return to top

I'm very sick

Ferg has passed away. May 14, 1998 - April 24, 2006

Ferglet will be greatly missed and loved forever.

Update as of Saturday morning, April 22

We've been taking Ferg to the vet every day since Tuesday morning. She's been getting fluids daily. Last weekend, she had seemed to re-bound, and she was back to running to the door and following me around.

We were very encouraged, since part of her condition was a urinary tract infection, which is common, and should have been cured by the last weekend (she was on antibiotics, and the finished last Friday).

She relapsed pretty hard on Tuesday morning though. Luckily, she already had a vet appointment. They re-tested all her levels and gave her fluids. She also had a high white blood cell count, which means the infection may have come back, so he put her back on antibiotics.

She didn't seem to respond that night, and it crushed me that she stopped eating, drinking, and urinating. Wednesday, the tests came back and her toxicity levels were very high - too high at that point for her to be considered for a transplant anymore.

Paul (my roomate and her best friend - he's the one that wrote the original entry), was supposed to come back from MA on Saturday so we were hoping we could get her through til then so they could be with each other.

Wedensday night, she was awful. She just wanted to sleep, and I stayed with her on my chest for the whole night. She had no energy to move, and wouldn't lift her head even. It was so hard to see her that way. She purred very slightly so I know she was content, and I thought if she didn't make it through the night, at least she was being held and comforted.

Paul got a flight down from MA on Thursday so he could see her and be with her before it was too late. They are so attached to each other, that I know she missed him too.

She actually seemed a little more alert on Thursday after the vet appointment.

I brought her in her carrier to the airport to pick up Paul -- of course I kept telling her "only little while longer and he'll be here!". When he got in the car and started talking to her and petting her, she started purring and her eyes really lit up.

When we got back home, she was so happy to see Paul. He got her to eat a couple T-R-E-A-T-S (she had stopped eating completely for me), and she actually peed, which means her one kidney was still functioning at least a little. He stayed on the couch with her and she purred loudly a lot.

It shows how much she got attached to him too, and how much he means to her.

Paul took her to the vet Friday for more fluids, and although it is still a short matter of time, he thought she looked better than she had over last week.

She ate a lot of treats last night, and she's been peeing quite a bit now, which is encouraging that she might re-bound for a while. I know I'm being too optomistic, but I'm sort of hoping that the infection is what made her go down hill so fast again.

We're taking her to the Dr. Lawless in Jacksonville, FL again now. He's been so incredible through all this, taking as much time with me as I need to help explain everything - without making me feel like he needs to get to his next patient. His staff has the same genuine caring and compassion. When I call, no matter who I get, when I mention "Ferglet", I don't even have to tell them who I am. They say "Oh we know Ferglet. She is so sweet.". I've had other vets before in MA and they say "what name's the account under" - this is so refreshing, and I can't say enough about how great they've been. If any of you are reading this near Jacksonville, please do yourself and your pet a favor and switch to Dr. Lawless at Beach St. Johns Animal Hospital. Without their extra attention and follow up phone calls, Ferglet may not be with us right now even.

At this point, she does seem to be rebounding just a bit, and as long as she's on an upswing, and she's not ready to give up on us, we will not give up on her.

Also, on a more unpleasant note... If you're reading this and thinking we're being selfish to keep her going right now, I've asked Dr. Lawless if she is in pain, and we've talked about whether she'd be comfortable passing at home, or if she was in pain and should pass there. He thought when the time does come, she would probably go in her sleep at home. Knowing Ferglet, I think she would also want it that way, rather than being scared during her last moments. So - unless something changes, we're hoping that will be the best for Ferg.

We've received about $400 in donations to her kidney fund. It looks like they will be split among Pets Alive (a great animal shelter that gives personal attention to very sick pets in NY), and either the Jacksonville animal shelter, or possibly a charity account at Dr. Lawless' for people who can't afford pet care. I work for Bank of America, and everything I donate will get matched dollar for dollar by them. That's a great way to donate and help out. So, if you do donate now, you should know that it probably is too late for Ferglet to get a kidney, and the donation will not be able to help her directly at this point.

Thank you again, and sorry for the long entry, but we had a lot of updates and I just wasn't ready to post it all over the last few very tough days.

WE LOVE FERGLET AND SO DOES EVERYONE THAT MEETS HER!!!!!!

Please Help! The new website is up!!

Please see the bottom entry first if you haven't already.

The new website is up and running today! The address is www.saveferglet.com. If your browser blocks pop-ups, you can always go to the page directly.

If you'd like to help by donating (even $1 or $5 will make a difference if we spread the word enough), we've set up a PayPal account to be used for her transplant. All money will be donated to the Jacksonville, FL animal shelter if Ferglet can't use it. The paypal account is kidneyfund@saveferglet.com and you can get to it directly through the www.saveferglet.com site.

We'll add diary entries with the fund status.

Please use the tell a friend link (the @ symbol below the first picture) to spread the word about Ferglet. You can also bookmark this page directly to keep up to date. Thank you for all your offers and concern!! It has really touched us.