I wanted to write this post a few days ago on Thankful Thursday but I was not ready to write it.. I have lost so many cats in such a short time I don't think I have let myself grieve since I had other ill kitties to care for. I lost Ivy in July and then Minnie took up all my time from her diagnosis in August until she passed in October when Georgie started failing. I crashed after I lost her and I am struggling now with my grief. Being so close to the holidays does not help.
Thank you Ann, Moe and Alasandra for the pleasing graphics. I am much obliged to each of you who contacted me with advice and encouragement for managing both Minnie with CRF and Georgie with diabetes. Vets are only so helpful - you guys gave me so much more support and taught me from your firsthand experiences with these illnesses. I learned a lot. Hopefully I will not need this info in the near future, but now I have more to work with.
Your concern and sympathy after each kitty passed has helped me more than you could ever know. It is wonderful to have such a caring group of fellow cat lovers to lean on in times like this. Your comforting comments on Facebook and the blog are treasured.
To all my Blog and Facebook buddies -
I treasure your friendship.
After a rough week and several days in ICU at the ER vet trying to get her diabetes and some serious complications under control, we made the heartbreaking decision to let Georgie go this morning. Looking back at the 12 months since her diagnosis, she had been hospitalized for multiple days five times in ICU. The rest of the time was in recovery. Not much time spent just being a cat. Her quality of life was taking a hit with this illness.. Rather than put her through more medical procedures and further hospitalizations to hopefully stabilize her, we chose to let her join her Momcat Lily at the Rainbow Bridge.
All worn out this morning.
We visited with her for a long time at the vet, giving her tummy rubs, kisses and telling her how so very much she was loved. She was happy to see us, purred and was alert but as the time went on we could tell she was fading. She was tired, frail and genuinely weak. When I told her Lily was waiting for her, Georgie looked right into my eyes and blinked hers slowly. She was ready to leave this worn out body behind. During the procedure, Georgie rested quietly while I held her and surrounded her in Reiki light and love. It was so sad but very peaceful.
Georgie and Rosa snuggled on the porch of our old house years ago.
We took her her home with us wrapped in a pink fleece blanket and buried her on our land next to Lily. We placed three pansies with her - two purple for us and one yellow for her.
Only on left and Georgie hiding from the tree man.
Just as her mom Lily was the embodiment of mothering, Georgie's gift to us was her patience, sweetness and trusting nature. She calmly let me do all the diabetic procedures to her without a fuss. Her vets loved her for always letting them do their job. She was like water, bending and flowing with life's daily movements, always unflappable, unperturbed.
On the porch this past summer
Her eyes were a gorgeous shade of green. She was extraordinarily beautiful. Yet she had a tough side too and enjoyed being in the middle of a kitty pile of her litter mates, napping or eating and shoving each other around one bowl. She could be fierce if they started rough housing, whapping the offending brother or sister on the head. If she had too much of some procedure I was doing to her, she would nip me too saying "No more."
Most mornings she would get up on the bed after Don left and head butt Tabitha and Woody, snuggling between them placidly waiting for me to wake up and feed her. She would race me to the kitchen talking all the while and line up with the others for first dibs on her food. Eating was her passion and may have been her downfall. In old photos of her, she was quite plump.
Plump Georgie
Our pet names for her were Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie, Georgie Girl or baby girl. She was our quiet kitty who enjoyed sleeping in odd positions, all stretched out and upside down. Although when she was not feeling well, she preferred a hidy hole. Don put her in a cat bed and placed her on his lap when she got home from one of her ICU stays while he watched TV. She was content to be in the same room with us or getting loved up - not much for laps.
Georgie on Don's lap
If you can't see this video of her asking for food after she got the feeding tube in go here.
I appreciate all of your donations for her medical expenses over this past year, and your emotional support through her illnesses.. I wouldn't have made it without your help.
