A very sad day…

Maggie May went to VSG this morning for her chemo, but unfortunately didn’t survive the anaesthetic.

Apparently it all happened very early on in the procedure, and very quickly; the vets didn’t even get a chance to take her blood to test or give her a proper physical examination. It was just too much for the poor little baby.

When we picked her up from VSG, she looked so peaceful and comfy. Because she died under the anaesthetic, she wouldn’t have been in any pain. Prior to going under, the vet said that she had been quite smoochie and cuddly with all the staff there, so they had given her a bit of a cuddle. I think Maggie knew.

The vet said that she’d had a look inside Maggie’s mouth, and the tumors had grown and locked her jaw semi-shut, which is why we were having so much trouble feeding her. She said that if Maggie had survived, we would have had major issues with that very soon.

On the way home with her, I kept looking in her cage, expecting her to move or snuffle, but deep down I knew that wasn’t going to happen. We’ve brought her home and left her in a place away from the other two cats until we get home from work where we will give them a chance to see her. She will be cremated tomorrow.

Getting all bundled up in a fluffy towel.

All comfy in her cage in the fluffy towel, and with her Merino blankie.

Like she’s fast asleep…

I got chicken nuggets in memory of my little chicken nugget…

I’ve told Oliver, all of my close friends, and one of my aunts (the other one couldn’t care less, I’m sure), but with Priya being in South Africa she won’t have checked her phone yet. I feel really terrible that that may be the first thing she wakes up to on her phone. She loved Maggie dearly, although she was allergic.

She was so good last night. She woke me up a few times, but she got really cuddly. She cuddled in nice and close. She spent most of the night cuddled up on my right upper arm, while my left arm cradled her. These are the last photos I have of her alive this morning. She was so comfy in bed. It was such a shame we had to disrupt her. Over the last few days she’s been yelly, discovered her love for the toilet and shower, given Dad and I loves, been quite good with her food (we changed the type of syringe we were using), has been outside on her own, demanded to go out on the deck with D’arcy, and has gotten really cuddly with me at night time. She’d had a really good night and a great last few days.

Face all snuggled in.

All comfy in bed with her arm stretched out.

Not all hunched up.

I thought I’d leave with some of my favourite photos of her. She was, and still is, our littlest bubbie girl.

Scaredy baby at her first visit to VSG.

After her biopsy.

Super cat!

Chilling outside

Cuddly before her operation.

Poor wee baby after her surgery.

A little bit later after surgery.

First proper loves after surgery.

“My Jessi came to see me!”

“Get in mah cage!!”

Cuddles first thing after she came home.

Probably booted Dad off his seat.

“Don’t leave me!”

Cuddly under the blankie on my bed.

Cuddly in her onesie.

First trip outside, post-op

Her little booboo

Enough fur brushed off her to create a whole new cat!

Snuggly with her possum tail.

Bibs for the mucky eater!

A bit under the weather.

Cuddly with me in bed.

Very yelly!

Smooshed against the wall.

Cuddly with her three favourite things: lizard, possum, and Dad’s seat.

VERY relaxed in bed with me.

Cuddly in bed.

Cuddly in the onesie OUTSIDE.

Nice and clean!

Nice and clean again!

Sleepy-byes at the specialists.

WAAAAAHHHHH! An old photo.

Lush… another old photo.

Nawwwww… a super old photo.

Weird day

My parents took Maggie to the vet last night about her face. I wasn’t there, and the information my parents have fed me is vague and incomplete, but it sounds like the vet thinks the wound on her face is actually the cancer breaking through and spreading to her skin. It seems to have calmed down but she’s lost a bit of fur there and if she scratches it again it’ll open. Dad seemed to think the vet thought something would happen over the weekend because he made sure to remind us that VSG is open over the weekend. He also wants us to call him on Monday to let him know how Maggie is.

We’ve had a weird day today. Maggie has decided that she occasionally wants to sleep next to me with her bum on my shoulder… Well, OK then.

