My kitty is very, very ill...

[DRoseDARs]

EDIT: She has since passed away. Scroll further down if you've any interest. Thank you all.

All this talk of court rulings on gay marriage, Bush's visit to the UK, Michael Jackson in trouble...all of it is just fading away into nothing for me right now.



This just happened in the last few days. I'm told by my stepdad that she's been feeling sick since Sunday. She's been sick before, but this is the worst we've seen her. I hadn't seen her around since a few hours ago. She was crouched on a perch when I went into the garage and I petted her gently. As I turned away to go back inside the house I heard the sound of something falling. Samantha had tried, in vain, to get up but was dizzy and lost her footing. She fell on her back between the perch and the water heater and was stuck for a few moments until I could free her. She tried walking away but only got a few steps before quiting, opting instead to sit on her hind legs, then collapsing on her side. She was having motor problems, displayed in the duck waddle of her hind legs. She tried again to walk, getting a little further this time, and stayed on her bum when she sat.

I've had her downstairs for the past few hours in the guestroom where I could keep an eye on her, though now she's in the computer room with me two feet away to my right. We watched some X-Files, then Adult Swim together, but she was more interested in her labored breathing. She tries to sleep now and again; her moving chest tells me she hasn't left.

The main problem is her ability to move...or near-lack thereof. Earlier she could walk somewhat AND support her own weight, but for the past few hours she can't do more than limply jerk around in whatever position she's in and meow in pained fustration at her failure to honestly move under her own power. She won't drink the water I offer her and she hasn't eaten much in the past few days.

I plan to stay up through the night (it's 2:20am here in Reno) until my stepdad wakes around 5ish. I hope to get some sleep myself then before my mom wakes. We'll probably take Samantha to the vet soon thereafter.

I feel so helpless to do anything substantial to ease her pain and fear. I've stayed mostly by her side and petted her, offered her water that she refuses to drink, even lifted her limp body when she tries to change position on her own.

Samantha has had us as a loving family since I was in the fifth grade (1992), making her about 11 or 12 years old (we don't know when she was born exactly). We took her to the vet when she first came to us as a stray when we saw her mangled hind leg. We give her a warm home, all the food she can stand, plenty of land for her to do kitty things on, and all the Human loving and caring she deserves.



Typing all this has helped me somewhat...

...but God I'm scared.

[Dis]

[Space05us]

I hope your kitty gets better it sucks when a pet is sick.

[Az]

I hope it gets better. Pets are almost like kids, in many ways.

[DRoseDARs]

Thanks to the rest she's had she has gained a little strength over the past two hours; managing to adjust her laying position without needing my help, though still can't get up. I've been ocassionally forcing her to drink some water; I don't have an eyedropper handy, but a straw with my thumb at one end seems to work just fine. I touch/tickle her feet and tail to make sure she has sensation in her extremities and she reacts each time.

My precious little kitty is purring. Although I'm certain she's in pain, I think she's showing me she apreciates my all-night vigil watching over her.

[The Mad Monk]

Best wishes.

[DRoseDARs]

There's been a changing of the guard: my stepdad is awake now. I'm gonna get some sleep now. We'll see how she's doing in a few hours.

G'night all and thank you.

[alva]

But why did you wait this long to go to a vet?
-
Don't wan't to scare you and I really hope she'll be ok and that I'm wrong, but doesn't good at all for a 12 year old, I've seen those symptons before.

[JohnT]

I'm glad she's feeling better.

[monolith94]

I, too, would reccomend immediate vetrinary assistance.

[chequita guevara]

Best of luck. Our bunny, Ophelia, died two weeks ago. Bunnygrrl is still sad.

[The Mad Monk]

I'm sorry to hear that, Che.

How old was she? My brother's rabbit, Winter, died last year at age ten.

You are really losing a member of the family, especially when they've been with you that long.

[DRoseDARs]

I managed to get 2 hours of sleep before my mom woke me saying Sam was "having convulsions." She was twitching, eyes fully dialated, and definitely not having a fun time of it. We took her to the vet's office nearby and they are running tests, sending samples to an outside lab, and have her on an IV. Strong possibility of diabetes.

As far as why "we waited this long" my stepdad is the one to ask. He sees her the most of any of us, so he should have noticed her weight-loss; most of the abdominal fat was burned off. Her increased intake of water over the past few weeks was also a symptom. That's the difficult thing about having a pet: they can't just tell you what's wrong or where they hurt. We didn't really notice any changes other than her increased thirst. Just in the past few days has she shown something was really wrong. This caught us completely by suprise. She's always been a very active cat doing cat things in their cat ways. This just happened so suddenly and went under our radar prior.

She'll be staying and the hospital through today and over-night for observation, though she may have to be transfered to another hospital since the vet is the only doctor at his practice (sending her somewhere where medics are present 24/7). We left after the vet put the second IV in and put her blood into a centrifuge.

If it is diabetes, I'd sooner have her euthanised than put her through the continuing trama of twice-daily insulin shots and the constant worry of something else going wrong. If it's less severe, then it may just be a matter of a diet change and giving her edible pills. If it's worse, euthanasia to end the needless suffering. I love her too much to extend her life in a vain attempt to keep her with me.

We should know more by late afternoon. The sample sent to the outside lab won't be finalized until tomorrow morning.

*Sigh...*

Che/TMM: Sorry 'bout your bunnies.

Samantha came to us in February 1992, and the vet then thought she was a year old, so she's aproximately 11-12 years old.

[SlowwHand]

Convulsions? Doesn't sound good. Here's hoping...

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
I'm sorry to hear that, Che.

How old was she?

She woulda been five in February.

She had stopped using her litter and had started sitting in her urine, and developed sores. We tried for about two months to keep her clean and treat her sores, but it kept getting worse. We had to have her put under anesthesia to get the matted hair and feces cut away from her sores, and she died a few days later, either from the anesthesia or septisis in the sores.