Well, this weeks post was going to be all about me telling you of the excitement of my first walkies but as we all know sometimes other things come along and take priority. This weeks post is now going to be about my big sister Mia as this week she’s been poorly. I’m sorry that there aren’t as many photos as usual but this week but I’ve been worried about my big sister s haven’t taken many plus no-one wants phots of them not looking at their best On the internet for everyone to look at!
It all started on Monday evening when mummy and I got back from our regular evening walk (I promise I’ll tell you all about my walkies adventures soon). Daddy was telling Mummy about how Mia had been sick after having eaten her dinner, this isn’t particularly unusual as we do all get fur balls from time to time. The problem was that during the rest of the evening Mia kept being sick 🤢, mummy and daddy kept helping her and I tried to help as well as I didn’t like her being ill.
Well we all went to bed and thought things would pick up the next day. Mummy and daddy got up in the morning and did the usual routine, them getting ready to go to work, feeding Me, Peppar and Mia with me there to‘help’ them and then seeing them out to work. I spent my usual day at home, trying to occupy myself whilst they were out and waiting for them to get home. They got home, mummy first as usual and then daddy, mummy checked on Mia and she was talking to her, asking her what was wrong, Mia had been quieter than normal all day but I could tell mummy was getting worried. When daddy arrived home they were talking about Mia and because I have such good hearing I could tell from their tone of voice that they were worried about her.
I thought that I could do my bit to help, if I could get Mia to play then maybe this would make her hungry (I know it makes me hungry) so I tried really hard to get her to pay. I think I was doing something wrong as she wasn’t running away as much for me to chase her, she seemed different and I could tell this even without my eyes. Daddy and Mummy’s tone when saying ‘NO Jenny’ was different and I was confused by this. We had our normal late night food put down and again we all went to bed, mummy and daddy were reassured that they had seen Mia drinking and mummy gave her a bowl of cat milk. This should help give her fluids as well as some sustenance, as she’s old she needs to keep her fluids up, I know this from my life on the streets. If nothing else you must find water to survive, food comes second.
Again we went to bed and unknown to mummy and daddy Peppar and I kept an eye on Mia through the night. She had taken to sleeping in some unusual places hidden away behind the cat post or under the table. This was ok for Peppar but made things a bit difficult for me as she wasn’t in her usual beds.
The next day when mummy came in from work she went straight into the spare room to ‘the cupboard’ this is where the carrier is kept, we all know this as we’ve all been in it at some point. I (and all other cats) always make sure we know where you humans keep the carriers so we can run at the first indication of it coming out! Well this time it was for Mia, I was kind of relieved it wasn’t me as I have bad memories of carriers and cages but I also didn’t want Mia to have to go in it either. After mummy left daddy came home and fed Peppar and I, later mummy came back, Mia wasn’t happy at all, not with Peppar, Me or mummy and daddy, I recognised the smell of ‘the vet’ on her and felt sorry for her. Again most cats know ‘that smell’, it’s one of fear of the unknown, loneliness and pain but, also relief from pain in many cases. Peppar and I left her alone as much as we could. Mummy opened some special food for her (tuna and freshly cooked warm chicken) and sat with her trying to hand feed her, I don’t think she was very successful. I wanted to have mummy’s attention as I had missed her and we hadn’t had our walkies but then on the other paw Mia wasn’t well so as Peppar said I must take a backseat and let Mia have the attention, it’s so difficult though when your young like me but I still have Peppar to play with and help me understand. He is quite wise as he has been through this before when Misty was ill with Mia advising him on how to behave, plus he loves his big sister too. Another restless night with Peppar and I keeping watch.
