Obligatory Miko Update
Miko's test results came back today. The verdict is that she has severe hepatic lipidosis and nothing else. The doctor believes this to be treatable, which is good news. Because she has been keeping all her syringe-fed food down, the best course of action according to the vet is to put in a stomach tube. This way, we can take her home and give her food that goes directly into her tummy. I have agreed to this, so Miko will undergo another surgery tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4pm. We will be able to take her home on Thursday. Home!!
Yesterday and the day before, she gave me purrs. Today, no purrs at all, which is mightily disheartening. But she is also putting up a bit more of a fight when she got her feedings today. This is considered a good thing, as she's showing more spirit. Also, she came to me when I called her: she was at the back of the cage with her butt end towards me and when I called her name and patted the front of the cage, she got up and came over to me, laying down facing me. This was happy-making. But she didn't do it again after she ended up facing the back of the cage again where she remained for the rest of my visit. I don't know what that means. I sang her a song I made up, though, which I hope she appreciated.
I miss my sweet little kitkat. :-\
I hope she does well with the surgery. It won't be as intense as last Friday's, but her liver is still in a bad way, so it's going to take awhile for her to metabolise all of the anaesthetic. Translation: she'll likely be dopey on Thursday.
I hope I'm doing right by her in getting the stomach tube put in. It's not meant to be a permanent fixture -- it's there until she begins eating on her own again, which could be anywhere from a month to a year, and it doesn't require surgery to remove it. So while she's basically going to be on life-support, she'll be at home, in a familiar environment. My hope is twofold: that her quality of life isn't terribly diminished by the presence of the stomach tube and that she recovers quickly from this. I've been questioning myself as to where I want to draw the line. I thought that I wanted to draw the line here, but I'm not willing to give up yet, as it seems that Miko hasn't given up yet, either. I follow her lead to the best of my ability.
I feel really mixed about the whole diagnosis. It's exactly what Bastian had, who was also a black Maine Coon. Because of our experiences with him, we were able to get Miko the help she needed before it was considered to be too late. She's still in a bad way, but all hope is not lost. This is our second chance, and I hope that we're able to successfully pull her out of it and that she'll be able to enjoy at least another 5 more years of relatively stable, good health.
Yesterday and the day before, she gave me purrs. Today, no purrs at all, which is mightily disheartening. But she is also putting up a bit more of a fight when she got her feedings today. This is considered a good thing, as she's showing more spirit. Also, she came to me when I called her: she was at the back of the cage with her butt end towards me and when I called her name and patted the front of the cage, she got up and came over to me, laying down facing me. This was happy-making. But she didn't do it again after she ended up facing the back of the cage again where she remained for the rest of my visit. I don't know what that means. I sang her a song I made up, though, which I hope she appreciated.
I miss my sweet little kitkat. :-\
I hope she does well with the surgery. It won't be as intense as last Friday's, but her liver is still in a bad way, so it's going to take awhile for her to metabolise all of the anaesthetic. Translation: she'll likely be dopey on Thursday.
I hope I'm doing right by her in getting the stomach tube put in. It's not meant to be a permanent fixture -- it's there until she begins eating on her own again, which could be anywhere from a month to a year, and it doesn't require surgery to remove it. So while she's basically going to be on life-support, she'll be at home, in a familiar environment. My hope is twofold: that her quality of life isn't terribly diminished by the presence of the stomach tube and that she recovers quickly from this. I've been questioning myself as to where I want to draw the line. I thought that I wanted to draw the line here, but I'm not willing to give up yet, as it seems that Miko hasn't given up yet, either. I follow her lead to the best of my ability.
I feel really mixed about the whole diagnosis. It's exactly what Bastian had, who was also a black Maine Coon. Because of our experiences with him, we were able to get Miko the help she needed before it was considered to be too late. She's still in a bad way, but all hope is not lost. This is our second chance, and I hope that we're able to successfully pull her out of it and that she'll be able to enjoy at least another 5 more years of relatively stable, good health.