Happy 16th Birthday, Charlie!

It is the night before Charlie’s 16th birthday, as I sit down to write this. When I write these, I first go through all the photos on my phone that I have taken with Charlie over the last year. All the photos on this post were taken in the last year.

And when I was going through them, I was thankful I didn’t have to see the ones of Trigg sick, like I did last year. However, it also made me sad not to see any photos of Chiggy. Those things gave me time to reflect on this year Charlie and I spent alone together.

I always thought if Charlie died before Trigg, that it would be really neat to see what Trigg was like without Charlie’s dominance. I figured I would know precisely how Charlie would be with Trigg’s absence because Charlie’s strong personality is always present. And he has been exactly as I thought he would – with the exception of grief. I didn’t know Charlie would mourn Trigg’s death as deeply as he did. It really showed me how very much he loved him.

I would say there are still times he mourns him, but not often, and usually it’s when I am gone for many, many hours, and he’s been home alone.

This has been an interesting year for Charlie. I am very spiritually driven and have felt that Trigg’s parting gift to me was to learn more about homeopathy. That’s why I’ve conducted numerous interviews about it on our YouTube channel this year—to honor Trigg’s memory.

And Charlie, being the willing candidate he is, was the perfect guinea pig – although with homeopathy, there’s really no guinea pig. Many of you know that Charlie had Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome. I am part of a group on Facebook where I met a gal with a Ragdoll, who has now become a close friend of mine. She’s the one who told me about a homeopath in the UK – Geoff Johnson.

I think I started working with Geoff for Charlie in January – maybe it was earlier – but I am being lazy and not looking back. Geoff has been working on Charlie’s constitutional remedy. You see, Charlie has gotten homeopathy for years for acute things – allergies, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. But not for any chronic ailments.

That’s why I reached out to Geoff to address the chronic issues.

Last year, in August, something happened outside with Charlie – he got into something, stopped eating his raw food, and wouldn’t touch anything but freeze-dried treats. Our vet thought it might be his kidney disease – so I threw some Cerenia in his mouth, and it made no difference. I ended up switching him back to canned food after he stopped eating raw and cooked raw.

Homeopathy for Cats

Many months later, Geoff would put Charlie on a remedy (Sunflower – Helia 30C) that ended up causing Charlie to puke out liver flukes – so big that I think they must have taken up half of his liver. And I think that’s all that happened around August of last year. When Charlie and I did the hair and saliva analysis with Pet Medella, it was mentioned that he had come into contact with a bacteria or something outside – and well, that was the result. As soon as Charlie puked those things up, his appetite really returned.

What I have learned from that is that you cannot always blame their lack of eating on kidney disease or old age – there can be other factors.

One of the reasons you will see many sleeping photos in this post is that I take a lot of photos of Charlie sleeping, as I want to document when he feels well. You see, if you have a cat in a loaf position, they are not comfortable—and it could be a digestive problem. It could be a kidney problem. It could be, it could be. But if Charlie is feeling good, then he is belly up or some version of it.

Charlie’s acquisition of FHS and subsequent remission – a result of his health being restored by Pam of Purrrfectly Holistic – really made me look at the body (ours and our cats) in a different way. When it is given the herbs, vitamins, minerals, or homeopathy that it needs to heal, it is able to heal.

Right now, Charlie is on a remedy to help with his kidneys – we just started it last week. His eyes are a mess, actually. In those birthday hat photos, taken two days before his birthday, you can see the toxicity in his eyes. If I saw that in his eyes without giving him a remedy, I would be concerned, but I am not because I know we are working through something else.

I learned from an interview with Dr. Pamela Dragos, that in holistic medicine and Chinese medicine, there are different kinds of kidney failure – WHOA! And it makes sense to me, based on the cats I have had with kidney issues. This is the first time I have managed kidney disease naturally – with herbs, supplements, etc. Now, I am still giving him subq fluids and B12 in those fluids. However, I am also giving him ozone in his Lactated Ringer’s bag every week, as well as whichever herbs the pendulum suggests.

I know Charlie is teaching me more and more. And recently, my dad spent some time in the hospital, and because of Charlie (and Caymus and Trigg and Murphy), I have learned what my dad needs to detox and therefore, can help him in a small way, which is really cool. Someone recently asked me if I worked in the medical field because of how I was discussing health – and I chuckled and said, “Nope, just with cats.”

