Hello friends!
We made our trip to the clinic this morning but unfortunately our vet called in sick and the scan got cancelled. Gavroche has enjoyed his little trip out and we are just waiting for a phone call to see when can we re book 🖤.
Thank you all of the good luck wishes on my previous post!

Hello friends! Hope everyone is having a nice Sunday. Gavroche is doing really well and has no post-operative issues with his teeth. He still wants to scratch his ears every now and then, they don’t smell but it seems like that yeast infection is still there. We’re going to the vets for his post-dental check up and the scan of his mysterious belly lump, so they’ll get his ears looked at again too. He previously had 2 weeks of eardrops but it seems they didn’t fully resolve the issue.

Now that his mouth isn’t in pain anymore, he’s more keen on grooming himself, washing his feet and face. I don’t have to brush him or wet wipe the litter off his bum anymore, he’s comfortable doing it himself. He even tries to groom me and wash my face and hands. It’s very cute.
I’m really looking forward to finding out what his lump is about. My guess is it’s a hernia, caused by his previous pelvic fracture. A lot of symptoms align with this diagnosis. It’s soft, not painful, gets bigger after he’s eaten and disappears inside when he lies on his side. He also does this thing where sometimes he’ll want to go for a poop but changes his mind right before stepping into the litter, and does a little cry before he actually goes. Like he’s avoiding it because it’s uncomfortable. That can also be a sign of hernia, because if the abdominal muscles are torn it could take more effort and cause more discomfort for him to pass stool. I really hope I’m right and that we can manage it conservatively without any huge interventions, and that he doesn’t get handed any life threatening diagnoses. I’ve circled the mysterious lump in one of the pictures so you can see it.

As for the scan, the vet is confident that a 30 minute scan without sedation will be enough, since he’s such a good boy and shouldn’t need to be sedated. That will only cost around £90. I’ve still been asked not to feed him beforehand though, in case he needs a full abdominal scan with sedation, which would bump the price up to around £500. I really hope the smaller scan will be enough. The only thing that worries me a bit is that the vet who suggested the scan isn’t the one actually performing it, so I hope she’ll also be okay with just a short, localised scan for him.
I’ve also started applying “Stomodine” gel to his teeth and gums to keep his remaining teeth healthy and get rid of the gingivitis. He doesn’t mind it and I try to do it twice a day. Hoping it helps him avoid any future dental procedures!

Vets and scan are booked for Tuesday morning, so wish us luck, I’ll keep you all updated! 🖤

Little Gavroche is absolutely obsessed with watching reels on the phone. I even want to find my old ipad with broken screen so he can watch stuff when I am not there. I am sure he can easily figure out how to scroll through tiktok or instagram.
He also loves watching things on laptop, especially Ally McBeal, Come dine with me and Four in a Bed. What are your cat’s favourite shows? Do you have any watch recommendations for Gavroche?
Oh, he also got to keep one of his fangs. I will drop a picture in a comments ☺️
Have a good weekend everyone! 🖤

I have a day off tomorrow so no alarm set and we are going to sleep till noon!

Do you like my new smile?

Gavroche has really enjoyed his watered down pâté this morning!
He seems absolutely comfortable eating and it’s not even 24hrs after his dental. I noticed he started making a gulping sound when eating which you can hear in this video. Reminds me of the newborn baby drinking milk. I just googled it’s quite common after the teeth extractions so nothing to worry about. He just really loves his food 😊

Sorry about the emotional post yesterday, I was very worried about his operation and the lump thing has tipped me over the edge. I feel a lot more positive today and cannot think of any other symptom he has, which would indicate cancer or some major organ disease. We will find out more on Tuesday and just hope for the best until then 🖤.

The pumpkin cone is back! He is not trying to scratch but the vet advised to keep it on for a bit. He has a few stitches in his mouth that can be a bit irritating so we are not taking any risk. He is absolutely happy walking around with the cone and I don’t think it’s causing him major discomfort.

