FinnishLapphund
There's no cow on the ice
I don't think HHO had a Pet-box section back in 2009, because I posted here in All About Dogs about how me, and my parents had found an almost starved, and frozen to death probably around 4 weeks old kitten in our Summer cabin's garden shed, so it only seemed fitting to also post in here about her life coming to an end.
The years have flown by, it doesn't feel as if it really was so many years ago since my dad happened to go to our Summer cabin's garden shed for the lawn mower around noon on a Friday, in what otherwise probably would've been Cilla's last hours in life, happened to spot a piece of black fur on the floor that shouldn't have been there, and came and asked me to come have a look.
She was so cold, that even though I had placed her next to a hot water bottle in a cat transport soon after she was found, that when she got to our vet clinic, an hour or so after we'd found her, they still couldn't get a temperature on her. They tried first one, then another thermometer, thought the batteries must be going bad, so went and opened a brand new thermometer, and it was only when the third one also didn't show a temperature that they realised her temperature was lower than their thermometers could tell.
Our vets are not open on the weekend, so they kept her on an IV for a few hours until they closed, gave her a vitamin injection, and sent her home with some extra fluid they'd placed under her skin (making it at first look like she had a boil on her back), + some special food, and said that if she survived the weekend, maybe she would make it.
We think maybe her mother got run over by a car or taken by a fox. Either way, I should've trusted my bitch Blomma, she had been showing an unusual interest for our garden shed the last maybe 2-5 days before we found Cilla. Blomma was a little over 1 year when it happened, last year her mother Jonna, and sister Beata died, and now Blomma outlives Cilla, too.
Cilla developed Bronchitis I think it was some time before or around Christmas, but it had gotten under control, and we had switched from pills to inhaler to give her the Bronchitis medicine. Some weeks ago she managed to injure an eye, a very superficial wound in her cornea, it didn't seem to bother her much, but she squinted a little, and either before or after that, she had also started to lose her appetite, and we found out she had both low B12 levels, and had started to develop diabetes. So we switched to a food better for cats with diabetes, and started giving her a daily B12 pill, but at the first check up on her eye after 1 week's treatment there was no sign of healing, so they made the wound a little bigger so her body would hopefully recognise the new wound edges as a wound that they needed to heal.
It didn't work, so we was sent home with a gel to put in the eye before the other drops, but she developed a mild allergic reaction to that gel. I think it was around 3 weeks ago that we switched to another type of eye drops with antibiotics, which I gave her 4 times per day spread out evenly over the 24 hours. At yet another 1 week later check up, the vet told me that maybe if I gave the new eye drops with only 4 hours intervals 6 times per day, that could do the trick. Last week we again went back for a check up, and her eye had finally started to heal, but the day before her Bronchitis had started to get worse, so the vet said we had to change back to pills which is stronger medication than the inhaler.
We where sent home with a new appointment to come back Monday the 29th. So this Tuesday my dad drove me, Cilla, Blomma, and Fröjdis out to our Summer cabin, because Cilla loves being in that tiny cabin with it's larger cat enclosure, just in case the veterinarian would say her breathing hadn't improved enough to keep going on Monday.
On Wednesday her breathing was not great but okay, but when I gave her eye drops during the night I noticed her breathing was worse, and even though it was better again in the morning compared to during the night, it is very clear it is going in the wrong direction. So I called the vets, cancelled Monday's appointment, and booked her in for euthanasia Friday 10.50.
I did all that work with her eye drops, bronchitis medication, B12 pills, and since wet food is better for cats than dry food, especially if they're diabetic, and since she just licks off the yummy stuff on top of the wet food bits, I've tried to cut down on her dry food, and spent ages mixing the wet food bits and the yummy stuff on top together so she would have to eat both, hoping that she would get one last Summer. And now when I can see even without the vets magnifying glass thing that her eye is looking better, her breathing gives up instead.
Oh well, at least she lives in the now, happy to be out in the Summer cabin, and she was still well enough to spend some hours on Thursday moving around after the sun in the enclosure so she could sunbathe, I've seen her scratch a little at their cat tree, rub herself against a Yeowww catnip toy, and she have also managed to squeeze in some sleep in 2 of her favourite indoor sleeping spots etc.
Dad came out to sleep over, so we're driving straight from the Summer cabin to the vets tomorrow, then to the city home to pick up my mum, and my youngest nephew S (22) who called and asked to come and say goodbye, and offered to come with us to help bury her in the Summer cabin garden next to my dogs Jonna, Beata and all our other pets before them.
Last year S was on Greenland and worked for some months when first Jonna, and 7 weeks later Beata died, and he's going back there again soon. In my sadness, it feels so heartwarming that he wanted to come. It would've been lovely if my other nephew + niece had also wanted to come, but they don't feel the same connection to my pets as S do, so it is the way is, I'm just grateful S wanted to come.
I thought I would have to go out and look for Cilla in the dark enclosure for her 2 o'clock eye drop, but she actually came in by herself 5-10 minutes past 2, wondering if I had something yummy for her to eat. I gave her an eye drop, she ate something, wandered out, but came back in again later.
