sphynxlair. Your girls are beautiful! Many of us here understand what you have gone through with the herpes...and best of all we are all obsessed with our sphynxes!:Smile:
 

Treasurecat

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Thank you everyone! I already love it here, I spent hours here last night looking around and love all the helpful topics and admiring everybody else's babies, lol. Thanks PitRottMommy for the suggestion about the HCM. Poor little Isobel's story takes a turn in that direction (and many others) My Mother found her online at a "breeder" up north. They called her " special needs" saying that her litter had come down with a URI at just a couple weeks old. She had a residual weepy eye thing going on, but that was literally the least of her problems. As mentioned, my mom found her and became almost obsessed about getting her. So in Sept '05 she flew to get her. I immediately noticed she did almost nothing a normal cat does. No cleaning, no play, when presented with a hand to sniff, she would mindlessly chew on your fingers-hard! she seemed so spaced out, its very hard to explain. About a month after she was there my Mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which explained some of her obcession with getting Isobel. That same weekend Isobel spiked a 107* temp and I thought she would die, I asked the vet to put her down and he said lets see how she does:(. She circled her cage at home (one of those chest-high, multi-level ones, I always use it for new kittens) and work for two or three days I can't remember. No sleep, staggering around the perimeter through the litter, food, water, bed over and over. I cleaned her so many times. Finally she just collapsed and slept for like 24 hours straight. It was all really ugly to watch. And with my Mother in the hospital and that whole horrible saga... I did contact the "breeder" and tell them how she acted and about being so ill, she didn't act very surprised, refunded HALF of her purchase price and said I should probably put her out of her misery. By this time she had recovered back to the way she was when she came, so as this wasn't a life-threatening existence, I chose not to pts (I'm still P'Oed about that suggestion) At various times through the next couple of years we tried all kinds of stuff. She would have really good times but would always sink back down to this sad, barely responsive lump. The cat specialist said she thought it was a shunt and said her heart was "turned on its axis" per the sonogram. Auburn Univ. said neither of those things showed and that she had HCM. They said that since she was showing symptoms that it wouldn't be very long. They prescribed something to slow her heartbeat and said to make her happy. Well That was in March of '08. She ran out the meds and my local vet said he didn't think that was her issue, he would of written me a scrip but we chose to wait and see what she displayed. All thru-out this her WBC count would always be extremely high, Like 40,000 or more. As long as I keep her on some sort of antibiotic she functions pretty normal ( for her, still not a normal cat but she does clean and play and have little frisky moments where she sharpens her claws) I have spent at least 2,500$ on tests and meds and still have no concrete answer as to whats really wrong with her, I suspect some sort of abscess that's walled off in her chest or even her head. You cannot imagine the tears I have shed over this cat ( My Mother didn't make it so its very hard to think of not having Isobel around since shes one of the last things we did before life got ugly) I know that I have given her way more chances than 90% of the people that might have bought her would, and I will continue as long as shes "happy". I am so sorry for the novel, the rest of my family are not really sympathetic towards animals on the level I am,so I have never sat down and told anyone ALL of this at once. Thanks for all the kind comments about my beasties, they really are the most awesome things in my life. Heres a parting pic of Isobel on a good day...
 

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ultra_stella

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I am so, so sorry. I can only imagine how traumatic this experience was for you.. We all understand the compassion you have and I know we are all rooting for you and Isobel. That's so sweet of you to take in the group like you did and I pray that Isobel's condition will improve. I will send you positive vibes. Please keep us updated.
 

Mews2much

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So sorry about your mom.
I lost mine to breast cancer in 1999 and my stepmom Oct 31rst 2009.
Coco my old cat is the only one left from when my was alive.
I understand how you feel about your cat.
Coco has CRF,High BP,Heart Murmur,Asthma and has been on Baytril for a year because she gets bladder infection within 2 months of being off them.
It is nice that you save her and did not have her pts.
I was told to do that with Coco when she was 10.
She is now 17.10 years old.
I love your sphynx and hope she will do well.
 

Brooke

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Wow, Treasurecat. What a heartbreaking story. :Cry: I'm so sorry to hear about your Mom and appalled at the way the so-called breeder handled the situation. It sounds like you've had a string of bad luck, but I think these cats are incredibly lucky that they're with you.
 

admin

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Hello Treasurecat and welcome to Sphynxlair! Thank you for sharing your story and pictures! It looks like you have a special bunch there! Sorry to hear about your mom. Please enjoy the site!:Laugh:
 

Treasurecat

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Thank you so much to everybody. This really seems like an amazing place. I look forward to seeing and hearing all of your cute, funny and sad stories and pics and sharing my own. Thanks for the waem welcome, Megan.
 
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