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.

Seeing more of our kitty

Obviously we are feeling cautiously optimistic/hopeful, but starting yesterday afternoon, we started seeing Kyra acting a little more like the Kyra we know so well. I came into the living room yesterday after going to the store, and started looking in her hiding spots for her. She was sitting on the comfy chair. I know that sounds sort of mundane, but when we are not putting her on the couch or bed, she is usually hiding somewhere and dozing.

This morning when we got up, she was sleeping on the couch. Small victories!

We also noticed she has a way of sleeping when she is sick, it's hard to describe, but you can tell if you know her that she's not sleeping the way she normally does. This morning on the couch she was sleeping in her normal way. :)

Also she is starting to eat a bit more on her own. We've been averaging about 2 teaspoons of food on her own a day. Today before R left for work, she ate about 3 teaspoons of food on her own. When I get home, I will offer her some more.

Hangin in there!

Kyra is hangin in there! Whenever we are around, we offer her food. It helps that we have staggered schedules. So far she's been enjoying kitten food a lot, as well as some other fishy kitty food. We track the amounts of foods that she eats so we can get an idea of how many calories she's eating a day, then supplement with the hand feeding. It's ironic to have this kitty who had such an incredible appetite, now need constant encouragement to eat. We mix the kitten food with pedialyte (unflavored) to help make sure she's getting electrolytes. She drinks a bit of water, and I supplement with sub-q fluids. We have a new addition to the care regimen. After we feed her at night, we snuggle with her on the bed, petting her and telling her how much we love her. She eventually gets sick of that and goes to hide under the bed, but we want her to have that positive snuggle experience after the feeding.

It's tough to make good cat mom decisions. I think about when I was a kid, I don't even imagine the vet would have been able to recommend sonograms and all kinds of diagnostic tests. Vet medicine has advanced so much in my lifetime, but we still have to make a decision on what is best for her, for all of our cats, and for us. I think about quality of life for all of us, and I have to think about finances, especially in this economy.

I spent a lot of time stressing about when would be "the time to say goodbye." I shared this with my therapist and she encouraged me to take it easy on that topic, and that R and I will know when that time is, whether it is soon, or down the road. All we can do for now is give her our best, and our love.

I have an appointment on Tuesday with our regular vet, who was away this week, for a re-check of her blood. Hopefully her increased eating has had a good impact on her system. I went over to the vet's office today to pick up some more fluids, syringes, and meds cause some of them got sort of pulverized. Everyone there was super sweet, and asked about how she was doing.

One decision I'm so glad we made, was bringing her home. Although this week has been difficult and emotional, it's been so good to have her here, spend time with her, and talk with her.