Dad is devastated. and I'm also worried about Harvey. He and Stinky were very close. Harvey took care of little Stinky throughout the hurricane Katrina catastrophe, the unpleasant relocation to california, and the re-adoption process in berkeley. Dad says he's never seen such a caring, protective big brother as Harvey. and stinky reciprocated with his own brand of brotherly love. they were inseparable; the dynamic duo. amazing.
Harvey is having a difficult time. He watched dad take Stinky out the front door in a carrier on that dreadful day, but Stinky never came back... and it seems to be driving Harvey crazy. He doesn't understand where Stinky went or why Stinky isn't here now.
Napoleon "Stinky" (Pumpkin) passed away this afternoon at the vet hospital. He was resting peacefully after a difficult week of medical tests and treatment for what eventually appeared to be FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis), a fatal disease that can be tricky to diagnose. I am terribly, terribly heartbroken. i will never get used to the pain of losing a little one. but i am very proud of Stinky and am comforted by his grace and composure throughout this past week. He was brave to the very end.
Napoleon (originally named Pumpkin) and his "brother" Harvey (originally named Spidey) were both rescued from Hurricane Katrina by Hopalong Animal Rescue in 2005. Unlike Spidey, young Pumpkin was sickly and emaciated from having consumed unclean water and been abandoned in the aftermath of Katrina. But Hopalong found them, nursed them back to health, and put Pumpkin and Spidey up for adoption. Pumpkin's adoption picture (Right) included this bio caption: "He has a loud sweet purr and aspires to grow into his ears." It is a wonder the two kitties weren't adopted the moment they became available. But Josh & Sarah hit the lottery-of-life and were fortunate enough to adopt both kitties from Hopalong's mobile pet adoption site on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley. Upon adoption, Josh & Sarah renamed Pumpkin and Spidey to Napoleon and Harvey, respectively. The four of them lived together with current foster parent, me ("Dad"), in my Berkeley apartment for about a year. To say the least, I had grown very fond of both kitties during this time. For several good reasons (and one bad one), I affectionately nicknamed Napoleon "Stinky." Harvey and Stinky aren't blood relations, but they behave very much like close siblings. There have never been two kitties who were so comfortable, caring and trusting of each other as Harvey & Stinky. They routinely cleaned each other and loved to snuggle up in the silliest positions during cat naps. In 2006-2007, Harvey and Stinky moved with Josh to Fremont and San Jose. Due to incompatibilities in living arrangements, I was asked in April 2007 to foster them. I had just lost my baby, Waify, on April 11... and I was still recovering from her sudden departure. i still couldn't believe she was gone. nevertheless, i recognized that Harvey & Stinky were in urgent, dire circumstances and there wasn't any time to waste, so I agreed immediately and wholeheartedly to foster them! I had missed them so much! Soon, I was reunited with Harvey & Stinky! Surprisingly, H&S remembered me. There was very little, if any, re-adjustment period. It seemed like they had been living with me all these years. And I was relieved to discover that they LOVED my new home! Since then, Harvey & Stinky have been living happily with Waify (until she passed away), Sonar, roommate Hannah, and me in a spacious apartment (a.k.a. "Kitty World") in SF. That is, until last Thursday when Stinky began showing signs of illness. After a week of battling sickness, Stinky eventually succumbed to complications from FIP today. Sadly, we had to euthanize him this afternoon sometime around 5:40pm at San Francisco Veterinary Specialists. I was with Stinky during his final moments of life. I was devastated, but I comforted him and made sure he knew that he was loved very much by many people and many kitties. Stinky was a true gentleman and prince throughout his life, and he departed it just as he had lived it.
Words, pictures, videos... nothing adequately describes what a wonderful little creature Stinky was. He loved to play fetch. Yes, FETCH! When he'd see me grab one of the little sponge soccer balls, Stinky would get so excited that he'd make silly noises which sounded very much like barking! (I'm thoroughly convinced Stinky was a dog in a former life.) As a kitten, Stinky was smart enough to hunt down a bouncing ball and bring it all the way back to me, even if i had tossed the ball down the spiral staircase to the living room downstairs. (see video below.) Simply amazing! Sometimes I'd be working on the computer when I'd suddenly hear Stinky's unique, elongated, delicate low-to-high-pitch whine, "mrrrreeEEooeewwRRrrwwwr" ... which roughly translates to, "Will you play fetch with meeEEee?" When I would turn around to see what was happening, I'd find that Stinky had dropped a ball at my feet and was looking up at me with his big eyes. If I was busy and didn't hear him the first time, he'd quietly go fetch another sponge ball from the other room and try again. I still feel badly about this one time when I was deeply entranced in my work, and I barely noticed hearing Stinky's repeated calls to play fetch. After several "mrrrreeEEooeewwRRrrwwwr" cries, I finally realized that he had been trying to get my attention. I turned around to find an anxiously waiting Stinky surrounded by 6 little sponge soccer balls! :)
We were all so blessed to have Stinky in our lives. He brought much joy to many of us--especially me. Stinky was a sweet, gentle, silly, playful, funny little kitty. I will miss him dearly.
