Flea 2003- 2010
Sorry if this is graphic intensive. It is a story that should be told.
It was a warm day in May, 2003 when I stopped by the garage where the mechanic worked on my Dodge Caravan. While talking to him, I heard this nonstop series of mews coming from his office. I asked him what that was and he told me he was glad I stopped by. he took me into his office and showed me a small Calico ball of fluff that was making a ruckus. She was barely 3 weeks old, it appears and the mechanic had found her, abandoned by her mother, it seemed, in the street.
Brenda went to a nearby store and bought a pint of milk, while I checked her out. "Please take her home, I don't know anything about cats." My mechanic asked me.
She was so young, and I didn't think she would survive. but we were wiling to try.
http://jadephoenix.org/images/Flea/Flea1.MPG
We brought her home and I did some research on making formula. As it turned out, I tried to feed her with a baby bottle, but that didn't work. I ended up dipping a washcloth in the solution and having her suck it out of that. but she decided she preferred to tackle dry food within a few days and ignored the formula afterward.
Ash, our ever present ambassador and greeter immediately adopted her as his younger sister. She was fearless.
http://jadephoenix.org/images/Flea/Flea2.MPG
http://jadephoenix.org/images/Flea/Flea3.MPG
http://jadephoenix.org/images/Flea/Flea4.MPG
http://jadephoenix.org/images/Flea/Flea5.MPG
She loved jumping on things and biting you playfully, so we named her "Flea"
We gave her some worm medicine, and after a few days it became apparent that we was going to survive. She was our miracle kitty.
(Yes, that's me holding her)
She was pretty tiny, so we usually referred to her as "Baby Cat" or "Tiny Baby"
Flea grew to become a beautiful Calico, and a very talkative cat. She loved the other cats.
She sure did enjoy her naps!
She also liked to nurse on clothes and blankets.
She also loved to sleep behind Brenda's leg at night, and behind my monitor, especially in the winter. But above all, she loved to talk to you, and she always was the first one to greet every visitor that stopped by. Flea was quite the techno-cat. She always came running when she heard the printers running, or help pull the paper out of the fax machine, or even try and catch the scanner light.
The only problem was that when we adopted Ginger in 2005 (Actually Ginger adopted us by literally coming in out of the rain), there was some sibling rivalry between the two over who was the baby cat. But when we weren't watching, they seemed to be content to put aside their differences and sleep with each other. All of our kids were doing great overall.
Unfortunately, our cats came down with some kind of virus sometime after Christmas. Watery eyes and noses, sneezing, and drool. But all the cats seemed to get better after a few days, Even Flea, but that didn't last. At the beginning of February, we noticed she wasn't eating much and was losing weight. We took her to the vet here in town, who gave her some antibiotics. But after a couple of days, we knew something was wrong. We brought her back on a Monday, and he took her in for a couple of days and gave her an IV with antibiotics to help it along. We took her home but she still seemed to not want to eat too much. The vet took her back in and ran some tests. He found her liver had been badly damaged. He took her in, started several treatments, and we hoped for the best. She was in there for a week. We went back last week to pick her up, and the vet told us she had jaundice, and was passing liquid. We had to hand-feed her twice a day a high-protean diet of chicken or turkey, mixed into a soup, along with vitamins and liver medication. She didn't like it, but Brenda and I had a routing worked out where she would squirt some water into her moth and when she was drinking, I would squirt some food with my modified syringe. After a few rounds, we'd wipe the mess and keep going until she fought to get free. We would them wash the towels and let her down.
By this time, she would either crawl under my desk and sleep on the hot pad I had set up, or sleep behind Brenda's legs on a towel in the bedroom at night. We took her to the vett on Thursday as she was meowing as if in pain. He gave her a shot and noted she had gained a few ounces. She had dipped below half her weight in less than a month. He told us that he had done all she could and advised if she got worse, to take her up to the big Vet hospital in Songnam, about an hour away.
