Last week, I caved and gave Ashley her freedom. She is now joined in with the other kitties inside the cat enclosure. She decided after I had captured her up to remove the multiple mats on her, to stage a hunger strike. It was a 4 1/2 hour session. I was working on her terms, giving her rests between working on some pretty stubborn mats that she had.

I thought this approach would stop the constant pooping that she does, when she’s terrified. However, true to her form, she pooped the whole time. She pooped on me, on herself, on the floor, you name it. She pooped on it. I also dewormed her with Profender. There was one positive change though, she did not growl, hiss or strike out at me during the grooming session. I also managed to remove all the mats, and there were a lot. When I go in there now to visit, feed, or clean. She does not flee and hide, but she keeps a wary eye on where I’m at at all times.For now, I am just ignoring her.

Kota’s seizures are changing. I took him in two days ago for a repeat bloodwork and films.They ran an x-ray of his entire spine as well as his head at my request. I was looking for some interruption in his spinal column, or perhaps a head injury that might explain these seizures. All it showed is he has the beginning of spondylosis, which could either mean he has the beginnings of arthritis or he has an inflammation somewhere.

His blood work was more concerning, his eosinophils were elevated. My vet told me that this could mean that he has allergies or parasites or he has an inflammation working somewhere. I know he doesn’t have parasites. I am pretty vigilant with my animals, making sure that fleas and worms stay away.

His liver enzymes were also elevated. His ALT, SLT are quite high. This could indicate several problems. He could have a liver shunt, he could have liver, cancer, or he could have a brain tumor. My vet told me that these levels indicate he has something toxic in his liver that is not being filtered out. We discussed his voracious eating of grass in the mornings, my vet wants me to purchase a basket muzzle and put it on him every time he goes outside, so that he does not eat grass. There is also a test to rule out a liver shunt. However, Kota would have to spend some time at the clinic. I can’t imagine what that would do to him because he absolutely goes off the rails if they take him away from me just to take blood and do films. God only knows what he would do if he had to stay there over 24 hours. Plus he tends to have seizures at night. The clinic doesn’t have someone who stays overnight with the animals. They just have someone coming in to check on them and then they go away. So I declined that test. We are going to start him on 300 mg of gabapentin in the hopes that it will slow down the seizures that are occurring and help him relax. He will have another repeat bloodwork in three weeks. If his liver enzymes are still elevated as high as they are or higher then I will consider the bio acid test.

Last night was pretty scary for both of us. Normally, he has a sense of when he’s going to have a seizure. When that happens, he refuses to come up on the bed with me to sleep. Instead, he opts for his couch in the living room. Last night after the vet visit, he came in and jumped on the bed and settled down. I was grateful, thinking that we were going to have a calm night and I would be able to get a full nights sleep. I was wrong. I was so exhausted I fell asleep right away. I slept through his seizure.

I was jolted awake when he went flat after the seizure was done. He went flat and fell right on me. 95 pounds fell solidly on my shoulders, my neck and my chest. He was deadweight, unresponsive, I could hardly breathe let alone talk I knew I had to get him off me. It had to be a big burst of adrenaline because I was panicked. I was gasping for air. I grabbed the bed post with one hand and just lurched my body up. When I did that he rolled off me. I turned on the light, and I just sat up with him all night until he came back to me, which was around 2 AM .

Right after that episode was when his seizures changed. They were coming fast and furious, one after another, but they were not lasting minutes only seconds. They were coming so rapidly, I couldn’t even keep track of when they started, and when they stopped. When his flat period finally hit, it hit him hard. He zonked out. He’s been sleeping most of the day. Sometimes when he wakes up he’s here with me in the here and now. Other times he wakes up in a trance-like state, staring at something on the wall that’s not there. I know that he’s not in pain when he has a seizure. But I know he’s scared and confused.

When he is awake, he comes to me and seeks attention. He tries to climb on my lap which I couldn’t allow today because I am still trying to recover from last night. I am so sore I can barely move. My arms will not lift past my waist without my body screaming. I do know tomorrow morning I am going to be a Technicolor nightmare!

All I can do is just hug his beautiful head and tell him that we are trying to figure this out and hopefully soon he will have relief. So the wheels on the bus continue going round and round in this crazy journey we are on.