Day 149: Rubie Dubie Doo

Today we thought we were going to have to say goodbye to our sweet, yet sassy cat, Rubie. But she still has a little spunk in her, and the Veterinarian's recommendation of giving her time over the weekend to see if she improves. Her prognosis was & is not looking so good. She was diagnosed with liver failure. They said it would take her going to an emergency pet clinic in Traverse City, and would have to be on IV's & meds for 24/7 which would cost at the start of $1,000.00, and we just don't have that. the only option we had as good pet parents was to put her down. We had to wait until 2:00 pm as the Vet got an emergency call. So we get there, and our neighbor was there, and she gave me her condolences, and a big hug, and had tears in her eyes. I really needed that hug, thanks neighbor. We go over her blood work, and it shows that she has no infection, her immune system is fine. It's just her levels of her liver were sky high, and was also showing gallbladder issues, which means a possible blockage. They talked about surgery so feeding tube can be inserted, and a bunch of other stuff. My mind was just not in the right place to hear everything they said. They did tell us that she's must have projectile vomited because of the way it ended up all over the cage, said it was mostly bile. I told them I did some research on liver failure in cats, and noticed that some cats have this problem after a food change. That some cats get picky & don't eat, and then they lose weight, and that can cause "Fatty Tissue Disease". But she said that the test results weren't looking like it was caused by that, but by a toxin instead. She asked us if she could have gotten in to anything. We said no, but then I said it's possible because she did roam the house but we didn't have anything toxic out. She asked about possibly her finding a decaying mouse, or something. We said, no, as we never had a mouse problem until the boys opened the window with out a screen, and one got in. LOL

All that we did was switch her food. I should have known to look in to this sooner, because I did notice a little weight loss with her last week, but thought it was due to switching foods & maybe her not getting enough calories. We did notice that Rubie & Ollie weren't eating all of their food. I started doing some research on the food that we switched them to, and was finding reports of other animals getting sick while eating this food. Where many claims of their pet having liver & kidney failure. Ironic?! I'm not sure? Could it be the food making her sick? Or did she just get finicky, and just stop eating the food, and that is what got her sick? Hard to say, but supposedly it's due to a toxin.....Hmmmmm. We threw out the "Good" food, and went back to the old.

They gave us some time to be with her to say our goodbye's, and I wanted to get some photos. It was so hard to see her be all lovey, and walk around, acting like she was feeling better. But the prognosis wasn't good, and we didn't want her to suffer, so this was the only thing we could do. The Vet's came in with the needle, but was watching her, while she talked. She said, she never likes to do this but she is second guessing herself. She said that Rubie was acting so much better than she had all day, and that maybe we could try to see how she would do over the weekend on IV fluids, a Vitamin B shot, and an appetite inducing pill. $45.00, how could we not try? Plus, they said it would be nice for the kids to be able to say goodbye, too. One Vet said, today is not her day. She fought like hell when they gave the pill, I mean fought!! I never seen her have so much fight, so that was a good sign too. We got her home, and set her up in the bathroom so we can observe her, and she started nibbling on some food, and took a drink of water, so that is really good. Now I just hope she uses the potty soon. A good friend came by and helped us with giving her the IV fluids since I don't do well with needles, and Frank was getting frustrated. Hopefully the rest of the fluid will be easy to get into her. I pray that she pulls out of this!! She was a healthy plump girl before. She lost about 3.5 pounds, so not as much as I thought, but that is still a lot for a cat. I will remain hopeful for Rubie, and I just feel so horrible. I just had to switch their food. I just had to wait longer to get her in. I know, don't blame yourself, but it's hard not to. I am so thankful that there was a change in events to our day. So very thankful for more time with our Rubie Dubie!

Rubie Dubie Doo......