Prairie Love, thank you so much for your reply. I am so, so sorry about your girl--time helps, but I know the heartache never goes away. :( I did see the thread about Chinook when I started reading about canine thrombocytopenia, and there was a wealth of helpful information in there--the knowledge that both you and Meghann shared was the most useful I've seen in any public forum. We had to leave Pookie at the hospital's ICU tonight, which was heartwrenching--he's come such a long way with trust in the last 10 months and it's awful to leave him without being to explain given that he was neglected and abandoned before we got him. :( Today his platelets were down to 10k and his RBCs were slightly depressed, WBCs slightly elevated. They didn't see any internal bleeding on his xrays. The are doing a couple of skin biopsies to see whether the hives/wheals he gets (which we have always chalked up to common ABD allergies) are in some way related, and then they will hit him with doxycycline, vincristine, and prednisone all at once to try to jumpstart his platelets. I have been bawling my face off for the last several hours, but we are praying for the best-case scenario, that he responds well to this drug cocktail and that buys us some time to try to get to the bottom of this. I so appreciate your reaching out, and will let you know when we have heard more about his tests and treatment. I hope we'll have him home with us tomorrow night.

Susieque, regarding the food and your kitty, the truth is that most standard care vets are not well versed when it comes to nutrutional foods for the animals they treat. It’s just not a part of their cirriculum in school. Those specialty foods may be prescription only but there is literally nothing in them medication wise to warrant they be prescription only. If you look at the ingredients, they are very similar to most other inexpensive brands. There are lots of articles about pet foods that claim those foods are just a way for the food industry to charge more for their products, I tend to agree. My dog was on Science Diet for tummy issues and it made her ill and incontinent. After that, I did a ton of research about pet foods and found a good food for her on my own. I will never ever use those foods again or suggest anyone else use them either. They also have a healthy recall record. If it were me, I would probably find a Vet who specializes in kidney care and schedule a consult. Your regular Vet may actually have someone she/he can refer you too. I know in humans, animal proteins are very hard on our kidneys, but I’m not sure if that is the case with kitties. I’m hoping though that the specialist will be able to educate you on what kind of diet would be best for your kitty so you can find something out there that is better than Science Diet or Royal Canine. IMO they’re no better than Purina.

Mostly benefits hostas in sun, the light can focus on a bead of water and burn right through the leaf. This will stress the plant, even if only slightly, but it is also a bit unsightly. Plants in full shade can be watered from above, and there are many beautiful photos on this forum with water drops on hostas.

No comparison quality wise, I would take anything Marvin over anything Pella, regardless of the frame size or sightlines.