Bean's Progress

Here is the latest on Bean! It's been a crazy week of up and down emotions and lots of uncertainty but as it stands today, things could not be better with Bean. She has beaten the odds and is on her way to recovery.

To sum it up: Bean got a fever and was then found to have severe heart disease. While at the vet, she threw a clot to her spine. She was paralyzed and in pain. We brought her home and in 3 days she has made an incredible recovery. She is far from out of the woods and not 100% but the clot has dissolved. Her long-term prognosis is still not very good, her heart disease will not improve. But for now, she has a quality life and is a very, very happy cat. And I'm very, very happy too!

Here's what the past few days have looked like:

Sunday: Ghislaine takes Bean to emergency vet. 106 fever, given lots of fluids. No diagnosis

Monday: Goes to regular vet. Fever, fluid in lungs, needs oxygen tent. In critical condition. Viral or infection of heart or pancreas?

pm: Goes to specialty clinic. In oxygen tent, light fluids.

Tuesday: Fever coming down, still needs oxygen, light fluids, spiked glucose. Stable condition. Viral infection?

Wednesday: Fever resolved, glucose spike resolved, very weak. Stable condition but concerning that she still won't eat. Begin force feeding. Viral infection?

Thursday: Fever resolved, paralyzed back legs. Won't eat. Critical condition. Diagnosis: Severe heart disease has thrown clot to the spine. No clue what caused fever. Some chance that clot may dissolve in time. Prognosis extremely poor. Steph comes home.

Friday am: Bean comes home. Very weak, paralyzed. Licked tuna juice but won't eat. Vet not happy we're taking her home. Bean, on the other hand, seemed very happy to be home - purr-baby.

afternoon: Won't eat. Drinking well. Pees on doggy diapers. Purrs lots.
pm: Back legs are warm again. Ate tiny bit. Peed when put in litter box.

Saturday early am: Back legs are moving, able to curl up.

am: Wobble WALKED to corner of room and peed. My bad, didn't have litter box nearby. Licks food, not really eating. Drinking well.

pm: More alert. Ate a tablespoon of food. Try to guess when she needs to pee, she goes when put in litter box.

Late pm: Left downstairs for 5 minutes before being brought up to bed. Was found on stairs. Walked across entire house and up 5 stairs. She had no intention of sleeping downstairs alone at night!

Sunday am: Walking around a bit - not wobble-walk now but old man strut. Stretched back legs weakly. Drank tuna juice. Won't eat.

afternoon: Using litter box on own. Licks food, won't really eat.

pm: Walking a bit. Alert. Won't eat.

Monday am: Bean is hungry! She ate more than a tablespoon of wet and then went for kibble. No pain meds required today. Vet visit. Vet staff can't believe recovery. Bean showed off by jumping onto the couch seat in office! They took the tubes out of her paw. Vet says Bean is one of a very lucky few. Happy, Happy, Happy.

So Ghislaine and I are trying to plan out the next week or so while she gains her strength. She is still weak and can't navigate going down stairs too well and jumping is limited. So we have a kitty condo where she can be kept safe and sound (will post pic when back to FL). Thank you Anne! And we have pet stairs for the bed and couch for when she is ready to use them.

I can't even describe how grateful I am to Ghislaine for taking such good care of my kids and for being so willing to go the extra mile in taking care of Bean! And thanks to all my friends for caring so much, it means A Lot :)

My plan is go back to Fort Lauderdale on a red eye tomorrow night. Unfortunately, I've noticed that George is limping on his back leg, it's subtle but it's there. So we're going to the vet this afternoon. Please let it be a muscle strain... Will report back on George when I know more.

update: just a muscle strain for George we think. Sigh of relief.