SMOKEY IS HOME!
Vet called at 8:30a.m. and said he could come home.
Smokey's story here; http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018705253
My wife had some running around to do and she got him after she was done. The vets branch office is 20 miles away and the main office/hospital is 31. They brought him to the closer office that we usually go to and he was on his way home by 11a.m.
Oh, he was talking up a storm when Bec brought the carrier thru the door into the house.
We opened the door and he didn't run out, he walked out and looked around, looked at us and meowed once then went around to the other cats and everyone said hi. It was pretty cool.
In just a few minutes he was cleaning on the babies that he helped take care of when they were kittens.
He will be on a diet that will acidify his urine and dissolve any crystals that may still be around. The vet wanted to give him some 'ammonil', but didn't have any and no drugstore around carried it. I found it at an online pet store that we use and the vet said she will authorize a script since he doesn't seem to like the Hills Science Diet food. But it is canned and he is a dry food kitty. We are going to try to get him to eat the canned food though, at least for a while. Vet says at least 2-3 weeks to let the food work on the crystals and flush him out.
We have to change the way we feed for a while. From buffet to scheduled meals.
We'll figure it out.
They shaved his legs, all 4, about an inch or so above his feet. He looks like a poodle.
No, I'm not going to take a pic of him standing so all 4 legs can be seen. There are a couple pics that show one leg but I think he's okay with that.
Here's 3 pics of him getting settled.
~
Smokey purring and prancing on their Christmas fleece after coming home from hospital. Happy kitty. You can see where his leg is shaved.
~
Bec said he stopped and looked like he was posing for this one. Too bad it's a little fuzzy.
~
Here he is 9 minutes after he started prancing. He slept for about 5 hours.
~
The house feels better now and the rest of the cats are acting better.
It's been about 20 yrs. since we had a cat stay over at hospital.
Thanks for the goods wishes, support and ideas on possible care for him.
The DU family is a great family to be a part of.
= new reply since forum marked as read
and on the mend.
Welcome home, Smokey! 
Poor baby, he's been through a lot!
You're right.
I'm tickled!
I see you posted on Sunday. I wasn't on line most of the day. Kind of got burned out doing research on foods, treatments, etc.
Today we are going to try a dry form of the canned food because he won't eat the canned.
He has been eating dry food since before we took him in, so maybe it will work.
If not we'll figure something out.
Thank you for your concern.
About his legs...His front legs don't look like a poodle. They look like he's wearing a pair of fury knee-high boots while wearing shorts.
It brought a smile, then a tear, another smile...
Then the very end, a tear and a smile.
There are so many homeless that have pets that will take care of, and put their pets welfare over their own.
Smokey has bonded to my wife more than to me but then, she's around him more and fed him when he showed up at the house with his brother, Sylvester before we took them in.
That was taken the day him and Smokey were brought home after they were neutered.
I remember thinking that a good caption for that pic might be, "Yeah, well...You got to sleep sometime..."
For being abandoned cats for awhile before my wife started feeding them outside and then us bringing them in, they are very loving to us and our other cats.
The back story to how we ended up with them is HERE.
It might be a little hard to follow but it was an emotional time but, it gives the gist of what happened.
It is posted on a blog but it's not very long.
Thanks for your concern and the video.
I had a cat medical crisis earlier in the month. http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018699706
It feels so awful when they are in the vet hospital.
We're happy too.
He's been following my wife everywhere she goes.
We're having a bit of a problem with him eating the canned food the vet sent home so we are going to try the dry version. It may work since he, and most of our kitties are dry food eaters. If that doesn't work it will be a medication to acidify his urine until any crystals dissolve, if there are any, in his bladder then we will go from there. It will be either a food change or an OTC additive for the food.
I'm glad your kitty is better. Did they figure out what caused the IBD? I hope the new diet works out.
She's a good looking kitty. We have a gray and white tom that we rescued, along with his family, in 2013. He's now about 11lbs. or so. Other cats that we've had that were mostly or all gray grew to be big cats.
Here he is with his sisters earlier this year.
I hope everything works out for your kitty.
I've heard of reactions to grains but not beef protein.
Maybe cats are genetically suited to 'mouse protein'?
All you can do is try different things.
Good luck.
Go, little fella! 
there's no place like home
& it's always good to be home again
Smokey is such a beautiful kitty - and a lucky one because he has you! So glad to hear - and see - that he's home with his loved ones where he belongs.