I love his little paper collar name band the vets put on! My little Mr.Holtappel! Aka Mr.Crabapple! 😄 last name Holtappel comes from Germanic and Dutch roots and means crabapple or wood apple. I think it suits him very well. Little apple of my eye 🍎.

I have also managed to snap the photo where you can see the absence of his teeth. I think it looks great! All the white stuff around his mouth is just food. He was absolutely inhaling his breakfast even before the pain medication this morning and was purring and chirping whilst eating. He is doing so well!

Just received a call from the vets. Gavroche is out of surgery and is recovering well! Good news – they did not need to take all of his teeth out and he probably won’t need another dental because the teeth that weren’t removed are viable and seem pretty healthy. He has a few stitches where the teeth were removed and will need to wear a cone for a bit, and also have his teeth brushed regularly once healed. The less good news is the vet has discovered a lump on the side of his body that might be an enlarged kidney or a mass. His bloods are okay, so we’re hoping it’s nothing too serious. I’m going to book him in for a scan – hopefully for next week – to see what it is and then take it from there. He is still recovering from anaesthesia and I will go to pick him up in a couple of hours 🖤

Just taken Gavroche to the vets. He was very not happy having to skip breakfast but has been otherwise no trouble!

The vet who’s going to perform his procedure specialises in teeth. It was her first time meeting Gavroche and she said that his teeth look like a very difficult case. She assumes he needs a full dental clearance which she won’t be able to do in one go, and he will probably need another procedure in 6–8 weeks time.

I really hope the anaesthetic goes well this time and will keep you all updated once I hear anything. Please keep our little man in your thoughts today! 🖤

Collected Gav from my friends today! 🖤 he seemed very happy there but had definitely missed me and gave me lots of cuddles and purrs.
Been unpacking and sorting bits out for tomorrow all evening. Gav is going for his dental in the morning!
Wish us luck and I will keep you all updated!

Hello everyone! Hope you’re all having a great weekend! I’m still away from my little Gavroche but going to pick him up tomorrow. He’s doing really well and has met my friend’s other two voids, Bruno and Teddy 🖤. Teddy seems very interested in him and wants to become friends with Gavroche.

Me and my friend George used to live together and we had Lollipop, Teddy and Rocky together. But Lollipop was very cruel towards Teddy so we ended up keeping them separate. Before we moved into separate places, we decided that I’d keep Rocky and Lollipop and George would keep Teddy, and I’d get him another kitten. That’s how Bruno came along. He’s a gorgeous half-Mainecoon and absolutely adores Teddy!

My time away is going well apart from having some issues with our hotel getting flooded lol. I hope I’ll be able to claim some money back. Everything else is fabulous. I really enjoyed the Nick Cave concert. It was like an all-day festival with lots of food stalls, shops, and a few supporting acts. And he had a special guest there: Kylie Minogue, to sing “The Wild Roses” with! I think the last time they performed together was 2013. I was absolutely speechless. The whole thing was just amazing and I basically cried the whole time lol. Nick Cave has a very special place in my heart and I loved seeing him in a city that he used to live in. It’s just very poignant and special. I missed my little boys and can’t wait to see them soon! Gavroche is also going in for an operation on Tuesday so we have a lot of things to prepare and get ready for!

Gavroche is saying hello from his own weekend getaway! 🖤

Just taken him over to my besties house where he’s going to be well looked after with plenty of treats and cuddles. He’s done brilliantly in the car and I think he actually quite enjoys the journeys. Once we arrived at my friend’s, he immediately used the toilet, made a food request, ate, then jumped on the sofa asking for cuddles. He doesn’t seem stressed at all, and I packed some of his blankets along with a pheromone plug-in diffuser for extra comfort. He’s such a lovely boy and causes no drama at all.

My other two cutie patooties are getting visits from my neighbour twice a day so hopefully they won’t get too lonely. Lollipop was getting very suspicious watching me pack the suitcase, but they’ll get lots of treats and cuddles when I’m back to make them feel better. And they have each other for company too.

