Flower Power

The story of the "power of the Flower"! Otherwise known as the "powerball kitty"...

5 days ago, I had a sick cat.. She was lethargic, refused to eat or drink and dropped all her weight in a matter of two days. I tried to coax her to no avail. I took her to a local vet that I hate only to get her some blood work done and to get her on antibiotics. He told me to put her down that she was too far gone. She had a severe bladder infection and she was so dehydrated that her skin was sticky. Her hair was dead and she was as close to death as a cat could be.

Her name is Flower and she is about 1.5 yrs old. Give or take a month or two.

I gathered her up and took her home barely alive.

My first plan was to hydrate her.
I injected her with 6 balls of 10ml 0.9 percent sodium chloride saline solution on the sides of her neck and on her sides. And I forced 20 ml down her throat along with 500 mg of antibiotics that I had here at home.

I made her a hospital room in a large dog crate complete with a litter box and a bowl of water and a two saucers for food. One I kept canned Iams in and the other I put different things in every day. Browned turkey, scrambled eggs, fish, kibbles of cat food, and greenies. I hoped she would find something in her variety to get a few calories down her.

I did her saline injections and forced water feedings and the antibiotics twice the first day and she remained alive. The first morning after I got up I wasn't sure what I would find. She appeared the same to me.

So the second day I repeated everything. She slept for two entire days. But on the second day I noticed tinkle in the litter box.

The third day I repeated everything feeling cruel for giving her so many shots. On the third day, she appeared a little more perky and drank some water on her on. She pushed her food around on the saucer and might have taken a bite or two. I was encouraged by this.

The fourth day I repeated everything again but only once and that was early in the morning. I went to work and when I got home her food saucer was empty with a little poop in her litter and lots of tinkle.

This morning when I got up she was meowing at me. She ate 2 oz of canned iams this mroning and 4 ozs of sauted fish in butter and 4 greenies. She has already pooped and tinkled this morning. I gave her some antibiotics which I will contine for several more days.

Her hair is shiny this morning and she is purring. She in skinny skinny skinny but her appetite is back and she appears to feel good.

I took her out of her hospital room and she has walked all over the house inspecting it. She has crawled all over the couch purring and talking to the other cats.

She acts like she feels good. She is going to live...

I have her back in her hospital room right now so she can nap. I am sure she has to feel weak.

But she is hydrated this morning and she skin snaps back to normal when I pinch it.

It has been an ordeal but the power of the flower came through..

And damn that vet.....

I have pics but camera is recharging. I just got it back from my son. In an hr or so I'll post pics of her from this morning.

Jenn

Here she is. This is day 5 of her illness, day 5 of her antibiotics and day 1 of her actual recovery. The first 4 days were lift saving measures. This is after her big meal this morning.... She was cleaning herself for the first time.. She eyes are bright again and she is alert now. She is going to live..... She was very close to death. Her hair 5 days ago was dead and skin was totally sticky. She is my little Flower Power Ball kitty and I am sooooo thankful she pulled through. Since she is eating good now, she will start putting her weight back on. I am keeping her on the antibiotics for another 5 days.



I also want to add that last month she started losing weight [not worms]. She was evidently getting sick at that time but I thought the other cats were keeping her from eating. I think now she was getting the bladder infection. I started feeding her canned food then since it has more calories. She ate it and put on some weight but last week, the first indication that something was serious was when she quit eating the canned food.

By the way the solution that I used to inject her was IV flush that I had here at home that I got from the VA when I was on IV antibiotics myself so I knew it was safe. I didn't just come up with this off the top of my head. It came from my doc as did the antibiotics. Sick as she was, I had nothing to lose by trying it. I am just thankful it worked. My regular vet was on vacation. The reason I knew I could inject her with a saline solution under the skin was because when another cat has urinary crystals I watched my vet do this for Toe Kitty. He told me this is a good thing to do if unable to get to the vet if a cat is severly dehydrated. Thank god for Doc Carmichael. If not for him and his concern for Toe when he was ill, Flower would not have lived. Because of the things he showed me that I could safely do at home to save a cat, she lived. I can't wait to tell him.

She is out of her hospital room and is laying by my feet and hanging out close to me... She has never thrived in her life. I have always struggled with her. Her sister is big and healthy. She is probably the size, even when a normal wieght, of about a 4-5 month kitten....

I have heard about a "failure to thrive" syndrome in kittens and I have always wondered if she was prone to that. She quit growing at a young age. He tail has never been bigger than a pencil. She is the tiniest cat I have even seen. She weighs approx 2 lbs on the heavy side. She needs to gain about 6 lbs and get a little fat on her bones...

I doubt she will ever weigh more than that. But she IS an adult cat. Super sweet and super friendly and loving. A big purrer and a total lover as far as cats go..

I hope all that I have done has mended her health issues and puts her on the road to being healthy again... Only time will tell. I am going to keep her crated at night for a while and make her rest several times during the day so she won't use her calories up. She needs to stock pile calories.

I will be home all day today and tomorrow to observe her progess.

