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| Name: |
Casper Todd Lee
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Age: |
Six years old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Turkish Van
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| Home: |
Bude, Mississippi, USA
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Hello.
My name is Casper Todd Lee. I live in Bude, Mississippi with my two
sisters MerryBelle and Sissy. I love getting all dressed up, especially in
my Mr. Claws outfit. My Mommy, Nana and PawPaw love me very much. They are
thankful that I am still here, as I was very sickly in 2009 with a rare
skin disease called feline demodicosis. After many vet visits and lots of
TLC, I recovered and now they call me "The Seven Million Dollar Man"
because of all the vet and hospital expenses. But I'm worth every penny!
Mommy says: Casper was diagnosed with feline demodicosis, a very rare skin
condition, by Dr. William on 5-26-09. He found demodex mites in Casper's
poop sample. Feline Demodicosis, similar to red mange in dogs, is caused
by a tiny parasite which lives in the hair follicles and skin glands of
all cats and dogs. Pets diagnosed with this disease are "immunodeficient"
and unable to fight off the mites like a healthy animal would do. Casper's
condition was probably caused by a history of corticosteroid use
(Depo-Medrol) which weakened his immune system. We had been treating
Casper for feline endocrine alopecia since September 2008 thru April 2009
with 20 mg Depo-Medrol shots every four weeks. Casper had the generalized
form of demodicosis which is the most severe type. It affected his whole
little body, especially his neck, ears, tummy and legs. Casper had
scratched himself raw especially around his neck. Casper, Mommy and Nana
stayed awake many nights for a long, long time dealing with this horrible
disease. Stress can cause acute flare-ups of this disease.
Casper started treatment for this on 5-26-09. Diligent, time-consuming
therapy is required for full recovery in the severe, generalized cases
like Casper's. Treatment included Mitaban baths and diluted Amitraz dips
every two weeks. Casper had a total of five treatments. The most common side
effect of Amitraz is drowsiness, which lasted for 48-72 hours each time.
Casper had to wear an Elizabethan collar while he stayed at Dr. William's
all day for each treatment. Alicia was Casper's very sweet vet tech. She
called Casper "her special little man". Casper got worse before he got
better, as Dr. William said he would do. Casper's last treatment was on
7-21-09. Thankfully our sweet baby boy recovered from this and we hope and
pray he never has to go through this experience again.
Since bees loved Casper Todd's pretty white fur, he had been stung several
times when he was outside. Casper is highly allergic to bee stings. The
treatment for bee stings is a shot of Depo-Medrol which Casper cannot have
any more. So that is why Mommy keeps him inside now. Most days, Casper is
ok since he plays with his gazillion toys. He especially loves his nano
Hexbugs and Catch Me If You Can toy. Mommy and Casper Todd also like to
chase each other around the house. Every so often, he will cry to go
outside. Casper has also changed from a very independent fellow before his
sickness to now being a very clingy, needy little boy. Everyone loves this
precious boy!
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