Our hearts ache at this loss and the house is so empty without her enduring presence. I know I will be looking for her in the cat bed by the back window, or on the bed in the early morning light, her white fur glowing in the darkness. When you care for a seriously ill cat like her, your every moment is tied into their schedule and needs. I feel adrift without my routine with her. But I will adjust. I am just grateful we had nine wonderful years with her although much too few Goodbye baby girl. Give my love to Lily when you see her.
Lily, her mom on left, napping on a cool spring day.
WED PM UPDATE - Saw Georgie - she is perkier and doing better. Her blood glucose is finally coming down and she seems more comfy. She will be able to come home Thurs PM if all goes well. Glad I brought her in when I did - hopefully they caught the ketoacidosis in the early stages and we can get her regulated for insulin. Kind of upset at the ER vets for missing this. They will hear it from me on Thurs! Keep purring until she comes home please.
UPDATE
- so far Georgie has a UTI plus her blood showed a tiny bit of keytones
from her glucose running high. They will do a full blood panel and
xrays if needed. Sounds like the ER vet missed a bunch of things! Glad I took her to her regular vet today. Georgie is getting IV fluids and
antibiotics to start with. Will let you know more as I get more info,
Keep the purrs coming!!! Thanks.
I have not blogged in a while because we are having health issues with Georgie, our diabetic cat. She was at the ER vet two weeks ago - dehydration, kidney values up a bit and high blood glucose. After fluids for two days, antibiotics and a change in insulin she seemed to be back to nrmal.
She stopped eating yesterday. I had just brought her in for a check up on Monday and she was OK - not great but doing better. I am bringing her in to the vet today and we will see what is what. I am afraid there is something else going on with her and not just the diabetes. I have been assist feeding her to keep her from getting hepatic lipidosis again.
Please keep her in your thoughts and purr hard for her. She has had a rough year.
Last week Georgie, who is diabetic, was not herself - not eating much and just laying around. I made an appointment with the internal medicine specialist at our ER veterinary hospital for Friday. They examined her and found her potassium low, her BUN high, her blood glucose very high and she was extremely dehydrated as well. They kept her overnight Friday.
She was doing better by Saturday afternoon when I visited but her numbers were not down yet so she spent another night there as well. I could tell she was feeling better as she was more alert and eating for the techs. We had a good visit and I felt she would come home Sunday which she did.
She preferred snuggling in my coat.
She has been eating like a trooper and acting much more herself. I will call the vet specialist on today to find out what caused this and how we can prevent it from happening again. Initially the vet felt that we would have to adjust her insulin but that does not seem to be the case now. I am just happy to have my baby girl home with us. Thank you for all the purrs and comments on our Facebook pages about Georgie. It worked!
Jack with his nip toy in Sept.
Please keep our neighbor cat Jack, who I have mentioned in the blog often, in your purrs and prayers. He has been missing for 15 days now - not usual for him. We live in the woods with a few homes - theirs, ours and a couple of others. He never went across the road. His mom came by a few days back to ask me if I had seen him. She seems to feel something bad happened to him. He always came home every night. We do have all sorts of wild animals and raptors in the woods. I keep looking for his little face at the back screen door but it hasn't happened.. After scouring the yard and the part of the forest he usually frequented, there wasn't a trace of him or anything that looks disturbed. I am heartbroken - he was our outdoor part time cat. I will keep you posted
P.S. I apologize for not getting around to the Veteran's Day posts - I was assist feeding Georgie every few hours all last week to keep her from getting fatty liver disease again. I was so worried - all my efforts went to her. I will try to catch up this week.
It's me, Two Spot hosting today! Mom is still visiting and thanking all of you who left kind comments for her when Ivy left for the Bridge recently. Ivy left a huge hole in our house and in our hearts. Your support and words of comfort help so much.
