Rainbow Bridge

My beautiful baby girl Luna Lou passed away in my arms on the way to the hospital the night of Wednesday, April 25th, 2012.

The staff at the emergency hospital believe that her medical condition, chylothorax, was misdiagnosed by the first vet she saw. The cause of her condition was diagnosed as a tear in the thorasic duct, but it is now believed that Luna had a tumor instead that caused her symptoms. They believe that this tumor finally ruptured, cause her rapid decline in health, until she collapsed that Wednesday night.

She will be missed forever.

Vet again, changing vets

Rushed Luna back in to the vet today for another chest tap, to have more fluid drained from her chest cavity (see previous diary entry for info). They had been saying that they were getting around 300ml of fluid out every 6-7 days. This time it was only 5 days so I was quite concerned when I took her in this morning. BUT, they only drained 60ml of fluid! To me, that is hopeful. But our vet seems to be a pessimist, and isn't very familiar with Luna's condition. So I believe I will look into switching vets. I'm not pleased at all with how we've been treated so far by this current vet. The rest of the staff is great, but I need the vets help with this, and he seems hesitant to try anything but the risky surgery. We CAN'T afford the surgery, and I'm not sure Luna's case needs it even if we could afford it. So I begin making phone calls tomorrow, and gathering info to see what is the next step to take. While Luna is feeling better is the best time to make the switch, instead of waiting for another emergency chest tap. I'll keep updated here as to how things go. Thanks for reading.

~Luna's Mommy~

New Diagnosis, Vet Visits, Etc.

Luna hasn't been well lately. On Tuesday, February 7th, Luna was diagnosed with a condition called chylothorax. Basically, we believe there to be a tear in her thoracic duct in her chest. This tear is causing fluid to leak out, and build up in her chest. The build up of fluid is putting too much pressure on her heart and lungs. She first presented with difficulty breathing, was lethargic, and stopped eating. We've dealt with this condition before, in my Mom's cat Lil Bear before he passed away due to an unrelated condition. He made a complete recovery from his chylothorax, so we are hopeful that Luna will as well. When her breathing starts to become too labored, I take her to the vet for a "chest tap". They stick a needle into her chest to drain out the fluid, allowing her lungs to expand better, so that she can breathe better for a few more days. We can't afford the risky surgery ($2,000-$3,000), so we are doing the same medical treatment we did for Lil Bear instead. She is taking Rutin, 500mg, 3 times a day. The pills are huge since it is a supplement meant for humans (found at your local health food store) so even cutting the pills in half we were having difficulty getting her to swallow them. We contacted teh local compounding pharmacy and had the vet call in a prescription to have the Rutin compounded into liquid form. She takes this SO much easier, and they can even make it triple fish flavored! Luna is doing well today after having a chest tap again yesterday. I believe that was her third chest tap since her diagnosis, not counting the fluid they removed to test on the day they diagnosed. She has also had bloodwork and 2 chest xrays.

This is a terrible condition, and there is still a chance that it could take Luna's life. We aren't giving up yet though, and will continue to fight this! Many cats heal on their own within a few weeks, so we are hoping that the Rutin will help her body cope until the tear heals. Her current vet also put her on a diuretic, which is a tiny half of a pill, so she takes it easily. Having meds so many times a day is unpleasant for her, but it will be worth it if it saves her life.

We believe the chylothorax to be idiopathic, meaning there is no knows cause that we can find at this point. There are many things that CAN cause this, such as an injury from a fall, or heart problems. He heart sounds good at this point, but the vet has suggested that we get an ultrasound of Luna's heart, just to be safe and to look for any defects. We just haven't had the few hundred dollars for a test when we are already paying for the other tests and the constant chest taps. Care Credit has really helped us though, so that we had a way to pay right away for her treatment, that we can pay off later.

If anyone would like to know more about this condition, there is tons of information out there, you can google it. You can even google "chylothorax" and "rutin" together to read about the use of Rutin to treat this condition. I will try to keep updated on here about her progress.

