Sweet Pebbles
This is Pebbles Story.
English is not my native language as you know and it is definitely more British orientated than American as I spend quite some time in the UK way back in the day visiting friends.
To get a complete picture, I feel I need to explain something about another cat we used to have. We believe that what happened that night with Bueno (the other cat) triggered something in Pebbles causing the FHS to surface. It's Also my way of telling her story and processing just losing her. She was such a lovely little creature who fought so many battles and survived against all odds. If I hadn’t found you (Simply Sphynx) at exactly the right moment I fear we would have had to say goodbye so much earlier as she would have continued to bite her tail to a point of no return. So here it goes.
Pebbles & Bam Bam
Pebbles came into our lives when we were looking for a playmate for our BamBam about 11 eleven years ago. He had lost his brother to FIP and from that moment on he was ignored by our other two cats, a brother and sister duo named Akira and Ozzy.
We found Pebbles, and she had the mentality of a construction worker as we say in Holland. You would probably call her a tomboy. They were a purrfect match. They were happy and so were we.
About three and a half years later we had sadly had to say goodbye to BamBam, due to HCM (Hypertrophophic Cardiomyopathy) related problems. It had an impact on our whole family, especially Pebbles. She eventually found a new friend in Ozzy, but had to share him with the rest of the gang. There were other changes in her life too as over the course of the years we added Ziggy and later on a rescue case called Bueno.
We found Pebbles, and she had the mentality of a construction worker as we say in Holland. You would probably call her a tomboy. They were a purrfect match. They were happy and so were we.
About three and a half years later we had sadly had to say goodbye to BamBam, due to HCM (Hypertrophophic Cardiomyopathy) related problems. It had an impact on our whole family, especially Pebbles. She eventually found a new friend in Ozzy, but had to share him with the rest of the gang. There were other changes in her life too as over the course of the years we added Ziggy and later on a rescue case called Bueno.
"Pebbles had the mentality of a construction worker as we say in Holland, you would probably call her a tomboy."
Bueno was a beautiful boy,
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Bueno and Akira wanted the same spot on my chest while watching telly. They didn’t come to an agreement and there was some slapping between them. Annoyed they walked away, right across me and my husbands face and their nails hurt us as they sort of jumped/ran. We cried out “autsch, stupid cats” or something in that order. Nothing unusual, it happened before. What happened next, never happened before though.
Bueno jumped of the sofa and halted, eyelids peeled back, wide open, ears flat to his neck and he let out a bellowing cry, a sound so intense, so raw, so wild that it’s really beyond any description or comparison to anything we heard an animal utter. He locked his gaze on his feline family, getting ready to charge, and they ran for their lives in utter terror, scattering all around the house. He crouched low, belly touching the floor, and we slowely got up from the sofa in shock, looking at him frozen in that horrific pose, while we glanced around for the other cats. He turned that frightening stare directly at me, and let out another cry, so loud, so weird that my blood ran cold, and before I could move he charged straight towards me.
Bueno jumped of the sofa and halted, eyelids peeled back, wide open, ears flat to his neck and he let out a bellowing cry, a sound so intense, so raw, so wild that it’s really beyond any description or comparison to anything we heard an animal utter. He locked his gaze on his feline family, getting ready to charge, and they ran for their lives in utter terror, scattering all around the house. He crouched low, belly touching the floor, and we slowely got up from the sofa in shock, looking at him frozen in that horrific pose, while we glanced around for the other cats. He turned that frightening stare directly at me, and let out another cry, so loud, so weird that my blood ran cold, and before I could move he charged straight towards me.
"Bueno jumped of the sofa and halted, eyelids peeled back, wide open, ears flat to his neck and he let out a bellowing cry, a sound so intense, so raw, so wild that it’s really beyond any description or comparison to anything we'd ever heard an animal utter"
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I jumped aside just in time. My husband had run upstairs to close all the bedroom doors to protect the other cats hidden in there as well as our son who was asleep!