Sweetpea
Sweetpea went to the vet the same day we lost Ivy. She is tiny but feisty and had to be sedated to get blood and urine for her tests. She had a UTI and is pre diabetic (maybe). Since blood glucose goes up under stress, the vet wants to check again after her UTI is resolved to see if she is still running high. Or maybe Mom can do that at home. Sweetpea is back to her normal self so we think this may be a false alarm. Let's hope so as she is not a good candidate for insulin shots and blood glucose testing!
Albert
Meanwhile Albert, our deaf mancat, is off his food and very lethargic. Not much else and since it is very hot out we have not taken him in to be checked yet. He will go to see the vet Thursday (today). He needs a senior check up being 11 this year. Hopefully all will be OK! Paws crossed everyone!
Georgie still has a shaved belly and paw form her last hospital visit.
Georgie has been a little off her food and her blood sugar is waffling again. With all she has been thru her liver is damaged. Mom decided to try a holistic vet in another county and took Georgie on Monday this week. Well worth the 40 minute drive. Georgie got acupuncture and came home with probiotics, digestive enzymes and vitamin B - all to help her liver heal which will in turn help all the other digestive issues - appetite, constipation and diabetes. Georgie did really well and Mom liked the vet very much. We had a vet back at our old house that was holistic but have not found anyone here.
A pic of the acupuncture needles in Georgie
We have a lot to be thankful for - living in an area with access to great vet care - holistic and conventional, a new approach to helping Georgie with her diabetes, new donations to our Paypal account that enable us to take the cats to the vet and all the dear friends who purr, pray and help Mom thru our ups and downs in caring for all of us senior and special needs cats.
Wishing y'all a fun, safe and happy 4th of July! We are going to stay indoors away from the fireworks and noise but the beans may wander off to see one of the local displays! At least where we live, we don't hear the noise from the celebrations!
Notice anything different about Georgie in this photo? She got her feeding tube out yesterday! The vet thought she was doing well - gained weight, her diabetes is stable and she is eating great on her own! Yay for Georgie! A day worth celebrating - she came thru this wonderfully. Thank you for all your support during her illness. We need her to stop having health crises - she is using up her 9 lives pretty fast. She needs to save some for her later years!
Mr. Kitty here - I seem to be sharing my Mondays with Georgie - I don't mind. She is a sweet ladycat.
Auntie Cheri has been very busy caring for her. The ER vet has upped her insulin hoping that she will put on weight. She was down a bit last week - not good. If the new insulin level is not working to help stabilize her weight, then they will do a test for pancreatic insufficiency. Scarier than it sounds - it just means she will need to take digestive enzymes with her food. Before that tho, Auntie has to do a "curve" - something to do with the blood glucose. It takes all day so that will keep Auntie and Georgie busy!
Georgie had been doing great - eating on her own and eating a good amount but they wanted to make sure so they left the feeding tube in her. Good thing too cuz Sunday night she did not eat on her own and the beans had to feed her with the tube so they could give her insulin shot! Hope this is a one time issue. Auntie forgot a dose of the appetite stimulant. I guess we can forgive her as Auntie was sick this week and went to the ER herself! She is OK - just a stomach bug, and dehydration which made her pass out! Purrs appreciated to Georgie that this can be resolved pretty soon.
Now to me! Even tho it was a heat wave this past week I spent all the time I could out on the screen porch. The beans wouldn't let me out unless it was cool - like in the morning and then later in the day. I like the heat tho and lay tummy up soaking it all in!
For the International Box Day - Auntie made us all pose in boxes. None of us were in the mood so she put catnip in the boxes to entice us. She forgot and left the tub of catnip on the coffee table. Oh boy! I jumped on this super opportunity to have it all to myself. I knocked it off onto the floor and low and behold, the top came off too! Whoo whee - I was in nip heaven! I rolled and rolled in the delicious fragrant nip. What a feeling! Nothing like getting high!
Me in nip heaven!
Auntie rescued the rest of the catnip and I eventually passed out on the floor. It was great while it lasted! Wishing you all a nip filled week! See ya for the 4th of July!
