Thomas's Story                                                                                                       Back to Page Index

Thomas, a black DSH, was the local stray, who was already in the neighbourhood when we arrived in 1994. Tanya would not allow Thomas in her garden and he used to run away from us if we tried to get near him, but our next-door neighbour used to feed him every day. She told us he was feral and that she could not get near him either.  

In the spring of 1999 our neighbour told us she was moving into sheltered housing and could not take Thomas with her. We decided to try and trap Thomas and tame him if possible so that he could have a proper home. It took more than a week (he was very wily!) and during the attempts I noticed that Thomas had an overpowering aroma. 

We caught Thomas in June 1999 and took him to the vet where they discovered that the smell was coming from severely abscessed teeth; he had three removed. Apart from that, he was basically healthy - his kidney values were very slightly elevated but my vet ascribed that to the stress of being trapped and his dental problems, and they reverted to normal later on. 

We soon discovered that Thomas was not feral, he loved living with us and settled in well. In November, however, he had an accident which required surgery, and during the pre-surgery blood work my vet discovered that Thomas's kidney values were sky high. She recommended a special prescription diet and regular steroid injections every three-four weeks. 

Thomas had his first steroid jab in early December. He refused point blank to eat the prescription food but he acted perfectly normally, showing no signs of illness whatsoever, until the weekend of 18/19 December. 

On the Saturday, Thomas went off his food a little, though he did eat some fish in the evening. On the Sunday he refused to eat and by the evening he was also refusing to drink; he sat hunched up and his breath had a distinctive and unpleasant aroma. Basically, he had crashed, so we should have taken him in over the weekend as an emergency, but I didn't know then that a crash was an emergency.

We went to the vet as soon as the clinic opened on Monday. Thomas was severely dehydrated and my vet put him on IV fluids. She tested his blood and the numbers were incredibly high (his urea was 86 - US: BUN 241); he was also severely anaemic (his PCV was 18%, but since he was dehydrated, it was probably much lower than that in reality). She felt he would die if he couldn't be persuaded to eat; and even if he ate it would be touch and go - she feared that once he was off IV he would crash again.

We were not online when Tanya was ill but by this time we were, so I went home and searched on the internet and found some online support. The people there recommended sub-cutaneous fluids once Thomas was home from the vet's. I spoke to my vet who was initially rather sceptical about the idea but eventually she agreed to teach me how to do them for home use.

Thomas had IV treatment for four solid days and nights, yet sadly his numbers did not fall; his urea was still 86 (US: BUN 241). However, he had at least begun to eat a little, so he came home on Christmas Eve, and he ate well and seemed reasonably healthy. Unfortunately I got the 'flu over the New Year and was unable to give him any fluids, with the result that he crashed again and was put on IV once more on 6 January, this time for three days.

Ollie's Story                                                                                                              Back to Page Index

Ollie was a cream Persian, like our first male cat, Harpsie. A family member was so smitten with Harpsie that he went to the shelter to adopt a cream Persian and ended up with two, Ollie and his mother, Cleo.

Ollie was treated successfully for mammary cancer in 2006. He had a bad time of it in 2007. First, his mother, Cleo, died of cancer. Then his human moved to be with his fiancée, so Ollie had to get used to being an only cat for the first time in his life, move to a new home and get used to three new humans, including two children. The children loved Ollie, but he had never lived with children before. And the fiancée didn't like Ollie much. 

In January 2008, Ollie's right eye had to be removed. He had suffered from herpes for many years, and the eye just erupted. Ollie was fifteen years old and very anaemic, but he made it through the surgery, and adapted to living with one eye.

Unfortunately, in March 2008 Ollie's human split up with his fiancée. He had nowhere to live, and nor did Ollie. We offered to take Ollie in when we returned from the USA. In the meantime, Ollie went to live for three months at the cattery we use when we go on holiday.

When we returned from the USA, Ollie came to live with us, in late June 2008, one week before his sixteenth birthday. The first time I saw him (left), he was all blond and cute and fluffy. And then I picked him up. He was so thin that I could put my (small) hands around his waist and they overlapped! I could feel his spine, yet he ate like a horse. He was also urinating and drinking a lot. I knew immediately that he must have a medical problem. I booked an appointment with my vet for the next day.

That evening it became apparent that Ollie had additional problems in the form of being very wobbly, vomiting, diarrhoea and pooping outside the litter box.  The latter was the main reason the fiancée hadn't liked Ollie. Ollie was installed in our guest bedroom with puppy pads and Catpaper all over the bed and carpet for easy clean ups. He seemed like a very laidback kind of little guy, but then blond Persian boys do seem to be like that.

