I inserted a tube and administered hydration last night to a lovely cat...

i have known for at least 17 years. i had originally gone there to help him put her out of her misery. turns out she wasn't nearly as bad as her owner, who was not even close to ready to do it. i know, not a good reason, it was bathed in irony. to our credit, we did stare at her and we discussed her case thoughly. but then again....no pet scans were taken. so we tried really really hard to discern her wishes .....until the vet's office closed and it was no longer an issue. dakota got a stay until this morning... but i could tell she needed water.
so i went home to get a spare iv kit, came back, and administered saline subcutaneously.
we stared at her for another hour, and nothing. i went home frozen, exhausted, smelling like cat shit, while thinking i screwed up big time. i should have talked him into killing the poor cat already.
this morning she ate triple what she's been capable of in the last weeks.
i just got back from helping my friend put in the iv himself..so he did and it took five minutes for her to perk up even more. she immediately started to act like her old self. she was purring and i got her to do the doggy leg kick thing with my secret kitty technique. and no, i'm not going to tell you how.
a friend did the same thing for me eight years ago for my little girl when i was in exactly the same situation. and she lived happily another seven years. so who knows?
my friendship with this person had seriously and repeatedly hit the skids in the past nine months. it was really really good to let all that fall away, at least for now.
it's spring and i'm hopeful, and i'm going out and starting my weekend right now.

I mean, where is the Congressional outrage??? :)

or is it just resting?

my cat likes to pine for the toilet bowl.

but then she got kind of a bored look and went to sleep.

she has some kind of unspecified liver trouble. we don't know how bad. but she was very dry. i had to do it.

I'm no good in a medical situation.

I'm glad the kitty perked up.

Hope is a good thing.

She looks a lot like my Oreo. :loveya:

are you a vet, bettyellen? or a good-deed-doer? O8)

nope, i learned for my own cat. it only took five minutes about once a week, once she recovered, waters important. i had better go drink some now myself, rev!

:toast:

(isn't that the title character in some naughty bodice-rippin' novel?)

i just got out of uniform, ts for the pour.... i have a RL pint waiting for me down the street.
feeling good, rev.
for dakota
:bounce:

I think I read that book.:D

I think you WROTE that book.

Hi, Sparky! Still working late?

and still fighting a cold. :-(

have you tried chicken soup? lots of OJ? SLEEP???

I'm either freezing or sweating like crazy. OMG I've hit menopause.

Our estrogen to balance your testosterone.

I hope you feel better. :hug:

I miss you ladies. I also have to work Easter, so we'll have something in common this weekend.:hug:

I'll join in later.

Did you see my picture of Oreo down below?

similiar to the one I posted in the Countdown group.:evilgrin:

hey sparks.....you're supposed to lay your head down next to mine, so we can look at the moon.
waoooooo.
i'm out for some RL.

but not too much. You should save your heart for me.:pals:

join us.......

my heart travels with you throughout the night. My eyes are the stars, guiding you through life's journey.

bear with me - this is my first attempt at photobucket.



Oreo is hyper. Her nickname is Little Miss-Chiff. She is, therefore, hard to photograph - but very loving. :loveya:

PS - Thankfully, the sofa is no longer with me, either.

:loveya: (not for the sofa)

it was a hide-a-bed, and I got it for free (my dad won it in a drawing).

:D

well, dear Sparks, I'm off to find a videotape for tonight's KOEB re-broadcast (the ladies say the show is "sponge-worthy"). Then I'm going to snuggle in with my three furry beasts, dinner, KO, etc...

Please take care of yourself. You are irreplaceable! :loveya:

:hug:

Has been known to throw up on my computer keyboard more than once!! (looks just like the picture...Mr. Clyde) My daughter rescued Clyde from certain death 3 years ago when she worked at the Humane Society. When she had her son she couldn't deal with him and the baby and basically dropped him off with me. Now he's a love, but a chore, just like most "kids".

Mr. Clyde recently had a major crisis when one of his blind eyes became severely infected (we found out that one is goo and needs to be removed and the other has a completely detached retina, yuck!). He had lost so much weight he weighed only 6 pounds. He was basically barfing or spitting up his meds that regulated his weight as well. Well his infection cleared up (not the barfing) and he has gained weight.

Even though he's an old, blind cuss, he can make his way around the house and follow me around, jump in my lap, sleep curled up next to me in a particular position HE likes, in a particular part of the bed HE likes. He knows where his food and water are, can find his cat box (but sometimes "misses the mark"). That is WAY more than I can say for Mrs. Schiavo.

I will let Mr. Clyde wander around until he is too tired to go on, but if it gets too bad, he'll go to the vet to get peace. He's tough, so I think it'll be a while. Meanwhile, Mr. Schiavo is being subjected to the most vile insinuations as he tries to carry out his wife's wishes.

I wish Mrs. Schiavo were not in this position, but basically she left us long ago, the fight is political and shameful. Mr. Clyde has more cognition than she does. Can't we let her just go?

Well, why are you letting him read FreeRepublic.com then?

You gave me a good laugh! Lotsa love for that!

that's knid of amazing.
my friend and i both have really sick parents and the schivo issues have been playing out within our catholic families for the past year. it's not been pretty.
of course dakota has all of her brain left. so it's not truly similar, but still the irony persists.
i did not expect to be doing that, i expected to be doing the death thing. so it's good while it lasts. my friend doesn't need any heartache right now.

purring and whining, of course!

you done good!

She looks like she could be the sister of my tubby old Jabbacat, Miro.

for about the past month, I've been giving her IV fluids. First every day, now it's tapered off to every 3-4 days. She's 15, hyperthyroid, and arthritic. She only weighs about 5.5 pounds now, but is still eating like a pig, using the litter box, moving around well (although not jumping up on things for the most part). She's been on the hyperthyroid meds for about a year, and just started on pain meds for the arthritis. About a month ago I thought I was going to lose her because she basically went into my very dark bathroom where the litter boxes are and stayed there for a few days except to eat. But after I started giving her fluids she perked right up. It's been tough giving her more care (she's stopped grooming -- not that she did it much anyway before), and I'm having to closely monitor her, but she seems to be doing alright.

Here's my little Nightmare who is actually a very sweet kitty.

my cat tapered off after the first month until she just needed it a few times a month. but by that time, she was acting younger than she had in years.
my friend has that guy thing where he doesn't cope with medical stuff too well. he couldn't folllow up with the vet because he was feeling so overwhelmed.
it was weird to come back and see the cat bounce back so well. good weird.

and it extended her life by a couple days.

At first I was surprised, but I came to understand. And it is a personal decision.

Best of luck to you.

and apparently, so is her owner.
both back to normal bodily funcions and full appetite for the moment.