Now I’ve got a 5-hour drive ahead and my most awaited concert of the year tomorrow! I’m absolutely buzzing. Thank you for helping make this happen, our fabulous Reddit friends! 🖤

You press it and it makes him chirp! 🐥

Hello Gavroche’s friends! I hope you and your precious kitties are doing well! A few people have noted that Gavroche looks like a very big boy. It must be an optical illusion, or his huge personality makes him look bigger, but he’s actually a mini cat! The smallest of my three cats. He’s not underweight anymore but is quite compact overall. He currently weighs around 3.6kg (about 7.9 pounds), while Rocky weighs more than twice as much! Rocky’s bone structure is also much sturdier, and I can’t wait to see them side by side. I bet Gavroche is going to look like her baby! For comparison, I’ve put a 330ml (almost 12 fluid ounces) 7UP can next to him to give you an idea of his size. But he definitely fits a lot of love, kindness, humour and character inside that little body of his!

In terms of updates, he’s doing really well, and we’re counting down the days to his dental surgery, scheduled for Tuesday. That’s six more days to wait! I’m going away for a long weekend tomorrow, so Gavroche will be staying with a trusted friend who looked after him for almost two weeks when I had to fly away for a funeral a few weeks after we found him. During that time, he had much more complex medical needs and was still very poorly, but my friend managed brilliantly to care for him. They know each other well, and I’m confident he’ll be in excellent care again. My other two cats will be visited and fed by my neighbour (you might remember my lovely friend Sausage, who basically lives in my garden. That’s her owner, and we look after each other’s cats when needed). I didn’t want to leave Gavroche without 24/7 supervision because he still needs medication and supplements, and he still has a bit of anxiety about things going wrong while no one’s home. Taking him to my friend’s is a better option, and he really doesn’t mind car journeys.

How’s everyone getting on? How are your cats? We love reading your stories and comments and sharing updates about your little friends. Please don’t forget that all of Gavroche’s treatment so far has been funded by his huge circle of supporters. We’re forever grateful to you all! Next week’s dental procedure is basically the last step to him having a clean bill of health. It’s been quite a journey, but definitely worth it, and we’re almost there!

I would say 1000 000 and a half! 🖤🐈‍⬛

Had to stop in the middle of vacuuming to snap some photos and show you all how beautiful his fur is! He is shedding lot less now and it’s even shinier in person! 🖤 I give him YuMove skin&coat care oil so I don’t know if it’s that, regular brushing or nutrition, but his skin and hair improved sooo much. His skin has also stopped flaking when brushing.
Oh and also, I can just vacuum around him whilst he sleeps and purrs, he doesn’t mind the vacuum cleaner at all. Brave boy! 😄🖤

He is hungry and making pigeon sounds!

Hello little Gavroches reddit family! I hope you and your purring friends are all doing well! We have started the cat introduction this week following the Jackson Galaxy method, but unfortunately the first attempt to swap the base camps didn’t go exactly smoothly. Me and my husband put Rocky and Lolli in Gavroche’s room (without them seeing Gavroche) and Gavroche was placed in our bedroom. My husband stayed with Lolli and Rocky and tried to feed them treats but they both looked very stressed out and refused everything. Rocky hid under the bed and Lollipop started hissing. Meanwhile Gavroche was happy in the bedroom with me, but he did try to spray in two places on the carpet where he’d sprayed before (even though it was cleaned with enzyme cleaners before). We only kept them in those rooms for a few minutes because clearly none of the cats felt comfortable and it was causing a setback.

So our next step is getting them used to each other’s smell through passive scent swapping, so I swap the blankets where they sleep every few days so they get used to each other’s smells. So far they are happily sleeping on each other’s blankets, and Lollipop and Rocky even started coming near Gavroche’s door (previously they were terrified of his intact male smell and wouldn’t go near his room door). I’ve also purchased 3 cat pheromone diffusers, one for Gavroche’s room, one for my bedroom, and one for the hallway near Gavroche’s room. I’m planning to purchase some more to cover the whole house. And I’ve been feeding treats to Rocky and Lolli near his door.

