Yesterday, Walker made a delicious dinner of roasted chicken and garden salad. When we sat down to eat, Ernie came running, begging as she always does for her share of the chicken. She actually likes salad, too, but cutting it small enough for her is a pain so she rarely gets it. Anyway: I wasn’t fast enough dicing her meat up so she showed her impatience by putting her feet up on my leg and letting out a wail. I looked down at her and about lost my lunch - her left eyeball looked like it was full of blood.
It wasn’t like that when I went to bed that morning, so I figured she had injured herself somehow during the day while Walker and I were both asleep. I immediately called the vet, who agreed to see us right away last night. I called my office to let them know I would be late and bundled Ernie into her crate. Off we went.
Ernie is a bit of a novelty at our vet clinic, as she is their oldest feline patient. They are all amazed at how well she gets around and how feisty (read: mean) she is. Four and a half pounds of mouth and attitude, that one. Bless her heart. Ahem.
So they started their exam while I sat on a bench and watched. There was a lot of fighting and a lot of hissing and a lot of spitting. There was a little peeing on people and a very little sitting quietly. In the end, the tests were done and the news is not good. The bloody eyeball is caused by an infection. The infection is caused by cancer. They can treat the infection with eye drops but it will keep coming back, since the cancer isn’t going anywhere. My poor little girl. The vet said she believes the eye is painful. I got the drops and put some in immediately, so Ernie should be getting some relief soon.
I asked about euthanasia but the vet said what I have been saying: Ernie has too much fight left to give up on her right now. She is not ready to go yet. We're taking it one day at a time.
If it isn't one thing it is another with that poor baby. I would think it would be painful. As long as the drops take care of the pain, that is a good thing. My daughter had a cat that was 19, She just got to where she slept most of the time. Her favorite spot was on some bedding Lorri on a shelf. One day they heard a thud and she had passed on and her body fell to the floor. That was really hard for Lorri but she died in her favorite place.
ReplyDeleteBeing new here it sounds that Ernie has it made living with your family. It is difficult watching our pets get older and getting sick. I hope she gets relief with the drops.
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you and thanks for dropping by my blog!
Jim
Oh Ernie. You poor little thing. I am so sorry to hear about the eye. It is so sad that there is nothing you can do to fix this except for the drops. If that gives some relief, it is better than nothing. She is feisty. She will fight. Let nature take it's course. Hopefully you have MORE time together than not. Take care.
ReplyDeleteI hope Ernie
ReplyDeletegot some salad
after all that
nom~nom~nom
Oh thats terrible, my pets are like my babies. I hope she can be helped. I hope you have the funds to be able to help her. its hard sometimes when you want to be able to give them every chance, but the reality is even if you have them money to spend, which in the past I havent, there is no guarantee it will work. goodluck and thank you for visiting my blog.
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