Kokopelli

Singing his own song
December 2011

Kokopelli’s belongs to one of our veterinary assistants, Mandi. His name comes from a Native American deity of music, as his meow is very sing-songy and musical. Kokopelli came to Mandi 3 years ago, at age 4, because he was stooling outside of the litter box. His previous owner was unable to work with Kokopelli’s litter box issues and was reluctantly having to make a decision to euthanize him. Mandi instantly fell in love with him and his previous owner decided to let Mandi adopt him and try to work with him. We did a complete medical work up on him in an attempt to get some answers to his litter box woes, and BOY DID WE! We discovered he had struvite crystals and a large stone in his bladder, suspect Irritable bowel disease, clostridia, and feline bartonella. He also has pancreatic insufficiency and hip dysplasia, which are rare to uncommon in cats. All of these medical issues played a role in his litter box issues and NOT ONE of them were his fault. We have treated and cured the bladder issues, clostridium, and feline bartonella, and with proper meds and supplements the other health issues are all under control. We have not had litter box issues since, which is proof that litter box issues can be managed with the proper work-up and after care.

Kokopelli’s health took another turn about a year ago. Mandi found him lying on the floor unable to move. Mandi brought him into the clinic and it was quickly realized that, due to his hip dysplasia, he had ruptured his ACL. (This again, is uncommon in a cat).  Kokopelli went into surgery and had an artificial meniscus and ligament put into his right knee. Kokopelli made an amazing recovery but unfortunately, has recently damaged his other ACL in a similar fashion. Kokopelli is currently resting and being waited on hand and paw awaiting his second ACL repair surgery.

Now, many people think Mandi is crazy for putting so much time, energy, and money into a “cat”. But, as Mandi will tell you, his charismatic purr-sonality makes everything worth it. Besides, he’s not just a “cat”, he’s family.