She got worse. yesterday (Friday), she was complaining a lot and almost dragged herself when moving. We fed her around 11, and let her sleep on the hot pad. About two hours later, she climbed down, and started vomiting undigested food, then fell over on her side whole doing so. She made a pitiful noise. I called the hospital and told her I was coming, put her in a carrier, and took off. This was about 2PM, I got there at 3. I comforted her enroute, and she made that weak little mewing.
We waited in the waiting room a bit, and I brought her in. The doctor did a quick parvo test (negative), asked a lot of questions. he had called our local vet to get some of the history. Flea was immediately send up to the ICU and they ran a lot of tests. I signed paperwork and waited. The doctor came back down around 6:30. He went over all the tests. She was in very bad shape, The liver wasn't working well, she had severe anemia, and high white blood cell counts. She needed a transfusion,a nd he wanted me to bring in the other cats the next day to find a match. I saw her before I left. They had a feeding tube stapled to her nostril and were giving her Iv's. She had such a disgusted, resigned look. I gave her some rubbings and she purred a little. I left about 8PM, got home at 9. I finally went to bed at 1:30.
At 3AM, I received a call from the doctor. he wanted to know if I could get to the hospital quickly. Flea had cardiac arrest twice and was on life support. They had found another cat at the hospital that had a blood match, and tried the transfusion. It didn't help. She was not going to make it. I told him to have them do their best, and I would be there at 9AM. I couldn't attempt to drive after so little sleep.
Saturday morning, I took off to see her. I arrived at 9 on the dot. The doctor met me at the door and took me upstairs to see her. It was horrible. She was surrounded by people pumping air into her, and a heated blower. her eyes... she was gone, even if the heart was faintly beating. I couldn't take it. I asked them to stop and went back downstairs, crying by eyes out. I asked them to please take care of her remains for me, and came home. Brenda wasn't there to see her, and I am glad. I know how sensitive sher is, she wouldn't have taken it.
Flea is going to leave a large hole in our lives. She was the miracle kitty who we didn't think was going to make it. We still have five other "kids" and they know we are hurting. They want to help. We will miss Flea, and I think I will close this little tribute with a picture I would like to remember her as. Happy.
Farewell Flea, my sweetheart. I hope there's a catnip mouse and a soft blanket for you to suckle on in Heaven.
It was a warm day in May, 2003 when I stopped by the garage where the mechanic worked on my Dodge Caravan. While talking to him, I heard this nonstop series of mews coming from his office. I asked him what that was and he told me he was glad I stopped by. he took me into his office and showed me a small Calico ball of fluff that was making a ruckus. She was barely 3 weeks old, it appears and the mechanic had found her, abandoned by her mother, it seemed, in the street.
Brenda went to a nearby store and bought a pint of milk, while I checked her out. "Please take her home, I don't know anything about cats." My mechanic asked me.
She was so young, and I didn't think she would survive. but we were wiling to try.
http://jadephoenix.org/images/Flea/Flea1.MPG
We brought her home and I did some research on making formula. As it turned out, I tried to feed her with a baby bottle, but that didn't work. I ended up dipping a washcloth in the solution and having her suck it out of that. but she decided she preferred to tackle dry food within a few days and ignored the formula afterward.
Ash, our ever present ambassador and greeter immediately adopted her as his younger sister. She was fearless.
http://jadephoenix.org/images/Flea/Flea2.MPG
http://jadephoenix.org/images/Flea/Flea3.MPG
http://jadephoenix.org/images/Flea/Flea4.MPG
http://jadephoenix.org/images/Flea/Flea5.MPG
She loved jumping on things and biting you playfully, so we named her "Flea"
We gave her some worm medicine, and after a few days it became apparent that we was going to survive. She was our miracle kitty.
(Yes, that's me holding her)
She was pretty tiny, so we usually referred to her as "Baby Cat" or "Tiny Baby"
Flea grew to become a beautiful Calico, and a very talkative cat. She loved the other cats.
She sure did enjoy her naps!
She also liked to nurse on clothes and blankets.
She also loved to sleep behind Brenda's leg at night, and behind my monitor, especially in the winter. But above all, she loved to talk to you, and she always was the first one to greet every visitor that stopped by. Flea was quite the techno-cat. She always came running when she heard the printers running, or help pull the paper out of the fax machine, or even try and catch the scanner light.
