Saturday, December 30, 2017

more Willow

For the most part, Friday was a good day for Willow. After coming back home, she was super lovey. I don't think she's slept all day. It was non-stop pursuit of being petted. She continues to share her affections for Oliver.

Hello, Oliver? What time coming inside?

Yahoo, I'll see you when you get here!

Then this evening, Oliver had some time inside time which is quickly becoming the norm. Willow went right up to him to cuddle in. She never attempts to cuddle with any of the other cats, this is very atypical for her. Oliver's not quite sure what to do with her, but eventually he settled into the cuddle. I love seeing this side of him, he's been the aggressive one outside, fiercely territorial, fighting neighborhood cats day in and out, but he's mellowed out so much. Inside he's not territorial at all, he's quite passive and chill. And now, he'll cuddle with the Willow!


About thirty minutes after this last picture was taken, Willow was hanging out in my lap when suddenly she started convulsing. It started on her left side of her face, her eye twitching, then the rest of her face, drool and more convulsing all over. It was terrifying to witness - we bundled her up and ran her over to the emergency vet. Of course, in the minute it took us to get there, she had stopped and was just scared.

The vet thinks she had a seizure. This would be the second one we've noticed since all this trouble started a few weeks ago. It was terrifying to watch her go through this, and next time we are supposed to get a video of it happening for the vet to see. I'm trying to imagine how I'm going to have enough emotional togetherness to take a video in that moment. 

I have no experience with seizures in cats (or any other species for that matter). I would love to hear from others about their experiences, if you care to share (comments or send me an email). A little background on her - she's about 8 years old, and has never had any head trauma (or any other trauma), she's generally quite healthy. She had bad URI as a kitten that started her asthma when she was young, but after steroid treatment it got better over time and has not needed treatment for years. Other than that, she's had clean bill of health for all these years. She has had a number of chest x-rays both back when she was first diagnosed with asthma and more recently with the recent stuff. She definitely has asthma, but there is also something else going on that remains a mystery for now.

8 comments:

  1. Poor Girl! I'm so glad she is finding companionship in Oliver! My Charlie had a seizure but he was quite old and it was near the end of his life. I wish I knew more. Sending big hugs to you and more purrs and prayers for Willow.

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  2. :-O

    Oh, poor Willow. I have no experience with cats having seizures, either. Can cats have epilepsy? (Can't imagine why not.) Continuing to send purrs and purrayers to her and to you too. Hugs!

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  3. Purrs and prayers to dear Willow. We can only imagine how scary that is for both of you.

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  4. Oh, that's so scary for you, and especially for poor Willow. Hope all's well and it's not too, too serious. Try to have a Happy New Year.

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  5. Can you tweet Dr. Plotnik? It's worth a try. Willow...PLEASE get better dear little one. Oliver thank you for being her friend. XXX
    Arnold Plotnick
    @TheCatExpert
    Feline health expert & cat veterinarian. Email thecatspecialist@gmail.com for article/column writing opportunities (cats, travel, life, retirement, NYC)

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  6. I had a similar experience with my last poor dear sweet kitty girl, Abbey. She passed away from (what they think was) lung cancer. The vet told me that asthma presents on x-rays the same way as lung cancer in cats, and that the only way to know for sure would be to do a lung biopsy, which they didn't recommend due to her age (she was 13 at the time). She also sometimes had seizures, some were quite violent and terrifying, and I gave her liquid steroids every day for the last two years of her life. Eventually she crossed to the rainbow bride at just a week shy of her 16th birthday. You may want to ask your vet if they feel your kitty is young/healthy enough for a lung biopsy, although if it is lung cancer I'm not sure what can be done. I hope this helps you in some small way and with the best for you and your kitties! <3

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  7. I am sorry Willow had another seizure. I have no experience with this, but will be praying for her.

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  8. I am glad Willow is getting the snuggling she craves. and I am so sorry to hear about the seizure..

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