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.

Maggie with Priya.

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.

Toilet obsession

As may have been alluded to in previous posts, Maggie has developed somewhat of a toilet obsession. She follows or barges her way in whenever we go, and she goes in there to howl at night to wake us all up.

She came in with me tonight and purred her heart out. I picked her up so she could watch the toilet flush, which she really enjoyed. I brought her in to my room to cuddle on my bed. She stayed there for a while, then hopped off and went out the door. I thought she might have gone down to see Mum and Dad in the lounge, but Mum Facebook messaged me asking if Maggie was up with me. I said no, that she might have been in the dining room window. I went down to have a look around and she was nowhere to be found. I could hear a faint snuffling, so I knew she was somewhere.

I opened the toilet door, and what do you know…

In her favourite place.

She came out for a bit to give Dad (who was lying on the floor trying to coax her out) some loves. I put a blankie in there so she wouldn’t be cold on the floor in there.

Loves for Dad.

Her new favourite place.

She is now singing in the shower (her other favourite spot).

Trip to VSG

Maggie went to VSG today for a check up. She was reasonably subdued on the way there and back. She actually went to sleep in the consulting room while the vet was going to fetch something for us.

Sleepy wee baby… who falls asleep at the vet?!

The vet weighed her and she was 2.64kg. She always reads a little less at VSG, but that still isn’t the best regardless. Maggie’s temperature was good.

We fed her this morning, so the vet wasn’t keen to sedate her. She took Mags away to try and get some blood to check if she was still a good candidate for the chemo, but Maggie got too ‘wiggly’ so we have to go back tomorrow after she’s fasted overnight.

The vet was extremely surprised at how well she’s doing. None of us are under any illusion that she’s fine and going to rebound from this – she won’t – but she’s ‘a trooper’ nonetheless.

We brought up about the lesions on the side of Maggie’s face, and the vet said she thought that they would have caused her a little pain before they erupted, but now that they have, she doesn’t think they’re causing her any pain at all. Tomorrow, she will clean them and have a look while Maggie is sedated for her chemo.

We haven’t given Maggie her anti-nausea pills for a while as we haven’t been able to get them. The vet gave us a prescription so we could get them from a human pharmacy if we needed to, but luckily, our vet called to say that they had received the ones sent from VSG, so Dad will pick them up after work today.

I’ve been away in Warkworth, around 76km from where I live, at a wedding over the weekend. I was concerned that, while I was gone, Maggie might fret. She wasn’t too bad in that respect, but she’s apparently been really good in others. She has developed a fascination with the toilet. She loves to go in there and yell because the acoustics in there amplify her voice. If anyone goes to the toilet, she will follow us in there and give us loves around our legs while we’re doing our business. She also loves the toilet being flushed. Nothing’s sacred in our household.

“HEY! GUYS! GUYS! I’M IN THE TOILET! HEY! I’M IN THE TOILET!”

She managed to wake Mum and Dad up at 5am on Saturday yelling in the toilet. They decided to stay up after that to watch the America’s Cup.

She’s also been going in my room and yelling, trying to look for me. She’s been very affectionate, and even made a trip outside on her own and got her feet all mucky in the mud.

“I’m here! Give me cuddles plz!”

When I got home yesterday afternoon, I gave her big cuddles in bed (not complaining – I was KNACKERED). She loved that and actually got way closer to me than she has done in recent times, and cuddled right up. However… she did wake me up periodically through the night last night. Last night she wasn’t panicked – it was more like she was wanting attention (see below video and imagine that, but every 5 minutes during the night). She went down the end of my bed at one stage and started to yell. It reminded me of one of our old cats Sara Renee. She ended up quite senile, and she was deaf, so she used to go into the hall at 4am and yell, not knowing where anyone was. In talking to the vet today, we wondered whether Maggie was losing her hearing, and the vet said that was quite likely.

Our old cat, Sara Renee, when she was a kitten.

This morning, she was still cuddled up with me. She seems a lot happier and more comfortable now, which is good. I’ll update after her appointment at VSG tomorrow.

Cuddly girl with a dirty wee eye in the morning.

I mentioned before that D’arcy was under the weather. Apparently, he came in from outside on the weekend with his back feet folded under him. Mum and Dad were scared something had happened to his legs or spine, so they took him to the vet. It turned out that he was severely constipated. A bit of stool softener and a vet’s finger up his bum, and he’s a-OK now.

Not too bad

I went home with Mum this afternoon to feed Maggie her lunch.

When we got home, she was behind the TV in the window, which has become reasonably normal for her. She wasn’t distressed, and it looked like she’d just had a drink because the fur around her mouth was wet (too much and the liquid was too thin to be drool).

We fed her and she didn’t take it well. She ate probably 1.5 syringes of food before becoming too stressed. I washed her face, eye and nose this time, and I washed them well. I brushed her face and forehead with the shedding brush, which she loves, and then set her down on Dad’s seat. She looked so content. Perhaps she only frets at night.

Left side smoooooth

Right side smooooooth

Front silky smooooooth

I had a look at Maggie’s bum (hard not to when she practically thrusts it in my face), and her anus is a bit protrusile, so I’m wondering whether her bowel is totally full and she hasn’t got the energy to defecate. She might need a stool softener. It’s not inflamed, red or prolapsed, just a bit sticky-outy. She doesn’t poo very often now, but she eats every day (albeit not on her own). That’s another thing I will bring up with the vet next week.

Poor D’arcy is a bit under the weather. He’s been vomiting a bit and had accidentally left some poos on the carpet. I caught him trying to either poo on the carpet, or drop a poo on the carpet that was stuck to his bum. Hopefully he recovers from that soon or we’ll have to take him to the vet too.