Oh my, what a story! And such a beautiful girl too. So glad to hear there is a happy ending to this saga. My hat's off to you for not just listening to the vet in the first place and giving up on her.

Oh Jenn, what a wonderful thing you did for Flower.
When I started to read this I knew the Vet that told you to put her down couldn't have been the same one that saved Toe Man.
He worked so hard to save Toe, I KNEW he would have done the same for Flower.
Thank God he told you before what to do, and that you listened and remembered.

Sending get well soon vibes to Flower.

I had my doubts that she would make it.......... I can't deny that. She was pretty darn sick. I am very thankful. She is not feral by any means and she was so worth saving. She has the sweetest little soul. I have been taking pics of her this morning so I can monitor her weight gain and recovery.

Here a a couple other pics I took of her this morning. One is with Snoopy. Flower is about a yr older than him. Snoopy is much bigger than her in height and in girth. Not even mentioning weight.

And the other is with Snoopy and Pebbles. Pebbles is her full sister. It s hows the difference in their size. They were about [and I am guessing] about 3-4 months old when I got them and at that time the same size. Pebbles grew and Flower did not. She has always been sickly... She doesn't have anything major and she has always been wormed and she has her shots. Vets have always said she was just little...

With this bout of illness, after I saw the shots were actually working to hydrate her, since she wouldn't eat I was worried about her starving to death while the antibiotics were working to kill the bacteria in her until she could get strong enough to eat. She is just one lucky little girl. The kitty gods were with us on this one... For a few calories the first three day, I watered down some canned food into a very very thin soup and mixed it with the water I was forcing down her.

Her eyes were never runny and she had no sneezing during her ordeal. Her lungs remained clear but that's probably because of her vaccinations.

But here's her and Snoopy this morning. Her eyes are a beautiful green and in appearance she reminds me of Star so much. They look a lot alike.


And here she is today also with Pebbles, her full sister.


It is so nice to see her walking around and purring this morning.. She is sticking to me like glue. She is under my computer desk laying on my feet. I think I might put her back in her hospital room so she will nap. She has been out about 2.5 hrs now.

That's right Gracie. Doc Carmichael would have saved Flower. He is a wonderful wonderful man.. So caring... And he was indirectly responsible for Flower being alive this morning. Absolutely and without a doubt....... It was scary though Gracie. I was worried each time about accidently hitting some nerve in her because her fat content was totally depleted... It was difficult to get the skin up high enough to get liquid in her. It was a struggle to NOT push the needle all the way through the skin.. I had to hold the skin apart to do this. Her skin was that sticky. I have never brought a cat back from death like this... I hope this never occurs again. Very nerve wracking.

The vet she went to is a quack that give antibiotics in my opinion. But he would not even do that. He told me it would be wasting my money. But to put her down would have cost more than the antibiotics. So it might have been a money thing with him. I don't know...

But she made it!! And that's the important thing...
Bless her little skinny heart! She sure is getting lots of kisses today.

I hope she continues to thrive.. Juan is bringing home some more canned iams for her today. And some little packets of food that she loves. She is not eating kibbles right now. And I am not that concerned about it. I just want her get some calories and rest. This evening I am going to cook her 4 more ozs of fish to fill her up. She ate the fish really good this morning. I know fish is not real fattening but I buttered it up for her and she loved it. She ate more this morning that I have ever seen her eat at one time.

I think if I were you, once she's got a bit more health and strength back to her, I'd be taking her BACK to that vet just to show him that she could be saved!

She certainly seems grateful to you for all you've done for her. She's obviously a little fighter, proving how much she still wants to live. Good luck to you both that she makes a full recovery and is able to gain more weight.

Aww, bless her little heart.
She's such a pretty little girl.

You know Jenn, my Gracie and Lizzie were the same way.
They were full Sister and to look at them you would have thought that Gracie was Lizzie's baby...Lizzie...rest her dear soul...was HUGE and then there's little tiny Gracie.
She was a sickly little kitten too, she eats well and acts like a normal cat now, but she's still very tiny.

I'm so glad that Flower is making progress and with you looking out for her I have no doubt she'll make a full recovery.

Just keep your fingers crossed for her. She still has a ways to go. I'll post some more pics next week for comparison.....

And thanks for the kind thoughts..... I do feel she is going to be ok now. She just needs to put weight on now and continue her antibiotics for another week. Her first dose was 500 mgs. And then 250 mg more that evening. But that only on her first day. After that I have given her 250 mgs twice a day. 500 mg total every day. Every 12 hrs like clockwork she gets her pill...

She also, and you can tell in the pics, has one hind leg a little deformed. She was a kitten that no one wanted. The people I got her from joked about shooting them both in front of me so that's how I acquired them. She walks fine. The leg is shorter or something but it doesn't impair her mobility. It sets further up on her body than the other one. It does not not cause her any discomfort.

She was not born "perfect" in body and she has always struggled with one thing or another. We got through this one but she probably won't live to be an OLD cat. But while she is here, she is loved and I will do the best I can by her to keep her comfortable and healthy.

