Prayers, please . . . Muskrat is doing poorly

[AvaJoy]

Muskrat and I are thankful for all the prayers and good wishes for her well-being.

I took her back to vet today, because facing another day of her not eating was just intolerable to me. The vet took blood and urine to send out for analysis, and tomorrow the results should be back from the lab. The vet also gave me special food to tempt her, and appetite stimulant pills which I am to start administering tomorrow. She had to be sedated to obtain the blood/urine samples, so she can only have water tonight. Her fever is gone, but I am to continue the antibiotics unless the lab results indicate otherwise.

She is such a trooper, and I am so proud of her.

While she was sedated I thought vet would do an xray just to rule out any GI tract obstruction, but vet will consider that later depending on the lab results. Her gum color has lightened, so anemia could also be setting in. As she explained, FeLV+ cat's symptoms can be on-again, off-again. She also stated the kidney problems can make a cat feel nauseous and lose appetite.

Tonight Muskrat is still kind of wobbly due to the anesthesia wearing off, but seems pretty good considering everything. I hope tomorrow she will want to eat and try to get through this O.K. I wasn't supposed to offer her anything to eat, but I did put a bit of wet food on my fingertip and she licked it off, so hopefully that is a good sign! She also drank some water.

Muskrat is not out of the woods yet, but a major THANK YOU to everyone for your much appreciated, kind concern.

[jenluckenbach]

It IS very hard to know they aren't eating. Glad you took her in for tests.

Hope the results can give some positive hope.

[Catty1]

Hee hee...being a cat, she WOULD take some food from your fingers cause the doctor said not to!

Hopefully, she will regain some appetite!

Hug that little gal for me.

How old is she? Any pictures of her?

Healing prayers continue for Muskrat!

(Do you ever call her nicknames? Like "Mussie"?)

[AvaJoy]

Muskrat is in my Avatar, but it is not a very good shot. Here is an old picture of her, back when she was caged and still a wild-child. She still has plenty of Tortie-tude and is scared of all people except my husband and I. Needless to say, that trait makes her extremely uncooperative at the vet.

As for nicknames, I call her my little Reeses Peanut Butter Cupcake as her coat looks like a combination of dark chocolate and peanut butter. I also tell her she has caramel, praline, butterscotch and toffee all mixed in . . . such a yummy and sweet little confection of a girl. She used to always fluff her skinny tail out when I petted and talked baby talk like that to her . . . so cute.

[Barbara]

I always would offer some food. Hand feeding does the trick sometimes- they just love the extra attention.

Filou who has kidney failure most of the time eats well- but when he doesn't it's the most yummy food and it is hand feeding.

Filou sends headbumpies to Muskrat.

[Sonia59]

We are sending our best thought to you and Muskrat. I hope she eats better and that the results will be good.

[Logan]

I have been thinking about the two of you and wondering how she was. Thank you for the update. Hope today is a good day!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Lots of prayers and positive thoughts are being sent Muskrat's way. She sure is a cutie pie and I hope she'll start eating on her own very soon. Please take care.

[kb2yjx]

Muskrat is a real tortie beauty!!! Continued prayers...

[columbine]

The Petco near me has bonito flakes in their Treats section - BOY do they smell! And they were the bridge from "don't put that canned food in front of me, it's got icky medicine in it, I just know it" to "Hmmmm, maybe I'll try this stuff after all" for my Smudge. Try adding bonito flakes to Muskrat's favorite mushy stuff - they're apparently irresistible...

[zoey]

Muskrat is in my prayers....

[AvaJoy]

I am sorry to report that Muskrat went to Rainbow Bridge yesterday.

I had a long talk with vet about her prognosis. Since she had gone almost 2 weeks without eating anything substantial (except for licking (against her will; merely instinctively) what I was touching to her lips, and water), and her blood work showed her to be quite anemic, her weakened state at this point would not make a recovery possible, even if she did miraculously begin to eat on her own accord. I was giving her appetite stimulant pills prescribed by vet but they were not working. When I decided to take her to vet for the last time, vet could tell by the color of her inner ears that she was showing slight jaundice which meant she was now going through the critical fatty liver issue that befalls cats when they go so long without eating. Vet reassured me that I was making the right decision in the best interests of my darling, brave little Muskrat. She also said how FeLV is a "sneaky" disease, and it can remain dormant, so to speak, for many years before suddenly taking hold of an infected cat's health and rendering the kitty terminally ill. I went through this with my FeLV+ Meeshe, but was hoping that Muskrat was maybe not in such dire straits, and could rebound. Sadly, that was not to be the case.

Thanks to all of you who kept her in your thoughts and prayers. I so appreciate your posts and words of support; whenever one of my "children" is in crisis, Pet Talk friends are where I turn. Thank you so very much. I am extremely grateful for your kindness.

I hope that Muskrat has met up with her big brother Meeshe at RB, and he is once again looking out for her welfare.

I will post a tribute to her in Cat Memorial when I can formulate my thoughts a little better . . . right now, I just need to grieve and put flowers on her grave.

[Miss Z]

Oh Avajoy, I am truly sorry. The pain is horrible when you lose your feline friend. It was her time, and you did everything you could. Once again, my deepest sympathies

[jazzcat]

I'm so very sorry to hear about Muskrat.

Rest in Peace sweet one.

[Catty1]

Avajoy....your Muskrat knew she was loved, and I don't doubt Meeshe is looking after her.

{{{{hugs}}}} to you...you did the right thing.