If we can get her to beat this, she will be 10 years old in May. I plan on throwing her a birthday party, she definitely deserves one! I have found some black cat balloons even, so I will decorate with those. It is difficult to find black cat things when it's not around Halloween, but I managed to find some things online.

That's all I have for tonight. Thanks for reading.

~Luna's Mommy~

Updates: The Dog and Life

I'm back for another update. The Dog passed away on March 9th. The whole family has had to go through an adjustment peroid with her being gone. I was a little nervous at first, when she never came home from the vets, but I've adjusted well, just like Mom thought I would. Mom on the other hand took much longer to adjust. But we all know Dog was old, almost 17! She had a good long life. Her disabilities just became too much and Mom had to think about her quality of life, which was steadily declining. It was just her time.

In the meantime, I had my 9th birthday on May 27th! Mommy got me a water fountain as an early b-day gift. No more stale, standing water for me! We got the Drinkwell 360 fountain, and I love it! I drink more water now than I used to. Mommy just has to take it apart and clean it once a week to keep things fresh, and keep the filter changed.

It's been hot outside! Or so they tell me, Mommy hasn't let me out in a while because of the weather. She's been keeping the apartment closed up with the cool air on to make it more comfortable for us. But she promises that after the heat wave is gone, I'll get to go outside on teh porch again! In the meantime, I've had lots of energy to spare lately. So I run up and down the hall to get the energy out. Other than Mommy being sick a lot these alst few months, things have been uneventful. So I spend most of the day lounging in my window perch.

That's all I have for now. Catnip Wishes everyone!

~Luna~

Birthday coming soon!

I'm excited that my birthday is coming up this month! On the 27th I'll be 8 years old! Mommy already got me a window perch for an early present. I love it! on nice days she'll crack the window open and I can watch the birds and sniff the breeze through the screen. When the weather isn't so nice though she wont open the window, just the blinds so that I can see out. She's going to get me a special birthday dinner like I get every year too. I don't know what it will be yet, but I can't wait!

Catnip Wishes for all.

~Luna~

TRAPPED!!

Mommy and Brian took Dog to the vet, were gone all day, and I was trapped in the closet!!! I was relaxing in there before they left and they closed the door without looking for me first! I was meowing when they came home and Brian let me out... It was horrible! I resisted the temptation to pee on things, and decided that a loving reunion with Mommy upon my freedom was better than her scolding me for peeing outside the litterbox. It wasn't until after that she said she wouldn't have been mad at me if I did, since t wasn't my fault I couldn't get to my box. I decided to forgive them and cuddled up with Mommy in bed this morning and purred for her. I used to hold grudges, but I do like it here, so I decided to be more mellow about it. But it was still aweful! They promised to look for me before they go out, to make sure I'm not there trapped again.

Hope you all had a better day than I did!

Catnip Wishes,

~Luna~

Update on me!

Well, after Xmas the vet said he thought I had some kind of "inflamatory bowel disease". So Mommy switched my food, and my tummy got better! I haven't thrown up or had an accident outside my litterbox ever since! She put me on a Friskies indoor dry food for my breakfasts and the Fancy Feast Elegant Medley's canned food with garden greens for my dinners! It's my FAVORITE! I'm so glad I get it again! But it costs more than some others, which is why she still give me a healthy dry food for breakfast. The garden greens stuff has helped so much with my skin and hair! Everyone says that my hair is so silky!

Speaking of my hair, Mommy bathed me today! I hated it, but I didn't go pout and avoid her like I usually do. She was taken away in an ambulance on Monday afternoon and didn't get out of the hospital until Wednesday night! I was worried and missed her SO much! I've snuggled with her all night every night since then! They said she had something called a "TIA" or "mini-stroke". I'm just happy that she's better now and home! She was lucky that it didn't last long so it didn't leave any damage, so she's back to normal again. I've been showing Mommy how much I missed her by meowing at her for attention a lot.

