Goodbye EmmyLou

[waitingman]

Taken from us too soon... at 6 months old, only 2 months after she came to us

Feline Infectious Peritonitis - a relatively rare, but always fatal disease, took not only EmmyLou, but also her mother &, to date, 4 of her siblings from the same litter

Her sister Layla, shows no signs of the disease, so far... though it can present at any time in a cat that's infected - even months later, so the odds are against her

It's not been a great year for our animals...

Comments

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Oh hell! *hugs* to you and all at The House on the Hill.

[waitingman.livejournal.com]

Thank you Ma'am... This is one of a few reasons we've been pretty low-profile this year

[buzziecat.livejournal.com]

lj ate my first reply.

I'm so sorry to hear about the deaths of EmmyLou and her mother and siblings. Did you have the mother and the entire litter? As a fellow animal lover and especially lover of cats, I can imagine how distressed you are. You really have had more than your share of losses.
Such a darling little calico.

I hope Layla stays well and is a ray of sunshine for you. Is there any way she can be treated prophylactically to prevent the disease from taking hold? I hope so.

I wish I could do more than just write a reply. :(
buzzie

[waitingman.livejournal.com]

Hey Buzzie...

No, we didn't have all of them. We adopted EmmyLou & Layla through the RSPCA in a country town 4 hours outside Sydney - Layla is almost a dead ringer for the cat we lost last year & well, I'd wanted 2 cats, so adopting her sister EmmyLou wasn't a hard decision

Right from the start, EmmyLou was struggling... Reading the linked article on FIP, she began showing symptoms almost as soon as she arrived home, but at that time, we didn't even suspect anything beyond mild respiratory issues resulting from Cat Flu, which she'd also had & been treated for before we adopted her. But she never put on condition like Layla did (who has thrived since her arrival & is still bouncing & careening around the house as I write this) & in the last 4-5 weeks, began to go backwards - losing weight, becoming lethargic, anti-social & hiding under couches, beds... anywhere out of sight

We'd pretty much already decided she should be put to sleep the day the RSPCA contacted us & shared the news that all the other kittens from her litter & their mother, who had been adopted to different families & places, had died from the same disease & they were contacting us to find out how ours were. Well, we had good news & bad news...

There aren't really any preventative measures that have been proven effective - the disease can't even be clearly diagnosed until it's well & nastily established, by which time the best thing to do is administer the long sleep. Given their habit of grooming each other & tendency to raid each other's food bowls, it will be a miracle if Layla hasn't been infected one way or another. But, as they say... million-to-one chances happen all the time

And I think we're well overdue for one to happen to us. All 3 of us

[buzziecat.livejournal.com]

Hi,
I think you're well overdue for a million-in-one chance and I'm sending you a million-and-one positive wishes.
I know what a terribly difficult thing it is to put a beloved pet to sleep even if it's the most humane thing to do. I've had to make that decision.

i hope Layla remains well and is racing around your place.

I also hope the RSPCA has been able to disinfect their place, assuming that can be done successfully. The people there must be quite upset to see this happening to their animals. Sad all around.

Let us know how Layla is doing.
Hugs,
buzzie