Over the sixteen years of having Tiger Lily our cat in our lives she has been very healthy. As she has aged she developed over the last four years a food intolerance or some element that made her vomit occasionally but this has been largely managed by going to the vet and getting regular injections. I mentioned in a blog post how the passing of Jerry the cat brought a new renaissance for Tiger Lily. A freedom to not be bullied and to get all the attention And in her older age she has embraced that by sharing her love around the family by sitting on whoever is available.
Over Easter we had plans to meet up with some people and vague plans to maybe get away for an overnight stay but had not booked anything. We had church on Friday and had gone out to meet friends for a coffee and walk in a local park. When we arrived home in the late afternoon my son shouted out that it looked like Tiger Lily was going to be sick. We took her outside and she was in the midst of having a fit. It lasted for a few minutes and it was an all over epileptic like fit. After that she was exhausted but adamant to try to get up. She staggered up and walked around in circles. We scooped her up and took her to the emergency vet which I luckily knew about having heard about it via friends. Being a public holiday it was surprising how fast it seemed we were allowed inside (COVID restrictions still meant limited numbers within the waiting room) and we saw a vet. We were given a dire initial prognosis to prepare ourselves for the worst. It was explained that they would do initial tests to diagnose if it was in intracranial or extracranial cause of the fit and get back to us in a few hours.
We were called a few hours later with good news that tests had shown that for her age she was in remarkably good health and that her body organs seemed fine and so not an extra cranial cause of the fit but intracranial. The option was to pick her up and/or to leave her overnight for a price but then post that she should fully recover but be on watch for a future fit which might prove more fatal.
When we picked her up the next day she seemed tired but quite alert and fine. She had eaten food was fully aware of her surrounds and more or less back to her old self. We were told to keep an eye on her and within a week to go to our local vet where a copy of her discharge papers would be sent and to take her there if she had another fit.
A couple of days later she did have a vomit but then post the vet visit with her regular injection she has been fine and recovered well to live on.
Update. Going into July unfortunately Tiger Lily’s fits became more regular and so she had to taker her to the vet to be put down on July 21st. It was very sad compounded by being in lockdown so my daughter could not come home to say her final farewells to Tiger Lily. Through the vet we arranged for Tiger Lily to be buried past Geelong with a seaview in the same area as Jerry. I wonder if they ended up next to each other again. I think it will take sometime to move on and we may remain without pets for some time.
GraemeO28 Librarian and biker 