Our daughter has wanted a new cat all year long, and, as I mentioned in a recent post, we brought home two new kittens about six weeks ago. They were a few months old and we adopted them from a local feline rescue organization. My daughter has been ecstatic since they came home with us in late August.

This past Saturday morning when I woke up, I got out of bed and went to my computer. As I left my bedroom, our two cats were waiting outside in the hallway, which is pretty common. At the first sign of someone stirring in the morning, they head to the door, waiting for it to open so that they can announce that they, too, are awake and ready for another day.

As I passed them by with just a glance, I said something like, “hey, cats” and went on my way. I needed to check on some stuff from work that I’d left going when I went to bed. A short time later, my daughter was up and came to report that one of the cats - her cat Katie - was “not wanting to walk and just lying around.” A cat just lying around? That’s what cats do, I told her.

A few minutes later, I noticed Katie walk by, a short distance, and then lay down again. It was clear she wasn’t herself. And, she was breathing very fast. I picked her up and she was practically limp in my arms. Not active at all. There was something wrong.

After observing her for a short time and then calling the vet, we took her in a few hours later. Almost immediately upon looking her over, he was almost certain that the problem was “haemobartonella”, a blood parasite. Basically, she was losing blood without bleeding, as the parasite was killing her red blood cells. The prognosis was grim - there’s a pretty good chance she won’t make it. My daughter was heartbroken upon hearing the news.

It was remarkable that Katie changed so rapidly. The night before she seemed perfectly fine, but by morning she was seriously ill. There were a few different options, including giving her oral medication at home and hoping for the best. The decision, however, was to keep her at the animal hospital for several days, and allow the vet to treat her with injections and try to get her well enough (and eating and drinking enough, as she was dehydrated) for us then to take her home and continue with oral medication.

We said goodbye to Katie, wondering if we’d see her again. Sunday morning a call from the vet came - she’s doing fine and made it through another day, which was about as good as we could hope for at that point. Monday afternoon, I called to check on her again. The news had improved greatly - she was eating, much more active, and clearly feeling better, he said. He wasn’t willing to call it a success just yet - it could still take a turn for the worse - but he felt like we may very well be over the hump. She might just make it after all.

Shortly after the call, after picking up the kids from their schools, we went by for a visit. Katie was noticeably feeling better, looking much more like her old self. While she still looked a little rough (still discolored from the jaundice), she was much more active and her breathing had returned to a more normal rhythm. We were very excited to see her in better health. The vet informed us she may very well be able to come home on Tuesday.

And, as it turns out, that was the case. On the way home Tuesday, I picked up Katie at the animal hospital and brought her home. My daughter had made her a “welcome home” sign, and everyone was glad to see her home, especially her brother, my son’s cat Oreo. The vet was very pleased and even a bit surprised at her rapid recovery. She’s not completely out of the woods yet - this could still come back at a later time, apparently - but for the time being she seems to be headed in the right direction.

Of course, treatment is not complete. She has to take oral medication, and he also had given us the same oral medication for the other cat because their was a chance he had the same thing. So, both cats are now on medication - 1/4 of a pill and some oral drops once each day. For both cats. For two months. That’s right - 60 days. And, as we all know, cats just love taking oral medication.

Nevertheless, it’s gone quite well so far. The cats are showing less resistance each day, and so it’s been a success as far as I’m concerned. Two months is a long time, but hopefully the cats will continue to remain healthy and avoid any more extended stays at the animal hospital.

We are grateful that Katie made it. I’m probably more grateful for my daughter’s sake than the cat herself. After begging for Katie for months, the last thing I wanted was to have her lose her so quickly. Thankfully, Katie is pretty much back to her old self again, and there has been much rejoicing in our household.