There is a saying that cats are fine…
until they aren’t
TB and I have experienced this with each of our kitties that crossed the rainbow bridge.
Most recently, about 5 years ago, was our sweet Tigger.
We adopted Tigger from a friend who’d adopted him after a neighbor abandoned him. He was about 7–8 years old and there was a conflict between Tigger and another pet. He was sweet and oh-so-gentle, guardian for our baby kitty Nugget who came in low-cat-on-the-totem pole.
This is how quickly it can happen: we’d only just brought Tigger in for his yearly physical and seemed to be fine.
And then he wasn’t. He was listless, slept a lot, and began breathing heavily.
We went back to the vet. She listened to his chest and then, looking stunned, said she could hear fluid in his lungs. We needed to take him to a pet emergency hospital.
We did. We learned that Tigger was in congestive heart failure. We thought medicine would help him but the doctor said he was beyond that. The doctor said he could drain all the fluid but before we got him home, his lungs would be filled again.
“He’d be drowning in air,” the doctor said. He looked at us with compassion. We cried. We knew what he was telling us.
He’d only been with us two years.
“How could this happen?” I asked. “We just had him to the vet!”
The doctor said, “The thing about cats is this: they’re fine until they’re not.”
It’s heart-breaking to have a furry family member ill and to feel so helpless and unable to help.
That’s what is happening now with our Grandkitty Bouy.
He became listless, didn’t want to eat, and began vomiting.
My daughter Kristin, Bouy’s mama, took him to the vet. Over the course of a few days, he’s had an injection of antibiotic, been placed on a probiotic and anti-nausea pill, and began trying a prescribed cat food for tummy troubles.
He began to perk up a little yesterday and ate a little bit.
Kristin let us know he was beginning to eat and was a little more active.
This morning, he cuddled up with Kristin for the first time since becoming sick. He must be feeling better to be lying on his back!
We’re so relieved you’re feeling a bit better, Bouy. Prayers continuing for a speedy recovery!
