Since Wednesday July 29th Claes has been sick. She started vomiting. Didn't concern us because she had done it before. Thursday we went to Sea World, didn't realize that Claes hadn't eaten anything. Later she was vomiting again. Friday, she was still vomiting, still not eating, and still not drinking. So, I called the vet that we had taken her to when we first adopted her. Then I called my friend Staci to get the info for the vet she used here. Much less money. So I went with them. Claes was dehydrated, and very lethargic. They did some blood work, and they gave her some fluid by putting an IV needle just under the skin in her back. She seemed to be doing a little better. Saturday, she was vomiting again, still not eating, still not drinking, still lethargic. So, I called and got her in for a drop off for them to do an x-ray. Nothing showed up that would be cause for concern. So they sent us home with fluid to do the treatment at home, a couple of meds, some canned cat food to force feed using a syringe. All great fun...but not really.
Did my best to get food into her, got some, but not much. Sunday after church, did the fluid thing. She fought hard at first, so we were hoping she was on the mend. I've got the scratches on my leg to show how hard she fought. Sunday night when I gave her meds she vomited them right back up. OK, no big deal. Just do it again in the morning. Yeah, didn't work again. Monday, daytime, managed to get a little food into her; again, not much. Monday night, I thought I'd try and turn the meds into powder and put in her food to get them in her that way. Within seconds of getting a little food into her, she vomited. This time really scared me, but I stayed calm and didn't freak out. It was violent, so violent she released other fluids. I cleaned her up with some baby wipes. After, while I was cleaning up the kitchen floor (she'd somehow figured out it was better to do it somewhere that wasn't carpet) she got herself into the hallway. Her breathing sounded like she was on a respirator, and breathing through her mouth. I got her comfortable on a blanket and moved her into the living room where the fan would blow on her a bit. She was so weak. She moved a few times, not much though because she lacked the energy. She hadn't eaten much since Wednesday, and it was Monday night. We really wondered if she would even make it through the night.
Tuesday I got an appointment with the vet in the afternoon. My sweet kitty got up the energy to get up, and sit by me while I was on the computer. By this point her breathing wasn't as labored, but she was still having problems. After the assistant got some updated info on what was going on, Claes managed to jump down from the counter and huddle on the floor. The vet looked at her, gave some suggestions what we could do, and what we'd discussed previously. I made the decision that we couldn't afford any more, which was really hard. I was going to put her down, and the vet (bless her heart) said "Let me see if there's anything else we can do." Stepped out and came back a few minutes later and gave me an option. I could pay the euthanization and after-care fee, and sign her over to the clinic. They do any treatments they feel may help her, including x-rays, and surgery. They wanted to do x-rays to see if there was visible organ damage since she'd been so long without solid food. If there is damage, they won't operate because she wouldn't make it. They will do what they can to get her better. If they can't, I've paid the fees. If she does get better, they will try to find someone to adopt her. I'm hoping they can get her better, and give her a new chance to live that I wouldn't have been able to give. I asked them to let me know what happens and how things go. I think they will, they were all very kind, and understanding. I said my goodbyes to Claes, told her she was my sweet kitty, and she did good for me. She helped me deal with Rich being on deployment. I miss my kitty.
Thursday, noon; I just heard from the vet. Claes had fluid in her lungs. They did what they could. They didn't do surgery. She didn't make it anyway. They did open her up after and looked around, and found dental floss in her stomach. Obviously it can't be broken down and go through her system. So, since she liked to chew on strings and such, even if we had done the surgery from the start, at some point in time we would've been in this position again.
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