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.
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.