Our Lil Furry Four Legged Friend...

On Monday of this week we learned our 2 year old kitten, Freddie, developed Hepatitis. We are not sure what caused his liver to start shutting down.

From the different articles I read on the internet a cat doesnt always show signs of liver disease right away. We did not figure it out til Monday, when I noticed his little nose, inside of his ears, the pads on his paws and the gums were all yellow. Thinking maybe there would be something we could do at home I quickly looked up liver diseases in cats on the internet. The symptoms of what I was seeing was indeed liver

disease as described on the differing internet articles, but I was

prepared fo the worst. Yet the vet and her boss convinced me to

take him home and give him some nursing care hoping he would pull

out of it.

Hoping that he would pull through I gave him water with as syringe, and gave him a pill, which I gave to him on another kind of syringe used to medicate animals.

Then came the battle to feed Freddie cat food, wet cat food.

Have you ever smelled that stuff? Freddie just did not want to eat

that ick no matter how hard I tried to feed it to him. I even gave him the choice to lick a bit off my finger, still he choose not to taste it.

Someone advised, go to the grocery store and buy some baby food jarred chicken, it is smoother than cat food and it will be easier for him to take in than the cat food. I figured okay, well if their cat pulled through whatever it was when it was ill maybe it'll help Freddie. So off to the store I go to buy some baby food. Sure enough, he liked it and ate almost a teaspoon of the stuff and nearly a syringe full of water. When he got done eating, he was purring and looking bright eyed, he even sorta smiled at me, which made me laugh and cry at the same time.

The vet had asked if I had noticed that Freddie had stopped eating. I felt so bad because no I hadnt noticed!!!! What kind of kitty mom am I anyway, that I didnt notice? I thought to myself. Just as I was getting ready to give myself a chastising for not watching poor Freddie closer she asked if we had other cats. I said yes. She said well you would not know who was eating and who wasnt, it is okay, dont worry. She asked if our other kitties were doing okay, are they showing any signs like Freddie. I said no, no symptoms and I even see them eating every other minute of the day!

I learned that cats will stop eating their food anywhere from a week to two weeks before they start showing signs of liver failure. Even before that time period their body is already going through liver shut down.

To make a long story short, Freddie had a long week. So did my family as we watched him fight to stay alive and be with us. Each day we tried to do our best nursing care we could for Freddie.
This evening, Adam my son and I, took Freddie to the vet to be euthanized. The vet saw our faces and knew that our week had been a long one for human and animal. He reassured us that we did what we could for Freddie. I was glad to be consolled as we were.

Remember, my family (the four footed fur ones too) and myself this week. Our hearts feel a bit emptier. Our minds are filled with many memories of Freddie and all the fun we had with him.