No more tubes!

I am quite happy to report that Fez's health has turned around! He had his feeding tube removed on Monday and is eating on his own. He did loose a little bit of weight but continues to scarf down an entire can of high calorie prescription cat/dog food a day. Our little fur baby is getting better!

At least it's not cancer ...

What a way to come back after a 5 month absence, huh? So much has happened in the past 5 months but I'll start with the one that has the most urgent timeline.

Our almost 6 year old cat, Fez, had lost quite a bit of weight rapidly and we noticed that he wasn't eating. On our 4 year anniversary, Ryan took Fez to the vet where he was kept for three days/two nights and received multiple blood tests, IV fluids, antibiotics and was jaundiced.

The vet suspected that Fez may have kitty leukemia but after a small liver sample was taken and analyzed he was diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease.

Basically what happens is that this disease manifests itself in a cat (there's no known cause) and causes the cat to loose its appetite. After its available fat stores are used up for energy, the liver starts storing fat - which is bad because kitty livers can't process the fat. If left untreated, the mortality rate is above 90%. This is a very serious disease which also has a high recovery rate if caught in time. The recovery time is 6-7 weeks with an aggressive forced feeding schedule.

So, Fez was able to come home Wednesday afternoon. He has a feeding tube inserted in the front of his neck that goes to his stomach that we have to administer feedings every four hours. The "food" we give him is a high calorie gruel that we mix with a little bit of water and feed him through the tube with a syringe. (I can't help but sing "Food, Glorious Food" from Oliver every time I have to feed him.)

While I don't want to be overly optimistic, Fez has been improving each day that he's been home. In the less than 48 hours that he's been home he doesn't look as jaundiced and he'll purr if you pet him gently. The last two feedings that I gave him he's actually sat up for them (a big improvement from just laying there and taking it). He even hopped off the bed and walked into the hallway looking for his food and tried to snuggle last night too. We've had to put a litter box in our bedroom since he isn't quite strong enough for the trips to the basement to relieve himself.

With his improvement, I'm glad that we didn't opt to put him down right away when we found out he was seriously sick. I know we're not out of the woods by any means - we have a long road ahead of us but I'm grateful that he's turned around and hopeful that he'll make it back to healthy soon.