Amaretto Kearns Cruciger

13/05/2023

The mind sees what it wants to see and, tho Ami has been gone for many months, I was doing housework and when I walked past Beauregard’s bed? There she was, and looked up at me. And then she wasn’t.

It stopped my day for quite a bit. I hadn’t been thinking about her right then.

And now I wonder 🤔 because it’s probably just heart visions. But if she could, that would be where she would be. When no coercion can get Beau to go to his bed, maybe it’s because she’s using it. 😉

29/04/2023

From the archives.

24/02/2023

https://www.facebook.com/721394081/posts/10160588344324082/?d=n

11/12/2022

Ami passed away in my arms, just after 9 AM this morning, after a long illness.

I wish I could tell you what was ultimately wrong with her. Many many vet visits and tests never revealed what set off the lung damage and labored breathing.

I miss her more than anything.

24/11/2022

24/11/2022

Ami is now on twice a day Theophylline and a steroid. They are blended by the pharmacy into a topical application so I don’t have to shove pills into her. I have scars 😉. A lot of them.

The vet and the radiologist do not think she has cancer because the lung damage has not changed over time. She breaths from the hips which is how you can tell it’s more work for her.

She’s starting to eat more. Her weight actually went down to where she was when she first moved here. 11 pounds. Her max weight was 14 so she had reserves to get through all the treatments and illness.

I’m hoping she gets a pound or two back on and her mojo back.

One day at a time

No idea what caused this but she had pneumonia, definitely and that can leave permanent damage like what her X-rays show. We don’t smoke. The other cats are fine. She’s never outside. It’s a mystery that I’d like to solve.

29/10/2022

This is her current breathing, much better than earlier today.

29/10/2022

Miss Ami is back from a day at the Vet.

23/10/2022

New box. Ami is not 100% and still has hard breathing episodes. I’m going to get her a shot this week and see about getting an inhaler. Good days and bad days. Gaining weight back. Still snuggly.

24/09/2022

Older photo of Ami because she’s not co-operating today. That’s my hand after recent medication drama. 🙃 She’s improving daily, eating well, has reclaimed her territories. I think the lung damage is permanent and she’ll need theophylline every day so we need to get a system that doesn’t result in me ending up in the ER.

I’ll take her back in a few weeks for an X-ray to see if the lungs have improved

13/09/2022

Slowly improving. Vet visit Friday. Still breathing fast periodically but eating and getting around better.

06/09/2022

06/09/2022

I successfully gave her her pills 💊 this morning without 🩸 bloodshed. I just think that should be recorded for the histories.

31/08/2022

This is hilarious. The vet, after Ami started feeling better, said she was spicy. I guess it’s a vet thing.

The spicier the better

29/08/2022

New box

26/08/2022

She’s home, eating and on the road to recovery. Lost a lot of weight in short amount of time.

22/08/2022

Ami is ready to come home ❤️‍🩹

She ate last night. IV lines are out. All meds are now oral.

Going to fetch her in a bit.

22/08/2022

The real Ami is back and so she gets the cone. Still not eating. Still in the hospital. Still no idea what she has, but she’s more herself and that’s a small relief. But she has to eat.

I am reading Animal Farm to her. No bad kitties 🐈‍⬛ so far.

20/08/2022

I think she’s a little better today. Not eating but I asked them to syringe feed her a little to get her started.

I sat with her for two hours. She’s not super happy about being in the hospital but moving around, snuggling, standing, looking around.

We are giving the new drugs another day to measure progress.

No meows. She’s a talker so … when I hear her talk I’ll feel better.

Tomorrow is everything.

19/08/2022

Unfortunately, Ami’s situation is still quite grim. I went to visit her today, will go down tomorrow and Sunday … with bacon 🥓 and treats. She’s not eating. She’s not improving.

We are trying one more thing before calling it cancer. If that treatment doesn’t work there aren’t many other options, if any.

Cross fingers and toes that this next treatment turns the corner.

She has a new box 📦. That’s not the treatment but … she could be 19 toes inside heaven and would turn around to claim a new box.

19/08/2022

Ami’s X-rays do not show any improvement in her lungs after treatment and the doctor is afraid it may be cancer. She still has not eaten. She does the same on oxygen as off.

Going down there to see her and maybe bring her home.

If it’s cancer then steroids in pill form will treat the symptoms but obviously there’s no cure.

19/08/2022

Have not called for update yet because doctor isn’t in until 9.

Something her vet said yesterday was kind of humorous… to me anyway.

They have a cat behaviorist working with Ami because she seems depressed. The behaviorist was watching wild bird videos with Ami to perk her up.

I did tell them that the only reason any of them can get close to her when she’s under this much stress is because she’s really sick. Their days of being able to touch Ami are numbered 😉. And I hope sooner rather than later but it depends on her eating.

18/08/2022

Update: heart ultrasound was normal. Extra test of enzymes? was normal.

Crackling in lungs points to Pneumonia so she’s getting a second antibiotic to treat for that more aggressively.

Vet thinks she has asthma and that contributed to the pneumonia

Giving her an appetite stimulant to entice her to start eating.

When the pneumonia is gone and she eats, that’s the golden ticket home. She’s still very sick but improving and the heart thing is less of a worry. Still waiting for blood work tests to come back on that.

18/08/2022

Doctor says she’d rate Ami as 30% improved. She is breathing better but still not eating. I told her Ami cannot resist tuna so they are going to try that.

Ultrasound of the heart later today.
Waiting on blood test results for parasites or other issues.

Apparently she does not like the night tech. He’s sad because he’s usually very good with cats.

I’m hopeful. An opinionated Ami is closer to a healthy Ami.

She’s there for another night.

18/08/2022

Called the vet hospital to check on Ami. Doctor does rounds at 9 am so I spoke to the night nurse.

Ami is active and wants out of the enclosure which is a million percent improvement over yesterday.

They did a slow hook up to the different treatments yesterday to avoid shock because the vet said when a cat is in respiratory distress to that degree, too many things, all at once, can kill them. So they got all the treatments going over a few hours and she’s hating the oxygen mask apparently. She better get used to it because that may be her daily thing after this depending on what’s wrong with her.

I’ll know more after 10-ish hopefully.

17/08/2022

Ok. Her lungs are very very bad. The vet yesterday gave her steroids and anti-parasite treatment, iv fluids and vitamin B12.

Said she might need oxygen but let’s try these things first.

This morning I gave her the steroid and she was foaming at the mouth. The drug the vet thought would improve her appetite made her much worse.

There were two options. An ER in Miami and one on Ramrod Key. Same distance but Miami ER is over by Dadeland Mall and that’s just a very dangerous area to be in after dark.

So. She’s here on Ramrod and they are treating her for everything but heart disease. Waiting on blood test for heart worms 🪱 but that’s just unlikely to be the problem.

48 to 72 hours on treatment and oxygen and if she survives tonight she may recover … I hope.

At the ER Vet on Ramrod Key

They are going to hook her up with everything possible. Her prognosis is grim tbh.

17/08/2022

At the ER Vet on Ramrod Key

They are going to hook her up with everything possible. Her prognosis is grim tbh.

16/08/2022

The last picture is a normal cat X-ray. Ami has something serious wrong with her lungs. Notice how much white there is.

More tests needed to determine what this is. Giving her meds for pain and inflammation for now.