All better! And a little ratty looking...

Mina got her feeding tube removed this morning!!! She looks so much better, although she has missing bits of fur here and there due to the various procedures, and the bandage used left some of her fur sticky... I guess she sort of looks like a roughed up alley cat right now, but it's so good seeing her without her bandage and tube! She has been religiously cleaning herself all day (the vet told me the bandage residue won't harm her), and she unfortunately threw up a hairball already, but I am sure that will settle down once she gets herself all clean :) This is a picture of her hole:

Yeah, it's already closed. I literally can't see it anymore. She must be some kind of super kitty or something..
She also gained 300 grams since Thursday (eek, in 5 days!) so she is now at her ideal weight, 4.5 kg or just under 10 pounds. The goal now is to keep her at that weight, so I will feed her a bit less than I have been for the last few days. Now that I know she is 100% better, I can breathe again!

See, her skin is back to white/pink, and she is happy and healthy. Yay!! I just want to say that it is possible for a cat with feline hepatic lipidosis who is already jaundiced, vomiting, and lethargic to bounce back from this disease in as little as two weeks. All you need to do is stay on top of your cat's feeding, and I strongly recommend the feeding tube if you can't syringe feed enough. This was the timeline: On Monday Jan 3 she was diagnosed and I tried syringe feeding that night and all of Tuesday. She got her feeding tube inserted on Wed Jan 5th, and I tube fed her until Tuesday Jan 18th, which was when she really started eating everything on her own. She got her tube removed on Tuesday Jan 25th. I tube fed her for two weeks only. So there is hope for your kitty if they have this scary disease!! I know I was so devastated when I found out, especially after I started reading things on the internet (BAD idea). I thought for sure she was going to die, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to help her enough. I cried a lot those first few days, but I was determined to save her life, even if it meant feeding her religiously every 2.5 hours and getting up at 2am. You end up just doing it, and seeing the little improvements makes it all worthwhile! She's my baby, and I would have done anything for her.

As for the bill, my vet is amazing. The whole bill (anesthesia, blood work, ultrasound, biopsy, food, and two nights at the clinic) came to under $1000 dollars. I love them!!! The vet that put her tube in even came in on his day off to do the surgery because we didn't want to leave it for too long. Like I said, amazing :D

And because he will feel left out if I don't talk about him, Rat-Bear is doing good as well. He hasn't knocked over my bedside lamp for two days now, and I applaud him.

I will probably keep posting things on this blog, because I have discovered that I really like it!! Now that Mina is better, I don't know what I'll write about, but I'll think of something :)

Sterling and her stories

One of my best friends was kind enough to link my blog's address to her wonderful blog. She has been so supportive during these hard times with Mina, and I believe she loves cats more than I do (which I always thought was impossible lol) She offers so much information about kitties, and her aim is to educate fellow cat lovers! I love everything that she writes, and I strongly recommend checking out her site :) http://storiesofsterling.wordpress.com/ Love you lady!!

Nuhnie aka Sterling Silverton

Still going strong

Mina is still doing very well. I have not tube fed her since Tuesday, and she is back to her healthy eating habits :) She eats throughout the day, little bits here and there. She is also so much more playful than I remember!

I found some old tissue paper this evening, and laid some out on the ground in her favorite spots, and of course she's all over it. Paper + Crinkly sounds = A very happy Mina. For some reason, Rat-Bear doesn't really care. Probably because it's not plastic, which he is obsessed with, little weirdo.

I'm sitting here at my computer, and all I can hear is: crinkle crinkle....crinklecrinklecrinkle...crinkle. She keeps pawing and rolling around on it, lol

I went to the SPCA on Friday and donated the left over A/D food I had, along with some of the extra syringes. Hopefully they can use them!!

Since she is most likely getting her feeding tube removed on Tuesday, I will post a new pic of what she looks like without it! Yay!!

Just a few days left :)

I took Mina to the vets for another follow-up this morning, and she has gained yet another 260grams! So since she had her feeding tube put in, she has gained almost 1 pound, which is fantastic for her :D He wants to leave the tube in until Tuesday, as I haven't tube fed her for three days now, and he wants to give her a few more days to see how well she fends for herself. But I am confident that she will be just fine, and will have the tube removed in a few days! She is eating regularly, like she used to, and is way more active and playful than I have ever seen her :) The vet also said that if he didn't know what she had gone through, he would have no idea she had been so jaundiced, because she is pretty much back to her normal pinkish/white skin tone

I am so glad I don't have to force feed her anymore. The last few times I did, as soon as she saw the syringe full of food, she would run away and hide. And then when I would catch her and start feeding her, she would not sit still. She would roll around and play, and kept looking back at the syringe as if to say "You know, you don't have to do that Mom, I can feed myself. Duh". So she is back to herself now, and I can't believe how quickly she bounced back from a potentially lethal condition. She's a little fighter, and I am so happy!!