Mummy got up early the next day and spent some time with Mia to try to get her to eat, drink and hopefully perk up a bit but Mia just wasn’t interested, daddy came trough and tried but again nothing, she just hid behind the cat perch. Then the had to reluctantly leave for work. Later on mummy came home and again went straight for ‘the cupboard’ this time though I wasn’t scared for myself but for Mia, I knew it was her that would be going into it. I was right mummy said hello to us all be went to Mia and scooped her up gently, Mia grumbled but didn’t have enough strength to put up,her usual fight. Sadly though as mummy walked down the corridor Mia wee’d (a lot). I was so shocked and I thought Mia would be in trouble as it wasn’t very nice to wee on mummy, I was wrong though, mummy was very calm and spoke gently to Mia stroking her and saying “it’s ok Mimi, never mind, let’s get you better, it’s ok”. She put Mia gently in the carrier, got changed, used her wet clothes and some clots to cover the mess and left. Daddy came in a bit later and seemed to know what was waiting for him and proceeded to clean everything up, he washed our bowls and got everything ready whilst mummy was out. Then daddy’s phone rang, I could hear with my super hearing that it was mummy and she was on her way back. When she arrived back there was no carrier! Where was Mia, what had happened, what was going on? What had I done to Mia? I felt really bad, was it my playing with her that made her ill?
I had my first night at home without Mia, it was very strange and I don’t really like it. I can pick up on emotions and they are running high in the family at the moment and I can pick up that everyone is worried about Mia. Mummy and daddy feel that part of their family is missing. The next day, Saturday they got a call from the vet and they sounded quite worried and upset. I heard them talking to each other, they said that Mia still wasn’t eating despite her blood tests, blood pressure and temperature all coming back as normal. The vets had put her on a drip but hadn’t been able to get a urine sample (which is quite important apparently) as when they went to take it Mia urinated on the towel she was sat on! I think thats her defence mechanism – try to do something nasty to me and I’ll wee on you! My defence mechanism is farting! If you pick me up when I don’t want you to I tend to fart and a really smelly one as well just to be sure!
Anyway they went off together to see Mia, they took a big bag of goodies to try to persuade her to eat. It was all her favourites, tuna, salmon, dreamies, yum-y-yums, cat milk, catnip treats, thrive dried chicken, everything they could think of to tempt her. If nothing else it made my mouth water! They came back a while later but still no Mia, I heard them saying she had eaten a very small amount of salmon, a few dreamies and a bit of the thrive. It’s a positive step but not really enough to sustain a big cat like my Mia although she was trying to drink. Having given her some cuddles and a good chin rub, talked to her and reassured her a bit they came home. They left all the food with Mia so she can try some tonight or tomorrow if she doesn’t pick up then the vet said they’d have to put a feeding tube in her, I’m not sure what that is but it doesn’t sound very nice so I hope she just gets better by herself so she can come home to her family. I know all too well what it’s like to be poorly, away from your family and feel all alone.
Today they went back to see Mia again. Before they went mummy went to the shop to get some more tinned fish as the vet had phoned earlier and said that Mia hadn’t eaten after they left yesterday, he suggested pilchards or mackerel in tomato sauce. They had given her another appetite stimulant so hopefully this one will do the job and they also managed to get a urine sample from her without being wee’d on! Hopefully this will show what the problem is. Mummy and daddy were gone for ages, they said that they had spent a lot of time with Mia, she was pleased to see them and wanted cuddles, chin rubs and kisses but no interest in food…they tried all kinds of special treats and all of the tricks of the trade to get her to eat. They tried putting it on her lips, in her mouth when she meowed, the nurse even warmed some up but nothing, no interest at all. She was just happy to see them and be out of the cage she is being treated in.
Just when they were about to give up With the food she started sniffing at the dreamies, then sniffing again, then she ate one! Mummy and Daddy were so happy, they gave her another one and another one – she ate 6 in total, it’s not much at all but for Mia it is such good news. I was so pleased to hear it when mummy and daddy told Peppar and I how Mia was doing when they came home. Sadly though 6 dreamies isn’t enough to let them bring her home so she will have to stay a bit longer. 😿
Whilst all this has been going on I’ve been doing my bit to help out, I’ve been doing my job of playing with mummy and daddy whilst Mia is in the hospital to keep their minds occupied. They give me so much and this is my first chance to repay some of their kindness. If I’m not playing with them I’m generally just chilling out with them either from one of my beds behind the sofa or from under the tv where I can face them to ‘watch’ out for them and make sure they’re ok.
I keep wondering if my youthful exuberance when I try to play with Mia has contributed to her being pawly 🐾 but I only do it because I love 💖 her to the moon 🌓 and back
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Jenny’s Story 
I hope she gets better!
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