She’s also been outside today. It’s probably been around 9 degrees Celsius today. She went out on the back deck, and I was like, “oooooh no you don’t…” and went inside and got my onesie. She cuddled up inside it on the deck for a short time, but then she got out, walked over to where I was sitting, looked at me, then walked back to the onesie. She was telling me to bring the onesie closer to me. I did what she asked and she happily curled up inside it with her face out. She stayed there like that for about half an hour. I noticed she started shivering (surprise, surprise) so I brought her inside into my room where the heater had been on. She didn’t enjoy that one bit.

Outside!

Exploring

Taking in the sights

Cuddled in the onesie

“This is inadequate…”

“Bring the onesie over here plz”

Cuddly in the onesie again

“My ear escaped!”

She’s also been sleeping in weird places like next to her water bowl, in the hall, and behind the TV. She hasn’t really been hiding, but she’s been almost seeking out places that are cool and have a wall for her to press he face against. She’s not been that interested in staying on my bed… Probably because I get my room nice and warm for her. The vet has said her temperature is fine, but I’m sure something isn’t right with it. She’s currently being restless. It’s 11:15PM now, I’ve not long gone to bed, and she’s already been up and down twice. I’m not sure what that’s about. She’s had one day where she was agitated like this but by the evening she was OK.

I’ll update if there are any changes.

Hunger strike again

Maggie’s stopped eating on her own entirely again. She still drinks plenty of water on her own, but we’re syringe feeding her. She’s dropped down to 2.95kg despite this, so we’ve increased the frequency from twice daily to four times a day. She gets a little sulky after her feeds, but it doesn’t last very long.

19125523_1289205894529306_1926966130_o — Sulking

The other night, she swallowed the tube off the end of the syringe. We’re a bit concerned about it, but we’ve taken her to the vet and the vet said that if she tries to pass it and if it’s going to be a problem, Maggie will let us know. So far, we haven’t had any issues but we’ve been super careful feeding her now.

She also gets quite cold, so we’ve been having all the heaters in the house on for her – one in the lounge, and one in my bedroom. I’ve started wearing my onesie when I take her for feeding too.

19024363_1289205837862645_1478843899_o — All cuddly in the warm.

She was having sneezing fits for a while, but that seems to have stopped so I think the tumour has further progressed.

I tried bringing her teepee up into my room and sticking my heater behind it. I encouraged her to go in there and she did go in and sit down, but she looked at me like I’d insulted her ancestors then promptly got out and jumped back on my bed and demanded to go under the covers.

Me attempting to be lovely to her.

Heh chump.

She likes having me there with her, even if she’s not under the covers with me, especially with my body heat. I think it gives her a bit of security. Last night she must have been dreaming, or was asleep and forgot where she was and woke up with a wall in her face and got an almighty fright. Luckily I was there to give her pats and calm her down, and she purred.

Her scar got a bit raw a few days ago, so we had to get her some antiseptic ointment. The ointment was red and almost bloody and wasn’t a great look for her. It seems to have calmed the scar down now though, although she’s lost a wee bit of fluff just on the right side of the scar between the scar and the bridge of her nose.

19125519_1289205941195968_210179236_o — Owwie…

One positive though, is that on Saturday she did go outside in the sun. She hasn’t done this in at least a month. Dad let her stay out for a little bit, then brought her inside and opened the doors to the front deck so she could go out.

19075005_1289205851195977_764331660_n — OUTSIDE!

Poor D’arcy still gets a little down. I’ve made sure I give him plenty of cuddles and loves. He spends most of his time on my bed until I go to bed, and then I think he goes in with Mum.

19204978_1289205951195967_1291143964_o — Poor little boy…

We don’t actually see Rosie all that much, although she’s been sleeping on Mum’s bed or on a chair in Mum’s room a bit more lately. She sleeps with Mum at night. The other night Maggie got quite upset during her feeding time and was yowling, and poor Rosie was so concerned she came out to see that Maggie was alright.

