Nosebud

This is Nosie. It's a long story, but her nickname is Nosebud. She was from a litter of a feral cat who semi-adopted us. She was the first of the kittens to investigate outside of the sleeping area they were in, thus her name, Nosie.

I called the vet on Monday because she "wasn't herself."  Normally she is the first one out into the kitchen for treats and always in the kitchen when we are eating to see what human food she can coerce out of us. This weekend, she never showed up for either.


We had both noticed that she had lost weight, which really was a good thing for her, but she was, all of a sudden, looking way to thin.

When I hold Nosie,
 I try to keep a shearling lined blanket on my lap
that I can conform to her body
so she doesn't have to work at getting comfortable.

We got into the vet on Tuesday morning. Found out her temp was fine, nothing showed up when Dr Drapo ran her hands all over her body looking for any signs of difference in her body parts. Nothing there. Next was the heart check. She heard a slight murmur, which hadn't been noted before. 

Next came the blood work, the results came back on Wednesday (yesterday). Not good . . . everything but one was in a good range . . . kidney function was fine for a cat her age. Now, the bad part. The phosphorus potassium level was sky high. (edited after Nosebud had her 1st saline IV . . . I knew it was a "p" word, just picked the wrong one.)

Dr Drapo told us that when the this is so high, but the kidney functioning is relatively normal, it's a sign of cancer somewhere in the body.

Poor Nosie, we could have run a ton of tests on her, but she is just so tired and worn out  couldn't put her through the stress. Plus, I know the end of her life is coming soon. So I told the doctor I just want to take her home and love her as long as I can.

That's Matthew, the nice sister, in the background.
I wish Matthew would be brave enough
to get next to Nosie and groom her.
I think that would make both of them feel better.

She sent some soft food, high in calories, that I have to mix with water to feed her via syringe. Then today, she was to go in to get a saline IV to get some water into her body. We had to postpone her 9:20 appointment because our car decided to die yesterday and spent the whole afternoon in the shop and after replacing everything that could be causing the problem, it still won't start. So it is still there today while they do more tests, I am hoping we have it so she can go in at 3:00 for her IV.

Needless to say, things are sad around the house. One of her litter mates hissed at her, while the other one will walk over to her and almost looks like she is saying "How can I snuggle up to you, Nosie?"

Indy has started to keep an eye on Nosie, and makes sure Marcus, the "hisser" doesn't get close to her and is ready to run interference whenever Matthew (the other litter mate) or Abby, our older cat who is on thyroid meds, come close to her.

Another thing the doctor found
was that she had redder eyes than normal
and she had a lot of "eye boogers,"
So we have eye drops to give her,
and her eyes have cleared up a bit.

 I am holding her as much as possible . . . which is something she NEVER let me do. I fed her, via syringe, last night and this morning. This morning, it seemed to choke her so I guess that will stop. Now it will be "try food and if it causes distress, then water only." I want her to get as much love as possible before we lose her but I don't want her to be stressed or in pain. 

Right now, she doesn't seem to be in pain, just very, very tired.
~*~*~*~*~
Addition after Saline IV

The technician who was on duty at the vet, who I like and respect, said we could learn to do the IV. I was a little leery. She brought the IV bag, pole and lines into the room we were in and gave it to Nosie there.

I think I will be able to do it after I have them check me out. It is simpler than finding a vein in a human. With a cat, you take some skin above their spine, pull it up to make a tent and put the needle in the skin there. Now the saline is in under the skin and the body will absorb it.

We go in Saturday morning for her next "fix." I kidded her that not many cats have their "own bottle."

Resting after her 1st saline IV.