Thank you Stinky. You are my angel.
-Dad
Here's a picture (right) and a video (below) of Stinky playing fetch. He was such a smart kitty.
stinky has been in an emergency overnight clinic and several vet hospitals during the past 6 days. his condition is getting worse, and i believe he may need to be put to sleep later today.
last thursday, stinky was very lethargic and did not eat much, which are very uncharacteristic behaviors for him. On friday, i took him to his vet in Oakland, Thornhill Pet Hospital. it was located 30 miles away, but i was desperate and knew they had his medical records and were already somewhat familiar with him. Dr. Yang ran blood, urinalysis, and xray tests on him. the results were very... varied, confusing and frustrating. the results revealed many different minor anomalies and explained some of his symptoms, but none of the results could definitively point to the exact root of the problem. however, each of the 5 doctors we've seen has mentioned that FIP is a possible--almost probable--cause of the problems. FIP is fatal.
Dr. Yang sent us home with two oral antibiotics and a saline drip. i administered these twice a day for two days. it has been pretty difficult. stinky doesn't like having the antibiotics dropped into his mouth. i feel so bad doing it. On Sunday night, stinky's temp hit 105.7. So i took him in to an overnight emergency vet clinic, All Animals Emergency. they were able to successfully lower his temp to 102.1 with an anti-inflamatory drug, Medicam. it's very potent. only 0.06mL per day. All Animals is a strictly evening-only clinic. Dr. Graff said stinky needed to be taken straight to his regular vet when All Animals closed at 8am. Since it looked like several more visits to the vet may be needed, i decided to switch to a local vet instead of returning to Thornhill. Especially Cats was my choice, and i'm glad i chose them. Both doctors that stinky saw were EXCELLENT: Dr Alviar and Dr. Benfatto. They're both very patient, gentle and caring. The vet techs were great as well. Stinky stayed there to be monitored throughout the day. I felt very comfortable leaving him there.
I took him home that night, but he would need to return the next day for re-evaluation and possible removal of the IV catheter in his left paw. his temp hovered around 103-104 even with the Medicam. He did eat a good amount of his favorite wet food, Fancy Feast - Grilled Chicken/Beef/Turkey. (Regardless of flavor, "Grilled" is his favorite variety because it looks & feels like real meat. Although a bit torn/shredded, the meat is still in chunk form, unlike other wet foods which look like mush.) It made me very happy to see him eat that much, even though it was probably only 1/2 to 3/4 of his usual meal size.
when we returned the next morning, Dr. Benfatto looked at him and we both thought it might be a good idea for stinky to stay there again that day. Dr. B also referred me to a specialist at SF Vet Specialists that will give Stinky an ultrasound. (Dr. B miraculously pulled some strings to have my appointment (originally for NEXT friday) get bumped up to this morning at 9am.) Stinky's temp rose and fell throughout the day yesterday, hovering around 103-104 again. things weren't looking very good when i picked him up at the end of the day. he started to have shakes/trembling and his eyes were completely dialated. he looked dazed. Dr. B said he may soon start to have seizures. I took him home, and he just looked dazed the entire time. I comforted him and reminded him how much we all love him. Harvey & sonar helped with the reminders.
this morning i took him to SFVS, and the initial diagnosis from Dr. M wasn't conclusive--like the diagnoses of all previous doctors. it is very difficult to pinpoint exactly what's going on even though there are numerous symptoms and a multitude of irregular test results. but Dr. M did make it clear that there are very few possible "good outcomes" remaining. today's ultrasound should shed some light on what's causing all this. of course, we're hoping it's bacterial or some other treatable illness. but the odds are against that. FIP or cancer seem likely.
i know you've heard this many times before, but everyone please pray for stinky. he's very sweet and gentle. he's just an angel.
I've been giving Stinky antibiotics and IV fluid for a couple of days now... and it's still not easy. He's done it enough to know that he definitely doesn't like it... so i usually have to use 8 of my 10 fingers to hold Stinky while the other 2 are used to give him the medicine drops or stick the IV needle in. I feel so bad when I do this. He clearly doesn't like it.
