Willow update

2017 ended for us with some very devastating news.

Saturday, Willow did really well. She slept soundly on one of us for most of the day. She ate generally well, was perky - it was a big change from Friday.

Dec 30, 2017

Then came Sunday. She arose early in the morning and started showing signs of discomfort. No interest in food. She was hunched in, not moving. I hung out with her for a while, noticing that her breathing was becoming more rapid. History told us where this was going, so we made the decision to take her to the specialty clinic emergency room (about 20-mins away). We had exhausted the resources of our local emergency vet and needed a neurologist and better diagnostic options.

We got everything ready so I could just put her in the carrier and run out the door. She was laying on a fleece blanket, looking miserable, out of it, and breathing hard. I just bundled her up in the blanket and placed her in the carrier. I completely freaked when she flopped over backwards in the carrier with no attempt to correct. She was like statue that had just fallen over. This was one of the scariest moments of my life, I feared she might be dead. I immediately closed up the carrier and literally ran as fast as I could to the emergency vet across the alley.

Dec 30, 2017

They immediately attended to her and we waited, overwhelmed with fear and sadness. A few minutes later, the vet told us Willow was having seizures (without the convulsions), which was why she was so unresponsive. It was helpful to hear that it was indeed seizures, and not death. The vet called down to the specialty clinic and they discussed how best to stabilize her for the car ride.

We made it to the specialty clinic ER without problem and they immediately took her back to stabilize her. Meanwhile, two good friends met us there for emotional comfort, as we waited many hours to be seen. So grateful to have such good friends. The general ER vet was fantastic, she had amazing ability to convey a lot of complex information with great clarity, kindness, and compassion. We elected to have Willow seen by the neurologist who suggested we start with a MRI, to find the origin of the seizures.

A few hours later we got the call - Willow had done well with the MRI and was waking just fine from the anesthesia. That was the good news, the bad news is, she has a non-cancerous tumor on her brain, a meningioma. The neurologist noted there are several treatment options that we can discuss more extensively once Willow is more stable. For now, we focus on getting her stable using steroids to reduce the tumor inflammation and some anti-seizure medication. If we just go the palliative care route (which would be just using those medications), she said we might have 6-9 months of quality life left. The other options that we'll discuss more when we pick her up, are surgery, radiation, and chemo.

Dec 29, 2017

This all still feels surreal. Is this really happening?? My Willow? My little girl? She's only 8, she's perfect. It's so hard to believe that we don't have much time left together. I'm numb. Exhausted. My heart is overwhelmed with sadness. Pain. Some gratitude in there too, for knowing what's causing her so much misery. Not knowing is hell. We'll pick her up on New Year's day and find out more then. We have a whole lot of loving to do on her in the time left.

Hold your furry family members extra tight, each day with them is a precious gift. We are grieving this New Year's eve and soaking up the love of the other cats and friends. Peace.

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.

Theo's Gotcha Day!!

Today marks 8 years of Theo! He still keeps us on our toes, as he continues to scavenge for any food possibilities! So grateful to have him, he brings constant love and silliness. We would laugh a lot less if we didn't have this clown living with us!

Special dinners for the cattery tonight to celebrate!

Willow update:

After a steady decline, we took Willow to the ER last night, where she spent the night. She looked so miserable, with her labored breathing, it looked like she was moving toward dying. The emergency vet said cats in her condition can go down to death very quickly, so she talked with us about CPR and end of life directive. I was not prepared for such a conversation, somehow I figured there was more they could do. After they brought her into oxygen chamber, gave her albuterol and a relaxant, they said they was nothing more they really could do, it would be up to Willow to see how she responds. When we left her in the oxygen chamber, she was open mouth breathing at super fast rate. I left feeling numb, in disbelief - I might be losing her.

I kept my phone close all night and didn't sleep much, anticipating a crisis call. Thankfully, the only call that came, was this morning with good news! Willow settled and returned to normal breathing after a few hours in the oxygen. She was stable, perky and ready to return home. Yea!!!!

Willow's home again and very perky. She's back to her usual spunky self, eating, cuddling, head-bonking, and milling about. It's crazy how quickly she goes from normal, perky to death's door. We are going to try some inhaler asthma medications in hopes that works. Part of her problem appears to be asthma related, but the progression that starts with not eating remains a mystery.

