[lizardlady]

You might recall my posts from a few months ago about my friend's cat Ciara. Boy baby girl was one sick kitty and the vets could not figure out the cause. The vets at the state vet school posted her CT scan on line asking for help. The answers they got were all along the lines of "that's weird."

I think the last time I posted about her she seemed to be getting better. For several months now she has acted like a normal, healthy kitty. She eats well and plays like her old self. The only lingering problem was fluid retention in her abdomen. She's been on a diuretic for the last few months to manage that. A few weeks ago the vet at the vet school suggested measuring her abdomen once a week to see if it's changing. Before this she was going in to have the fluid drained about every six weeks. Her abdomen is getting smaller!

We may never know what caused this whole disastrous ness, but the Baby Girl seems like she is going to completely recover. Thank you so much to all of you who were pulling for her.

[splitimage]

That's great news and thanks for the update. I'd kind of wondered what had happened to her.

splitimage

[cakeladie]

That's awsome news

[Unrigged64072835]

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear she's getting better.

[Travelinglady]

I'm glad to hear the good news!

[lizardlady]

Her tummy is continuing to get smaller!!!

[lizardlady]

Ciara is not doing well. She was vomiting. Then totally stopped eating and is lethargic. My friend is taking her back to the vet college today to see what is going on. Please send positive thoughts, prayers, whatever.

[*Laurie*]

Oh. no. I'm sending positive thoughts...

[lizardlady]

Got a call from my friend a few hours ago. She's going to be at the vet school hospital all day while they try to figure out what's going on with the Baby Girl. The are running blood work, tapped and drained the fluid in her abdomen and are running kidney and liver tests.

I'm trying to remain positive, but I have a horrible feeling this is going to turn out badly. It's churning up all sorts of ugliness/sadness for me. My friend is going to be devastated if she has to put Ciara down. We've all had special furbabies in our lives. We love 'em all, but some are just more special. Ciara is my friend's special girl. She has so little positive in her life, I hate the idea of her losing her baby. Plus, it's bringing up memories of my babies I've lost.

[Unrigged64072835]

Sorry to hear she's ill again.

[lizardlady]

Got another call last night. Ciara and my friend are home. The vet wanted to keep her for the weekend, but it would have cost 2 to 3 THOUSAND to do so. My friend is barely scraping by. She can't afford it.

Blood work shows some kind of infection, but they don't know where or what kind. It will take a few days for the results from the culture. They are waiting on other test results too. They drained a liter of fluid from her abdomen yesterday. The also gave her IV fluids (she was dehydrated from vomiting) and antibiotics. The vet did ask my friend if she'd considered putting Ciara down.

I believe my friend has a good plan. She brought Ciara home yesterday. She has antibiotics that she will give her. She's going to take the weekend to love on the Baby Girl and see if the treatment is working. If Ciara is no better by Monday she's going to have her put down. I feel like it is a good plan. Please keep those positive thoughts/prayers coming.

[lizardlady]

It's not looking good today. She's lethargic and not eating. We talked about the fact she might just be worn out from the infection and all the medical tests yesterday. My friend is trying to come to terms with the idea it might be time to put her down. She's not there yet, but moving in that direction. She and I have the same way of thinking about this sort of thing. If there's something I/we can do to help the animal have a good quality of life I/we will do it. Neither of us is willing to prolong suffering though.

It's a hard weekend for all of us. Please keep us in your thoughts.

[*Laurie*]

Oh, so hard and so sad. I've been there many a time. I hope and pray the best.

[Nammu]

Sending positive vibes her way and Sir is sending positive feline vibes baby girls way.

[lizardlady]

All those positive vibes seem to be helping. Ciara came out of her hidey-hole last night to ask for some cuddling and drank a little bit of water. This morning she came out and sat on the sofa with my friend for more cuddle time. Best of all when my friend got home from running to the grocery store Ciara met her at the door and ate a teeny bit! Maybe, just maybe she will be okay.