In loving memory

Yesterday I came home from work and found Kyra had passed away in the few hours between when R left and I arrived home.

I took her to the vet, and R left work early and came to meet me. We made arrangements for her, and said goodbye.

The past 7 years and the past few weeks have truly been a precious time that we had together with a special little kitty.

In the beginning...

We had just gotten a new car and were out driving around on a hot summer day in July 2001. We were driving by a convenience store (at 45mph) when I looked in the parking lot and saw a cat under a truck. I said "Wow, there's a cat under the truck in that parking lot!"

R asked "How did you see that? Do you want to go back?" I said "no" then "Maybe." So he turned around and we headed back. I expected that the cat would run from me, but instead she came to me. She was very affectionate and VERY dirty.

I went in the store and asked about the cat, but the store owner didn't know anything. She came into the car willingly but then cried so mournfully the whole way home. We brought her in and isloated her from the other cats. She was very hungry and very dirty. I combed and combed her to try to get the mats out of her fur as well as the burrs.

The next day we noticed she was limping, and I took her to the vet. Both the vet and I were disgusted to find that someone had declawed her AND dumped her. It turned out she had a bite on her leg and needed antibiotic. I couldn't stand the thought of taking her to even a no-kill shelter while she was not fully healthy so I started giving her the meds. After 10 days of antibiotic we had fully bonded and her tests indicated she was healthy.

She started out living in our bedroom closet. She was super shy and played, and enjoyed some petting but didn't want to socialize much. Then in September, R had neck surgery. He was home from work sleeping and recovering. Somehow Kyra knew he needed company, and she came out of the closet and snuggled with him.

Soon she became a bit more confident, snuggling with us while we slept. When we had a smaller bed, she would share my pillow, and when we had a bigger bed, she had her own spot between our pillows. She loved us both, was fiercely independent, and R was definitely HER person.

ups and downs

Kyra is still hangin in there. Her mood is good, we've found some foods she will eat on her own, and we are hand feeding her twice a day. It's definitely sad to have a sick pet, but I am focusing on enjoying the time all of us spend together.

Also, the other two are getting lots of love from us too. They know something is wrong with Kyra, and mostly avoid her, but since she is getting so much attention from us, we're making sure to give them extra attention too.

I've found some great syringes at Walgreen's that make the feeding go much smoother, and I also picked up some disposable Pampers bibs, which helps control the messiness. Not only is it less messy but it means less cleanup afterwards, and cleaning messy food from a furry kitty face is challenging.

Her current meds are prednisone and marin, which contains milk thistle and vitamin E, and is supposed to provide natural support. We are always looking at her ears and eyes to see if the jaundice has decreased, and intermittently I think it's improved or hasn't changed. It's hard, cause I definitely WANT to see it change, I just don't know if it is.

blood work update

so I spoke to the vet, he said her red blood cell count is down, indicating she could have an autoimmune issue going on.

i'm headed there after work, I'll be doubly making sure that it's not something the others can contract, and picking up more meds and food for her.

R and I will continue with our regimen for now, and see how it goes.

Went for a re-check at the vet

He hasn't seen us since we were discharged for our crazy road trip. He was honest with me and said he was surprised to see her still with us. He's concerned she is still pretty yellow (jaundice) and is re-checking her blood, we will have results tomorrow.

He also gave her some B12, and depending on the bloodwork may put us on prednisone.

Everyone at the vet office was super sweet to me and Kyra.

I'll update tomorrow when I get the bloodwork results.

another sickie in the family

yesterday we realized R has shingles. I cried. Mostly because we are both trying to be so strong for each other and for the kitty. I knew we were both stressed, but to me his shingles is a clear indicator that it's taking a physical toll on him. And I feel bad. He's also stressed about returning to work after his injury, and the increased appointments for physical therapy and other doctor follow-ups. It just means needing to be up and out earlier than normal, and having even longer days than usual.

I left the living room where Kyra was chillin on the couch, cause I didn't want to upset her by crying. Within a few minutes, both of the other kitties were on the bed with me. They were worried that I was crying. Such sweet pets we have.

A good note about Kyra, she is drinking some water on her own, and pooping almost daily. There were some tense days where we waited for her to poop, but now she seems to be a bit more regular.

Tomorrow is the follow up blood test at the vet, and I am anxious about it. We need to know the information it provides to see if she's fighting this illness, but I know I will feel sad if her numbers are worse from the last check. I'm trying to prepare myself for whatever the outcome is, and not to obsess about it, cause my stressing won't change it.

maybe, maybe not

for the past few days it seemed like Kyra's appetite was increasing, she was eating more on her own. Today she wasn't as interested in food, she ate a small amount this morning but when she hadn't eaten her normal amount by lunchtime we did a handfeed. I hope she can keep fighting, but if she can't, we won't let her starve.

Sigh.

It's so hard.