Oh what a trying month it has been for our animals!
It all started on Labor Day. (It always seems like the emergencies fall on the holidays.) Kevin called me first thing in the morning to tell me that something was wrong with his cat, Fall. (Fall as in an October colored calico that he got in October, 12 years ago.) She was throwing up and could only walk by balancing herself along the wall.
I told him to get her to the emergency clinic right away. This was serious.
A few hours later, he called me to tell me she had kidney disease and heart failure. He put the vet on the line to explain it. I had a cat with kidney disease, and I know it can be managed. The vet explained that kidney disease is treated by adding fluids and heart disease is treated by removing them. Because of this and the fact that her blood work was so bad, the prognosis was terrible. Kevin asked for their honesty, and they said it would be best to put her to sleep.
This was devastating to both of us. Fall is the nicest cat I have ever met. I love her like my own.
Kevin called me back a few minutes later. The vet tech said he didn't have to do it right away. She would still be all right for a few days if he wanted to take her home. That way, we could spend a little more time with her and I could say goodbye. She wouldn't eat or drink, but she wouldn't be suffering.
They pumped her up with some Sub-Q fluids and sent her home. We spent a very sad evening with her. She mostly just laid there. She did use the litter box a few times, but we could see she could still barely walk. She did seem comfortable, so we just talked to her and told her how much we loved her. I told her that I loved her so much that if love alone could save her, she would be just fine.
The next day, Kevin was going to take her to the vet for her final visit. I went to the barn. Ellen and I were riding down the hill when Kevin called me on my phone. I braced myself for the bad news. He told me he didn't take her. She was walking normal and drinking water. He came out to ride, and then I went to his house to see her. She was so much better!
We decided on a new plan. He made an appointment with his regular vet. The earliest he could get her there was in 2 days. Instead of saying goodbye, he would have an examination to see how she is, first.
That evening, she started to eat cat treats! She was purring and moving about.
I went with him when he took her to the vet. They did a urinalysis and compared it to the one at the emergency vet clinic. It showed that she dramatically improved just from the fluids. There was no longer any sign of heart trouble. They suggested keeping her for a few days, pumping her up with IV fluids and seeing how she did.
It was a long 2 days, but we got back our Fall. They gave her special food for kidneys and said to come back in a few weeks for more testing.
She didn't really like the food, but she ate enough of it to keep going. When Kevin took her back, her blood work came out even better than it was when she left them. It really should have actually gotten worse, not better. She was nearly normal! She didn't need us to give her fluids. She just needed a kidney diet--which she didn't really like.
A few days later, Kevin went to the vet with a package of cat treats--threatening to feed her them just to get her to eat. They came back with a different type of food. It was a dry food. We took it home--and were so happy to see that both of his cats loved it!!!
We are going to have our Fall for a little while longer!!!
My love for her did save her. It was because I love her so much that Kevin brought her home to spend one last evening for us. Since then, we have had quite a few evenings with her, and we hope to have many more.
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