The warm weather is here so we don't have the windows open anymore for fresh air but Aunt Cheri lets us cats go on the back porch from early evening on. I enjoy this and stretch out, scratching on the wood of the porch.
Then my next job is introoder alert. This is very important. My Mom told Aunt Cheri that I would chase everything and anything that came into my yard back in my old house. I am fearless.
While I was on the porch this day, a big black dog came into the yard. The other kitties all ran inside the house but I stayed and hissed and growled at the thing. No one messes with me.
Auntie heard me growling so came to make me come inside. "Do I haveta?" I pleaded. She wouldn't listen to me. Inside I went with the doors locked. Auntie kept looking out the window where all the cats were now looking safely inside.
Then...she saw it. It wasn't a dog after all. It was a black bear!! Auntie figured out it must have been just outside the door of the house maybe heading for the trash can. When I hissed and growled, he ran up the embankment. Bears are afraid of bobcats and mountain lions so my cat sounds scared him off. Auntie had noticed the trellis for the climbing veggies in the garden was moving back and forth even when there was no wind. That was when he bear ran by!
Now that we were all indoors, Auntie Cheri ran to get her camera and took this photo of the bear. It was getting dark and all you could see was his light brown snout against the dark woods. Then Auntie yelled and banged on the screen to scare him away! He lumbered slowly into the forest.
I got praised and told how good I was at my job as snoopervisor of the house and yard. I was pretty proud of myself. Auntie is hoping the bear does not come back again. He won't, cuz I am here to guard everyone!
P.S. We have a short update on Georgie...she is home, eating (tuna only but at least eating) and acting more and more like herself. She is not a docile cat (except when she is sick) and is pretty fiesty if you try and hold her. Two nights ago while the beans were feeding her with a syringe via her feeding tube, she jumped down off the table and ran down the hall with the syringe still in the tube!!! Horrors!! Auntie was screaming and running after her.
Georgie seemed OK but Auntie took her to the ER vet to make sure the tube didn't come out. It didn't - whew! Now they wrap her in a towel when they feed her - better safe than sorry. Georgie goes back on Tuesday to her internal medicine specialist to have a recheck.
Guess what? I am home!!! I got home Tuesday and I feel a lot better but Mom says I still have to eat more so I can get this tube out of me. I don't remember much of my hospital stay cuz I was so sick that I was out of it. But I knew when my humans came to visit every day and perked up. The top photo is me waiting for my discharge papers. Boy was I relieved to go home.
I didn't even mind having to go into the PTU!
It was Once I got home it was a lot of activity - the beans had to learn to feed me with my tube. Pop actually did the food warming and syringing since he is a chef and is used to making sure food is a good temperature for me. It does feel funny not to be eating and having the sensation of food going down my esophagus and into my tummy. This photo is me chilling after all the food, and medications.
Woody photo bombed this shot.
Mom put me in my own room but I got over the gate no problem. So the gate will no longer be up - they don't want me to hurt myself trying to get out. I get a buffet of food to choose from everyday. I am picky and will eat maybe one food a little bit. Mom is upset cuz she thinks this is why I got this fatty liver thing. I would rather not eat at all than have something I don't like! Anyone else have a kitty like that? Mom would like some suggestions....
This is me right now sleeping after the whole ordeal of feeding me and then changing my bandage. The beans did good though, right? Thanks you all for thinking of me and purring and praying for my recovery. I know it worked.
My vet bill was very very huge...it took a lot out of our beans savings to pay it and we need to get some back in our kitty care fund. With 18 of us cats, it is not easy to come up with green stuff to pay bills. If you could share our donation page - it would help us so much!
I will give you a quick rundown of my life with Aunt Cheri and Uncle Don and then turn this over to the beans to give you a Georgie update. It has been five weeks since I moved here and I am settling in just fine. I LOVE my Uncle Don!
