Sick Kitty Isis Fights to Recover
Donation protected
For context: I am psychologically and physically disabled, and Isis is my therapy cat. I've had her since she was a kitten, adopting her on my birthday in 2007, and we are inseparable. She and I have always had a special bond. We have two other cats, but none are as in-tune with emotions as she is. She pines for us when we are away (which led to her previous hospitalization). I have an ottoman placed next to my computer chair so she can sit next to me (and also so I can manage her diabetes) and she frequently stands on her hind legs and puts her front paws on my chair, my shoulder, my face; it's as though she is petting me. She loves climbing on my chair and my lap while I'm on my computer. If I go to sleep or take a nap, I am almost certain I will wake up to Isis licking my nose. She doesn't do that to my husband, just to me. She is very affectionate, and she is also very stubborn. She's a lover and a fighter, always acting like the biggest and toughest even though she's the smallest. She even attacks our 40 lb dog when she's irritable. We're hoping she brings that fighting spirit with her in the hospital because she will need it to recover. Due to my disabilities I am unable to work, but I feel the need to help with these bills, to help save my baby. I hope I can raise enough to be able to contribute to the debt, and every little bit helps a lot.
Update: Isis had to be admitted to the hospital again on Sunday, January 9, 2017. She is in diabetic ketoacidosis despite having normal glucose readings. She had lost interest in food and was acting lethargic. The vet at Banfield referred us to OVS again. They do great work there, but on Monday morning we received a horrifying phone call: Isis had collapsed and was no longer responsive. They believe she threw a blood clot to her brain, but they don't know why. They put her on a ton of medications, and when we visited her in the morning on Monday she had a ton of machines hooked up, including one to help her breathe. She was completely unresponsive, but we sat there and talked to her and pet her anyway. When we visited again that evening, she had made a miraculous recovery and was coherent and moving around. They brought her to us and we were so happy.
She still has a long way to go. She's making very small steps toward recovery. Her body is still producing a ton of ketones and her electrolytes are too low. She isn't eating and we are going to discuss another e-tube (esophageal feeding tube) today. They're also doing another full blood panel. So far they have done an abdominal ultrasound and a ton of other tests to try to figure out what's going on. They still don't have reasons for why these things are happening, just things we need to work on fixing right now.
A long, hard road lays ahead. She is far from being healthy enough to leave the hospital, and her bills keep adding up. It costs at least $1000 for every 48 hours they keep her there, and that's not including anything extra.
We're going to keep hoping she gets better and doing everything in our power to help, but a lot depends on the level of care they are providing and her own will to live. She's definitely a fighter, but she has a lot to overcome.
Please consider making a donation towards her recovery. She's our princess and we can't imagine life without her.
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Original campaign:
My sweet Isis had to be admitted to a veterinary hospital on June 27, 2014 due to diabetic ketoacidosis and hepatic lipidosis. We have a rough road of recovery before us. Please help save my baby.
Sick Kitty Isis is my sweet baby girl. She is a cat that I adopted as a kitten. She had been weaned too early and latched onto me as her mom, frequently sucking on my shirt in an attempt to nurse. My husband and I both love her to pieces and can't imagine life without her. She's almost seven years old, but she's still our baby.
After a week of lethargy and low interest in food, we brought Isis in to our regular vet and were told that she had fatty liver syndrome. Her body was starting to use its fat stores for energy, which takes place in the liver, and causes liver failure. She became jaundiced and weak. She lost all interest in food, and we had to begin syringe feeding her. She was generally spunky enough to put up a good fight, which made getting the necessary nutrients in her even more challenging.
On Friday, June 27, 2014, Isis had to be admitted to a veterinary emergency clinic. She began vomiting the food we could get in her, was extremely lethargic, and had bright orange urine.
Isis was diagnosed with Hepatic Lipidosis (fatty liver syndrome) and Diabetes (in the stage of ketoacidosis). She was given a feeding tube because she wouldn't eat at all, which made her blood sugar even worse.
From the PetMD website: "Hepatic lipidosis, known commonly as fatty liver, is one of the most common severe feline liver diseases in cats. The liver's main functions include protein synthesis, the production of chemicals necessary for digestion, and the detoxification of the body. The liver also plays an important role in metabolism, the emulsification of fats, the production of coagulation factors (necessary for blood clotting), and in the decomposition of red blood cells. The liver is of such importance to the body, carrying out so many complex functions, that there is no way to compensate for the loss of the liver when it fails.
Normally, when a body is undernourished or starved, the body automatically moves fat from its reserves to the liver to be converted into lipoproteins for energy. Cat's bodies are not designed to convert large stores of fat, so when a cat is in starvation mode, the fat that is released to the liver is not processed efficiently, resulting in a fatty and low functioning liver. As the fat accumulates in the liver it becomes swollen and turns yellow. Because it is not able to process red blood cells efficiently, the yellow pigment that makes up a portion of the red blood cell is released into the bloodstream, causing a yellowing of the eyes. If not treated promptly, hepatic lipidosis can lead to various complications and eventually death."
If you own a cat or know someone who does, please do not fall prey to the folkloric notion that "cats always eat exactly what they need". I've heard this several times from non-cat-owners, and it's wrong and extremely harmful. If your cat doesn't eat for a period of 24 hours, it is extremely important that you take him or her to the vet immediately. After 3 days, hepatic lipidosis can occur.
