Felix the Cat Update

[katekat]

Well, after a bundle of money, a stay in two different Animal Emergency Hospitals, an X-Ray and a saline drip, Felix is doing much better. They still have no idea what it is - mostly all of the measures ruled things out - but her steps are more coordinated and she can jump onto and off of things with only a little difficulty. They diagnosed it as some kind of unspecified neuralgia that could have come from a blood clot, a tumor that affected her nerves abnormally, or something else they can't see with x-rays.

Neil asked a good question: if we can tell so much about how animals react in animal testing, why can't Vet. Science give us anything but a completely unspecified answer? I've got no response.

But we've got our little kitten back, and even though in the picture she's got her bandage on, she's managed to take that off (with some help from her parents). She seems happy, and reasonably healthy, and still has an unhealthy penchant for peperoni.



It freaked us out a lot, not knowing and not being able to do anything about it. Plus it's just so expensive to have animals treated. If she hadn't gotten better on her own we were facing another gamut of tests that were more dangerous to her and far more expensive for us. It's hard to know when to stop and when not - talking with a girlfriend she said that her mom would've mortgaged her house if her cat needed treatment. And I just don't know what I'd do when faced with something like that. I have a sneaking suspicion what Neil'd do, because she is his baby. Profoundly grateful that we don't have to face those questions today.

Thanks everybody who commented with hugs - every comment meant a whole lot to me. You all rock.

Comments

[dara-starscream.livejournal.com]

Hooray with the feeling better! Your honey's got a point though. Like when we had to have my kitten declawed (condition of our lease at the time), there was a seperate release form asking us to pay an extra fifty bucks we didn't have for anesthesia monitoring. Call me nuts, but shouldn't that be done anyway?

(gives Felix some of that special kitty-milk and rubs her ears)
-BJ

[katekat]

You're so not nuts - and yes, they seem to tack on weird annoyingly infentesimal things that should be done anyway and make you pay another $50 for 'em. Grr.

And ear rubbing is so the order of the day!

[elizabuffy.livejournal.com]

awww! bandage!felix! she's so cute. i bet she has a little patch where they shaved her fur for the IV, huh?

*pets the felix behind the ears*

I'm so glad to hear she's doing better.

Also, we're the type of family who would mortgage the house to make sure our kitty was better. We would never pay hundreds of dollars for a pet, but once it was family, we'd do whatever to make sure she was okay. I'm just glad you won't be put in the position to make that decision. Altho', granted, you can't do more than you can do (financially, physically, etc).

holy crap! i hope that didn't sound all "know-it-all" or condescending :">

How old is felix, by the way?

~e!

[katekat]

She does have a little patch! It kinda makes her look like she's got a bit of a peg leg (I've got pirates on the brain - Goonies was on and Neil was watching).

And yeah, I don't know about which type I am - since at heart I'm all about the money not mattering, but sometimes too practical for my own good. But you're right about doing only what you can. Anyway, glad we don't have to make that decision either!

You didn't sound know it all or condescending! :D

And she's 11 yrs old. She's doing pretty good for a girl who's made it through 11 years!

[elizabuffy.livejournal.com]

she's 11? so's my kitty. felix looks not a day over 5. she's so young-looking!

*pets*

~e!

[katekat]

it's cuz she's tiny - someone (not us, but her previous owners) may have accidentally stunted her growth by feeding her more on doritos than on kitten food. Or maybe she's just built this way. But yes, she does look exceptionally young. You can only tell she's older when you pet her - her haunches aren't as fleshy as they used to be.

[phendog.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I'm really glad to hear the kitty is doing all right! Poor Felix...you'll have to keep us updated? Particularly if they find out what went wrong. Sounds scary. But I'm glad to hear it's looking well for her.

[katekat]

Thanks lady - she's seems like she's back to 100% now. Bigh sigh of relief. But we really don't know exactly what happened. Our regular vet says that, even though the emergency vets didn't think it was the medicine she was on, it probably was - and it just affected her in messed up ways. It's so hard with animals because we can't simply *ask* her. Anyway, thanks for the hugs. You rock.

[elementalv.livejournal.com]

In answer to your other post, Chris says:

"Animal Medical Center on Anderson Lane. 512 832 4119. Tell Rose & Kat that Kazoo says hi."

[katekat]

Thanks Lady!! I totally appreciate the rec!

[crayonbreakygal.livejournal.com]

Oh god, your poor kitty. Take it from one who has been to the vet way too many times, there is not right answer. It's so expensive to treat animals. Yeah, I've paid out the you know what for things that in the end haven't worked, and would probably do it again, but I felt at that time I could and there was some benefit to it. It didn't work out in the end, but I didn't know that at the time.

Give the poor fella lots of hugs and pets from all of us.

[katekat]

You're totally right - you kind of have to go with what you can do and what your gut tells you to do. Thankfully, this time, it wasn't too much. But we are totally babying the baby right now - she's getting more attention from us in the last couple of days and she keeps looking at us with a question in her eyes like "why are you sitting on the floor staring at me? The floor is my space. Go sit on the couch and I'll be there in a minute." Or, since we've also been petting her to reassure ourselves, she looks up with the put upon "hey, I was sleeping, did you have to pet me now" look. It's great.

[lostgirlslair.livejournal.com]

::huge hugs:: I'm so glad that Felix is doing better. I know just how you feel. I'm glad he's home!

[katekat]

Thanks sweetest! It means a lot. We're so glad she's home, and since I posted this the other night it looks like she's recovered 100% (or as near as makes no difference). We're heaving huge sighs of relief.

[lostgirlslair.livejournal.com]

That's great! I'm so glad for you guys. It is so hard to have a sick kitten on your hands! ::hugs::