I follow hm everywhere - to the kitchen, bathroom, office. I even beg for food from him (with the other cats supervising of course). I sit on his lap any chance I get - when he is on the phone, at the computer or watching TV. If he ignores me (how dare he?) then I tap him gently with my paw. If that doesn't work then I give him a love nip on his arm,. That usually gets his attention!
I do miss my humans from before but things are not so bad here. When we had company the other day, I met a nice guy who has hair the same color as mine! We hit it off real fine! Us gingers need to stick together!
As of Sunday Georgie who was diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease and is in ICU at the vet's, has eaten a bit of tuna on her own - a great sign that the feeding tube might not have to be in long and that she is feeling better. This photo is from Sat. and she is still a bit loopy from the anesthesia and not feeling well. She looked so much better a day later and hopefully even better on Monday.
Monday we will meet with the internal medicine specialist to determine when she may be able to come home and how we will be monitoring her. Georgie seems to know we are there and purrs up a storm, with little chirps every now and then. There is another Georgie cat in the next cage who got bit by a snake so there is confusion when the vet techs call out "Georgie's parents?" Two sets of parents answer "Here"! So now we are Snakebite Georgie and just plain Georgie.
To tempt Georgie to eat, she has a buffet of food in her cage at all times. She is also fed through her feeding tube every couple of hours, plus insulin and other things running through and IV all the time. I will continue to update on her and sincerely thank you all for your support, sharing of our donation page (see in the sidebar or under the blog header), comments and donations. We are finding that treating this disease is very costly - we will be upwards close to $3000. by the time she is home. Money well spent on our sweet Georgie.
UPDATE THURS PM - We had to bring Georgie from her vet to another one open 24 hours. She is not responding to her treatment as well as they would like.The ER vet suggested pancreatitis or perhaps hyperthyroid as the reason behind her blood sugar issues. She will see an internal medicine specialist on Friday. Please keep her in your thoughts.
We have not posted this week cuz Georgie, who has diabetes, has not been well. She had constipation issues last week and then some dehydration. She seemed to perk up but then on Wednesday, Mom got real worried and took her to the vet. Georgie was very lethargic, vomited and wouldn't eat.
She is in ketoacidosis from too little insulin or her body is not processing it right. We caught her in the early stages so she will hopefully not have to stay a full week at the vet like last time. This is very serious so please put your paws together and purr and pray for her to be well.
With all the stuff going on in our house - kitties going to the Bridge and then getting a new cat - Mom never got back to me on the blog and how I was doing with my diabetes. She wanted me to tell you guys how things are going. Remember back in November 2014, I was very sick and had to be in the vet hospital for days for ketoacidosis? Well I had to change my diet and even get insulin shots.
Me before (last year)
I have lost a lot of weight on the new diet (low or no carb). Mom says she hardly recognizes me anymore cuz I am so tiny! I didn't think I was big since all my brothers were the same size.
Me before - pretty chubby
Mom checks my blood every morning using a blood glucose meter just like people use. She pricks my ear and gets the blood sample there. I don't like it and run when I see her coming. I play this game where I run through the pantry and out the side door, around and around. Mom gets a bit exasperated sometimes. That's when I know it is time to stop and get on the bed so she can check me. I know I have to have this done.
Napping
After I eat, I get an insulin shot. Sometimes I jerk when she gives it to me and then we don't know how much went in!!! I try to be still cuz that means more blood tests all day! It is not a whole lot of fun but it could be worse. I do feel better and have much more energy than before. Some people have told Mom that she should be checking my glucose levels and changing the insulin accordingly but with all of us to care for she does not have time. If I seem off, she will take another glucose reading but really I am doing pretty good.
A selfie with my slim look
I am thankful that the vet could help me and I didn't go to the Bridge when I got sick. And that Mom doesn't mind keeping tabs on my glucose and giving me insulin. Her Mom and her mom's dog but had diabetes so she had plenty of experience before me. Oh and I do take Miralax twice a day to help keep me regular. I guess the insulin does a job on my regularity - so far so good! Have a super day!
