Oddie

My female cat, Oddball aka Oddie, who gave birth to 4 kittens back in April, became ill this week.

This photo above was taken 3 weeks ago. She was a healthy girl. We took her in on the 7th of June to be spayed. The surgery went well & she was home the next day, even started nursing the babies again.

Sunday we were under a heat advisory here....I was making sure all my cats had fresh water & plenty of shade. Oddie went missing sometime around 10:30am. I assumed she went to explore in the woods which she does often. I looked for her all day. Around 10pm that night, Tori found her by the garage outside. She was weak, dehydrated, feverish & her 3rd eyelids were out. Tori & I brought her inside & slowly started giving her water with a syringe. I decided not to take her to the ER Vet (honestly because it is SO expensive!) Tori nursed her ALL night. Oddie slept by her side and she would get up every hour and give her more water.

By 7 am she hadn't gotten any better. So Tori & I took her to see Dr. Lewis....we were there when they opened at 7:30. Tori held her the entire ride, she never moved or meowed. Dr. Lewis took her straight in to exam her. Obviously, she was dehydrated (Tori saved her life by nursing her all night) Under her tongue was swollen, her fever was 105(normal is 101) & she was staring into space like she didn't know where she was.

She spent 4 days & 3 nights in the hospital....it was touch and go for awhile. She was given fluids by IV and 5 different antibiotics. But she never came out of the "fog/stare almost comatose state" she was in. She was tested for everything! All test were negative! Doc called this morning and said she is slowly making progress....she finally ate on her own after 3 days of not eating. He though it would be best for her to be in her comfortable surroundings.

John & I went and picked her up! She laid in Meg's arms for 20 minutes and Meg could feel her relax her body. She was happy to see her babies & her babies Daddy. Sad thing though, she tried to move her mouth to meow & nothing came out. I feed her some moist food & she drank some milk.

Doc isn't quite sure but he thinks she can't see all that well. She has some neurological problem going on & the only way to tell for sure is to get a CT scan. Those cost $1000! I opted to pass on that. My bill for the Vet was expensive enough, adding another $1000 wasn't gonna happen.

Here she is after coming home. She is still a little lethargic, she is weak...can only take a few steps and then has to sit & she cocks her head to the left.She walks this way as well...with her head cocked. Doc isn't quite sure why this is happening & he isn't sure if it is permanent or not. If it is permanent, I'll still love her...she is my cutie girl...it's sad though to see her this way all the time.

I'm happy to have her home!