This is Squirt. This photo was taken in the summer of 2011, a couple of weeks before his first birthday and two weeks after I decided I had to euthanize him. (Obviously, I didn't.) This is Squirt's story:
He was born to a cat belonging to my neighbors to the west. His mother and littermates were killed by roaming dogs belonging to someone who lives west of my neighbors. Another cat with a litter of similar age adopted him. His foster mom and her litter were killed by coyotes. Not long after, the neighbors called me and asked whether I could take a look at him because he was very sick. (They are very wealthy, but they didn't get that way by spending money on non-income producing animals.) I suspected feline distemper, so I put on old clothing I could discard and put a bottle of bleach outside so that I could disinfect myself before coming back inside.
He was quite tiny, and had the most badly infected eyes I had ever seen - I couldn't imagine that he would ever be able to see again. I took him to the vet and nursed him for four months (in quarantine) until he was well enough to join the household. I had him tested for feline aids and feline leukemia - negative.
I had intended to call him Oliver, because he was orphaned twice over, but he was such a little squirt, and that stuck. Another member was going to take him because I already had such a houseful, but by the time she was in a position to do so, I was concerned again about his health - he just wasn't thriving. I had him re-tested, and he tested positive for feline leukemia. I took him to the U of I vet clinic, hoping that they would know of some state of the art treatment. They determined that he also had a significant heart murmur, a greatly enlarged heart, and nonregenerative anemia. They suspected that he had FIP in addition to the feline leukemia, and wanted to do an organ biopsy. I was not going to put him through that - it would not have changed the treatment plan, and he had to remain isolated from my other cats in any event. He was already on interferon to boost his immune system, so I took him home, slept with him every night, tried to keep his appetite stimulated.
He went downhill rapidly, stopped eating - I tried every food imagineable. I finally called my vet and told him that I was bringing him in to be euthanized. I went out and cut an armful of catnip and filled his carrier with that, under his blanket. When we got to the vet's (about an hour away), I told them I would wait out in the car with him until the vet was ready for us, because I didn't want to stress him further by waiting inside. We waited, with me petting him, and by the time the vet came out, he was purring and responding to my petting. I told the vet that I thought I had changed my mind, and he said, "Well, let's take a look at him." When he say all the catnip in the carrier, he laughed and said it was no wonder that Squirt felt better, being high on so much catnip. So I said, "if the catnip can make him feel better, isn't there something else that can help too?" Squirt ended up getting steroid injections and Vit. B complex injections every couple of weeks for a year, and then we were able to gradually wean him off those. He will be on interferon for the rest of his life.
For a solid year, the only thing I could get him to eat was Gerber's ham flavored baby food. In the past six or so monthsm I've been able expand that to other flavors of Gerber baby food, plus fish fillets I cook for him with some veggies. He eats 4 to 7 jars of baby food per day. At 97 cents per jar, he's my single most expensive cat to feed. I supplement with taurine.
He's more than doubled his weight, is well muscled, full of **** and vinegar, and the vet can't hear a heart murmur any longer. I started out, the day after I took him in to be euthanized, being grateful for the gift of each additional day. Each day continues to be a gift.
The more I read about declawing, the more I think that may have something to do with his weird personality. But then again, he could just be different from what I'm used to.
Squirt. Wonderful story MLP thanks for sharing.
What a great story - thanks for sharing. I wish I could be surrounded by people like you.