Oh, Mommy bought me a new brush! I LOVE it! I love to let her brush me now, and I purrrrrrrrrr when she does it! Even Brian brushes me, and I lay on his desk and purr loud for him too. I only get upset when she's brushing me and Dog comes and licks my face. Sometimes I poke her nose with my claws to make her go away. I don't hit her hard, just enough to poke a lil. Sometimes she thinks I'm playing and chases me a lil when I do it, which just makes me madder!

I got to go out onto our balcony porch again today! With the weather being warmer again, Mommy tries to let me and Dog out onto it every day. I love to sit and enjoy the sun and the light breeze. If I hear a noise though, I run back inside until I'm sure that it's safe again. I love my Mommy.

That's all I can think or for now.

Catnip Wishes,

~Luna~

P.S. - Mommy added 2 new pics to my page!

Feeling better, Xmas, etc.

Well, I'm feeling better! Mommy took me to the vet, and I was put on antibiotics for 5 days. I hated being held and having a pill put down my throat twice a day, but I'm happy to be able to eat again without my tummy being upset. The vet even said that since I hadn't been eating in almost a week, to forget about my diet! I was allowed to have all the cat food I wanted, as long as I was willing to eat! I really enjoy that idea, until they realized I was better, then I went back on my diet again.

I had a good week, other than being sick, on our Xmas visit! Except for having to deal with kitties... I didn't like them trying to play with me or share food with me, so I swatted them away. Mommy also took some more pictures for me to upload! Some of our new apartment, some from Xmas. I added them at my regular blog, since I can't add them here. You can go see them at: http://mischief-makers-blog.blogspot.com/2010/01/feeling-bet ter-xmas-etc.html

One pic os me with my new Xmas presents! I got 2 new small catnip mice, a stick with a green fuzzy thing hanging off it, a catnip pillow, and a lil plastic thingy that makes noise with a feather on the end! Mommy's mom also gave me Lil Bears old catnip mouse that was one of his favorite toys. I love playing with it, so it means a lot that she let me have it, since it belonged to him. Everything is in this pic except Bears mouse. Even Dog got a new bone.

Going to finish dinner and play in the cube on my cat tree now!

Catnip Wishes to all,

~Luna~

The Move, The Vet and I'm sick!!

I'll start with the happy stuff.

Well, me, Mommy and the dog got moved in with Mommy's fiance, Brian. I like him. He's quiet, he doesn't pick on me like the last man Mommy lived with did, and he knows all the good places I like to be scratched. He even talks sweetly to me and scratches my chin. So I think I'll be ok living with him. Mommy is about to take us all back to her family's house (where we just moved from) for about a week for a Christmas visit! I HATE riding in the car, but it will be nice to see "Daddy" again. He's really Mommy's Daddy, so technically my Granddaddy, but I just call him Daddy for short anyway. It's been peaceful living here at the apartment with Brian and Mommy, because at Daddy's house there are still the kittens: Snowball and Snowflake. When will they learn, that I don't like them? I don't WANT to play with them! Kitties steals the loves... Oh, I even got to explore the porch today! I'll have to get some pics. We have a lil balcony here at the apartment like we had at Daddy's house! It's not as big, but Mommy says I can watch the birds when the weather is warm again! I think I'll like that. So all-in-all, the move wasn't a bad thing. I'm the only cat in the house again, I still have my cat tree that I can lay on in the sunshine through the windows, still have my Mommy, and also have Brian that pets and loves me too. Mommy says she's very proud of how I've adjusted.

