- Joined
- Jan 31, 2014
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Hello all!
Our story starts back in 2011 when future husband and i decided we wanted to get a pet. Since dogs are not permitted where we live we decided to get a kitten. the day after Christmas we went to the local shelter and foolishly decided we wanted to buy a kitten instead of adopting. So off we went to the pet store where we fell in love with a gorgeous exotic short hair. as soon as she meowed we knew we couldn't leave her there. We named her Leia (FH is a Star Wars fan). She was the cutest, sweetest ,funny kitten i had ever met and we loved her.
Within a few weeks Leia developed an eye infection and was sneezing. The vet gave us meds and it didn't seem to be anything major to be worried about. Shortly after i arrived home from work one day she was lethargic and her ears were hot so we took her to the pet E.R where they confirmed a fever (FUO). The next day we took her to the vet where she was admitted. The following day the vet called stating Leia was stable and that if she continued on this path we could bring her home. We felt relieved and on the way to visit her the vet met us with horrible news stating that Leia took a turn for the worse and had developed neurological symptoms. At this point FIP was at the top of the list. When we went to see Leia she immediately came to us meowing but toppled over herself. This is one of the hardest things I have ever witnessed. Remembering our little one helpless and suffering brings me to tears till this day. Leia stayed at the vet for a total of 9 days and we visited every day. Eventually her fever broke and no jelly belly had yet developed so we were feeling optimistic that perhaps it was not FIP (i think i always knew it was FIP). On one visit, where i was tied up at work, FH went to visit Leia by himself and noticed that her belly looked distended however the X-rays didn't confirm fluid. We eventually took Leia home after 9 days, it was so great having her home but the happiness didn't last long, Leia was always tired and would look for places to hide. During the next few days we visited our vet a few times and she wasn't able to extract any fluid which kept us optimistic, but eventually the day came that she did find fluid. This was the day that i knew our baby girl was terminal. Of course fluid was sent out for pathology and on our next visit it was confirmed that it was very suspicious of FIP (can't confirm FIP definitively without biopsy usually done post-mortem). On Febuary 16, 2012, we knew that we couldn't bare her suffering anymore and the difficult decision to put her to sleep was taken. We said our goodbyes- i whispered in her ear that i would always love her. we were heartbroken and could not believe that an innocent kitten suffered so much. It was recommended to wait 7 weeks before adopting a new kitten to make sure that the virus was no longer in our home and truthfully we were not ready.
In July 2012 while vacationing in Rome FH popped the question- it was honesty the first time i was truly happy since the heartbreak form losing Leia. The day we got back his sister texted us about a feral cat that had a litter of kittens in the sewer drain outside her house. She sent us a picture of a black kitten. The time felt right, i had made a promise to Leia that we would rescue all our pets, and this seemed like a good moment to open our home and heart to a kitten. After talking it over with FH we decided to adopt and not to take the pet stores offer to get a "replacement kitten" as per the contract we signed when we purchased Leia (FIRST OF ALL Leia could never be replaced, and secondly we could not bare going through another FIP occurrence). My future sister in law managed to catch a kitten in a humane trap and called us to come and see the kitten.We headed out to "only look" at this kitten as advised by FH (I knew there was no way i was going to leave him there
Our story starts back in 2011 when future husband and i decided we wanted to get a pet. Since dogs are not permitted where we live we decided to get a kitten. the day after Christmas we went to the local shelter and foolishly decided we wanted to buy a kitten instead of adopting. So off we went to the pet store where we fell in love with a gorgeous exotic short hair. as soon as she meowed we knew we couldn't leave her there. We named her Leia (FH is a Star Wars fan). She was the cutest, sweetest ,funny kitten i had ever met and we loved her.
Within a few weeks Leia developed an eye infection and was sneezing. The vet gave us meds and it didn't seem to be anything major to be worried about. Shortly after i arrived home from work one day she was lethargic and her ears were hot so we took her to the pet E.R where they confirmed a fever (FUO). The next day we took her to the vet where she was admitted. The following day the vet called stating Leia was stable and that if she continued on this path we could bring her home. We felt relieved and on the way to visit her the vet met us with horrible news stating that Leia took a turn for the worse and had developed neurological symptoms. At this point FIP was at the top of the list. When we went to see Leia she immediately came to us meowing but toppled over herself. This is one of the hardest things I have ever witnessed. Remembering our little one helpless and suffering brings me to tears till this day. Leia stayed at the vet for a total of 9 days and we visited every day. Eventually her fever broke and no jelly belly had yet developed so we were feeling optimistic that perhaps it was not FIP (i think i always knew it was FIP). On one visit, where i was tied up at work, FH went to visit Leia by himself and noticed that her belly looked distended however the X-rays didn't confirm fluid. We eventually took Leia home after 9 days, it was so great having her home but the happiness didn't last long, Leia was always tired and would look for places to hide. During the next few days we visited our vet a few times and she wasn't able to extract any fluid which kept us optimistic, but eventually the day came that she did find fluid. This was the day that i knew our baby girl was terminal. Of course fluid was sent out for pathology and on our next visit it was confirmed that it was very suspicious of FIP (can't confirm FIP definitively without biopsy usually done post-mortem). On Febuary 16, 2012, we knew that we couldn't bare her suffering anymore and the difficult decision to put her to sleep was taken. We said our goodbyes- i whispered in her ear that i would always love her. we were heartbroken and could not believe that an innocent kitten suffered so much. It was recommended to wait 7 weeks before adopting a new kitten to make sure that the virus was no longer in our home and truthfully we were not ready.
In July 2012 while vacationing in Rome FH popped the question- it was honesty the first time i was truly happy since the heartbreak form losing Leia. The day we got back his sister texted us about a feral cat that had a litter of kittens in the sewer drain outside her house. She sent us a picture of a black kitten. The time felt right, i had made a promise to Leia that we would rescue all our pets, and this seemed like a good moment to open our home and heart to a kitten. After talking it over with FH we decided to adopt and not to take the pet stores offer to get a "replacement kitten" as per the contract we signed when we purchased Leia (FIRST OF ALL Leia could never be replaced, and secondly we could not bare going through another FIP occurrence). My future sister in law managed to catch a kitten in a humane trap and called us to come and see the kitten.We headed out to "only look" at this kitten as advised by FH (I knew there was no way i was going to leave him there
