Briar

Briar is outgoing, loving, playful and loves life. He purrs close to non-stop and head butts you for loving. But he had a perianal hernia and GI tract complications since he was rescued as a bottle baby. We are still looking for the ideal home for Briar. He loves all animals (2- and 4-legged) and will become a very adored family member. But because of his issues he does need a special diet and a home that is easily suited to cleaning (non-carpeted or specialized room for him) as he can't always get to the litter tray to poop. If you are looking for the best of the special needs cats, for sure it’s him and he is worth the effort. Note the posting updates are in chronological order to see more on him. Original Posting as baby: Multiple attempts to help him with vets locally would work for a while, but finally we had to take him to UC Davis for another surgery. This created quite a large vet bill for the group, requires special food, and significant care. Any donation will help significantly, towards his bill, and his on-going expenses. Please help us fund this little guy - - never seen such a trooper in a little kitten, he won’t give up; help us make sure we don’t have to! THANKS for helping!

UPDATE Nov 5 2015: Working with the vets, we have come up with a mix of canned and kibble foods to help Briar's poop firm up some so he makes the litter tray more and has gained some weight in the last months. He had stalled at about 5 lbs, but with the mix of canned and kibble we've got him up to 6 lbs. Also we had a scare when he plugged up with a hairball in rectum - with work we got it out. But now he gets hairball treatment gel with every meal till shedding season is over, and we have trimmed his beautiful tail (sadly) so he will not ingest the long 4" tail hairs. Still he's a wonderful, happy, beautiful cat!

UPDATE Dec 14, 2015: He is gaining weight and is now up to 4 lbs at 6 months of age, yeah!

Update Jan 15, 2016: At Vet check he was 4.8 lbs (yeah!) and is now eating Royal Canin Mom and Babycat kibble, as well as canned IAMS intestinal plus food, both easy to digest, so his poop is a bit more consistent in timing and firmness.

Update March 6, 2016: After trying baby kibble with Briar and finding it was a very fine balance to keep him from getting too firm of poop, we have started him on Metamucil in his canned food at the recommendation of UC Davis. So far we find that is nicely helping to manage the really loose stool.

Update Sept 20, 2016: Briar is much better on Metamucil and gained some weight as he's able to not have the food just run through him! Though he still doesn't always make it to the litter tray it’s much firmer poop and easy to clean up. He's just a total love bug and he's worth the work!

Update August 2017: We have him on a diet of canned food mixed with Metamucil and it does a relatively good job of firming up his stool but sometimes he still can't make the litter box, so he does have his own linoleum-floored room. And he does get out to hang out in the house when we can watch him to clean up after him if needed. We did have a scare earlier this month when he had a bout of colitis but the Vet said that can hit any cat and figured it was an isolated instance and so far she is right!

Update January 2019: It’s a new year and Briar is already 4.5 yrs old, wow time flies! We have worked out a specific food for him mixed with Metamucil and he is doing much better about getting to the litter box now. Still sometimes he has accidents but we are pleased that it is somewhat better and if you are looking to help support him the food is Fancy feast (Gravy Lovers chicken feast in grilled chicken flavor gravy).

Update January 2020: Briar continues to do well and he is just such a great cat and, besides cleaning up if he has an accident, his food mixture is very easy to do. And we also give him a Vitamin B12 shot weekly to help with absorption of nutrients; he’s very good about it. And like any long-hair cat, he gets Petromalt during shedding seasons - which he loves. Update November 2020: Covid hasn't affected this sweetie!!!!! Briar is doing really well. We have his diarrhea even more firmed up, fine tuning the mixture of canned with metamucil, but still he can't control always making it to the litter tray, so he does have a room all his own, and we take that little extra effort to prep his meals. He also gets Vitamin B injections to insure proper levels of Vitamin B, since with diarrhea that is always a concern of lack of that nutrient. You can tell he is doing well though, such a handsome boy and very shiny, thick, healthy coat and right body index. Briar's just such a loving cat it's quite amazing the great guy he is, so rewarding to care for him, he flips on his side and back when he sees you like heh aren't I handsome! He'd be perfect in a non-carpeted home with easy to clean floors. February 2024 -Wow Brair is still with us and going strong. Sadly no other forever home has come along, though we and he are all hoping it will! He is doing very well and last year we tested his Vit. B levels and found we could stop those weekly shots, so he is even more happy, as being poked weekly wasn't his favorite thing! He is a very happy kitty in general, and being Maine Coon X - a total pleasure, as he so loves people and is a very uncomplaining cat. He will be celebrating his 10th birthday this year in May - and we will be sure to give him his favorite temptation hairball treats in his treat ball, with a few extra so he can really enjoy the hunt! April 2025 - Briar is headed towards his 11th Birthday!!!!! He is still doing great and loving life in his private well covered room. He still has some issues making it to the litter tray but we've found that now using Fancy Feast Pates and the Metamucil gives him the best chance to have firm poop and get to litter tray in time! He's so sweet and loving and worth the extra time it takes to keep his room clean! December 2025 Briar is getting ready for the holidays and asking Santa for his favorite canned food now - Savory Centers, having decided Fancy Feast Pates are just not as tasty now! We also are feeding him 3 cans a day as he has started to not manage his weight well, because of his age and less efficient GI tract. He happily obliges eating it all.