[450] Emily

Leslie partybug at charter.net
Mon Jun 6 11:27:47 EDT 2011


George,

I have to fight the urge to have her with me every second.  The best I 
can offer her is to sleep untouched for an hour or so during the day.  I 
don't want her hiding under the furniture all the time.  That is not a 
normal behavior for her, hence, I am attempting to put a stop to it.  I 
think she gets it, she was in the hallway on the rug this morning.  But 
I had to take her to her litter box.  Then she insisted I open the door 
rather than her using the kitty door....I fear a decision will need to 
be made shortly.  But I just want a few more days to try.  She is really 
not doing well.  I am merely sustaining her.  The rest is up to her 
body.


Leslie Busino

Always be the difference with kindness of heart.


On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 4:37 PM, George Andrews wrote:

> Leslie,
>
> Sounds like you are doing everything you can! Vet sounds good. I had 
> forgotten about the baby food. Maria reminded me of that last night. 
> That would have been my next suggestion. The fact that she is looking 
> to you when you come in from groceries. Does she have a favorite cat 
> treat? Maybe giving her a couple of cat treats when you come in for 
> groceries might help.
>
> One thing that I did not mention. I used to lay on the floor with 
> Sammy and gently rub his head down to between his shoulder blades. 
> Also the spine where the tail starts. I would quietly talk to him. I 
> would spend 10 to 15 minutes a few times a day during his most 
> difficult times, but always a couple of times a day. You are probably 
> already doing this. Making a big fuss over her at times oyher than 
> feeding medication may help. Anything that promotes bonding. Maybe 
> more affection than usual to get her over the difficut time will help.
>
> Will keep you all in thought and prayer.
>
> George
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Leslie Busino" 
> <partybug at charter.net>
> To: "144.450 Mailing List" <450 at lists.vhfwiki.com>
> Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2011 2:26 PM
> Subject: Re: [450] Emily
>
>
>> George,
>>
>> Thank you so much for the hints on food.  I am taking your stance 
>> food wise. Although I did get gerber baby food too.  Highest in 
>> protein I could.  She actually sniffed it.  I have been on the phone 
>> with the vet. Last night I pulled a high number on her BG, over 290. 
>> I called him and told him what was happening to her.  I loaded her 
>> with about 6 cc's of water and tried a couple of nibbles of food, no 
>> dice, so she went the night on water only. Woke and she was 321.  I 
>> decided that was enough. Put her on the counter and forced down over 
>> an ounce of food into her belly.  AND water back and forth between 
>> bites.  She started to get "pissy" at me, but when I said "NO" in my 
>> normal sharp tone when she is doing something she should not, she 
>> responded with her normal demeanor pre-ill.  She put her paw down 
>> even though she wanted to scratch the hell out of me.  I actually 
>> looked at her without pity and laughed.
>> She is just now done with her second bout with me injecting food into 
>> her. So she has had two tiny meals today.  She is not hiding like she 
>> was and she is still not purring.  (this is the true sign of happy 
>> cat, not a nervous behavior for her in particular)  Once she purrs, 
>> we are out of the woods and on the field again.  I spoke to her doc 
>> and he thinks my tough stance is going to work a heck of a lot 
>> better.  I have to up her insulin by one unit tonight based on her 
>> food intake.  He is all about me managing her care and last night 
>> when I spoke to him he let me know that he thinks the same as I do, 
>> Emily was absolutely destroyed emotionally being away from home and 
>> stuck in the cage at the vet.  He felt very afraid for her even 
>> though she had to have the IV in for 48 hours.  He said he was very 
>> concerned with her decline in emotion.  When I went to visit her, it 
>> was all I could do to not detach the IV and run out the door with 
>> her.  She won't be there again except for necessary visits.  No 
>> stays.
>> He is a good vet thus far.  He did warn me the only other option is 
>> an extreme specialist.  But that it was highly cost prohibitive and 
>> not necessarily a viable solution.
>> I don't think she got into anything.  II only have an English Ivy in 
>> the house, she has been with it all of her life and does not do 
>> anything with it.  Actually, we noticed she got ill when I brought 
>> home the bouquet from my Dads memorial service.  It promptly went 
>> outside and that was the end of that. (that was back in April, no 
>> correlation)
>> Em is hopefully heading toward the light again.  She is expressing a 