Almost back to normal :)

Today was Mina's follow up appointment with the vet. She has gained 200 grams, and he said her jaundice is definitely fading :) Such good news! She is also still eating whenever I put food in front of her, and will go back every few minutes or so to have some more. She isn't eating enough yet, so I will still be supplementing her with the A/D cat food via the tube. The vet also said that at this rate, if she can eat her 1 1/2 cans a day, we can remove the tube in 4 to 7 days!!! So fingers crossed that she eats more and more on her own :)

Today is also the first day she has shown an interest in her favorite toy again, a hair elastic. She'll hold it down with her paw and grab the other end in her mouth and pull up. She then lets it go and it goes flying, which she chases after. Then Rat-Bear swoops in and steals it from her. He can be such a bully!!

Ah Baboo, you are too cute! So relieved to see that she is slowly gaining weight again and is eating, playing, and being a little monster again. <3

Food food food!

Mina ate some of her own cat food today!!! I am so happy! I bought some fancy feast yesterday (I had read on a blog that it might be a good idea), and I gave her some this morning. She ate a bit and walked away licking her lips, lol. She also had some yogurt, and when I gave Rat-Bear some kibble, she came running again, so I poured some into her bowl. She ate some of that too :)

It has been one week since she got her feeding tube, and I can't believe that she is already eating on her own. I will undoubtedly keep tube feeding her for a bit, until we're 100% sure that she is eating everything she needs on her own.

The only thing I am unsure of is how much to tube feed her after she's eaten on her own? She ate the kibble right after I tube fed her, so does that mean I didn't give her enough? I have tried giving her 50-60cc, but the last time I gave her that much, she vomited... Hmm, I will ask the vet tomorrow!

More cuddles :)

Mina is definitely acting more like herself :) This morning, she cuddled with Glen and me in bed, with purring. I took a nap on the couch after her 8am feeding and she came and flopped on me, with purring. She also had some more yogurt, and almost ALMOST ate some food. She actually came running into to kitchen when she hear the kibble bag being opened lol. Oh well, we'll try again tomorrow! She's also sleeping in her favorite (although uncomfortable looking) spots:

Little weirdo.

I went out and bought some more of her high calorie cat food at the vets, and went to the grocery store after for some more hot chocolate ( :D) and when I set the plastic bag down on the floor, she was all over it. For some reason, she is obsessed with licking plastic bags, while Rat-Bear is obsessed with chewing plastic anything. So she had her head in the bag, being a Mina :)

Rat-Bear came up to her, so she promptly took her head out and glared at him. He didn't care.

I also think she is looking a little less yellow, but we'll see what the vet says on Thursday during her follow-up appointment. I can't wait for her to start eating on her own again. I know it hasn't even been a week since we started tube feeding her, but I am exhausted. I feed her every 2.5 hours, and I usually end up having to do a 2am feeding to make sure she's gotten her full caloric intake for the day. With that said, the difference I see in her less than a week is astounding. I was certain she wouldn't be acting like herself for at least a few weeks, but I guess with the tube feeding and her not vomiting, she's been feeling much better. I am so glad!! Things are really looking good :)

On another note, here is Rat-Bear in his box on top of the book case:

All I could see were his ears and eyes, and sometimes his fangs as he chewed on the cardboard, lol

I will keep posting updates!!

What a great day!!

Mina just ate some yogurt!! Glen was having some yogurt, and held the foil lid in front of her. I didn't think she would have any as I had tried this morning, and she wanted none of it.  But lo and behold, Glen whispers to me "Success!" I look over and I can see her little pink tongue darting out and licking the foil lid clean. I have to admit, I was so happy that I got tears in my eyes, lol

So all in all, a really good day for my Baboo. Rat-Bear jumped up on the chair and pinned her down, but she didn't even flinch and I banished Rat-Bear to the bedroom for a time out :) I am so glad I have the next few days off, it makes it a lot easier to make sure she gets her feedings at a consistent time! Four feedings down today, and probably just two more to go. Tomorrow morning, I will try again with the wet food and see if she wants some. Fingers crossed!

She's so cute, she's been sleeping soundly on the chair for a few hours now, and she still has the sleepy kitty look going on, lol

We'll see how tomorrow goes!

Pooping and Purring

Yay!!! Mina has done something she hasn't done in over a week: she flopped on me in bed this morning and started purring like the little diesel engine she is!! She was also arching her head into my hand while I was petting her. Sigh of relief right here :) I am thinking that maybe she is also not in any pain anymore, because I can't imagine having the feeding tube in not be a little painful at first :( In any case, she is starting to act more like herself again!