Tests at the vet's the next day showed that Ollie weighed 5.3 lbs when in the vet's opinion he should have weighed at least 8.5, and 9 lbs would probably be his ideal weight. He had a heart murmur at level 4. He also had CKD. His BUN was 80, his creatinine 2.81, his phosphorus 8.04 and his potassium 3.5. He was also anaemic, with PCV at 23%. Tests for an overactive thyroid were sent to the lab.

Ollie's biggest obvious problem was his weak back legs. He couldn't walk properly, he twitched a lot, and while the vet was on the phone to me, poor Ollie fell off the window ledge. I asked the vet if we could start him on a potassium supplement. She didn't think it was necessary because his level was exactly at the bottom of the range for the lab she used but she agreed to let me give him one. After two days of the potassium supplement, Ollie could walk normally again! Ollie was also given a phosphorus binder, B vitamins and iron and a prescription diet which he actually seemed to enjoy.

Surprisingly, Ollie's T4 (thyroid function test) came back as normal. Yet he had so many signs of hyperthyroidism that I found this hard to believe. So we did a Free T4 test, which showed that in fact, Ollie was indeed hyperthyroid. We started him on medication for that too.

After five weeks of treatment Ollie had largely stopped vomiting and having diarrhoea and had gained 0.8 lbs. He was eating well and seemed happy - he was a very placid, sweet-natured, cute little guy who loved his cuddles. He got on pretty well with his new sisters, Indie and Karma.

Ollie continued to gain weight and enjoyed the summer. Eventually he got up to 6.8 lbs, a great improvement on the 5.3 lbs he had weighed when he first came to live with us. He developed high blood pressure but we were able to control this with medication.

Unfortunately we struggled to control Ollie's anaemia. His HCT would go up a little, then fall back down again. We discovered that his HCT had actually been extremely low, only 18%, in October 2007, but his vets at that time hadn't even mentioned it to his human! So his anaemia was chronic, yet we struggled to find the cause. My vet suspected cancer, but Ollie was still too frail for invasive tests.

Towards the end of October 2008 Ollie went to the vet to check his blood pressure and anaemia. His blood pressure was normal, but his anaemia had worsened once again, from 23% to 18%. I asked the vet to trim Ollie's claws since they were catching on things. Ollie collapsed! He had to be placed in the oxygen tent to recover. The vet said he simply couldn't pump enough oxygen around his body to cope with the stress  he was under because of the anaemia and heart issues. She said he was balanced on a knife  edge.

Ollie came home and seemed to be none the worse for his collapse. The photo to the right was taken on 4 November 2008 when he seemed fine. A couple of days later, however, he seemed subdued, was grinding his teeth and was not eating much, so the following day we went to the vet's. Ollie's HCT was back up to 24% which was encouraging. However, we found blood in his urine so he had to go on an antibiotic.

Ollie seemed to improve somewhat on the antibiotic, though there continued to be obvious blood in his urine. I was concerned about him and made an appointment with the vet for 13 November. Sadly, on the evening of 12 November, Ollie suddenly collapsed. He was struggling to breathe and spent the night in the oxygen tent. Tests on 13 November showed that Ollie's poor little body was shutting down. He was in heart failure and his kidney values had suddenly worsened dramatically, whilst his HCT continued to fall throughout the day. His blood pressure kept falling. The vet said we could try to help if it was his heart or his kidneys, but trying to treat both conditions when Ollie was so frail would simply not work. The vet helped Ollie to cross that evening, with us and his original human present. He was gone within five seconds, so he clearly had given his all and had no reserves left.

I still feel a bit cheated with Ollie. If only his original vets had treated his anaemia and other health issues back in 2007. If only he had never got so thin with the undiagnosed hyperactive thyroid, which needed additional tests for accurate diagnosis. If only we had returned earlier from the USA so he could have come to live with us sooner. But we did the best we could in the circumstances, and I think he felt safe and happy and loved with us. I miss my cute little guy. 

*****

"'Cause I miss you, body and soul, so strong

That it takes my breath away.

And I breathe you into my heart

And pray for the strength to stand today.

'Cause I love you, whether it's wrong or right,

And though I can't be with you tonight,

You know my heart is by your side."

Daniel Bedingfield

Also in loving memory of Alex