Thank God in heaven, I was able to capture her. She has lived a long life here, and I am sad that it is over. But I am so grateful that she didn’t fight or bite or claw. She was simply a limp rag in my arms as I put her in the carrier. When I think of how feisty she’s been in her life, how many times I’ve tried to get close to her, and been unable to. I am just grateful to God that I got her away from Crazy Eyes as well as this extreme weather that we are still experiencing.

I also wanted to add a later note: when I dropped off MK at the vet (because I couldn’t get an appointment) I was told that Kotas liver study came back perfectly normal. He has no liver damage! The problems stem from his allergies,  allergies can cause seizure-like behaviors. That was money-well-spent to learn that. I am sad to say goodbye to feisty Old Girl, however, I am so relieved to learn that Kota does not have liver damage

Recent developments in the last few weeks regarding Old Girl has clearly shown me that she is about ready to call it quits. For the last week she has allowed without interruption in the morning when I’m feeding, to let me pet her, without becoming aggressive. Although this thrills me that I am able to do this. I know deep in my heart. The only reason I’m able to, is because she’s ready to give up. That coupled with the fact that. Crazy-Eyes aka Grim Reaper is now buddy-buddy to her,  becoming almost inseparable. Is another clue that she is reaching the end of her life.

His method in the past, is to buddy up to a senior kitty, or a kitty in distress. At first, it looks like he’s offering comfort and companionship. However, this is just an allusion. His intent is to weaken the cat in question. He does this in several ways. He steals the food. I have seen him in the past knock over water bowls, he will also even though he’s neutered, and all my cats are spayed and neutered. He will also mate with the females, and he will fight the nails, the same way that they fight when it is kitten season, and the Toms are fighting for dominance over the females. This morning,  he stole her food. I chased him away and gave her some more wet food, standing over her so that she could eat it without him interfering.

I moved a top-end cat carrier into the back room of the shop where she sleeps and eats. Inside are all the tools necessary for me to capture her and get her safely into the carrier and into the vet. I wish I could say that I would be able to do that today, but I know better. She has to get used to seeing the carrier there with the top open, before I could make another move on her. I am hoping by Monday I will be able to do this peacefully. Just pick her up and put her in the carrier and take her in.

That’s the plan, but when you work with feral cats, plans can go awry. So we will just have to see. It’s almost an advantage to not even plan ahead of time, it’s likely to be accomplished quicker if I don’t think about it and I just do it. Because if I go out there and I’m poised to actually capture her, she will be in tune with that no matter how bad she feels, and she will bolt.

Yesterday, Kota spent the day at the clinic. He had his tests, the bloodwork will not be back until Monday. He did not have one seizure type activity the entire day. This led my vet to tell me that he believes what is wrong with Kota is allergies. I know that I have a dog that seems to be allergic to the world, I also know that allergies in dogs can cause seizures. So I hope he’s right. Come Monday when the results are in we will see what they reveal.

He was given a Cidapoint injection. This is given to highly allergic dogs, and it lasts for a month. My vet kept telling me that every time he looks at Kota’s face, all he saw was “long suffering.” I have to agree in the last few months. Kota has looked miserable. His coat is growing in all different directions as if it doesn’t remember how to grow properly. Since coming home, Kota has  just slept. No seizure type activity has shown up.(Knocking furiously on wood as I type that). He is not flat, he is just exhausted.

Monday will be the target date when we find out what the bloodwork reveals or what it does not. I will hope and pray that there is no true liver damage, no liver shunt, or any other cellular damage to his liver. I also want to add that this morning Kota’s coat looks a lot better than it did yesterday. Right now he’s curled up on his couch and he’s asleep but he is responsive.Fingers crossed, prayers, flying that this is indeed, just allergies. Allergies can be managed, liver damage not so much. I just want to thank the person that sent cat food recently here. It was a great blessing to receive it. Please know we are grateful.

Kota’s seizures are getting worse. I had hoped the gabapentin would make a dent in it, and for a few days it did, but last night basically all hell broke loose. Initially, I contacted the clinic to find out how much the cost of the Bile Acid Assay test ran? I was told that it was $128, which since it would follow the day after payday, was doable. I scheduled a test for this Friday.

I just got a phone call with an apology that the new clerk did not factor in the bloodwork. So the entire cost of the test would be $258 meaning an additional $130 ins needed in order to get this done. This test will confirm whether or not Kota has a liver shunt or some other type of cellular damage to the liver.

I do not want to increase the current vet debt that we owe. My goal was to pay for the whole test upfront. If anybody is so inclined to help me raise these funds, please follow your heart. I know he’s not a cat, but he is my soul. He has been my constant since Michael died, He saved my life twice.

What the vet really wanted to do was a full ultrasound which they don’t do in the clinic, they have a van come in and do the test. That test is $700 and that is way out of reach.

Last night was really rough on both of us. The vet is so puzzled because nothing that he has seen on the video or anything that I’ve explained to him fits anything that he’s ever encountered. so they’re going to keep Kota instead of just a few hours like the normal test would do. They’re going to keep him for the day and I will pick him up in the evening before they close.

I’m so sorry to ask this. I just want some sort of an answer as to what’s been going on with him for over a year now. I also want to make him better.

Thank you for listening,

With everything going on regarding Kota my brain is more than scrambled. I made an error and was wondering if somebody would be kind enough to send me $40 so that I don’t have to pay an additional NSF fee for my mistake. I was able to come up with most of the money needed to cover my mistake but I’m $40 short. The cat food is on its way here and I can’t stop the delivery. Thank you. I’m a bit overwhelmed at the moment.

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.