Left: a pic of Stinky being cooperative while a saline solution drip is flowing into him. When he tries to get up or move, i quickly hold him down and make sure the needle doesn't come out. Usually i keep petting him to soothe him and keep him occupied.
Giving him the antibiotics orally is challenging as well. I have to turn his head back so that his mouth points upward. This is necessary because the liquid from dropper must flow downward directly into Stinky's mouth. If his head is not tilted up, the liquid will simply flow along the outside of his gums and out the sides of his mouth. Stinky dislikes the taste, so he resists the upward-turn movement and refuses to open his mouth. I gently pry his mouth open with my pinky finger... and delicately drop the antibiotics in through the narrow opening between his barely open teeth. I know when it is successful because Stinky will immediately start "licking his chops" if the liquid reaches his tongue. It's actually an adorably cute sight.
The other challenge with the antibiotics is the number of attempts needed per dosage. One of the antibiotics comes with a dropper that holds a max of 1.0 mL. But each dosage is 1.5 mL, which means I need to refill the 1mL dropper at least once in order to reach the 1.5 mL dosage. The other antibiotic also requires two attempts. The dropper's capacity is half of the dosage amount: 25mg & 50mg respectively. This means i have to make four attempts to orally administer all of these antibiotic liquids... and each successive time gets harder as Stinky recoils and resists even more after each dropper has emptied. And like i said, Stinky doesn't like any of this. But he's been a real gentleman about it. He never tries to bite or claw me during medicine time. At most, he'll lick and gently nibble my fingers to show his disapproval, but never any malicious biting or clawing even though he is in perfect position to do both. This is quite extraordinary. Stinky truly is a sweetheart.
Stinky's temperature has dropped 0.5 degrees (assuming the Vet's thermometer was accurate and my thermometer is accurate) since Friday's 105... but his behavior hasn't changed. He still sleeps in the same bed all day long and doesn't move. He doesn't have much appetite either.
At the suggestion of the vet, I gave stinky a "cool bath" earlier today in hopes of lowering his temperature. Although only paws and facial area are able to absorb/release moisture, i decided to give him a full body bath anyway. the bathtub was only filled with about an inch of water, but i hand-scooped water over his body. His fur wasn't completely saturated, but i think it was enough to at least slightly cool his overall body temp. Stinky did spruce right up when i put him in the tub. :) Lively kitty! The bath cooled him down for a while, but his temp seems to have gone back up over the course the day. (I've been taking his temperature rectally... which--you guessed it--he doesn't like.) I toweled him down as much as i could, but i guess cat hair just doesn't dry well. It took a few hours before the "wet look" went away. For supermodels, wet look = good. For sick kitties, wet look = not so good.
as always, harvey and sonar are both raging with the cat-equivalent of teenage/adolescent human male testosterone. they (play-)fight constantly. Unbeknownst to me (a mere human), the green light for the hide/hunt/ambush/wrestle/kill game is never turned off. It's on till the break of dawn.
...except if one of the combatants is unable to fight.
Even when Harvey & Stinky have been all worked up and in the midst of one of their fight-to-the-death wrestling sessions, they have never attacked Stinky while he's been sick. Believe me, they've approach Stinky and gotten up in his face to sniff him as if they were about to pounce on the sickly kitty... but they always just sniffed Stinky for a second before turning around and resuming the Battle-of-Epic-Proportions with the other healthy feline opponent.
I'm glad to report that Harvey & Sonar have been very gentle and courteous to Stinky in the past few days. It's such a display of kindness and sweetness that it pulls some very deep "heart-strings" when witnessed first-hand. I am so proud of my 3 gentlemen.
There must be some un-spoken rule among cats that states, "do not attack a brother if he is sick or wounded."
Sonar demonstrated the same restraint when Waify was sick. Again, you must believe me when i say that Sonar very much wanted to wrestle Waify. (At that time, she was his only wrestling-mate. He had no one else to ambush except the occasional fly/bug.) But when Waify became gravely ill, Sonar somehow knew that she was in some life-threatening trouble and was in no shape to tussle with him. He simply approached her, sniffed her, licked her, then meandered elsewhere like a true gentleman.
Stinky is very sick. He has a high fever and elevated white blood cell count. His "third eyelid" is showing. He's been lethargic and sleeping most of the day, barely moving from his spot. The only comfort is that he is still eating a little and he isn't hiding yet. but he doesn't look good.
the vet is having me administer two types of antibiotics orally (drops) and also injecting fluid under his skin twice daily. the fluid will help hydrate Stinky and, along with the antibiotics, hopefully bring his fever down.
early this morning, as i was still sleeping, something very heavy walked/climbed onto me... gave me a mean look... then fell asleep on me. here's a mugshot of the offending party.