The look in his eyes was changing, I didn’t recognize him. It was as if a monster had gotten into him. Bueno let out that horrid cry again, ready to have another go at me from the other side of the room. Luckily my husband returned and Bueno turned from me and tried to attack him, horrible noises still screeching from his mouth. We ended up closing ourselves in into the kitchen, hiding, because nothing calmed him down. To cut this dramatic story very very short: we had to put him down the next day. There was no calming him down, we tried everything that night and believe me: it was a long and exhausting night. We discussed it with friends, breeder friends and vets and no one had ever seen or heard anything like it. We couldn’t risk him staying in our house because of the safety of our son and other cats. We couldn’t rehome him as we were not certain this wouldn’t happen again. Though there were no certainties, the vet believed this to be caused by some sort of epilepsy of other neurological malfunction. Even one of the vets, who dealt with stray cats on a regular basis, never seen or heard anything quite like it. The Aftermath
Our human and feline family was shaken up, we were all on edge for quite some time. About three weeks after this incident we came home one night to find that Pebbles had attacked her tail and it bled big time. There was blood everywhere. She couldn’t stop herself biting it and while she did it, she cried out in pain. Her lovely long furry tail was damaged so bad and she sat there with eyes wide open in pain and despair. She was in panic mode and couldn’t get out of it. The following weeks we were to be found at the vets most of the time. (video at bottom of page) We started with painkillers and an ointment to help heal the wound she inflicted on herself. The ointment seemed to make her even more aware of her tail and the biting didn’t stop. We got her a collar to prevent her from biting. She had the smallest kitten version, we still had to adjust it due to her tiny little kittycat neck. It helped, a couple of days. Then she figured out how to manoeuvre her body so she could get to her tail anyway. We and the vet checked for flees: none. The vet checked for fungus: nothing to be found. Same goes for bacteria; the vet couldn’t detect any. Her blood work came out negative on anything and everything we tried having tested. Same for skin scrapings. The vet and we checked on numerous occasions if she had a sore spot on her tail (apart from the wound that was already there) and if we could detect any spot in particular that was hurting her. We could squeeze all we wanted, she never reacted to anything. So we ended up wrapping her tail in bandages. The wound wouldn’t heal as fast as we wanted it to, but she couldn’t bite through the material and make it worse. Little Miss Houdini however was able to get rid of the bandage every other day. We then changed it every day and the wound healed quite a bit after a while. Bandages came off and we hoped for the best. Sad to say, but she started again.
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In the mean time we also noticed her rolling skin. Whenever she would start her biting frenzy it sort of was announced by her back skin twitching and rolling (video at bottom of page). She often ran to us, jumped into our arms and sat there shaking until our touch calmed her down. Put her back on the floor and it started again. She was desperate, wanted nothing more than be held. Even cried out to us to be held. As said, the biting did not stop and we started her on anti depressants. That should have calmed her down, but you guessed it: it didn’t. Instead she went crazy, like we had an ADHD kitty on our hands, in a constant state of panic and the biting got worse. The wound got pretty bad despite us and the vet taking care of it as much as we could. It got infected and we had no other option than to have it partially amputated. As the vet also noticed her teeth were in bad shape, most of them were taken out. Various meds were tried out that would - in “normal” cases - have calmed her down. In her case though, not so much.
The vets and we were at a loss, we didn’t know how to help her. The vet warned us that if she would start chewing her tail again and again, there would be the possibility of just one more operation: complete amputation of her tail but the risk would definitely be that she would start on her behind and that would mean end of story.
As we had noticed she would calm down by being held, preferably in a blanket, we came up with the idea to have her wear a shirt. Due to her odd body measurements however we couldn’t find a perfect fit. Did it in fact cover her body, than the neck and legs would be so loose she would easily get rid of the shirt. Was it a good fit around her neck, than it would only cover half of her back. I started having a more closer look at people on FB who had their cats wear shirts and stuff. They all bought it from a store. The people who made shirts here in The Netherlands told me they couldn’t meet our requirements as they either just did standard stuff or shirts that would keep out the cold and they would be too warm for Pebbles to wear during Summer time. Time and time again I had seen the clothes you make for cats and as you have Sphynxes of your own and seemed so positively involved in the Sphynx world as a whole I decided to approach you mid 2014. Tried as good as I could to explain what we were looking for and you instantly replied with: YES I can help you! Our relief was beyond words!
On top of that you also pointed me into the direction of FHS. The things I started to read about it really hit home: this was our Pebbles!
