(no subject)

This very well might be the end for Princess.

Princess is my fifteen-year-old cat. I got her from the Nevada County Shelter as a kitten when I was six years old. I had always dreamed of having a cat, and my parents had promised me that I could get a kitten when we moved from Santa Rosa to Nevada City. She is the oldest of our living animals, and she has been through so much with me.

She has been steadily losing weight for a long time. Now she's like a walking skeleton, even though we give her canned food daily like the vet recommended. She was active and happy and even would go outside for an hour or so, until about two days ago, when I think she stopped eating and drinking. I'm not entirely sure--we noticed today that she's been sluggish the last two days, and now as I've observed her I've noticed that she's very dehydrated as well as terribly thin. I tried giving her water with a 1 cc syringe orally, but she threw up the water I gave her. I sat in the room and petted her for a while and she purred and purred, but eventually began to growl and wanted me to leave her alone. I'm respecting her wishes and leaving her alone for now. I want to stay close to her, to sleep with her and cuddle with her, but she just gets angry if I try, so I might as well just leave her alone because that's how she seems most comfortable.

We'll take her to the vet sometime this morning. No matter what happens, I won't regret how it turns out--she has had a long, happy life, and I will make a decision based off of her quality of life. She does not deserve to suffer. Of course, if this is the end, I will miss her terribly, but I also know her life has been good.

I suspect she may have renal failure, based off of her symptoms. Apparently with renal failure, there is a chance that when she is rehydrated regularly subcutaneously, she may be able to live for a while longer (months), but we'll see what the vet recommends. I don't mind giving her subcutaneous hydration if the vet thinks she still has enough quality of life to keep going...

Anyway, I'm going to go sleep for a few hours. We'll see what happens later.

(no subject)

This very well might be the end for Princess.

Princess is my fifteen-year-old cat. I got her from the Nevada County Shelter as a kitten when I was six years old. I had always dreamed of having a cat, and my parents had promised me that I could get a kitten when we moved from Santa Rosa to Nevada City. She is the oldest of our living animals, and she has been through so much with me.

She has been steadily losing weight for a long time. Now she's like a walking skeleton, even though we give her canned food daily like the vet recommended. She was active and happy and even would go outside for an hour or so, until about two days ago, when I think she stopped eating and drinking. I'm not entirely sure--we noticed today that she's been sluggish the last two days, and now as I've observed her I've noticed that she's very dehydrated as well as terribly thin. I tried giving her water with a 1 cc syringe orally, but she threw up the water I gave her. I sat in the room and petted her for a while and she purred and purred, but eventually began to growl and wanted me to leave her alone. I'm respecting her wishes and leaving her alone for now. I want to stay close to her, to sleep with her and cuddle with her, but she just gets angry if I try, so I might as well just leave her alone because that's how she seems most comfortable.

We'll take her to the vet sometime this morning. No matter what happens, I won't regret how it turns out--she has had a long, happy life, and I will make a decision based off of her quality of life. She does not deserve to suffer. Of course, if this is the end, I will miss her terribly, but I also know her life has been good.

I suspect she may have renal failure, based off of her symptoms. Apparently with renal failure, there is a chance that when she is rehydrated regularly subcutaneously, she may be able to live for a while longer (months), but we'll see what the vet recommends. I don't mind giving her subcutaneous hydration if the vet thinks she still has enough quality of life to keep going...

Anyway, I'm going to go sleep for a few hours. We'll see what happens later.

(no subject)

So, Princess went to the vet today. It is renal failure, like I expected, which is not good--but also not as bad as it could be. From now on, she gets 200 cc of water subcutaneously every day and half a tablet of Pepsid AC, and anything she'll eat is all hers. She could make it a few months, or a lot less, depending on how well she eats and how quickly it progresses. I'm guessing it will be, more realistically, a few weeks if that. She's only five and a half pounds now. Nonetheless, I'm happy to have time with her, and I will cherish it--no matter if it's a few days or a few months. I'm just glad I didn't have to put her down today and that she has more time in her. She was pretty pissed off at the vet's office, which to me means she still has some fight left.

I don't think the guinea pig is going to make it. She might, but I don't think so. She hasn't improved much. I'm going to give her some doxycycline just in case. Anything is worth trying now. I'm filling up a bottle with warm water every few hours for her to cuddle next to, so at least she can be somewhat comfortable. I'm still hoping, even though her chances aren't good at this point.

