First of all, I am sorry I have not been posting very frequently. For one, I have not had much to report but more relevantly I have been quite depressed and just haven't felt like it. I recently got on a new medication and it seems to be helping, I think I am finally climbing out of the black pit of despair I had fallen into. Thankfully, I even have some good news to report!
As some of you know, my cat Rufus has developed various health issues (hyperthyroidism and heart disease) and in June he got very sick with a serious liver infection. He recovered beautifully and I crossed my fingers that I would not have another pet emergency for a good, long while. Unfortunately, his liver issue flared up about two weeks ago. He quit eating on his own and for a week the vet was syringe and tube feeding him. The techs said when they put food in front of him he would gag at the smell of it. On the fifth day of this my vet said it might be time to think about euthanasia given his other health problems. I was absolutely not ready to make that decision because I did not believe it was time yet. He was too active and alert for me to consider taking his life. I have had this cat for nearly twelve years, since he was a kitten, and he is the coolest cat. I call him my puppy-kitty because he thinks he's a dog, sometimes he will even sit for a cat treat! Anyway, my animal loving mom found a holistic vet and I took him there a week after he stopped eating. The vet agreed that he was in "crisis" and the most important thing was to get him to eat. I liked her a lot; she had a very calming presence and was very patient. So she administered acupuncture and prescribed Chinese herbs in an attempt to stimulate his appetite. I couldn't believe the way he reacted to the acupuncture; he actually relaxed and looked as if he enjoyed it! For the rest of the evening my mom and I offered him all sorts of different foods hoping something would be appetizing, he turned up his nose at various kinds of wet and dry cat food along with tuna, turkey, chicken, ham and beef. We kept putting a little bit of wet cat food in his mouth and he would eat it begrudgingly. However, around 9:30 that night he actually ate a little bit of food off the plate on his own. We thought it was a gigantic victory! I continued to feed him like that the next morning and by that afternoon I found him sitting at his bowl eating his regular dry food as if nothing was wrong. HOLY SHIT! I swear it's like a miracle. If any of you pet lovers out there are looking for an alternative to your current vet, email me and I will send you the information about my new favorite vet.