It feels strange, we found Cilla around noon on a Friday, and now her life is going to end around an hour before noon on another Friday, around 13 years + 9 months later.
Thanks to everyone who read all the way to the end.
The years have flown by, it doesn't feel as if it really was so many years ago since my dad happened to go to our Summer cabin's garden shed for the lawn mower around noon on a Friday, in what otherwise probably would've been Cilla's last hours in life, happened to spot a piece of black fur on the floor that shouldn't have been there, and came and asked me to come have a look.
She was so cold, that even though I had placed her next to a hot water bottle in a cat transport soon after she was found, that when she got to our vet clinic, an hour or so after we'd found her, they still couldn't get a temperature on her. They tried first one, then another thermometer, thought the batteries must be going bad, so went and opened a brand new thermometer, and it was only when the third one also didn't show a temperature that they realised her temperature was lower than their thermometers could tell.
Our vets are not open on the weekend, so they kept her on an IV for a few hours until they closed, gave her a vitamin injection, and sent her home with some extra fluid they'd placed under her skin (making it at first look like she had a boil on her back), + some special food, and said that if she survived the weekend, maybe she would make it.
We think maybe her mother got run over by a car or taken by a fox. Either way, I should've trusted my bitch Blomma, she had been showing an unusual interest for our garden shed the last maybe 2-5 days before we found Cilla. Blomma was a little over 1 year when it happened, last year her mother Jonna, and sister Beata died, and now Blomma outlives Cilla, too.
Cilla developed Bronchitis I think it was some time before or around Christmas, but it had gotten under control, and we had switched from pills to inhaler to give her the Bronchitis medicine. Some weeks ago she managed to injure an eye, a very superficial wound in her cornea, it didn't seem to bother her much, but she squinted a little, and either before or after that, she had also started to lose her appetite, and we found out she had both low B12 levels, and had started to develop diabetes. So we switched to a food better for cats with diabetes, and started giving her a daily B12 pill, but at the first check up on her eye after 1 week's treatment there was no sign of healing, so they made the wound a little bigger so her body would hopefully recognise the new wound edges as a wound that they needed to heal.
It didn't work, so we was sent home with a gel to put in the eye before the other drops, but she developed a mild allergic reaction to that gel. I think it was around 3 weeks ago that we switched to another type of eye drops with antibiotics, which I gave her 4 times per day spread out evenly over the 24 hours. At yet another 1 week later check up, the vet told me that maybe if I gave the new eye drops with only 4 hours intervals 6 times per day, that could do the trick. Last week we again went back for a check up, and her eye had finally started to heal, but the day before her Bronchitis had started to get worse, so the vet said we had to change back to pills which is stronger medication than the inhaler.
We where sent home with a new appointment to come back Monday the 29th. So this Tuesday my dad drove me, Cilla, Blomma, and Fröjdis out to our Summer cabin, because Cilla loves being in that tiny cabin with it's larger cat enclosure, just in case the veterinarian would say her breathing hadn't improved enough to keep going on Monday.
On Wednesday her breathing was not great but okay, but when I gave her eye drops during the night I noticed her breathing was worse, and even though it was better again in the morning compared to during the night, it is very clear it is going in the wrong direction. So I called the vets, cancelled Monday's appointment, and booked her in for euthanasia Friday 10.50.
I did all that work with her eye drops, bronchitis medication, B12 pills, and since wet food is better for cats than dry food, especially if they're diabetic, and since she just licks off the yummy stuff on top of the wet food bits, I've tried to cut down on her dry food, and spent ages mixing the wet food bits and the yummy stuff on top together so she would have to eat both, hoping that she would get one last Summer. And now when I can see even without the vets magnifying glass thing that her eye is looking better, her breathing gives up instead.
Oh well, at least she lives in the now, happy to be out in the Summer cabin, and she was still well enough to spend some hours on Thursday moving around after the sun in the enclosure so she could sunbathe, I've seen her scratch a little at their cat tree, rub herself against a Yeowww catnip toy, and she have also managed to squeeze in some sleep in 2 of her favourite indoor sleeping spots etc.
Dad came out to sleep over, so we're driving straight from the Summer cabin to the vets tomorrow, then to the city home to pick up my mum, and my youngest nephew S (22) who called and asked to come and say goodbye, and offered to come with us to help bury her in the Summer cabin garden next to my dogs Jonna, Beata and all our other pets before them.
Last year S was on Greenland and worked for some months when first Jonna, and 7 weeks later Beata died, and he's going back there again soon. In my sadness, it feels so heartwarming that he wanted to come. It would've been lovely if my other nephew + niece had also wanted to come, but they don't feel the same connection to my pets as S do, so it is the way is, I'm just grateful S wanted to come.
I thought I would have to go out and look for Cilla in the dark enclosure for her 2 o'clock eye drop, but she actually came in by herself 5-10 minutes past 2, wondering if I had something yummy for her to eat. I gave her an eye drop, she ate something, wandered out, but came back in again later.
It feels strange, we found Cilla around noon on a Friday, and now her life is going to end around an hour before noon on another Friday, around 13 years + 9 months later.
Thanks to everyone who read all the way to the end.
thinking of you ! And tons of hugs from BB and I 