Now for the unhappy stuff.
I'm sick! We don't know why yet. Mommy is getting up EXTRA early in the morning to get me to the vet by 9am. We're going to Daddy's for the Christmas stuff tomorrow, so I'll be in the car a long time. We will drive an hour and a half to get to Daddy's, then Mommy will drop off the dog and our suitcases, then take me to the vet. It's the same vet I've seen since I was a kitten. We haven't transferred my records to a local vet yet. But that's ok, because Mommy really likes our usual vet. He's taken care of the dog for over 15 years now! So if Dog can be healthy that long, he should be able to do wonders for me! What happened is on Thursday I started having diarrhea really bad. Then by Saturday I threw up on the carpet. I've been barely eating too. I'm still having diarrhea every day, and eating less and less. Mommy's been mixing water in with my food so that even though I'm only eating a little bit, I wont get dehydrated. Vet said to have me drink some pedialite, but I turned my nose up at it. She even got me some soft kitten food, something she thought would digest easy on my tummy, and warmed it up like the vet said. I feel bad that Mommy's cooking for me and I'm still not able to eat. But my tummy hurts and my butt is sore too. Mommy washes it gently every day with a moist wipe with aloe or something in it, to help it feel better and stay clean. Because of my pudgy tummy I can't reach to clean my bottom properly, so Mommy helps me out by washing it for me every day. That way it stays nice and clean. If someone doesn't wash it for me, I scoot my butt on the carpet because it itches. The vet said the dirt in the carpet was letting bacteria up into my private areas since I was scooting so much, and it gave me a urinary tract infection. I had to go on antibiotics for it. So, as long as Mommy washes it for me, no more itchy, so more more infections. Mommy's just being extra gentle now since my butt is sore from going to the litter box so much. I had an accident on the carpet while Mommy was taking a bath. She forgot to leave the door cracked open in case I needed to get to the litter box, and I couldn't wait till she was done, so I did it in the corner. She wasn't mad because she knew I didn't mean to do it. That was the day I threw up in 3 different piles too. I was due to see a vet anyway, so I might as well go and get better, and get my other stuff too. I'm due for my rabies, my bordatella, and a fecal worm check. Since they have to check for worms anyway, they can hopefully find out why my tummy is upset. If it's more worms somehow, they can give me medicine. If not, they may have to do a blood test to see what else it could be. And they said that if I'm too dehydrated when I go in, they may keep me for the day for some IV fluids. I don't wanna stay there all day! So Mommy has been making sure I get fluids. We hope it's enough!

I can't wait to see what Mommy, and her Mommy and Daddy got me for Christmas this year! I hope it's something yummy!!

Time to go rest. Busy day tomorrow! I'll update when I can about what the vet says made me sick.

Catnip Wishes and Happy Holidays to all!

~Luna~

Upcoming move...

Well, it's been a busy busy year! The kittens are growing, and have decided that tormenting and chasing me are a fun game. The nerve! They like to come downstairs and play on MY cat tree! They even get up on MY mommy's bed! I try to hiss at them and bop them in the head with my paw, but they don't listen.

Mommy has been packing things in boxes!! She says we're moving to Hickory to live with Brian sometime next month, now that they are engaged. She promises that there will be a balcony where I can go outside and lay in the sun and watch the birds in the trees, like I do here. As much as I don't want to live with the kittens, I'm not sure how happy I'll be moving. Brian is ok, he doesn't pick on me or be mean to me like the last one we lived with did. But I know I'm going to miss the rest of the family here. Mommy says we're coming back here to stay for a week to visit at Christmas though! All the packing still makes me nervous though... I don't like things that are different, I like it when things stay the same. But Mommy's really happy, so I'll have to make it work.

Also, Mommy has uploaded some pictures of me (and the kittens too) to www.icanhascheezburger.com! If you want to check those out, they are under the user name LunasMommy. Here's a link to her profile page on there: http://cheezburger.com/pictures-by-LunasMommy/
Mommy has been laying in bed a lot lately because she's been really sick. She caught a really bad flu, and it hurt her lungs too much so she had to go far away to the hospital again last week. She's still on home I.V., but she's getting better! It gives me lots of time to cuddle with her since she's not going many places. Unfortunately, it gives the dog a chance to cuddle with her too. But I try to make sure to get on the bed first, so that I can have the pillow. Speaking of which, it's time to go snuggle!

Catnip Wishes,

~Luna~