Archive for December 29, 2009

A Tad Less Worry…

Dec 29th

Posted by Ash in Cats

I went , and saw, Tibee today… I was so elated to see that his health is continuing to improve. He’s now standing easily on his own, keeping down solid food, and when I was holding him in my arms, petting him, he actually began to purr. I haven’t heard him purr since Thursday, and it was music to my ears.

I got a chance to meet Dr Hanks briefly, and my hopes that she’d do her utmost to help us save Tibee was definitely confirmed. It’s obvious that she has a great deal of compassion for her patients, as well as for their Human families. That’s something that the Vets at the emergency clinic lacked in spades. It was like they wanted us to just give up, and euthanize Tibee, without even attempting to try to save his life. We completely understood that Tibee was gravely ill, but we weren’t going to let him go without giving him a fighting chance. Thankfully we only had to deal with them for two days. I would have definitely transferred him to another veterinarian hospital if there was any other alternative, their attitude was that bad.

As animal owners, Pookey, and I, both feel that we have a responsibility to do our best to care for our cats, and that doesn’t change when it becomes expensive, or inconvenient. They’re our children in little cat suits, though I feel more strongly about this than Pookey does, but what do you expect, he’s a guy. lol.

One of his biggest problems right now is that the inside of Tibee’s mouth hurts from sores he developed in it, and thankfully Dr Hanks started him on medication to aid in healing them as soon as she took over his care. Once that’s under control he’ll be able to start eating on his own, and won’t have to be force fed. I was able to feed him some, as well as being able to entirely clean the fur around his mouth that was caked with dried saliva. He complained some, but I think he was happy that his mouth was finally clean after being icky for so long. The only downside to my visit was when I had to leave. *sighs sadly* I miss my boy, and can’t wait for him to finally come home.

The Tibee Saga: Part 1, Part 3…

cats, dr hanks, tibee

Worry, Worry, Worry…

Dec 29th

Posted by Ash in Cats

It’s been a looooooong worrisome weekend… Pookey had to bring Tibee to the Collin County Emergency Veterinary Clinic on Saturday morning. I was up all of Friday night with him trying to get enough homemade pedialyte into him because I had noticed he was very dehydrated. I got 12 ounces in him, and he kept it down while he rested on my lap for 3 hours, but promptly threw it up when he was walking towards my bedroom. I was able to get him to take 4 more ounces of it, but it was apparent that he was so sick that he needed to go to the vet asap.

It turned out that when he, and Minnie, went to get spayed/neutered at Kittico’s clinic, on December 10th, they both contracted Panleukopenia (Feline Distemper) there. Pookey told me there were quite a number of feral cats at the clinic, as well as some privately owned cats like my two, to be spayed/neutered, so I can only assume that one of the other cats there was either sick, or had just gotten over it, as cats with Panleukopenia are contagious for weeks even when they appear healthy.

Minerva was sick with it first, but it was so mild that I assumed it was just a regular feline cold. Plus, with them both recovering from invasive surgery (Poor Tibee had an undescended testicle, and had to have an incision into his abdomen to remove it.) that most of the mild lethargy she had was from her recovering from the surgery. Unfortunately it was not. All four of my cats are strictly indoor cats, so there isn’t any other way that they could have been infected other than at Kittico’s spay/neuter clinic. I am pissed about it, but I’m so focused on Tibee getting well I haven’t contacted anyone at Kittico yet.

None of the Vets at the emergency clinic were very optimistic about Tibee’s chances, but he’s managed to prove them wrong so far. He’s been receiving IV antibiotics, and constant support to give him a chance at surviving this illness. I also visited him there at night, so he knew he wasn’t abandoned, and that his mommy loved him. He’s still very sick, but is showing signs that he’s getting better every day. He still has a long road to travel to recover from this, and all our hopes, prayers, and energy, have been focused on helping him get there. He’s now at Hanks Animal Hospital, and the tests they ran today show that he is improving. From all the great reviews Dr Hanks had, I have every confidence she’ll be a great ally in our fight for Tibee’s life. I plan to go see him tomorrow, and with any luck he might be able to come home before the new year.

*sighs*

The Tibee Saga: Part 2, Part 3…