Mostly good

We’ve had a mostly good week with Maggie this week. There was a day where she seemed a bit down, but Dad gave her her anti-nausea pill that evening and she seemed to perk up a bit.

She’s been getting super comfy lately, which is good.

Smoosh… this is normal for her. She’s always liked smooshing her face into things when she sleeps.

Using my hand as a pillow.

Getting comfy in MUM’S spot on the couch.

She also made a trip outside. She had a bath, then went around the front. She hasn’t done that since she took a downward turn, and she’s also started cleaning her sides and stomach, which she hasn’t done in a while. She used to just clean her front paws. She wanted to go under the car though, so I had to bring her back around the back of the house since Dad panics when she does that.

Relaxing in the sun.

Having a bath.

She’d been rubbing her face in the grass that’s poking through the spaces between the pavers.

Surveying her kingdom.

She’s still eating pretty well. We have been giving her a mixture of soaked dry food, steak and kidney Jimbo’s (raw meat), tinned food, and the high calorie AD food from the vet. She usually just polishes off the Jimbo’s on each plate… little shit.

We haven’t had to take her to the vet in a while, but Dad’s thinking we should take her soon mainly just to get her weighed.

Exploring

Our hot water cylinder has been leaking for the last few weeks. Last night, the new one was delivered (it’s an old-school type of model so we had to find one and have it shipped from Christchurch). Anyway… the plumbers have been here installing it today. It took around 4 hours. They left a whole heap of stuff on the back deck while they were working and they had to clear out the linen cupboard because the cylinder is in the roof cavity and the entry to the roof is through the ceiling of the linen cupboard. Maggie has been absolutely fascinated with all of the goings on. She actually went outside for the first time in around a month. The plumbers had made a nice tent that she assumed was hers. When she came back inside, she had a look around in the now-empty linen cupboard. It seems today is another moderately good day. She’s also had a few bites to eat of Rosie, D’arcy and her own food (on her own), and took her anti-inflammatories this morning without issue. We also had plenty of cuddles under the covers since I was home from work.

More cuddles under the covers (in my work clothes, no less).

“What’s this?”

“Ooooh! They made me a nice tent!”

“Too bright.”

Giving me the royal bum.

Exploring the cupboard.

A sickie wee girl…

Maggie was on my bed and got up to get down. She took a few steps and then let out an almighty howl. That kind of meow is usually reserved for, “I’m really not feeling well…” She was smacking her lips, which is what our cats usually do before they’re about to throw up, so I picked her up and brought her out into the hallway. Sure enough, sick on the carpet…

I was a bit worried because Mum and Dad were out at a car show; if anything was really wrong I’d have to organise to take Maggie to VSG on my own. Fortunately, it seemed to just be fur.

It’s actually been the first time she’s thrown up since she’s been home. Our cats are usually sick often because they’ve got long fur and it’s not always possible for us to be as helpful as we’d like to be with them molting. For Maggie to have not thrown up for so long is abnormal. One time in the past, Maggie was super under the weather and whenever we put pressure on her abdomen she’d hiss, growl, or meow in pain. We took her to the vet and she ended up having to have surgery to remove a huge hairball that had obstructed her intestinal tract. Needless to say, we were both worried and relieved she was sick today.

Once Mum and Dad got home, Maggie decided she was going to go outside and eat some grass, which is also a good sign. She tried some from various places, and ended up in a patch that didn’t make her do her Stevie Wonder impression. Too bad Dad had just mowed the lawns yesterday.

She then started pacing around the back lawn, and I knew she was looking for a comfy place to do her business. Sure enough, once she found that place, she squatted and did the biggest business anyone’s ever seen. This was also a huge relief because we never see her do this, and that was worrying with the amount of food she’s been eating. Afterwards, she ran as fast as she could around the front of the house with her tail high in the air. She’s always gotten super excited after going to the toilet in the past; it’s hilarious.

Although she was a bit sick, we all view everything as being positive. They’re tiny steps back to normality for her.