Tillie's Two Cents

Hi!  My name is Tillie.  I’m an Egyptian Mau that lives at Noah’s Caring Hands Animal Hospital.  What’s an Egyptian Mau, you ask?  Only the best breed of cat ever!  I feel kind of special knowing I’m so exotic.  So what makes me, well, me?  Mostly my spots.  Those are a huge characteristic in my breed, as well as my facial markings.  Did you know that it is rumored that Egyptian women tried to copy my breed’s facial markings when doing their makeup?  Especially the eyes.  Neat, isn’t it?!  I’m also extremely loyal. 

As I said, I live in an animal hospital.  I wasn’t quite sure about it at first, but now I love it!  They adopted me from the Hamilton County Humane Society.  I’m sure glad that they did.  Everyone here loves me, and it sure feels good to finally be loved.  I see all sorts of things living here.  It’s never a dull day, that’s for sure!  There are always new friends to meet, if I so choose to.  You know, it really is a blessing that I was chosen to live in an animal hospital.  After I’d been here for a bit, they noticed that I kept regurgitating my food.  I wasn’t really sure how to tell them something was wrong, but they figured it out anyway.  Smart people!  They knew I had stomatitis.  They tell me that’s an inflammation of the mouth.  Eek!  I had a dental so they could look around in my mouth.  My first dental hadn’t helped as much as hoped, so I had to have more teeth taken out.  I only have three teeth left, but my mouth feels so much better.  While I was having my surgery, they snapped a few x-rays.  Many x-rays later, they discovered that I have megaesophagus.  This means my esophagus does not contract, so it makes it harder to get my food into my stomach, and then the food hangs out in my esophagus making it easier to aspirate to my lungs.  Not much can be done to fix this.  What helps a ton is my step stool.  My bowls are up on the stool, and I have to eat standing on my back legs.  I got used to this really quick, and it has helped me so much.  They also keep a very close eye on me for any signs of pneumonia, which unfortunately comes with the territory of megaesophagus.  I can’t say that I mind the extra attention!  So you see, I really did end up at the best place possible for me.  So that’s my story. 

Noah’s Caring Hands Animal Hospital doesn’t only help me though, they help so many other fellow furry friends.  I learn so many things by living here, and that is why I decided to start an advice column on this blog.  If your pets (especially my fellow cats) have any questions, you can send them my way at tilliemau@gmail.com.

Talk to you soon!

~Tillie