Her vet bill is around $3k. This includes the around-the-clock care and surveillance she received for several days in the veterinary emergency clinic, many blood tests, a constant IV of fluids and insulin, having a feeding tube surgically put in, an abdominal ultrasound, medication to prevent nausea and increase appetite, and the good doctors who were able to conclude that her blood sugar was too abnormal to 'just' be hepatic lipidosis, which the original vets told us. Without the staff at Oklahoma Veterinary Specialists, Isis wouldn't be here today.
Update: Isis had to be admitted to the hospital again on Sunday, January 9, 2017. She is in diabetic ketoacidosis despite having normal glucose readings. She had lost interest in food and was acting lethargic. The vet at Banfield referred us to OVS again. They do great work there, but on Monday morning we received a horrifying phone call: Isis had collapsed and was no longer responsive. They believe she threw a blood clot to her brain, but they don't know why. They put her on a ton of medications, and when we visited her in the morning on Monday she had a ton of machines hooked up, including one to help her breathe. She was completely unresponsive, but we sat there and talked to her and pet her anyway. When we visited again that evening, she had made a miraculous recovery and was coherent and moving around. They brought her to us and we were so happy.
She still has a long way to go. She's making very small steps toward recovery. Her body is still producing a ton of ketones and her electrolytes are too low. She isn't eating and we are going to discuss another e-tube (esophageal feeding tube) today. They're also doing another full blood panel. So far they have done an abdominal ultrasound and a ton of other tests to try to figure out what's going on. They still don't have reasons for why these things are happening, just things we need to work on fixing right now.
A long, hard road lays ahead. She is far from being healthy enough to leave the hospital, and her bills keep adding up. It costs at least $1000 for every 48 hours they keep her there, and that's not including anything extra.
We're going to keep hoping she gets better and doing everything in our power to help, but a lot depends on the level of care they are providing and her own will to live. She's definitely a fighter, but she has a lot to overcome.
Please consider making a donation towards her recovery. She's our princess and we can't imagine life without her.
---------------------------------
Original campaign:
My sweet Isis had to be admitted to a veterinary hospital on June 27, 2014 due to diabetic ketoacidosis and hepatic lipidosis. We have a rough road of recovery before us. Please help save my baby.
Sick Kitty Isis is my sweet baby girl. She is a cat that I adopted as a kitten. She had been weaned too early and latched onto me as her mom, frequently sucking on my shirt in an attempt to nurse. My husband and I both love her to pieces and can't imagine life without her. She's almost seven years old, but she's still our baby.
After a week of lethargy and low interest in food, we brought Isis in to our regular vet and were told that she had fatty liver syndrome. Her body was starting to use its fat stores for energy, which takes place in the liver, and causes liver failure. She became jaundiced and weak. She lost all interest in food, and we had to begin syringe feeding her. She was generally spunky enough to put up a good fight, which made getting the necessary nutrients in her even more challenging.
On Friday, June 27, 2014, Isis had to be admitted to a veterinary emergency clinic. She began vomiting the food we could get in her, was extremely lethargic, and had bright orange urine.
Isis was diagnosed with Hepatic Lipidosis (fatty liver syndrome) and Diabetes (in the stage of ketoacidosis). She was given a feeding tube because she wouldn't eat at all, which made her blood sugar even worse.
From the PetMD website: "Hepatic lipidosis, known commonly as fatty liver, is one of the most common severe feline liver diseases in cats. The liver's main functions include protein synthesis, the production of chemicals necessary for digestion, and the detoxification of the body. The liver also plays an important role in metabolism, the emulsification of fats, the production of coagulation factors (necessary for blood clotting), and in the decomposition of red blood cells. The liver is of such importance to the body, carrying out so many complex functions, that there is no way to compensate for the loss of the liver when it fails.
Normally, when a body is undernourished or starved, the body automatically moves fat from its reserves to the liver to be converted into lipoproteins for energy. Cat's bodies are not designed to convert large stores of fat, so when a cat is in starvation mode, the fat that is released to the liver is not processed efficiently, resulting in a fatty and low functioning liver. As the fat accumulates in the liver it becomes swollen and turns yellow. Because it is not able to process red blood cells efficiently, the yellow pigment that makes up a portion of the red blood cell is released into the bloodstream, causing a yellowing of the eyes. If not treated promptly, hepatic lipidosis can lead to various complications and eventually death."
If you own a cat or know someone who does, please do not fall prey to the folkloric notion that "cats always eat exactly what they need". I've heard this several times from non-cat-owners, and it's wrong and extremely harmful. If your cat doesn't eat for a period of 24 hours, it is extremely important that you take him or her to the vet immediately. After 3 days, hepatic lipidosis can occur.
Her vet bill is around $3k. This includes the around-the-clock care and surveillance she received for several days in the veterinary emergency clinic, many blood tests, a constant IV of fluids and insulin, having a feeding tube surgically put in, an abdominal ultrasound, medication to prevent nausea and increase appetite, and the good doctors who were able to conclude that her blood sugar was too abnormal to 'just' be hepatic lipidosis, which the original vets told us. Without the staff at Oklahoma Veterinary Specialists, Isis wouldn't be here today.
In addition to the hospitalization charges, we now have to get frequent glucose curve blood work monitoring done and purchase a pet glucose monitor. The only way we've been able to stay afloat so far is through a Care Credit account (which we've maxed out).
Organizer
Veronica Elizabeth Raj
Organizer
Oologah, OK