The vets and we were at a loss, we didn’t know how to help her. The vet warned us that if she would start chewing her tail again and again, there would be the possibility of just one more operation: complete amputation of her tail but the risk would definitely be that she would start on her behind and that would mean end of story.
As we had noticed she would calm down by being held, preferably in a blanket, we came up with the idea to have her wear a shirt. Due to her odd body measurements however we couldn’t find a perfect fit. Did it in fact cover her body, than the neck and legs would be so loose she would easily get rid of the shirt. Was it a good fit around her neck, than it would only cover half of her back. I started having a more closer look at people on FB who had their cats wear shirts and stuff. They all bought it from a store. The people who made shirts here in The Netherlands told me they couldn’t meet our requirements as they either just did standard stuff or shirts that would keep out the cold and they would be too warm for Pebbles to wear during Summer time. Time and time again I had seen the clothes you make for cats and as you have Sphynxes of your own and seemed so positively involved in the Sphynx world as a whole I decided to approach you mid 2014. Tried as good as I could to explain what we were looking for and you instantly replied with: YES I can help you! Our relief was beyond words!
On top of that you also pointed me into the direction of FHS. The things I started to read about it really hit home: this was our Pebbles!
I felt relieved: we finally knew what was the matter with her ! It also worried us, as we learned that there would be no cure and that meant that if tight fit shirts wouldn’t work the way we hoped they would … autsh. So we tried to stay positive and waited for the shirts to arrive. We also discussed a brain scan with various vets and a specialist as FHS is a neurological issue. The problem with all cats, but especially Pebbles is that she had a very small head, so her brains would be even smaller and it would be very difficult to detect anything out of the ordinary on a scan. As she stressed out so easily we decided against a scan. I handed over the information I found online about FHS and the vet looked into it, eventually concluding that it was with almost certainty that Pebbles was suffering from this condition.
As scanning was out of the question, even advised against by one of the specialists, we would never know for a 100% certain. All her symptoms however pointed in that direction and we and the vets were convinced this condition was troubling her. Airie, I don’t know any other way than to write this on a personal note to you and Melissande. You worked so hard on these custom made shirts for Pebbles and with the utmost care. They were a perfect fit and moreover they did exactly what we hoped they would! They calmed her down to the point where she didn’t attack her tail so much. She was so much more relaxed and we saw her happy spirit surfacing again. She had stopped playing and we got to see her to play again with balls and other toys. She had stopped sleeping with the other cats and then all of a sudden we would find her in bed with them, she would even sleep on top of Storm and Freddy. She would let her three brothers know she was first served when there was raw meat or special treats. All of this thanks to you two! We got a glimpse of the old Pebbles every now and again and more often. We were ever so happy! She didn’t turn completely back to who she was before this all started. On occasion she would still bite and try to chew her tail. Because of lack of teeth, she wasn’t able to do very much damage to her tail though. The damage she did do was manageable.
But because of her shirts, she didn’t feel the urge to do it a lot. Whenever she was without a shirt, she would attack her tail full force and we would witness her rolling skin and change in personality. As soon as her shirt came on, you could literally witness the changes within her. I truly believe Pebbles owes her life and her lifted spirits these past two years to you and Melissande. Without you she would have continued to be a mess and undoubtedly would have had to face another tail amputation. There are simply no words to express our gratitude. Thank you so much!
Somewhere in the first weeks of December 2016 we noticed Pebbles coughing. It didn’t hinder her much and the coughing happened once a day or every other day. As her breathing sounded fine, we didn’t think much of it at first. The coughing stopped for a few days and we believed everything to be allright. Until one night she rested on my chest purring away, but with heavy breathing and all of a sudden she started coughing again as if she was out of breath. Went straight to the vets, couple of days later we had her heart scanned as it was difficult to determine whether her heart or her lungs were troubling her. Her heart had expanded big time and was about ready to pop according to the specialist. In the mean time her longs gradually were troubled by fluids causing the heavy breathing. I make a promise to all the kitties who enter our family: if I in any way can prevent it, you will not suffer! This little girl, that already conquered so much in her life, didn’t deserve to leave this world in pain or despair. Waiting for nature to run its course, she most probably would have suffered big time. One weekend to say our goodbyes, one weekend filled with tears, sharing happy memories, making some new memories to last us a life time and cuddles and her favorite treats and more cuddles. Monday night December 19th, 2016: Pebbles comfortably on my shoulder, purring sounds right by my ear and like that she peacefully fell asleep. This is her story, this was her life and though I used up so much space writing it, it’s still incomplete. Writing it all down was a good instrument in my healing process. I miss her, I even miss worrying about her, I miss her shrieky sounds, the way she ran downstairs to greet me, her jumping in my arms and climbing on my shoulder, the way she made us laugh, the many many ways in which she was time and again able to surprise us, the love she had to give and her content way of receiving love, the way she was able to calmly sit with our son and connect with him. On so many levels she was so special and so deeply loved. At this point in writing the pain is still so raw. But is accompanied by gratefulness and memories of love, laughter and giggles. Our special girl, our little neurotica, our fashionista, our little mouse, our cuddling champ may she rest in peace.
