"Karen" <kchuplis@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:BE735C2A.69B7D%kchuplis@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> in article 424df72e@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tara K. at
> tara_k@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote on 4/1/05 7:36 PM:
>
>> "Mathew Kagis" <winesnob@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>> news:%li3e.155390$fc4.98153@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> WOW!!! Funny though, the images were a little blurry, no I'm not
crying
>>> there's something in my eye!!!! Really!!!!
>>
>> Oh, really! ;)
>>
>>> Good on you!! Hope Princess continues to improve. How old is she? Or
do
>>> you
>>> know?
>>
>> She's ancient, is all we know. There's no way to tell just *how* old,
but
>> "really, REALLY old" is a good approximation. Two clues: all her claws
>> are
>> extremely thickened, and her eyes have a lot of black dots, both signs
of
>> very advanced age.
>>
>> How she made it this far living wild is anyone's guess, but she's a
>> fighter
>> alright. A lot of cats would have just quietly expired somewhere out of
>> the
>> way. *She* chose my mother's house to stagger into on Boxing Day, the
>> only
>> real cat lover's house on the whole street. Other people on the street
>> had
>> seen her hanging around, but hadn't thought to do anything about it -
>> like
>> try to feed her something, for instance (she's not a timid cat) . .
.less
>> said about that, the better.
>>
>> Anyhow, the amazing thing is, apart from starvation and severe
arthritis,
>> there's not a whole lot wrong with her health-wise - no diabetes, no
cat
>> AIDS, no infections, nothing. When she came in she had pressure sores
on
>> her
>> back leg and on both hips, and she's got a tendency to develop ulcers
on
>> her
>> chin (from dribbling), she doesn't always make it to the toilet in
time,
>> but
>> otherwise she's a perfectly healthy cat. Ghod only know what her story
>> is,
>> we're guessing that she perhaps just got too old to hunt and gradually
>> starved, but she's been someone's pet at some stage, there's no doubt.
>>
>> Another milestone last night: she's gotten up the courage to sleep in
my
>> bedroom. I made her a cozy, out of the way of the-herd-of-elephants
(aka
>> my
>> other cats), place in the cupboard. She looked at me to ask "is it ok
if
>> I
>> sleep here?" (living with this cat is a *constant* heart breaker) and
>> after
>> a few pats settled down there. Up until now she would only sleep in the
>> spare bedroom, which was also her "safety" room, although she'd cry for
>> me
>> to come in from time to time, but would *not* stay in my bedroom. The
>> weather here is starting to turn cold (I'm in Western Australia) so it
>> was
>> im****tant to try to get her where I can keep her a bit warmer.
>>
>> TK
>>
>>
>>
> Awwww. I'm so glad she felt safe enough to do that. SHe seems like just
> such
> a sweetheart! Do you weigh her regularly?
Yup. She started at 2kg (which is about 4.5lbs), she's now up to 2.5kg . .
... still much too thin, and she loses that weight again all too easily if
she goes off her food for any reason.
If she hasn't put on another half-kilo or so in the next few months I'm
strongly considering taking her into the vet for a few days on a drip or
for
force-feeding, although this would obviously be so traumatic that it's a
last resort kind of a thing. She's just so incredibly fragile, all bones
and
skin and not a lot else there. I'd like her to have a bit more weight on
her
as a buffer in case of infection, etc, but I think it's a one day at a
time
sort of thing. She has good and bad days appetite-wise but this is slowly
improving, and she's eating more each day.
Slowly, slowly I think is the key if she's ever going to put on any real
condition, although I'm well aware that given her age and the extremely
starved state she was in I could well only have her for a few months. But
you never know with cats, she's got the kind of spirit which may well see
her good for another few years.
Here's hoping, anyhow.
TK
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