[Don Joe]

I am a bit of an exhausted wreck at the moment, tried to sleep a few times bit it wasn't to be. Am going to crash after I send this, and ping everyone in the morning.

My wife took her in to the vet this morning on her way to work. They did more tests, said her liver enzymes aren't too good, and the vet said she thought she felt small bumps starting on her kidneys. They gave her prednisone, antibiotics, and an injection rehydration (not IV, the needle just goes under the skin, not into a vein). They gave my wife the IV bag (not really IV but the bag is the same), a hose, and some needles, and we are to hook her up for a fifth of a bag every other day, and give her the prednisone and antibiotics every day.

She was only 3 1/2 pounds, she must have lost a pound in the last two days, it happened so fast. When my wife got back with her this afternoon we tried to feed her but she wasn't interested in the liver/egg mix. My wife said to give her some chicken (I picked the meat, fat, skin off the bones from chicken soup from a few days ago and tried giving it to her last night, but she wasn't interested in it then). This time she dove into the chicken and devoured three large (for her) servings of it (the equivalent of a person eating three large plates heaped with chicken scraps), and then drank some condensed milk.

I am hoping she will pull through this and her body can fight off the disease, whatever it is. The vet thinks it might be an intestinal infection that the antibiotics can help with. She seems to be feeling a little better, and I can feel her rehydrating, she still feels like skin and bones but I can feel the muscles on her back starting to fill out. I feel so bad for her, she is such an innocent creature. She's the one cat that all the others love. They dote on her, they always have, there's something about her personality.

Thanks everyone for the prayers, they are appreciated, and it looks like they may be working. I was so afraid she wouldn't make it throught the night and now she's doing a little better, but any improvement is dramatic compared to the way she was declining so fast.

[cincinnati_Steve]

Thanks for the good news, Don Joe. Glad to hear Jessie is feeling better. I hope she makes a full recovery, and is her peppy self once again.

[katnip]

I had my old KissyFace (I did not name her) for 22 years.
When she died I cried for 4 days.
I think your kitty sounds like it might get better.
If not, just think how much longer and what a nice life you've given this little creature
By the way, I would let the other cats (the ones that love her) stay around her if they want.
Especially if she doesn't seem to mind.
I'll say a prayer too.

[BoldlyGoingNowhere]

I've thought about you and your Jessie many times today. So glad to see that you have good news to pass along.

[seeker41]

Oh Don, this is good news. Often cats recover after being rehydrated, they begin eating again. This happened to my "Stripe" when she had liver failure. After we did the IV under the neck skin (with the drug cocktail) 2X daily for a month, she recovered completely. Good luck and I'll still pray for "Jessie".

[parsifal]

Hope your kitty continues to improve. Please let us all know how she is doing. Taking one of ours to vet tomorrow for regular checkup. He has been writing her off for the last two years, but she seems as spry as ever to us. Cats have character and endurance. Best wishes. parsy.

[JavaTheHutt]

Don Joe, I'm so happy to hear that Jessie is doing better. I had to stop in the middle of reading this thread to go hug my two kitties. I will pray for your little fur ball of love.
I lost a very loved cat less than a year ago to feline lukemia. She had been vaccinated for it, but apparently she had been exposed to it before I had rescued her from a shelter.
It still brings tears to my eyes to think about the way she went from being happy and playful one morning to not even being able to lift her head by that evening.
Keep up the positive thoughts, and we'll keep saying prayers.

[slym]

Thank you for Post #59 (update)... Please keep us posted as Jessie rehydrates and hopefully recovers.

[Don Joe]

I think I've got everyone on this ping, if not, I apologize. I posted an update at post 59 (the "to 59" at the bottom of this post.) I'm sorry I didn't get this posted earlier, I was pretty much of a wreck yesterday and today, in all the worry about Jessie I forgot to take my heart medicine, and I get thrown for a loop when that happens. (Very fatigued, can't sleep, skin crawling, etc.)

She is still having a rough time, but she is still with us, and we are still hoping she will pull through. She seems to be rehydrating, her muscles feel fuller to me. I appreciate the prayers and the kindness I've received here.

It's just shy of a year since my father died, and it still feels like it happened. And it's just over three years since my dog died, he was about 14 and his kidneys went. The vet tried everything, but nothing did any good, he just got worse until he couldn't walk, and then he got ulcers down to the bone. It happened real fast. The vet came out to end his suffering, and he died in my arms. It still hurts to think about it. I was a wreck for a long time after that.

I really don't want to lose Jessie.