House of Many

Hope...new family member.

We got a new cat a few months ago. Her name is Hope and named that for a good reason. She was found in an abandoned car engine as a kitten. She rode in that car engine from Greenville to Clemson. She wasn't even old enough to be weaned from her mama cat. When we got her she was only about 1 lbs. and fit into the palm of my hand. Poor kitty was soooo sick. She had a protozoa called coccidia. It causes a lot of diarrhea and bloating. We had her on medications for the next few week. She had been on the medicine for the next few weeks. I called a friend of mine who worked as a veterinarian assistant for the past several years. She came over to see our new member and told us she was a very sick kitty. She took her back to her home and stayed up with her all the next night and gave her iv fluids and kept a close eye on her. The next morning she thought she would be okay and called to give me the good news. I called her later that same afternoon and her tone about Hope had changed. She said that Hope had taken a turn for the worst and may not make it. Her gums were blue and so were the insides of her ears. She just lay there and had no activity at all. I had to tell my nine year old daughter the sad news that her new little kitten may not make it. Listening to the grief in my daughter's voice completely broke my heart. I called one last time that evening to check on Hope and Tammy gave me a few words of encouragement. She said not to get our too excited, but Hope popped her head up and she was showing signs of improvement. She kept her for the next couple of days and we came and picked her up some time later. She was still sick with the coccidia and possibly some pneumonia. She ended up having to stay on the medicine for coccidia for the next month and a half. Our next problem was her tummy being bloated. Poor little kitty looked like a pregnant kitten. The vet told me that he thought it was either the coccidia or FIP. FIP is feline Interstitual Peritonitis which is fatal. (Can this tiny creature go through ANYTHING else) Over time the belly got better and the coccidia finally went away. Now she is a healthy family member and she weighs 4.1 lbs. She love to attack feet and just loves to be loved.

posted by Unknown @ 12:55 PM