Actually she came very close to dying.
EXTREMELY Graphic story follows!
On Friday the 6th, Nell spent most of the day napping. At about 7:30 pm she got up, followed Greg to the basement, and began vomitting repeatedly. She also had uncontrollable foamy, mucousy diarrhea. Greg told me, and when I went down to see what was going on, she was collapsed in a corner of the basement by her litterbox panting, barfing, and shaking. I told Greg to put her in the carrier while I called my vet's emergency #. I called all 3 vets in my town, NOT ONE was answering their 24-hour emergency numbers. I only got the answering machine of one. After 10 minutes of frantically trying to reach one of them, I called the emergency # for the vet clinic in Austin, 15 MILES AWAY.
We raced our little girl over there as fast as we could. I expected her to die on the trip over. She could barely breathe and her gums were almost white. She kept vomitting, and couldn't lift herself out of the pool of filth. I told her that she could go to the light if she needed to, but she held on. When I asked her to say hello to TJ, Ace, and all of my other furbabies at the Rainbow bridge, she pulled herself up into a shaky sitting position. It was like she was she was saying, Mommy, don't be silly, I'm not leaving you yet.
When we arrived at the clinic the vets started her on an IV. Her blood pressure was so low they had great difficulty getting the IV in, and then getting a blood sample to test. They only got a few drops. WWhile they were doing the procedures Nell started to vomit5 up more mucous, now with streaks of blood and her diarrhea turned completely bloody. Despite all this, though, she stayed conscious, and her gums turned pink again. The vets sent Greg and I home, with instructions to look for what Nell had gotten into.
We waited for the phone call telling us that Nell was gone, but it didn't come that night. I spent the time searching the house top to bottom for whatever made Nell sick. I couldn't find any kind of poison or toxin she could have gotten into. I watched my other fur kids for aany symptoms, but they were perfectly normal.
The next morning, the doctor called. Nell...was eating. She was weak, dehydrated, but...hungry. At the time the vet called Nell had kept her food down for over 1/2 an hour. I asked the vet if she would go ahead and do an x-ray to rule out ingestion of a foreign body. She said f.b. was unlikely if Nell could keep food down, but I wanted to be absolutely sure. The x-ray was negative. Negative on FeLeuk and FIV. She had a fever and still some bloody diarrhea. The doctor continued IV, antiinflammatory drugs, and Vitamin K for clotting.
Sunday she continued to eat without vomitting, got stronger, and started to complain loudly.
We got our brave little girl back Monday. We isolated her in the spare bedroom for a few days, but she kept escaping. So much for rest and recuperation. For the past week she has fought us tooth and nail when we administer her pills. Despite continuing diarrhea, she believes nothing is wrong. Nell has been running at Mach 3 up and down the basement stairs, squeaking non-stop, and harrassing Grey and Alex. I still can't believe its real.
I've thought about everybody here at the CatSite alot as this has been happening. So many people here have lost their beloved cats. I came so very close. There is no Earthly reason that Nell survived. The only explanation I can find for why she made it through is that she had help. Not just medical help from the vet, but something much more powerful. I guess I feel that there were guardian angels to protect her and give her strength. Furry ones, who befriended Nell just as their humans have befriended me.
I just wanted to say thanks to all of you--and to Fern
, Peaches
, Brutus
, Andy
, and all the others
.
EXTREMELY Graphic story follows!
On Friday the 6th, Nell spent most of the day napping. At about 7:30 pm she got up, followed Greg to the basement, and began vomitting repeatedly. She also had uncontrollable foamy, mucousy diarrhea. Greg told me, and when I went down to see what was going on, she was collapsed in a corner of the basement by her litterbox panting, barfing, and shaking. I told Greg to put her in the carrier while I called my vet's emergency #. I called all 3 vets in my town, NOT ONE was answering their 24-hour emergency numbers. I only got the answering machine of one. After 10 minutes of frantically trying to reach one of them, I called the emergency # for the vet clinic in Austin, 15 MILES AWAY.
We raced our little girl over there as fast as we could. I expected her to die on the trip over. She could barely breathe and her gums were almost white. She kept vomitting, and couldn't lift herself out of the pool of filth. I told her that she could go to the light if she needed to, but she held on. When I asked her to say hello to TJ, Ace, and all of my other furbabies at the Rainbow bridge, she pulled herself up into a shaky sitting position. It was like she was she was saying, Mommy, don't be silly, I'm not leaving you yet.
When we arrived at the clinic the vets started her on an IV. Her blood pressure was so low they had great difficulty getting the IV in, and then getting a blood sample to test. They only got a few drops. WWhile they were doing the procedures Nell started to vomit5 up more mucous, now with streaks of blood and her diarrhea turned completely bloody. Despite all this, though, she stayed conscious, and her gums turned pink again. The vets sent Greg and I home, with instructions to look for what Nell had gotten into.
We waited for the phone call telling us that Nell was gone, but it didn't come that night. I spent the time searching the house top to bottom for whatever made Nell sick. I couldn't find any kind of poison or toxin she could have gotten into. I watched my other fur kids for aany symptoms, but they were perfectly normal.
The next morning, the doctor called. Nell...was eating. She was weak, dehydrated, but...hungry. At the time the vet called Nell had kept her food down for over 1/2 an hour. I asked the vet if she would go ahead and do an x-ray to rule out ingestion of a foreign body. She said f.b. was unlikely if Nell could keep food down, but I wanted to be absolutely sure. The x-ray was negative. Negative on FeLeuk and FIV. She had a fever and still some bloody diarrhea. The doctor continued IV, antiinflammatory drugs, and Vitamin K for clotting.
Sunday she continued to eat without vomitting, got stronger, and started to complain loudly.
We got our brave little girl back Monday. We isolated her in the spare bedroom for a few days, but she kept escaping. So much for rest and recuperation. For the past week she has fought us tooth and nail when we administer her pills. Despite continuing diarrhea, she believes nothing is wrong. Nell has been running at Mach 3 up and down the basement stairs, squeaking non-stop, and harrassing Grey and Alex. I still can't believe its real.
I've thought about everybody here at the CatSite alot as this has been happening. So many people here have lost their beloved cats. I came so very close. There is no Earthly reason that Nell survived. The only explanation I can find for why she made it through is that she had help. Not just medical help from the vet, but something much more powerful. I guess I feel that there were guardian angels to protect her and give her strength. Furry ones, who befriended Nell just as their humans have befriended me.
I just wanted to say thanks to all of you--and to Fern