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kadoore10 years ago, when we adopted our two cats, I knew that one day they'd break my heart.
Such is the nature of cats - or any pet, really. You love them, they become a part of your family, but all the while you know you'll outlive them. But you don't dwell on that and you love them with your whole heart because all things are impermeant, and at least you've got this time together.
So when one of our cats - Kona - went off her food and started acting withdrawn, I thought that time had come. But after many (many) vet appointments, she's finally eating again, gaining weight, and even yowling at us in the middle of the night like old times. She has IBD, which is a lot like human IBS and something cats can live with a long time as long as its managed.
The relief I felt -
And then our other cat started losing weight. Where Kona is loud and boisterous and constantly after you for attention, Darjeeling has always been quiet and shy. Anxious, even, to the point where we considered medication. But we manage her anxiety by giving her plenty of space and using feliway and letting her chose when to come to us. So we didn't notice any behavioral changes, because she was always withdrawn. And we didn't initially notice her weight loss, because we were so focused on making sure Kona was eating.
We took her to the vet, expecting a similar diagnosis. They're sisters, after all, and it would make sense.
But Darjeeling has kidney disease, possibly stage 3, which is right before kidney failure. I was honestly too afraid to ask the vet any questions, because I was still recovering from Kona being near death. I know cats hide their symptoms and we had a lot going on this spring (newborn! wife's surgery! sick kids!) but I still can't help but feel guilty af.
So now I'm giving Darj fluids every other day and a cocktail of medications and all the pets she's ever wanted - which is not many, to be fair. And I am counting each day as another gift and hoping we have many, many more yet, but damnit
It's too soon.
Such is the nature of cats - or any pet, really. You love them, they become a part of your family, but all the while you know you'll outlive them. But you don't dwell on that and you love them with your whole heart because all things are impermeant, and at least you've got this time together.
So when one of our cats - Kona - went off her food and started acting withdrawn, I thought that time had come. But after many (many) vet appointments, she's finally eating again, gaining weight, and even yowling at us in the middle of the night like old times. She has IBD, which is a lot like human IBS and something cats can live with a long time as long as its managed.
The relief I felt -
And then our other cat started losing weight. Where Kona is loud and boisterous and constantly after you for attention, Darjeeling has always been quiet and shy. Anxious, even, to the point where we considered medication. But we manage her anxiety by giving her plenty of space and using feliway and letting her chose when to come to us. So we didn't notice any behavioral changes, because she was always withdrawn. And we didn't initially notice her weight loss, because we were so focused on making sure Kona was eating.
We took her to the vet, expecting a similar diagnosis. They're sisters, after all, and it would make sense.
But Darjeeling has kidney disease, possibly stage 3, which is right before kidney failure. I was honestly too afraid to ask the vet any questions, because I was still recovering from Kona being near death. I know cats hide their symptoms and we had a lot going on this spring (newborn! wife's surgery! sick kids!) but I still can't help but feel guilty af.
So now I'm giving Darj fluids every other day and a cocktail of medications and all the pets she's ever wanted - which is not many, to be fair. And I am counting each day as another gift and hoping we have many, many more yet, but damnit
It's too soon.
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Date: 2021-08-04 01:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-05 10:49 am (UTC)