This is very, very long. And sad....but I just wanted to let people know what happened.
On Friday afternoon after I got home from work, I went to my room where I kept Piper during the day. I picked her up, set her on my bed and we were playing, and I was just loving on her. Paisley came in the room, and jumped on the bed (not near Piper, or on her). Piper started screaming. It was like nothing I have ever heard before. I will never forget that sound. I had no idea what was happening and thought maybe she was about to have a hairball, or throw up. I sat her down on my floor and she ran under my bed. I crawled under the bed after her (didn't want her to throw up under there) and scooped her up to get her out. When I picked her up, she peed all over me and again started screaming. I grabbed her blanket, wrapped her up and ran out to my car. We were on our way to the emergency vets. I was in tears at this point because she kept screaming and her breathing was labored.
I was going 80 on the service road with my emergency lights on. She was fighting SO hard to breath, she then stopped breathing in my lap. I am CPR certified, and they taught us how to give cats and dogs CPR. I was desperate, so I started CPR while I was driving. I know this was not safe, but I was in such a state of panic. She turned purple on me. When I got to the ER vets they immediately took her from me and ran to the back. They then told me they had no heartbeat. I gave permission for CPR. They got her heartbeat back, but she was not breathing on her own. She was given a breathing tube. Her heart stopped again. I again gave consent for CPR, again. The second time they attempted, the vet came back to the room where I was and told me (she was the sweetest lady, and I am so thankful for her) blood was coming out of her nose and mouth which is indication of heart failure/heart defect. They were not able to revive her.
Piper had a heart defect. She cleared the vet perfectly when I took her two days before, but the ER vet said the defect would have only been detected with a scope. When Paislie jumped on the bed, it startled her and she went into cardiac arrest (might not be the right term, but when the vet was explaining this to me I was in a blur). Her health problems were a direct result of her breed.
I grew up with two healthy Munchkins as a child, I was lucky. I learned my lesson the hard way, although if given the opportunity to go back and never get Piper, I would not. I will treasure the short week I had with her, as I loved her so much and she was the sweetest baby. I will not be getting another Munchkin, and have asked the breeder to please have the other kittens from the same litter checked out by scope.
RIP sweet, sweet Piper.
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