She is also pooping regularly it seems, which is another really good sign. Aaaaand, the best part. I layed out some warmed up cat food for her, and although she didn't eat any, she sniffed it in interest and didn't gag or anything! I am hoping that she will try to eat on her own sometime over the next few days :)

I was so tired last night, I am really glad Glen was home as he took over the last two feedings. So grateful! I was out like a light by 8:30pm, so I got a good 10 hours sleep.

Also, she isn't on her anti-vomiting pills anymore (she took her last one yesterday morning), so if she keeps her 9:00am feeding down, then that will also be another really good thing:)

There you have it!!

Near disaster averted

So I was feeding Mina a few hours ago, and she was flopped on the ground taking it all in. All of a sudden, she bursts into action, leaps over the basket she was lying next to and escapes from me. She has the syringe hanging from the tube and is freaking out because she can't get it away from her. I manage to catch her and settle her down, and finished the feeding... I was laughing so hard though, she just looked so bewildered and I have no idea what made her decide to run away! At least she didn't get sick. She must be feeling a bit better if she was able to do that! I'm so glad the syringe didn't fall out as that would have made a big mess on the carpet... Oh Mina :)

Yay for poops!

Mina pooped! I know, it's kinda gross... But to me, a pooping kitty is a recovering kitty. She has gotten her full caloric requirement today, minus one episode of vomiting (entirely my fault, I gave her too much too fast. Bad momma). I worked all evening, so Glen took over the feedings and she did very well. He found her in a very unexpected place:

We bought this kitty scratching post/condo a looooong time ago, and neither one the cats were even interested in going in, especially Mina. But Glen found her in here and took a pic. So cute!

Anyways, just wanted to share this joyous news, here's hoping there will be more! xoxo

I don't want to work tonight!

I have to work tonight, and I really don't want to leave my Baboo :( But Glen is here, and he will take good care of her, I know! I found Mina lazing about on the couch this morning, and I like seeing her jumping up on things instead of lying on the carpet on her side. I have fed her two times so far today, 50cc and 60cc, and I will do one more feeding at 2 or so before I head out (Glen will take over the evening feedings). She burped a few times, and I was worried she would vomit, but she kept it all down :) She's getting squirmy with the feedings. When I'm almost done, she decides to move away, and I have to hold her until I get the last few mls into her, and I still have to flush the line! Lol, she is getting stronger, so if she wants to struggle with me, it makes me happy. Oh yes, this is Mina yesterday:

You can see her belly a bit, and it's yellowish tinge. They had to shave her for the ultrasound. Also, the yellow and white bandage keeping the tube in place :) She has all these little shaved bits, one on her neck where they took some blood, one on her right paw for the IV, and her belly, lol Poor kitten

We've been keeping Theo Aka Rat-Bear (our 1.5 year old kitten) and Mina separated as he wants to play and can be a bit rough, so it's been trying as he seems to want to be on the other side of the screen all the time. It's our japanese folding screen that we've put across the hallway. When he's on the bathroom side of the hallway, this is where he likes to sleep:

Cutie :)

Anyways, I should go get ready for work, and I will keep updating!! xoxo

Week 1

So, I have a wonderful kitty named Mina. She has recently been diagnosed with hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver disease. I wanted to start this blog in order to get my thoughts in order, and to tell people about her story! First off, a little about this kitty. She is 4 years old, and black as night (a real halloween cat). She's always had a voracious appetite, and when we got a kitten, she would always manage to sneak some kitten food (as hard as we tried to prevent her from doing that!) So eventually, she put on some weight... This past December, I noticed she was losing weight, but did not think much of it as I thought she could stand to lose a pound or two. She had stopped eating really, and I have no idea why.

So off to the vet she goes, where he diagnoses her with fatty liver disease. Since she had stopped eating, her body began using the fat stores she had, and her liver isn't meant to process that much fat. Her skin became yellow (jaundiced), and she was so nauseated that she was refusing even her most favorite food, yogurt :( The treatment is making sure she gets enough food in her tummy so her body stops metabolizing her fat stores, thus reversing the liver damage! The liver can regenerate, so this disease is completely curable!

I tried force feeding her at first (the vet said she needs 1 1/2 cans of A/D food a day), but she struggled so much, we opted for a PEG tube (a tube that goes directly into her stomach). I felt horrible for doing this to her, but I wasn't able to get enough calories in her with the syringe feeding. She was given Cerenia (an anti-vomiting pill) to help her keep her food down, and came home after the minor surgery with a tube in her belly and wrapped around the midsection with a bright yellow bandage, so cute she looks like a bumblebee :)

This was three days ago, and she has been getting her full caloric requirements every day and has not vomited once! She's still pretty lethargic, but is seeming livlier than when I first took her in to the vet on Monday. I have been able to get 50-60ml of food into her per feeding, and it takes about 5-10 minutes per feeding, 15 if you include prep time (mixing with water, heating up, and getting her to sit still, lol). I will post a pic of her wrapped up in yellow soon, and I will keep updating!