Willow

We had a lovely White Christmas! Not something that happens much around here, but it started snowing on Christmas Eve and by morning we had a coating of snow!

Oliver spent the majority of the day inside, even got special foods to celebrate!

It was lovely to see Willow feeling more of herself.

Willow still seems to like being near Oliver. 

I can understand, I like being near him too!

Christmas was a relaxing day.

Sadly, in the days since Christmas, Willow's become symptomatic again. She's back to not eating and looking extremely uncomfortable. Her breathing has become a little faster than usual but so far not as extreme as it was a few weeks ago. Laura talked with the vet this morning and we are going to up her steroid dose to see if that makes a difference. I plan to keep close eye on her and run her next door to emergency vet if she worsens. 

I am very worried about her. She looks so miserable and I feel powerless to help her feel any better. Once again, I would appreciate your purrs and prayers for her healing and for us to figure out what it is that keeps causing this.

friends

Most of the inside cats are still pretty cautious around Oliver. Not Willow! 

She's getting quite friendly with Oliver.

Christmas is coming!

Meow-y Christmas!!

joy of heat

Mr. Oliver's been enjoying some time on Willow's heating pad. He soooo loves being inside!

Meanwhile, Willow's looking quite comfy warming her tummy.

She's feeling better! Yah!!

And then she came over to reclaim her heated spot, only Oliver wasn't leaving...

hostile takeover!

After a while, Oliver conceded. 

 Willow got her heated spot back!

Willow power!

Oliver moved over to the other side of the couch and continued his nap.

healing progress

Good news!

Willow is doing better today.  She's not conmpletely back to normal just yet, but she's moving in that direction.

We learned from the vet today that the results from her bloodwork indicate that her pancreas is fine after all. So, that leaves us with no idea what happened to start us down this road (lack of eating, appearance of intense pain and misery, and labored breathing). I believe the second part of her distress was a bad reaction to the Mirtazapine.

After not sleeping for several days, she finally settled enough to get some sleep. She remains very hyper alert and thus startles very easily, but slowly, she keeps settling. She's gotten comfy enough to want her scrumptious tummy rubbed! Yah!!!

Thank you for the purrs and prayers - this was a very scary time. Hopefully we are out of the woods.

Willow needs purrs

I've been traveling a lot lately, which means a lot of time away from the kitties. I don't mind a little travel, but it's been feeling like I'm away more than I'm home, which I know it not really true. I was gone all of last week and got back home on Friday.

Dec 6, 2017

Willow had stopped eating on Thursday. By Saturday, she was having to work really hard to breathe and she was breathing very fast. She also moved very slowly and looked miserable. She was acting a lot like Buddy right before he crossed the bridge. When we got her to the vet, she was open mouth breathing, so the vet tech quickly whisked her back to the oxygen chamber. 

After some bloodwork and x-rays, the vet was thinking inflammation of the pancreas. We decided to leave her overnight so they could stabilize her. On Sunday evening, she was doing better and starting to eat, so we thought we might bring her home.

She spent the time pacing, very agitated and unsettled. She was in zombie state - completely out of it. She never stopped moving. After a few hours, she started convulsing and struggling to breathe. We ran her back across the alleyway to the vet (thank God for living across the alley from our 24-hour vet). And again, they put her in the oxygen chamber and were able to stabilize her. The emergency vet didn't really have any ideas about what might be causing all of this.

Willow's home again and spent most of Monday pacing. I haven't seen her sleep at all. She's eating again and seems more present than she did, but still not back to her normal self. She's starting to settle more, spending a little time on the couch next to me. Her breathing appears to be more normal.

When she was hospitalized they gave her an appetite stimulant - I'm wondering if they gave her too big a dose or maybe she had adverse reaction. She's was acting like she was super-stimulated and couldn't stop. In time, she seems to be slowing down. It's been very scary to watch her not be herself and to see her struggling to breathe. We are still waiting to talk with our vet, who treated her on Saturday. 

Please join us in praying and purring for her continued healing.

spooky snoozes

It's that day again...

Laura did fantastic job on the carving this year!

The day (and night) for Oliver to be safe and secure...

happy Oliver = happy cat guy

stack of cats

We were moving stuff out of the house the other day and came back inside to see Theo and Nahum owning the end tables!  Silly boys!

inside time

Oliver's been loving some inside time lately.

 Happy sleeping kitties! Yah!