As scanning was out of the question, even advised against by one of the specialists, we would never know for a 100% certain. All her symptoms however pointed in that direction and we and the vets were convinced this condition was troubling her. Airie, I don’t know any other way than to write this on a personal note to you and Melissande. You worked so hard on these custom made shirts for Pebbles and with the utmost care. They were a perfect fit and moreover they did exactly what we hoped they would! They calmed her down to the point where she didn’t attack her tail so much. She was so much more relaxed and we saw her happy spirit surfacing again. She had stopped playing and we got to see her to play again with balls and other toys. She had stopped sleeping with the other cats and then all of a sudden we would find her in bed with them, she would even sleep on top of Storm and Freddy. She would let her three brothers know she was first served when there was raw meat or special treats. All of this thanks to you two! We got a glimpse of the old Pebbles every now and again and more often. We were ever so happy! She didn’t turn completely back to who she was before this all started. On occasion she would still bite and try to chew her tail. Because of lack of teeth, she wasn’t able to do very much damage to her tail though. The damage she did do was manageable.
But because of her shirts, she didn’t feel the urge to do it a lot. Whenever she was without a shirt, she would attack her tail full force and we would witness her rolling skin and change in personality. As soon as her shirt came on, you could literally witness the changes within her. I truly believe Pebbles owes her life and her lifted spirits these past two years to you and Melissande. Without you she would have continued to be a mess and undoubtedly would have had to face another tail amputation. There are simply no words to express our gratitude. Thank you so much!
Somewhere in the first weeks of December 2016 we noticed Pebbles coughing. It didn’t hinder her much and the coughing happened once a day or every other day. As her breathing sounded fine, we didn’t think much of it at first. The coughing stopped for a few days and we believed everything to be allright. Until one night she rested on my chest purring away, but with heavy breathing and all of a sudden she started coughing again as if she was out of breath. Went straight to the vets, couple of days later we had her heart scanned as it was difficult to determine whether her heart or her lungs were troubling her. Her heart had expanded big time and was about ready to pop according to the specialist. In the mean time her longs gradually were troubled by fluids causing the heavy breathing. I make a promise to all the kitties who enter our family: if I in any way can prevent it, you will not suffer! This little girl, that already conquered so much in her life, didn’t deserve to leave this world in pain or despair. Waiting for nature to run its course, she most probably would have suffered big time. One weekend to say our goodbyes, one weekend filled with tears, sharing happy memories, making some new memories to last us a life time and cuddles and her favorite treats and more cuddles. Monday night December 19th, 2016: Pebbles comfortably on my shoulder, purring sounds right by my ear and like that she peacefully fell asleep. This is her story, this was her life and though I used up so much space writing it, it’s still incomplete. Writing it all down was a good instrument in my healing process. I miss her, I even miss worrying about her, I miss her shrieky sounds, the way she ran downstairs to greet me, her jumping in my arms and climbing on my shoulder, the way she made us laugh, the many many ways in which she was time and again able to surprise us, the love she had to give and her content way of receiving love, the way she was able to calmly sit with our son and connect with him. On so many levels she was so special and so deeply loved. At this point in writing the pain is still so raw. But is accompanied by gratefulness and memories of love, laughter and giggles. Our special girl, our little neurotica, our fashionista, our little mouse, our cuddling champ may she rest in peace.
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