>> little more interest in us.  Not by much, but a little.  She actually 
>> just sniffed Robert's finger which he stuck in his ear for ear wax. 
>> (disgusting - blech - ugh)  And she looked up at me when I came in 
>> with the groceries.  We are keeping her from hiding on us and staying 
>> in her funk.  She is jumping off the counter a little better.  She 
>> better not make me feed her forcefully for too long!  I hate doing it 
>> to her but will continue until I see her chubby little bod heading 
>> for her water and food. She still smells sick inside.  It is likely 
>> due to her high BG.  And the pancreas not doing so hot.  The one 
>> thing she hates big time and it hurts when I have to give it to her 
>> is the antibiotic.  She puts holes in me when I give it to her.  BUT 
>> she also exhibits strength.  Good sign there.
>>
>> Thanks George, if you think of anything...let me know.  I think I am 
>> okay with the Vet for now.  Em cannot abide the car for too long, he 
>> is about a mile down the road.  This works nicely.  And my initial 
>> impression with him is that he is a kind hearted soul with a good 
>> sense of what needs to be done.  Em is only at half of her life span 
>> right now as far as I am concerned.  When we get her level, there is 
>> always the possibility that we could see her go into remission in a 
>> year or so.  We shall see.  If I have to give her insulin for life, 
>> so be it.  I am hoping a long life so I guess we had best be prepared 
>> for the long haul!
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "George Andrews" 
>> <gandrews at ntplx.net>
>> To: "144.450 Mailing List" <450 at lists.vhfwiki.com>
>> Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2011 8:19 PM
>> Subject: Re: [450] Emily
>>
>>
>>> Leslie,
>>>
>>> Sammy cattus survived so many things, including a spinal cord 
>>> stroke. He did get so sick that he was barely mobile. Some cats do 
>>> not like fish. I would still try the water from tuna and water, no 
>>> salt, no oil. See if she will drink it. Another thing to try is some 
>>> diced chicken that you have for a meal, no spices , no salt. From 
>>> what youy have told me, I can't suggest much else in terms of food.
>>>
>>> I have found that there is a very wide range of "standard of care" 
>>> with vets. We had emergencies with Sammy and were told on one 
>>> occasion that we needed to think about how far we wanted to go with 
>>> this. This particular vet suggested putting him down. They could not 
>>> tell me what was wrong with him! Needless to say, I did not listen. 
>>> Some will provide care, but nothing aggressive. Them there are those 
>>> who will actively work with you to do whatever can be done to keep 
>>> Emily healthy. Do you have a dose vs. blood sugar level you work 
>>> from? Do you report this to your vet and does he/she periodically 
>>> adjust it? This is one standard of care I would expect (advice is by 
>>> phone so there is no charge). Has there been any imaging of 
>>> pancreas/liver to see what is happening there?
>>>
>>> We have always taken our cats to cats only vets for the most part. 
>>> The one time we did not do this and Sammy required a several night 
>>> stay, he did not do well. About the only way I can describe it is 
>>> depressed. He never liked to be away from us, but it was worse if he 
>>> had to stay with dogs around.
>>>
>>> Another thought, do you have plants in the house? We have gotten rid 
>>> of all plants toxic to cats. It took us two times to understand some 
>>> plants are simply not compatible with cats. Twice our cats got so 
>>> sick, we thought they would not live. Anything else she might have 
>>> gotten into? The vet probably already mentioned this.
>>>
>>> As for humans, sometimes a second or third opinion is good. Towards 
>>> the end we did this for Sammy. It may seem like a lot of trouble and 
>>> expense to do this, but I could not do anything else for him. If you 
>>> want some names of vets, let me know.
>>>
>>> George
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Leslie Busino" 
>>> <partybug at charter.net>
>>> To: "144.450 Mailing List" <450 at lists.vhfwiki.com>
>>> Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2011 2:43 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [450] Emily
>>>
>>>
>>>> George,
>>>>
>>>> I am having to force her right now.  She has not gone to the litter 
>>>> box at all.  She has no real favorites as long as it is wet food 
>>>> Fancy Feast Classic.  She sticks in the turkey and giblet and 
>>>> chicken and beef.  No fish.  She tends to get sick everytime she 
>>>> gets her teeth into something that might have fish in it.  So, I 
>>>> decided long ago that she must have an aversion to it.
>>>>
>>>
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>>
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