Small vent + good update after (tw for pet sickness, past pet loss)
So I went home to visit my family this week (I’m still there) and I was excited to see the cat I gave my mom two years ago when our other family cat passed rather unexpected. When I tell you that the cat that walked around the corner to greet me looked like a completely different animal, I’m not exaggerating.
The cat I left behind was soft, energetic, and just all around healthy, but when I saw her now she was haggard. I could feel her spine when I pet her, she was lethargic, and I was absolutely SHOCKED. My mom can’t afford a vet bill right now, but since I gave her that cat and I love that cat, I’m paying the vet bills and watching her while I’m staying here.
Our cat declined significantly over a day, and it being a small town in Alaska, there was no vet. There’s usually a couple of them that rotate through, but we happen to miss both, so we had a zoom appointment with a vet and the help of a vet assistant at the office the vet WOULD be at if he was here.
Things didn’t look great, and we were expecting a diabetes diagnoses going in, but our cat was diagnosed with FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus). It’s like HIV for cats. She has apparently had this since she was a kitten, but it was latent until this week when she very quickly got sick. She stopped grooming, playing, eating, or drinking. She showed very little interest in anything happening around her, but every night I’ve been here I still wake up to her cuddled next to me on the couch.
Yesterday morning at this time, I was sure she would die before we could even get her to her appointment several hours later. But she held on, and we administered fluids and antibiotics in hopes that she was able to bounce back, and so far she has. She still eating very little, as she’s very nauseous right now, but after a day and a half of nothing, some wet food and two kibbles is an incredible change. The only problem is that she doesn’t want a food after it makes her nauseous, which is every food right now, but she’s improving! She was grooming herself yesterday, she still walks all the way to the litter box to use it, and she’s showing interest in things again.
We have no way to say if she’ll really pull through, and she’s still at risk if she ever gets sick again, but right now she’s getting better.
