Leslie,
A wonderful tribute to Sushi & what you &
she learned together. All of us should remember it, whether it is FeLV we are
dealing with or any of the other kitty ills that can so easily reduce us to
helpless fear. I was told that Ambrose, my first CRF kitty, who was
diagnosed in 1997, would be gone in 6 months. He lived for 3 happy healthy years
before dying of heart disease. Troika, who was diagnosed with fibrosarcoma in
2000, was given 9 months, & lived for 6 more years cancer-free. Vets
are good & vets are jackasses. We should be careful about their
pronouncements, regardless of which they are. After all, it's our kitty & we
know them better than anyone & it's we who are committed to that kitty's
life, be it for years or months. And that life can & should be joyous,
regardless of what the numbers say.
Pam
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2006 1:09
PM
Subject: Re: To Leslie: Re: crackers IFA
was positive need help a.s.a.p.
Thank you, Wendy!
Message:
10 Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 07:06:09 -0700 (PDT) From: wendy < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject:
To Leslie: Re: crackers IFA was positive need help a.s.a.p. To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Message-ID:
<
[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type:
text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Leslie-
I loved this
post. You are one cool cat.
:) Wendy
--- Leslie
< [EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> Kayte, > My first FeLV+ cat was also the
first cat that I > ever owned on my own. I'd > grown
up with all sorts of critters, but it took a > few years after
> graduating college to finally get in a situation > where I
could own my first > "all mine" pet. I'd been wanting this
cat forever. > > I found Sushi at a shelter, she was 2 years old
and > demanded that I take her > home that very
instant. I L-O-V-E-D that cat. The > shelter had
tested for > leukemia and FIV before I adopted her and she'd >
tested negative. One month > after having her home, she was
very lethargic. I > ran with her in a carrier > to a
vet that I'd seen near my apartment, but I'd > never
met. This was New > York City (Queens), so not having a
car, and not > wanting to subject a cat to > a subway ride, I
was pretty limited in my vet > choices. The vet was an
ass. > He had no bedside manner. He made me feel
like the > whole situation was my > fault. He'd HAVE
to rehydrate, he'd HAVE to do > bloodwork, he'd HAVE to keep >
her during the day - like I wasn't going to be > paying him for his
efforts. > I was in tears, which didn't make him respect me
any > more. Quite frankly, > he scared the hell out
of me, and as it's all of our > deepest fears that it > really
IS our fault, I was a mess. He retested her > for FeLV+
(she'd been > rescued from a house full of cats, so may have been
> exposed close to rescue > and the first
testing). I took her home as she'd > perked back up, the
fluids > really helped, and she rebounded
fully. Despite > this, when he called to > tell me
that she was positive and anemic and had > "maybe" a month to
live, > told me to expect to see rapid deterioration, blah, >
blah, blah, I was again > distraught. The next week,
against the back drop of > her romping around and > talking to
herself, chasing bits of dust, knocking > things over (her
favorite > was to knock my glass of water onto me at night), >
trying to escape, I called > everyone that I knew hysterically telling
them that > my cat was dying. The > vet said
so. > > Eventually, emotionally spent. I hung up the
phone, > slumped down against > the wall and lethargically,
tearfully gazed over at > her across the room. > Making eye
contact, she marched over and placed a > World Cup worthy head
butt > against my pathetic forehead. I
giggled. > > And I realized that I was being a
dumass. Maybe she > had this disease. > Maybe she
was dying, but who of us isn't? She > wasn't dead, and I
was > wasting time being a melodramatic human. So
instead > of focusing on how she > was going to die, I focused
on how she was going to > live. I didn't have any >
support, but I found a raw feeding list and, though > I didn't switch
to raw > for a while, I started researching the feline diet. >
And I put her on a > better food. And I moved into the city
and found a > good vet. I took her in > for
check-ups and loved the heck out of that cat > until she passed two
years > after I'd adopted her of a heart attack (myocardial >
infarction). Yes, my > life infarcted at that point, and I
still miss my > sweet marshmallow-y > friend, who would lay on
my arm at night and purr, > and gaze into my eyes > like she was
proud of me. But she'd led me to > another positive cat
to > adopt, Hepburn. And Hepburn led me to Satchmo that
> I have today (also > positive). And Sushi, after
all, after all that > that jerk vet said, never > did
deterioriate. Never did succomb to the >
leukemia. > > I owned Hep for 2 1/2 years, she did die of FIP,
> which was probably leukemia > related, but I'd gotten her as
an older kitten, so > even there, she was on > the high end of
her life expectency and she, too, > was an amazing, happy, >
healthy cat until the end. > > Satch I've had for two years
now, I adopted him at 5 > years old, so we don't > know when he
was exposed to the virus, but he's the > biggest, stompiest
guy > you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting, and other >
than being susceptible > to URI's (which as long as I don't bring home
sick > kittens that already have > URI's) hasn't been any
problem. I have high hopes > for him going a very
long > time. And I'm thinking of adopting him a friend
- > either a positive kitten > or a negative adult cat - once he
stops coughing. > > I know that this has been long, and work is
piling > up, but I just wanted to > tell you my
story. Let you know that I understand > what you're
feeling, but > take your cues from Crackers. Is he laying
around > in dirty pajamas, > watching Ricki Lake, stumbling
amongst empty Chinese > take out cartons, > wondering "why
me?" This is a terrible illness, but > not one that
is > powerful enough to take the good times away while > they
are here. > > Get a new vet. Pinpoint when Crackers
was exposed. > What happened to > Pokemon? Was she
positive? Put Crackers on a good > diet - there are lots
to > choose from ranging from Max Cat to raw feeding - >
expensive doesn't always > mean good, nor does the fact of it being
sold out of > a vet's office. Do > some reading
about which ingredients should be there > and which
shouldn't. A > lot of people supplement, again anywhere
from > Vitamin C to ImmunoReglin. > There is no one path to
follow, just make sure that > you and Crackers are > happy on
the one that you choose. > > Good luck to you both, >
Leslie
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