 

Theo's still not so sure about having Oliver as an inside companion.

Progress is slow but steady. Regardless of how Theo feels, I love having Oliver inside - and Oliver loves it too!

invasion

Each girl has their own fort.

You may remember, Rose's fort is the brown fleece blanket on the chair.

Willow claims the green fleece blanket on the couch. But what happens when Rose invades Willow's fort?

Hhhhmmmmrrrpphh!

An update on the move...

moving = stress
moving long distance = crazy stress
moving long distance + no income = nutzo stress

moving long distance + no income + plans falling through = f***ing overwhelming stress

A number of plans have fallen through in the moving process, which has caused significant stress. We had a private buyer lined up to buy the house, but deep into the process, they changed their minds. Then later it looked like Laura had landed an amazing job in Vermont only to find out later it was offered to someone else. It's been an intense emotional roller coaster, testing every ounce of faith and perseverance in me. I've been on the edge of overwhelming panic for more days than I want to admit, sometimes falling off into the deep pool of despair and anxiety. There have been many days when I just want to crawl in the fort with Willow and be done.

We are still working toward moving, but many details (exact location, timing, etc.) remain unknown still. Our house is ready to list on the market (which took an enormous about of work) but the problem is if we sell our house, we'll be homeless and unable to acquire new housing. Neither of us has jobs right now as we were expecting to have been moved by now. That means we don't qualify for another mortgage. I've looked all over for rental options in Vermont, but I've not found anyone willing to rent to someone with seven cats. Most say 0-2 cats. I've had a few people suggest maybe we could find homes for some of our cats, I don't see that as an option. I would rather not move than consider getting anywhere near that idea. It actually pisses me off when people suggest that. These cats are my family, not having children, they are like my kids. One doesn't suggest to a family with four children, maybe they should consider giving up a kid for adoption to increase the likelihood of finding a suitable house. Don't get me started...

Anyway, it's like a giant puzzle, where the pieces have to go in place in the right order. There is some good news in the midst of this. The housing market here is really booming, each month of delay results in a higher listing price on our house. And I have two job interviews lined up for next week! That means a quick trip to Vermont, but first I have to dig through all the boxes and find my interview clothes which were packed up a long time ago - sigh.

If anyone happens to know of someone in Vermont who might rent to us with seven cats, please let me know! I plan to check in with Sachie from My Cat Goma Blog (she lives in Vermont) to see if she has any ideas. I've emailed some shelters and rescue organizations, thinking if I can

Fall!

It's Fall - the perfect time for outside kitty pictures.

Ok guys, act like you like each other.

That's better!

Happy Fall!

fortification

Summer is nearly in the rear view mirror. Such a beautiful summer here, warm and dry. I think I heard no measurable rain for over 60 days. It'll be here soon enough.

We are still working on moving, which means lots of house projects to get the house ready to sell. I did a bunch of them this weekend, including adding earthquake straps to the water heater, so if there's an earthquake, it won't fall over. Drilling into the concrete foundation to place anchor bolts was not fun!

The realtor gave us a list of things that need to be done so a potential buyer could get a loan. Apparently, in this area, banks won't write a loan if the hot water tank is not secured to the wall. The crazy thing is, if there is an earthquake here, the house won't be standing (house is not attached to the piers it sits on) - but the hot water heater will be standing! Anyway, glad to have that project over with.

I've been training Theo on how to assume the Buddy tummy rub position. It took him a few times to remember how the legs go for maximum tummy rubs, but I think he's got it now!

8:52am

2:12pm

Speaking of Buddy, we recently marked a year since his crossing to the rainbow bridge. Still miss that guy, quite a bit.

classic Buddy!

There has been a lot of fort-action here lately. The blanket fort is always a winner. Pretty simple, just drape a blanket between the couch cushions and the cats do the rest.

 

 There's a Rose in this fort!

Willow's been known to sleep through the coming and going of the evil suck monster when she's safe and secure in a blanket fort! What's the point of having a fort if it ain't gonna keep you safe?!

Hmmm... this fort is getting a lot of attention, I wonder who's in there...

It's Oliver!!!!!

Oliver LOVES inside kitty forts - he loves most anything related to being inside kitty.

Some have asked if Oliver and Pierre are coming with us when we move - they most certainly are! We're not leaving any of our family behind. No cats left behind!