Update on Minnie, for anyone aware of my cat saga

[jobycom]

Summary: Minnie became a minor celeb in the Lounge thanks to Heidi's fascination with her (She's the yawning cat in the Nighthawks painting--Minnie, not Heidi). About three months ago she got a minor infection, which led to medication and a food change, which made her vomit and quit eating her food. Before I realized a cat could literally starve herself to death, she was deathly ill with Fatty Liver Disease, where the liver begins digesting the body's own fat--something Minnie had a lot of. She lost four pounds in less than a month (A quarter of her body weight).

Treatment meant spending the price of a good used car and force feeding her food paste three to four times a day until her liver began functioning again. This for a cat that has always driven me crazy, has ruined two couches by repeatedly peeing on them because she was too moody to use her nearby, perfectly clean, litter box, and replacing carpet for the same reason. An expensive cat I've frequently and genuinely wished to be rid of. So, faced with the choice of putting her to sleep and spending another couple thousand dollars and much of my time trying to save her, I did the logical thing. No, actually I did the illogical thing, and tried to save her.

For the first four months things looked bad, with moments of optimism. She threw up much of what I fed her (ruining more carpet), she clawed much flesh from body (in some places you don't want to know about), and laid in a ball and moaned in pain. She wanted to die, I wanted her to die, but for some reason (maybe because of how much I had spent on her) I kept feeding her.

Some time last week she started to lose the yellow color around her ears--the sign of the liver failure. Saturday night she was in very good spirits. That night I didn't force feed, and sure enough, she ate, for the first time in two months. All day yesterday she snacked on her food, eating enough that I didn't force feed her again, and this morning she was still eating.

So it looks good for her. For anyone who was concerned. I am still watching the food intake, and the yellow, to see if I should feed her more. But this is the most positive sign in weeks.

Pic before she starved herself:

[Sanity Claws]

1. Thank you for sharing

I lost a cat, Max, to the disease about fifteen years ago. No one told me about force feeding him. He was finally put down, at the advice of my vet.
I think my present orange tabby is the reincarnation of Max.

[jobycom]

2. Kick for evening folk. nt