Saturday, April 25, 2020

The unannounced foster - Suri


Last month I saw a post by a kind of local rescue group on Facebook asking if anyone was willing to foster a kitty with chronic diarrhea. She was a nine-year-old kitty and the owners took the kitty to the vet multiple times trying to fix the problem and couldn't so they elected to rehome the kitty instead.

One look at that face on that post, and you KNEW I was a gonner..

*Not the actual FB photo

I mean, seriously..

Since I have a history of "curing" uncontrollable diarrhea with diet change alone, I literally didn't think twice about it. I saw that someone else had reached out to foster, so I figured it was superfluous, but still, I raised my hand and said I was available, even though I totally wasn't (my foster room was full)

Not sure how it all worked out, but I found myself driving nearly an hour and a half to pick her up at the vet. Not that I minded one little bit


When I met Suri, she climbed right up on my shoulder and snuggled in. Whenever I would hold her that is where she wanted to be. She had been suffering from diarrhea for over a year and was down to just under five and a half pounds. She was obviously tired and not feeling well but she was an absolute love. She had also been shaved due to some pretty severe matting. She still had some on the bits that were left long and we worked on those in the weeks that I had her.

The vet recommended food they didn't have on hand and medications they didn't have on hand, so I packed her up and brought her home and got her what she needed. Unfortunately, the food that was recommended she could not eat. I don't know why, as I was told she was kibble fed prior, but when she put it in her mouth it simply fell out (the vet said her teeth were fine). I offered her a can of food to see if it was the kibble that was the issue or if she just wasn't hungry and she scarfed the can down so fast she threw it right back up. It was then that I started her on the "Connie's protocol for diarrhea of unknown reasons" aka raw food. I was very fortunate that she loved it and took to it right away since she was nine years old and had a history of eating kibble and older kitties have a well-earned reputation of being "picky*" when it comes to food.

*they aren't being picky, it is a long complex set of survival skills, often combined with foods sprayed with flavorings that have actually been shown to be addicting. It is very complicated and picky is just too simple of a word, but this is a whole 'nother post, so "picky" will do.


Unfortunately, my homemade raw chicken diet didn't seem to help. She did put on a little weight, but the litter box was still far from good. Years ago, I had another kitty with gross stools and the holistic vet I worked with at the time recommended food with either pork or white fish because they were better for this sort of thing. (Honestly, I don't remember exactly what she said, if it was better digestible, or if they were "cooling" foods, etc.. she was awesome but it was a VERY long time ago) so I thought I would try a raw pork diet. Suri took to this as well.

In a few short days, there was marked improvement. Not great, but no longer puddles and the obnoxious amounts of gas in her digestive tract, that you could hear rolling through, were gone. She thrived on the diet, producing a solid looking stool pretty quickly after starting it and getting up over six and a half pounds*. I think she has a bit more healing to do and in time will put on a little more weight, but she was healthy enough to put up for adoption.

*The actual story is a little more complicated than this with a few more twists and turns and detecting to come to the conclusion I did, but this post is getting long enough and it really doesn't change things in the end


Suri continues to be a love.. I mean a "I have to have half an hour of snuggles before I will even consider eating" love. I mean a "you seriously have nothing better to do than to snuggle me so get down here now" love.

My heart both ached and rejoiced at the time I got to spend with her. Some of you might be wondering why I didn't share her with you while she was here. The truth of the matter is I simply could not bear to hear people tell me "oh, you should adopt her" or "Oh look at how much she loves you!! You can't give her up"

See, not only am I trying to not adopt right now - for several personal reasons - but because of her obvious food restrictions (we accidentally fed her chicken a couple of times and her gut had serious problems with it) she simply would not have worked out at Casa de Gato. I loved her, I love her still, I enjoyed every single solitary second with her and when time came to give her up it hurt.. badly.. (she went home with a few too many things so she would have a small bit of me for at least a little while)


Her new family reports she is loving on them as quickly as she loved on me. She was unimpressed with the family dog and found a nice sun puddle to lay in for a while. I am absolutely thrilled for her and am very glad she spent a small part of her life with me.

18 comments:

  1. What a sweet girl - and what a wonderful thing you did. (And I do not blame you for one minute for keeping her a secret!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope her new humans keep her on Connie’s magic raw diet. She’ll be beautiful when her fur grows back

    ReplyDelete
  3. She looks just like my Junia! Bless your heart, Connie. You are a true hero!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nebelungs are beautiful kitties. I bet your Junia is a lovely kitty

      Delete
    2. She is beautiful! You did such a wonderful thing!

      Delete
  4. Awww. Can't blame you for doing it on the QT but so glad you figured her out and she got a second chance.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We’re glad you were able to get her diarrhea under control...and that she has gone to a good home. We hope she does well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I totally understand why you had to foster her... and I totally understand why you had to give her up. Many, many years ago, my human wound up with a cat for a few weeks that needed a home, and she was the most awesome cat you could imagine. But for a variety of reasons, most having to do with the cat family dynamics at the time, there was no way she could keep her. She did go to a good home, but the good-byes were tearful. (I think the cat cried a little too.)

    BTW, my human's dad's cat, Smokey, had some serious digestive issues not unlike Suri's. Fortunately a raw, non-chicken diet helped her (other than the chicken, there were no other restrictions). When my human's ex took her to Nashville, he continued her diet, and she is still thriving, and has the best life ever.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Way to go -- nice detective work. I hope it was as rewarding as it sounds. And I TOTALLY get the undercover fostering. I am on a short fuse about that right now. To the point where I'm even past "people mean well". I see it all the time on our fostering page. It's like people forget what "fostering" means. Giving them up is hard enough. Adoption is a BIG DEAL with lots of ramifications, *especially* if you foster. I'm sorry you felt you couldn't share such a challenging experience. /rant.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh that was such a sweet story, so glad you figured it out. And... amazing she found a new loving home too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you for giving Suri the chance she needed. XO

    We are so happy to read that she is doing well in her new home!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's wonderful you could help her with her diarrhea and foster her ! We're so happy she found a forever home ! Purrs

    ReplyDelete
  11. She was blessed to find you

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am glad you were able to help her I wish I could send my mom's 14 yr. old cat to you. She has had chronic diarrhea for 2 years. Even prednisone isn't helping.

    ReplyDelete
  13. "Goodbye is the goal"
    People telling you that you should adopt really aren't helping, are they?
    When Chuck was having intestinal issues, the vet prescribed some food that I refused to feed him; that list of ingredients was nasty! We found a limited ingredient food that settled him down, and fed him that until the end when his heart gave out.
    Sometimes, it's trial and error, but your wisdom saved Suri! Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  14. We are so glad you put forth the time, effort and love to get Suri on the right track. Our Oscar has had chronic diarrhea for the ten years he's been with us, but only now that he is going into CKD has he lost weight. He is still soldiering on and is a crabby as ever, so we keep on loving him .

    ReplyDelete
  15. I’m not surprised you felt connected to help this beautiful girl and am so glad you used your expertise to help her get better. She is a lucky girl to end up in your care, as no one could do it better. You are the Anne Sullivan of sickand distressed cats. 💜 Thank you for all you do to help cats and share your adventures and knowledge with us.
    Pearl & Mom 🐾

    ReplyDelete
  16. Beautiful girl! I hope her new pawrents are feeding her as you were to ensure she continues to do well.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...