The only problem was that when we adopted Ginger in 2005 (Actually Ginger adopted us by literally coming in out of the rain), there was some sibling rivalry between the two over who was the baby cat. But when we weren't watching, they seemed to be content to put aside their differences and sleep with each other. All of our kids were doing great overall.
Unfortunately, our cats came down with some kind of virus sometime after Christmas. Watery eyes and noses, sneezing, and drool. But all the cats seemed to get better after a few days, Even Flea, but that didn't last. At the beginning of February, we noticed she wasn't eating much and was losing weight. We took her to the vet here in town, who gave her some antibiotics. But after a couple of days, we knew something was wrong. We brought her back on a Monday, and he took her in for a couple of days and gave her an IV with antibiotics to help it along. We took her home but she still seemed to not want to eat too much. The vet took her back in and ran some tests. He found her liver had been badly damaged. He took her in, started several treatments, and we hoped for the best. She was in there for a week. We went back last week to pick her up, and the vet told us she had jaundice, and was passing liquid. We had to hand-feed her twice a day a high-protean diet of chicken or turkey, mixed into a soup, along with vitamins and liver medication. She didn't like it, but Brenda and I had a routing worked out where she would squirt some water into her moth and when she was drinking, I would squirt some food with my modified syringe. After a few rounds, we'd wipe the mess and keep going until she fought to get free. We would them wash the towels and let her down.
By this time, she would either crawl under my desk and sleep on the hot pad I had set up, or sleep behind Brenda's legs on a towel in the bedroom at night. We took her to the vett on Thursday as she was meowing as if in pain. He gave her a shot and noted she had gained a few ounces. She had dipped below half her weight in less than a month. He told us that he had done all she could and advised if she got worse, to take her up to the big Vet hospital in Songnam, about an hour away.
She got worse. yesterday (Friday), she was complaining a lot and almost dragged herself when moving. We fed her around 11, and let her sleep on the hot pad. About two hours later, she climbed down, and started vomiting undigested food, then fell over on her side whole doing so. She made a pitiful noise. I called the hospital and told her I was coming, put her in a carrier, and took off. This was about 2PM, I got there at 3. I comforted her enroute, and she made that weak little mewing.
We waited in the waiting room a bit, and I brought her in. The doctor did a quick parvo test (negative), asked a lot of questions. he had called our local vet to get some of the history. Flea was immediately send up to the ICU and they ran a lot of tests. I signed paperwork and waited. The doctor came back down around 6:30. He went over all the tests. She was in very bad shape, The liver wasn't working well, she had severe anemia, and high white blood cell counts. She needed a transfusion,a nd he wanted me to bring in the other cats the next day to find a match. I saw her before I left. They had a feeding tube stapled to her nostril and were giving her Iv's. She had such a disgusted, resigned look. I gave her some rubbings and she purred a little. I left about 8PM, got home at 9. I finally went to bed at 1:30.
At 3AM, I received a call from the doctor. he wanted to know if I could get to the hospital quickly. Flea had cardiac arrest twice and was on life support. They had found another cat at the hospital that had a blood match, and tried the transfusion. It didn't help. She was not going to make it. I told him to have them do their best, and I would be there at 9AM. I couldn't attempt to drive after so little sleep.
Saturday morning, I took off to see her. I arrived at 9 on the dot. The doctor met me at the door and took me upstairs to see her. It was horrible. She was surrounded by people pumping air into her, and a heated blower. her eyes... she was gone, even if the heart was faintly beating. I couldn't take it. I asked them to stop and went back downstairs, crying by eyes out. I asked them to please take care of her remains for me, and came home. Brenda wasn't there to see her, and I am glad. I know how sensitive sher is, she wouldn't have taken it.
Flea is going to leave a large hole in our lives. She was the miracle kitty who we didn't think was going to make it. We still have five other "kids" and they know we are hurting. They want to help. We will miss Flea, and I think I will close this little tribute with a picture I would like to remember her as. Happy.
Farewell Flea, my sweetheart. I hope there's a catnip mouse and a soft blanket for you to suckle on in Heaven.