Cyn and Cosmo
Active Member
hello everyone, old friends and new...
Today is Cosmo's 2 year OTJ anniversary!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Cosmo wasn't my first choice as a pet... he and his littermate are 'accidentally' mine. I agreed to 'foster' these two for 3 months while their daddy was supposed to find cat friendly housing. And here we are 15 years later, and I can't imagine my life without them.
26 months ago, I thought I was going to have to say goodbye to my furbaby. My gentle, scaredy cat who is a man-***** for attention. I had gone away for a conference, and came home to a lethargic cat who wasn't hungry for the first time in his life. Still, he purred and patted my face when I picked him up, and it wasn't until he refused wet food that I knew he was sick.
The ER vet told me that it would be best to put him to sleep. He was DKA, she explained, and most cats don't survive and treatment is expensive. I bawled and bawled some more. I said I want to give him a chance. Over the next 8 days, he was diagnosed with DKA, hepatic lipidosis, and pancreatitis. Then a heart murmur. I visited him 2x per day (the only time I was allowed to see him). I spent the entire visiting hour crying and petting him, willing him to know that I loved him and for him to get better.
Slowly, but surely, every day, the intern vet told me that he seemed 'brighter' and after 5 days, he finally got rid of all the acid, then the ketones. He came home with a tube in his throat, and a huge bag of medicine. For the next 2 months, I poked, prodded, and syringe fed around the clock while trying not to flunk out of my doctoral program. Every day, he got stronger. I thought he was so cute with his antennae (when the e-tube was taped up out of the way, it would poke up between his ears).
I was pretty sure he was going to be ok when he started to bounce up and down next to the bed to ask for me to pick him up onto the bed.
In the meantime, I found FDMB. I found a loving, supportive, ever so helpful place where people understood what we were going through. Around the clock care that was instrumental in helping him recover and go OTJ. I'll never forget the first time he threw a low AMPS. Or the time when Jojo coached me through buying and using "R" b/c she knew he was prone to going back to DKA with his scary high numbers. And the scary, anxiety provoking, but exciting roller coaster ride of dose decreases. And the disbelief and holding my breath as we did the OTJ countdown, even as we planned the removal of his feeding tube.
Since going OTJ, we've had other health issues that you all have seen us through. CRF, possible lymphoma and the removal of the eye, the TOHP, and many bouts of pancreatitis. The bronzed poo episode and the ascites
He still struggling with the ascites and pancreatitis (more and more frequently, it seems), but we have mostly good days. The TOHP isn't gone, but it stopped growing. He's the snuggliest baby bug, and we use the baby sling on a regular basis. He now likes to sleep curled up facing me so he can put his head on my arm, and he's been diligently working on giving me stylish bangs.
So... catniptinis and tunaritas all around!! I wouldn't give these last two years up for all the gold in the world. Not only b/c of the special relationship I have with my Cosmo, but b/c I got to meet and get to know all of you.
ps. sorry for big pic. I tried to shrink, to no avail.
Today is Cosmo's 2 year OTJ anniversary!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Cosmo wasn't my first choice as a pet... he and his littermate are 'accidentally' mine. I agreed to 'foster' these two for 3 months while their daddy was supposed to find cat friendly housing. And here we are 15 years later, and I can't imagine my life without them.
26 months ago, I thought I was going to have to say goodbye to my furbaby. My gentle, scaredy cat who is a man-***** for attention. I had gone away for a conference, and came home to a lethargic cat who wasn't hungry for the first time in his life. Still, he purred and patted my face when I picked him up, and it wasn't until he refused wet food that I knew he was sick.
The ER vet told me that it would be best to put him to sleep. He was DKA, she explained, and most cats don't survive and treatment is expensive. I bawled and bawled some more. I said I want to give him a chance. Over the next 8 days, he was diagnosed with DKA, hepatic lipidosis, and pancreatitis. Then a heart murmur. I visited him 2x per day (the only time I was allowed to see him). I spent the entire visiting hour crying and petting him, willing him to know that I loved him and for him to get better.
Slowly, but surely, every day, the intern vet told me that he seemed 'brighter' and after 5 days, he finally got rid of all the acid, then the ketones. He came home with a tube in his throat, and a huge bag of medicine. For the next 2 months, I poked, prodded, and syringe fed around the clock while trying not to flunk out of my doctoral program. Every day, he got stronger. I thought he was so cute with his antennae (when the e-tube was taped up out of the way, it would poke up between his ears).
I was pretty sure he was going to be ok when he started to bounce up and down next to the bed to ask for me to pick him up onto the bed.
In the meantime, I found FDMB. I found a loving, supportive, ever so helpful place where people understood what we were going through. Around the clock care that was instrumental in helping him recover and go OTJ. I'll never forget the first time he threw a low AMPS. Or the time when Jojo coached me through buying and using "R" b/c she knew he was prone to going back to DKA with his scary high numbers. And the scary, anxiety provoking, but exciting roller coaster ride of dose decreases. And the disbelief and holding my breath as we did the OTJ countdown, even as we planned the removal of his feeding tube.
Since going OTJ, we've had other health issues that you all have seen us through. CRF, possible lymphoma and the removal of the eye, the TOHP, and many bouts of pancreatitis. The bronzed poo episode and the ascites
He still struggling with the ascites and pancreatitis (more and more frequently, it seems), but we have mostly good days. The TOHP isn't gone, but it stopped growing. He's the snuggliest baby bug, and we use the baby sling on a regular basis. He now likes to sleep curled up facing me so he can put his head on my arm, and he's been diligently working on giving me stylish bangs.
So... catniptinis and tunaritas all around!! I wouldn't give these last two years up for all the gold in the world. Not only b/c of the special relationship I have with my Cosmo, but b/c I got to meet and get to know all of you.
ps. sorry for big pic. I tried to shrink, to no avail.
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