Tabby, eldest of the titular cats, has many medical problems. She is blind, almost completely so. She's had chronic upper-respiratory problems her entire life. She has a "galloping heartbeat," possibly indicative of a thickened heart-wall muscle. She's now 16 years old. She is in the very early stages of kidney failure. She has no body fat, weighs a mere 7 lbs, and, should she lose even a little more weight is in serious danger of liver failure.
One aspect of kidney failure is reduced acidity of urine. This leads to urinary tract infections. Which lead to dehydration and malaise-induced loss of appetite. In Tabby's case, that means death. A further complication is that her heart condition means administering subcutaneous fluids to combat dehydration can be lethal. Increased fluid-volume increases blood pressure, increasing the likelihood of heart attack, stroke, or embolism.
Saturday, Tabby went to the Vet (not her usual one) because she went to the litterbox 20 times in 20 minutes. We concluded she had been constipated, but was OK. Sunday, Tabby had an emergency appointment with her usual Vet (Fowlerville Veterinary Clinic). Can't say enough good things about them. We went home with a partially-rehydrated Tabby and some antibiotics to combat the urinary-tract infection I and the other Vet had missed on Saturday. She continued to refuse to eat. I believed I'd be euthanizing Tabby on Monday or Tuesday. Instead, she resumed eating that evening. She's been doing well since.
Nonetheless, . . . Tabby is one of the oldest & dearest friends I've made, since moving to Lower Michigan. She has harrangued me, annoyed me, awakened-me-nightly-at-1AM, insinuated herself between me and the Wife that Tabby considers "the other woman," pissed on my carpets for no apparent reason, and always -- always, she has been my affectionate, devoted companion. Finally, after 14 years, she's begun to leave me. That wasn't part of the deal.
One aspect of kidney failure is reduced acidity of urine. This leads to urinary tract infections. Which lead to dehydration and malaise-induced loss of appetite. In Tabby's case, that means death. A further complication is that her heart condition means administering subcutaneous fluids to combat dehydration can be lethal. Increased fluid-volume increases blood pressure, increasing the likelihood of heart attack, stroke, or embolism.
Saturday, Tabby went to the Vet (not her usual one) because she went to the litterbox 20 times in 20 minutes. We concluded she had been constipated, but was OK. Sunday, Tabby had an emergency appointment with her usual Vet (Fowlerville Veterinary Clinic). Can't say enough good things about them. We went home with a partially-rehydrated Tabby and some antibiotics to combat the urinary-tract infection I and the other Vet had missed on Saturday. She continued to refuse to eat. I believed I'd be euthanizing Tabby on Monday or Tuesday. Instead, she resumed eating that evening. She's been doing well since.
Nonetheless, . . . Tabby is one of the oldest & dearest friends I've made, since moving to Lower Michigan. She has harrangued me, annoyed me, awakened-me-nightly-at-1AM, insinuated herself between me and the Wife that Tabby considers "the other woman," pissed on my carpets for no apparent reason, and always -- always, she has been my affectionate, devoted companion. Finally, after 14 years, she's begun to leave me. That wasn't part of the deal.
