The Sick House

So this week has been interesting, to say the least. As you all know, Drew has been sick with Roseola but is pretty much back to his old self today. He ate well, played a lot, smiled all day (I'm so happy for that) and just has the rash on his legs now. I'm so glad he is feeling better because he was miserable.

Meanwhile, I'm having that dry tickle in the throat every-so-often cough. Don't you hate that? I really think it's from the heater. That reminds me-- need to get the humidifier out tonight. So, I have a nice deep voice, but feel pretty much okay.

What I'm feeling bad about is the fact that our cat, Cleo, has been really sick. She stopped eating, drinking, and taking her medicine (for feline hyperthyroidism) Tuesday. By Thursday she wasn't looking so good. I brought her to the vet on Friday and we found out she has fatty liver disease. It is common in older cats and caused by not eating. The liver builds up with fatty whatever and can't handle it. She was basically in liver failure. She was jaundiced, too (how can they tell she's yellow when she has black fur??) and dehydrated. Basically she was going down fast. We are not the type of family that wants to prolong the inevitable, especially when she is basically starving to death. The vet mentioned a feeding tube, and I stopped her at that. I would never put Cleo through the surgery to have it put into place and then let her live like that. They gave her fluids and tons of medicines and she was so worn out from SCREAMING like I've never heard before. Poor thing. Ever since last night, she's looked even worse. She's now vomiting and drooling b/c she is so nauseous from the liver disease. The vet said that sometimes with appetite stimulants cats can bounce back from this. But her gall bladder is full of fluid and it doesn't appear to be in the cards for her. So Darrell and I have officially tried the appetite stimulant for 1 day and we had to FIGHT her to get that pill down her throat. It was awful. But still refusing to eat or drink anything-- even tuna. We gave her subcutaneous fluid injection, too. So, basically, I'm calling the vet in the morning to see about putting her out of this pain and misery. I've had so many wonderful years with her-- I had her before I even met Darrell. She ran away once, came back, and has been through so many apartments and moves that I wonder how she's made it this long! I don't think she really "likes" Libby and Drew, even though she sometimes tolerates them pulling on her. But she doesn't look too enthused. It was really hard for her to adjust once they were born and I do feel bad about that. But interestingly enough, she has been hiding under their cribs all day long. Hopefully she's trying to make her peace with them!