Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I had a little girl kitty who had three strokes. The first she recovered completely form, except for maybe a little deafness in her ear. About 6 months later she had another, and that one left her with a little bit of a funny sideways walk, but still had decent quality of life. The last one 11 months after the first was the final. She was almost 18 when she left us.
I'm glad your girl is home with you and slowly improving. I know that feeling of missing some of their little ways, but many of those ways will come back, and even if they don't she is still Herself. xx
I haven't been checking in regularly and came on the site looking forward to hearing how Zoe was doing with her cone off. I am sooo sorry to hear the news. I am hoping that she gets better real soon.
Hi everyone. I started this thread to talk about Zoe's mast cell tumor, then surgery, now stroke! I thought the surgery was bad, this is so much worse. She had the cone off one day before this happened. My husband and I both wonder if it's because of the surgery that she had a stroke - but she didn't even undergo general anesthesia! And it doesn't matter anyway, this is where we are now. We did the best we could, didn't want her to get cancer or lose her toe or even foot.
She's better, but I have this fear she'll never recover. I give her 1/4 tablet Amlodipine 1x day. It happened Tues night sometime and I discovered it Wednesday morning. Today is Sunday, so it's been 3-4 days however you want to count them.
She sleeps most of the day, getting up a few times to drink, eat, bathroom, then back to sleep. Which isn't all that far off from how she was before. She's walking better, but really struggles jumping to the couch. Before, she'd jump twice that height easy.
I bought her stairs on Amazon. Our bed is much higher than the couch.
I worry. I wonder if I'm doing right by her. I check on her all the time. In the morning, I brace myself against what I might find. Am I crazy? How do I relax?
I will tell you I'm grateful that the silver lining in this pandemic is that I get to work from home and therefore be with her and take care of her. Thanks for listening.
I worry. I wonder if I'm doing right by her. I check on her all the time. In the morning, I brace myself against what I might find. Am I crazy? How do I relax?
I will tell you I'm grateful that the silver lining in this pandemic is that I get to work from home and therefore be with her and take care of her. Thanks for listening.
Thanks for the update.
You're not crazy, it's all perfectly normal. When my little girl had her first stroke it was agony for me to leave the house each day for work. I never went out for anything else for weeks if not months. I worried she would have another as soon as I walked out the door. I rushed back every chance I got just to check on her.
After a while, as she began to improve (it took a while, few weeks at least) I got used to the situation a little and did start to relax a little. It started all over again after her 2nd stroke six months later, but since both happened at the same time, early in the morning, I worried less about it happening when I had left the house. (the third and last also was an early morning event)
Start talking to Zoe about it all, if you aren't already. Tell her to let you know when she's had enough. Sounds like she is doing okay for now. My girly slept a lot too.
But when she was awake she had a good quality of life, even letting her beloved Red Boy play with her. He was twice her size and half her age but they were inseparable. He was so gentle with her..she would position herself so he could pounce on her. He would stalk and pounce, but because he was so much bigger than she was he could land on her without even touching her. So he would pounce, stand over her, then gently wrap his paws around her and sort of fold himself to the floor taking her with him.
I came looking for an update. What could you possibly be doing wrong by her? If she's sleeping, I'm not surprised. She's had surgery, spent a week in a miserable cone, had a stroke, and now she's on meds. It's a lot to take in and you said she's older. Just love the heck out of her and see how it goes. It's only been a few days.
But then, you've been through all those things, too, and I'm not surprised you're full of anxiety. I think if she's eating and trying to do her normal things like jumping on the couch, let her work it out. She's home, she's eating, and she's not in pain. Have faith.
Today she's doing a tiny bit better. More purring, a tiny bit less sleeping, but not much. Her walking is the biggest improvement.
I hear what you all are saying about letting her recover, asking her when she's had enough. But jeez, she went from being a crazy active, extremely young acting cat - to this. She'd run all over the house, jumping and sliding on the wood floors. She'd jump on my bed, almost as high as a dresser. And now, she spends most of the day curled up on our guest bedroom bed (much much lower than ours). It's just hard to see. And sometimes I do wonder if it's my fault. Other times I know it's not. And most of all I mourn how she used to be and probably won't ever be again.
Is 1/4 tablet of Amlodopine going to dope her up? I know it's a BP med, so might make her sleepy. But that sleepy? I guess she did used to sleep all day before. I was hoping she'd get used to the BP.
We are supposed to take her to our usual vet for a checkup. But ohmygod the thought of putting her in a case again. I really think I have ptsd, so imagine how she feels. It hasn't been 7 days yet. The VCA told me to get her checked on 7-10 days. I feel like pushing it to 10. Is that bad? See what I mean? I'm constantly asking myself, am I doing right by her? Or am I being selfish? agh!
I should mention my work. My bosses have gotten horrible. Sending awful nasty-grams by email. Putting a ton of pressure on me and I'm drowning in work. I'm happy to have a job - but the stress. It's adding to the Zoe stuff.
I try to focus on gratitude. How lucky I am that I get to see her, and that she is improving. How lucky I am that I get to work from home to be with her. As catsmom21 talked about, I don't have to leave the house every day (not good that it's coronavirus keeping me here, but you get it).
Amlodopine can cause extreme sleepiness. And if she's used to you working all day, yes, she probably sleeps a lot while you're gone. Let her adjust to the medication. You sound like you have a lot of stresses, other than the main one we all have now. Remember that Zoe doesn't have that. She's home, she's safe, she's improving, and she's not worried about ANYTHING.
Hi NYC, thanks for telling me that. The tech who gave me the med said it *might* make her a little drowsy. She made it sound like there was a slight chance. I give it to her at 6pm. But I'm guessing it's in her system for a long while after that and yes, she's used to me being gone all day - altho that hasn't been the case for 3 weeks now.
I keep talking about how grateful I am, and that's true. I know a lot of people are without.
I didn't realize that by working from home my bosses were going to get meaner. I'm honestly worried that one wants to fire me. I think that stress definitely makes me feel that Zoe's situation is larger than it is.
This morning I went to wake her up as usual - she was already awake! Also, she's sitting with her legs curled under, upright - a favorite position of hers that she couldn't do earlier because of her limp leg. I take this as a huge positive sign.
See, she is slowly getting better. I know how you feel about "she used to do this" and "just the other day she was doing that". Aside from watching them suffer (which I am not saying is happening here it's just a general comment) watching them age or cope with an illness that changes their behavior is the hardest thing.
It's s struggle to get yourself to the point where you accept that this is still her, to not grieve for the loss of special things she used to do that she can't any more.
Some of those endearing behaviors that made her so special may be gone, but you have the memories of them, and she is still there, loving you, she's just entered a new phase in her life. She may invent new special to her behaviors that you also will enjoy and remember with fondness. Let her guide you in how she wants you to respond. You can introduce gentle play and see what she is interested in and capable of.
Sorry about the work situation. Get yourself some rescue remedy, I find it very helpful dealing with work at home stress. Remember that your mean boss is also dealing with unprecedented pressures, and she may be taking it out on you but it may not be anything to do with you. Think very carefully about if you are doing everything you can, and if you are, then try to let the hassles glide over your head.
I absolutely loathe working from home. Every day when it's time for me to tackle work or deal with my boss I get sick to my stomach, short of breath and chest pain. My boss is lovely, but nothing makes any difference, I find it all so stressful it is making me very sick in the head. She's stopped calling me I notice, and is dealing with issues mostly in e mail. I wondered if it's because every time she calls me I have a break down over something. (I'm also wondering if maybe she's become ill and isn't telling me)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am hoping that she gets better real soon.
