# Kelsey, My Old Kitty



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I've talked about Kelsey in other threads but she's my old kitty who recently lost her appetite and stopped eating. As I've now learned, when a cat doesn't eat they get liver failure.  So, now Kelsey is on a feeding tube, which she most likely will have for 4 weeks or more. At the vet clinic, she was on feedings every 4 hours but now that she's just come home, she's on every 6 hours. Her food is a blenderized slurry of 2 cans of Science Diet L/D and 1 can of water and it's truly disgusting to look at. She's got to be confined because of the tube out of her neck so our vet was kind enough to loan us an enormous dog crate. Here she is:


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

oh poor baby  i hope she gets better. I know you'll give her all you can!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Thanks, Bekah. I'm still a little freaked out by all the things I have to do but I hope once I've done it a few times and get the hang of it, I'll calm down.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Aw poor kitty! I like her, We're putting our paws and fins together here for a speedy recovery! The good thing is she's eating again, and hopefully after this she'll be an indoor kitty  (I think it was you trying to get her to be an indoor kitty, right?)


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## lelei (Apr 30, 2012)

Aww..Poor lil kitty..I know the feeling, I used to have kitty's and one of my kitty's was real sick with kidney disease, and I had to hospitalize him, and give him fluid treatment IV and it was hard..I had to euthenize him on my b-day..long time ago..haven't had a kitty since..I wish you well with your baby..looks like you had him a long time..he is the one in your Avi?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Laki and Leilei, thank you. Leilei, I'm so sorry you had to euthanize your baby on your birthday. I had to euthanize one of mine a week after my b-day. Not quite as bad.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

What is it with pets, euthanasia and birthdays?? My dog was kindly euthanized 2 days before my birthday last year and I picked up his cremated remains on my birthday 

How is old kitt today Sakura?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Aww, Laki, that sucks.  

Kelsey is 12 or somewhere around there and getting grumpier by the day.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Aw poor Kelsey! How is she doing today?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Not so good. She's thrown up her food twice and she's getting grumpier and grumpier to the point where she barely lets me feed her. We actually just got back from dropping her off at the vet clinic for an overnight stay. She needs her bandage changed and they can feed her and keep an eye on her. Waiting for an e-mail back from the vet.

Talked to a guy in the waiting room who had his old cat on a feeding tube for 8 months. He boarded her most of that time because he worked out of town. :shock: Wow.


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## katydidmischief (Aug 19, 2012)

My thoughts are with you. It's so hard when they get sick; I work at a vet clinic and every one just breaks your heart because you want them well now and not later. Hopefully she'll be on the mend soon and this will be a memory. Hugs for you and for Kelsey!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Thank you so much, Katy.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Oh my gosh im so sorry shes going through this!! I hope she gets well soon!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Thanks, Teeney. I do too. She's old and crabby but she's also so darn adorable when she's crabby.


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## finnfinnfriend (Feb 3, 2012)

Awww poor booboo :...( I hope she feels better soon. I just found out I might have a liver problem too so I feel for her.....


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Thank you, finnfinn. Best wishes for you and your health as well.


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## TheCrabbyTabby (Jul 7, 2012)

Oh, Sakura. :'( 

Its so hard when your kitty isn't well and there isn't anything you can do to fix it and make the poor feline all better. I had a very special kitty named Muffy. She was a grey and white long haired tuxedo and acted more like a dog than a cat. She would comfort you when you were crying, and yowl at my mother and I to stop screaming at eachother whenever we strongly disagreed on a subject, because she apparently didn't like conflict. She would also follow you around the house, and was always there to greet me when I came home from school. I even told her my deepest darkest secrets knowing that she would never tell. She was like a sister to me. A furry, four legged sister.

She eventually came down with kidney complications, a common thing in older cats, and then the kidneys failed, the liver failed, and we thought it best to end her suffering. She could barely walk and was a gaunt skeleton towards the end. 

Then I had to go through the same thing with a second cat, a short haired tortie named Myrtle. Its tough and never gets any easier. I wish you comfort and peace when the time does come to say goodbye to her, and see her off to the rainbow bridge. 

I do believe that the animals that have touched our lives in the mortal realm, go onto to be a sort of guardian spirit to us as they pass onto the immortal plane of the afterlife. I know Muffy is always watching over me, and she does visit me in dreams from time to time. I know its weird, but she does. She is always going to be the most special cat in the world to my heart, and no other cat will ever hold a candle to her in my eyes.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Thank you, Crabby. I'm so sorry you had to go through such a hard time with Muffy and Myrtle. I went through a similar thing with my old tuxedo when he got diabetes. It's tough but it's worth it. Losing pets is one of the hardest things in the world but the journey through life with them is worth it, no matter how long or how short a time we have with them. Hopefully with this feeding tube, Kelsey will be able to get back on her feet and live many more years. The vet told us today that her liver values had improved and she had gained a pound so things are looking up.


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