I saw Tigeranne's autopsy report

I remember the vet who spayed her telling me, when I came to pick her up, that she’d been “eating like a little pig.” She also said Tigeranne had been meowing all morning and that she thought TA knew she was going home that day. I remember the downpour I drove through to get her and then to get her home. I remember how kittenish she acted, as if, now that she didn’t have to carry, bear, and nurse kittens any more, she could have a kittenhood herself.

Dear God, it hurts so much when they die, particularly if the death is unnatural. It almost makes me wonder if the love is worth it.

Kittyzee, Tigeranne was spayed by my brother’s vet in another county. This was the only time she went to that vet. She had to be checked for communicable diseases and treated for fleas and worms before she could come home to Buttercup and Penny, so I let the vet out there do everything. I thought of something else last night. Before Tigeranne was spayed, they gave her an ultrasound to make sure she wasn’t pregnant again before they spayed her. The autopsy says that her liver was grossly swollen. How did an ultrasound not pick that up?

I’m going to call and ask my vet to contact the pathologist who did the autopsy to find out exactly what “chronic” means in this context; in particular, how long does “chronic” indicate? I’m going to tell him what I’ve told you and say that I need more information. I’m also going to ask about the FIP vaccine. I quit having it administered to my cats after I read in a veterinary journal that it’s only 40% effective and an organization of feline practitioners no longer recommended its use because of that. Now I’m wondering if that was the best thing to do.

Last night Penny was meowing her head off for wet food, so I gave her 1/3 can last night and this morning. Later in the morning, I noticed she’d eaten some kibble. The receptionist/tech called to check on her. I told him what happened. As long as there’s no more vomiting, giving her canned food as an appetizer is okay.

Essence of talk with the vet:

1. There is no logical explanation for what happened to Tigeranne. He has never seen anything like this before. An infection incubating for so long before spreading throughout the organs is something that just doesn’t happen.

2. “Sepsis” occurs when the infection hits the bloodstream. Twelve days before she died, Tigeranne had a blood panel done. No signs of sepsis were present at that time.

3. Tigeranne’s death had nothing to do with FIP. In more recent years, the vaccine has been found to be even less effective than 40%. My vet doesn’t even administer it any more. He thinks it will soon be pulled from the market, awaiting the development of a more effective vaccine.

4. My brother’s dog’s death had nothing to do with Tigeranne’s death.

I suppose it would be good for me to stop ruminating about what happened to Tigeranne’s body and fix my mind on her soul’s presence at the Bridge.

In other news, Penny is eating canned food very happily, nibbling on the kibble if she gets hungry between meals, and not throwing up. If she does vomit again, she will have to go to the vet for a blood panel.

Pen yakked considerably very early Sunday morning. The man from the church who, with his wife, is clearing my home came over that evening to use my SpotBot to clean up the yakkage and show me how to use the machine. I found out that he looks upon it as a toy with which to play; he calls it “Mr. Kenny’s Car Wash.” Even after he showed me how to use it, he operated it more than I did.

Pen was having what I think they call “dry heaving” this morning, but no yakkage resulted. I’ve called the vet and told them about it, but I’ll have to take her in late in the week. We’re under a winter storm warning from the middle of tomorrow morning to early afternoon the next day. Possible 2″ snow with another 1/2″ sleet. That doesn’t sound like much of a winter storm, but where I live it seldom snows, and we don’t have the equipment needed to deal with it. The Department of Transportation goes out and throws some sand on hills and bridges, and that’s about it. After they rule out or treat any underlying illnesses, we can look at the food that would be best for her.