If she reaches a point that I feel like she is suffering and would not ever get better, I might make a different decision but it would not be based on the opion of a quack vet. If Doc Carmichael told me something different about her, I would believe him. But this was not her time to go. That much I definately know. She would not be here if it was. She IS a fighter. Doc Carmichael is due back in the latter part of next week. I will probably make her an appointment to see him just to get a checkup. He has never met her and I would like for him to see her and check her out and look at her leg. And do blood work. The vet she saw for the antibiotics never did blood work to determine his diagnosis of a bladder infection. She was not swollen. I can tell the antibiotics have helped her but it might possibly have been something else. Whatever it was, they turned her around and saved her.

Since she is on meds now, I am not sure if Doctor Carmichael will be able to tell what exactly was wrong. But I will feel better if he looks at her. So next week she is vet bound.

You got it, Jenn.
Keeping fingers, toes and eveything else crossed for sweet little Flower.

wow - what an AMAZING story. I give you 100% credit for doing this. This is something I could not handle. I'm really terrified of needles (with myself) and can't watch the vet give shots to my cats/dogs. I could never do what you did.

I am pretty comfortable with needles thank god..... I had an illness myself that lasted a long time. I had an illness for 30 years. The last 4 yrs of it, I had to give myself shots for 3 of those yrs every week. In the thigh, arm or stomach. The 4th and final year of injections, before I got well, I gave myself DAILY shots..... I have 100 percent good health now but I am a miracle and lucky to be alive myself. During this illness is when I began caring for stray/feral cats. They took my focus off myself and helped me.

Flowers needles are left over insulin needles that I never threw away thank god. Because they sure came in handy and they were small needles so they didn't hurt her.

And goldenkitty, you do what you have to sometimes just to live. I did it for myself to live and I did it for flower so she could live. I bet if you were in the same circumstance, you COULD do the same. During a serious illness, you learn alot about yourself that you never knew. We are all a lot stronger than we really know.

I took my last shot a year ago last June....

She just ate her 2nd saucer of sauted fish. 4 more oz.

She is ravenous right now. so cool........ so absolutely cool. Her appetite is 100 percent back.... She gets canned cat food for supper... Juan is bringing some home especially for her. Eatting as much as she is today, she will get her chunck back in no time.

I am so proud.... Here are her buttered fish eating pics.... haha.. I can't wait till next week to post. She is doing good NOW...... I can't believe the change in her today. She took her a good nap before she ate. I had put her a little canned iams in her crate with her when I put her back in for a nap and she also ate that upon wakening. Then she ate this other fish.. This is wonderful! Her little sides are already plumping out again. Her back is plumper also. It appears she is turning into a little eating machine.... I could not be happier with her progress!

These pics are while I was sitting with her crate door cracked. I feed her separate so the others won't interferre.. I coudlnt' open it all the way because Honey and Pebbles desperately wanted her fish.......haha

That's wonderful news, Jenn.
That was a lot of fish and she sure did gobble it up!
Bless her little heart.

The change in her today, on this 5th day, is nothing short of a miracle....

Here's two more final pics for today. Like I said, she is already plumping. One day of eating all day and drinking on her own has made an amazing difference.

Wow! I can't believe such a tiny little cat ate that whole plateful of fish! That's wonderful! She does certainly look a little 'fuller' around the belly now.

My hat is off to you, Jenn. I am so very impressed with your treatment and rescue of this little girl. Absolutely wonderful job on your part.

**Big pat on the back to you.**

She just took her antibiotic for the night but since she has been out of the crate most of the day, she is tired. She is laying around beside whoever is sitting.

I tried to see if she felt like playing with the feather but not yet. Maybe tomorrow.

I am crating her tonight and will probably crate her for several more days during the night. The other cats act happy to see her.

Here's her last pic for today's plumpness...... She is so full.. Isn't that great?


When she was first sick, she was in the crate on top but at that time, it was in the floor of the living room. I kept it in there because they all like taking naps inside. I had to change her crate because when I was at work one day, Juan came home and the other cats had pulled her towel out through the holes and drug the crate about 15 feet across the floor with poor little flower inside. They wanted her food I guess. I had some canned Iams inside and all they had were kibbles.. [but it's good kibbles!!!] They spilled litter everywhere. Juan said her litter was from one end of the LV to the other. I suspect it was Tulip and Snoopy. They are little monsters. And the day before this happened, I saw them laying by her crate with their little arms stretched out trying to get to her saucer. So she migrated to the big crate... It's too big for them to drag around. And it's perfect for her. She has lots of room in it since she is more active now... She can stretch out in several places with lots of room for her litter and her bowls. At first it didn't matter which crate she stayed in. All she did was sleep.

Tulip and Snoopy are typical male juv's....... They are like a 3 yr old child...... Snoppy is in one of the pics above working his paws because I am looking at him. Tulip, his brother, is much the same but stockier and heavier....... He is a real corker. They both are.

Oh Jenn, her little belly does look bigger.

I know what you mean about Tulip and Snoopy...Elliott is 2 and he's 15 pounds of pure monster
He looks for trouble and he always seems to find it!
He's worse than my 3 year old skin kid.

What a wonderful story! Bless you for saving her. She is a gorgeous kitty.