Sub Q Fluids and Charlie

When my Rags was still alive, I watched the viral video, “Charlie bit my finger.” I knew after watching that video that I would one day name a cat Charlie. And that’s how Charlie got his name. However, I never knew the naming would end up being a full-circle moment.

About a month ago, Charlie bit my finger whilst giving him fluids. Although it did not hurt, it caused enough havoc that I ended up needing to get antibiotics, which then killed my healthy microbiome that I had worked hard to replenish. And I ended up getting sick.

Now, I wear suede gloves (I don’t want to take any more antibiotics) and give him an anxiety herb 20 minutes before he receives fluids. He receives fluids about once a week, or every 3-4 days when he is expelling something, such as those liver flukes. I use a pendulum to test what he needs, and I can also tell from his behavior if it’s time for fluids.

Before that, though, I would have said fluids were going extremely well given Charlie’s sensitivities and personality, which likes to go into Chuckie mode. And I mentioned in last year’s post that I never, ever thought I would EVER be able to give Charlie fluids.

Flea Update

I am scared to type that we have not had a flea for months – time to knock wood. During a live video I was on with Pam of Purrfectly Holistic and Michael of Healthy Paw Herbals, Pam suggested that I ask the animal communicator I use to talk to the flea-bag opossum in my yard, and ask him to find a new home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9MpK_PV74o

After that happened, we have not had a problem since. So for years, I vacuumed for days, stressed like a crazy person, only to find out that I needed to hire an animal communicator to get the opossum to go away.

Don’t get me wrong – given the amount of wildlife I have gone through my yard, I still put down Ecosmart granules every time after it rains, spray my fence line with garlic, and also put a border around my house with epsom salt. I also put DE on Charlie every day before he goes out. So I am still hyper viligent, just not having to vacuum every single week for days on end sometimes. It was really financially draining to do all of that – because I was constantly buying natural flea control products, vacuum bags, not to mention the time it took me away from Floppycats. It really was a drag for me. I have been very grateful for what I learned, but also very grateful for not having that problem.

Ragdoll Cat Outside

I cannot tell you how many of my family members have questioned my sanity in letting Charlie in my fenced-in backyard, especially since he was such a flea magnet. Interestingly enough, now with the opossum gone, I wonder if he really was that much of a flea magnet – I think I had a pretty large population (that repopulated quickly) in my backyard. And that’s why Charlie was inundated with them.

Charlie LOVES outside. If I took that away from him, he would be dead. I just know he would. I would take away something that brings him a lot of joy. We go outside every day – unless it’s raining – he hates rain.

We got a lot of snow this year. A lot. I shoveled pathways, so he could trot along and do his thing. At his age, he doesn’t spend much time outside in the snow.

However, if I let him out at midnight when the street is quiet and no one is on it, and let him go into the front yard (which is usually off-limits), he will stay out for hours. I did that this year – at midnight, and we walked up the street together. I would NOT have done this when he was 2 years old, but he’s old enough now that I could catch him if he ran and also I know him well enough that I can predict his next move.

Because of his allergies and the bacteria thing, he gets his paws dipped in water and wiped off every single time he comes in from outside. And also gets his cheats (treats).

After what happened with Trigg last year (meaning I lost him so quickly), I know we never know how long we have them. I do thank Charlie for staying with me, as I do think they have a choice to go, if they want to.

I am really excited to see what will come of this latest homeopathic remedy for the kidneys – to see if it really makes a difference for him or not. My goal is to reduce or eliminate the fluids, as I know he doesn’t like them – yet, for 3-5 minutes of discomfort, he reaps days and days of benefits. However, it would be cool if we could reach the point where they are no longer needed because of homeopathy.

All of our animals can be teachers, if we pay attention and “listen” to what they have to teach us. I have been fortunate enough to have Charlie as a strong personality that makes me pay attention, look for more, and find better. By eliminating toxins in my house to help him live a better life and a less itchy one, I have also eliminated those toxins from my life and improved my health.

He has been a blessing in more ways than one, and I hope to have many more years with him on Earth to continue learning and growing. Happy Birthday, Charlieman. I love you and am so very grateful for everything you are.