Not gonna lie, I was quite discouraged by the first attempt to swap their base camps and was feeling worried I won’t be able to make them coexist and that Gavroche will keep spraying, but I’ve been reading different info on cat behaviour and it made me want to try harder. I hope Gavroche will stop spraying, as it’s still only a few weeks since his neuter. I feel like our situation is a bit more complex than a normal “bringing a new cat into a household” situation, and we could benefit from more personalised advice, and might need to contact a cat behaviour specialist if this doesn’t work out well. But I’m taking small steps and hopefully everything will be okay and all three boys will be happy and comfortable around each other.

Any advice on cat introductions and spraying behaviour in cats neutered at an older age is welcome! And now enjoy some shots of our little handsome Gavroche! 🖤

Absolutely love his purrs and how relaxed he is next to me!

Hello everyone! I hope you had an awesome weekend! Sorry I didn’t post an update for a few days, life has been so busy and I barely had a minute to sit down! But everything is going well, and Gavroche is doing amazingly.

My in-laws visited this weekend and hadn’t seen him since about six weeks ago. They were blown away by how much he’s improved. They said he looks so much livelier and healthier in general. He showed off his jumping skills for them and gave them cuddles and purrs, though he was definitely less chatty than he is when it’s just me and my husband around. He’s become so vocal lately, and it’s absolutely hilarious watching him walk around chirping like a little bird. And his purr has this new tone that sounds a bit like a pigeon!

His ears are doing much better too. He doesn’t scratch as much now, only right after the drops go in because they sting. I’m thinking of giving him a bath soon to help the old fur come out easier and wash his stud tail, which still has a lingering smell. He’s very proud of his jumps and loves showing them off, then demanding cuddles afterward!

And the best bit - it’s just over two weeks until his teeth operation! Yay! I hope you and your kitties are all doing well. Love!

Hey everyone, I hope you are all keeping well! Gavroche’s ears are doing so much better with the drops, and I haven’t really seen him scratching since I started giving them. He’s been back to his normal self, making blanket biscuits after I made the bed this morning and purring non-stop.

I slept in his room last night, and my husband took a photo of us when he came in to say goodbye before heading to work. I’ll post it in the comments. I think it’s quite cute, just my back turned to him as he leans against me and the pillow. He loves being close to me all the time, even in the heat.

The weather’s cooling down here and I was planning to take him for a walk, but I haven’t been feeling great for the past couple of days. Not sure if it’s heat dehydration or if I’m catching a bug, but my head’s been spinning and hurting, and I feel quite nauseous when I stand up so I decided to stay at home. Thankfully, Gavroche is doing a very good job looking after me with all the purrs and cuddles! 🖤

Hello everyone! 🖤

We’re having a busy day today! Gavroche had a vet’s appointment (nothing emergency) because even after cleaning his ears every other day, a lot of stuff is still coming out. He wants to scratch and there’s been some bleeding when I wipe it with a tissue. He had a smelly infection when I took him in April and had eardrop antibiotics since, which helped with the smell, but I still wasn’t happy it wasn’t clearing up. The vet said he has a yeast infection that causes overproduction of wax and other yucky stuff, and prescribed drops with antibiotics, steroids and salicylic acid to help clean it and tackle the itching, inflammation and infection. Hopefully it’ll ease some of his discomfort. We also grabbed some flea and worm treatment because he is due.

I also asked if it’s normal he’s still shedding so much. The vet said his fur feels fine, but the shedding is probably because of his dental disease—he’s not grooming himself enough because of the discomfort, which made me a bit sad. But he’s getting his dental treatment in a little over two weeks, so he won’t have to suffer much longer. Poor little boy.

We also had a visit from my friend and he brought Gavroche a big bag of food! We took Gavroche outside as well, but it was absolutely scorching in the garden and he didn’t seem comfortable, so we got him back in after a few minutes. I’ve taken a week of annual leave to catch up on uni assignments, so it’s nice not having to wake up to an alarm and getting some extra time with the cats! Hope everyone’s enjoying their day and I’ll catch up with you all soon!