Things aren't wonderful, with one very sick cat and one possibly dying guinea pig, but I'm doing my best to keep a good attitude, not fall into despair, and to simply remain excited about Yaoi-Con and NaNo and life in general regardless of what happens. Unfortunately, this is just a part of having lots of animals. At any given time, there's a decent chance that someone will be sick or hurting or dying, and, while I do certainly mourn and get upset, I also have to be thankful for all the healthy animals I have and be proud that I am trying my hardest to give them the best, longest possible lives I can.

(no subject)

So, Princess went to the vet today. It is renal failure, like I expected, which is not good--but also not as bad as it could be. From now on, she gets 200 cc of water subcutaneously every day and half a tablet of Pepsid AC, and anything she'll eat is all hers. She could make it a few months, or a lot less, depending on how well she eats and how quickly it progresses. I'm guessing it will be, more realistically, a few weeks if that. She's only five and a half pounds now. Nonetheless, I'm happy to have time with her, and I will cherish it--no matter if it's a few days or a few months. I'm just glad I didn't have to put her down today and that she has more time in her. She was pretty pissed off at the vet's office, which to me means she still has some fight left.

I don't think the guinea pig is going to make it. She might, but I don't think so. She hasn't improved much. I'm going to give her some doxycycline just in case. Anything is worth trying now. I'm filling up a bottle with warm water every few hours for her to cuddle next to, so at least she can be somewhat comfortable. I'm still hoping, even though her chances aren't good at this point.

Things aren't wonderful, with one very sick cat and one possibly dying guinea pig, but I'm doing my best to keep a good attitude, not fall into despair, and to simply remain excited about Yaoi-Con and NaNo and life in general regardless of what happens. Unfortunately, this is just a part of having lots of animals. At any given time, there's a decent chance that someone will be sick or hurting or dying, and, while I do certainly mourn and get upset, I also have to be thankful for all the healthy animals I have and be proud that I am trying my hardest to give them the best, longest possible lives I can.

(no subject)

The guinea pig--who I never did properly name, as I was going to wait until I got her a friend and name them paired names--passed away while I was at class. Not unexpected, but certainly sad. Rest in peace, piggie. She was so pretty and sweet, and it's saddening to lose her like this. I haven't the faintest still how she got sick or what kind of illness it might have been. :( That's the end of owning guinea pigs for now. I'm definitely going to miss having them... They're so wonderful and sweet and cute, but I just don't want to risk more cycles of tragedy. I've had bad luck with guinea pigs the last few years despite my best efforts, and it's time to just step back from guinea pigs. Somewhere down the road I'm sure I'll own guinea pigs again, but for now I'm going to put all the guinea pig supplies away so I'm not tempted. It's not worth risking more heartbreak right now.

Been gloomy most of the day about Princess. It's just hard to think about losing her. Like I said, I'm trying to keep my attitude positive mostly, but...you know, it's still a sad situation.

Okay, unless Princess's situation changes for the worst, I'm not going to write more about the depressing pet situation for now. I'm determined to have an absolutely awesome time this weekend and, in the meantime, just take good care of Princess and enjoy spending time with her.

Thanks to everyone who has offered their sympathies. I really appreciate it. ;; Losing one animal and getting a dire diagnosis on another in twenty-four hours is rough.

(no subject)

The guinea pig--who I never did properly name, as I was going to wait until I got her a friend and name them paired names--passed away while I was at class. Not unexpected, but certainly sad. Rest in peace, piggie. She was so pretty and sweet, and it's saddening to lose her like this. I haven't the faintest still how she got sick or what kind of illness it might have been. :( That's the end of owning guinea pigs for now. I'm definitely going to miss having them... They're so wonderful and sweet and cute, but I just don't want to risk more cycles of tragedy. I've had bad luck with guinea pigs the last few years despite my best efforts, and it's time to just step back from guinea pigs. Somewhere down the road I'm sure I'll own guinea pigs again, but for now I'm going to put all the guinea pig supplies away so I'm not tempted. It's not worth risking more heartbreak right now.

Been gloomy most of the day about Princess. It's just hard to think about losing her. Like I said, I'm trying to keep my attitude positive mostly, but...you know, it's still a sad situation.

Okay, unless Princess's situation changes for the worst, I'm not going to write more about the depressing pet situation for now. I'm determined to have an absolutely awesome time this weekend and, in the meantime, just take good care of Princess and enjoy spending time with her.

Thanks to everyone who has offered their sympathies. I really appreciate it. ;; Losing one animal and getting a dire diagnosis on another in twenty-four hours is rough.