Disruptions In A Kitty's Life

Yesterday as my closet was being torn to shreds due to a broken water pipe, I had my kitties held up in the living room with the door closed. Or at least I thought I did. It was a stressful day here at my home, for everyone. In my almost 100 year old house of course nothing went as it should with these repairs. I’d thought Lacey was locked up in the living room with Finnegan but to my surprise after almost seven hours, after all were gone and I was left to clean up the mess, Finnegan found her hiding behind the stove in the kitchen. She’d never done that before and I had no idea whatsoever she’d been there all day. I felt so awful because she was slightly dehydrated, scared, hadn’t gone to the bathroom, eaten or drank all day. It took several hours for Lacey to calm down last night and get back to normal, and she’s a healthy kitty. Today did not go well either due to more plumbing issues but this time Lacey was locked away in the proper room with her food, water and litter box and is doing just fine.

This brings me back to the day that Alex had her feeding tube inserted. We’d had men here for almost two weeks blowing insulation into the walls. It was loud, highly disruptive and especially scary for her. All went well at the vets that day. I was so happy and felt something had finally gone right with her. Things usually went wrong; she’d either have rare side effects that called for a trip to the ER or her medications weren’t working. I was in the car on my way home when my mom called to tell me there was an “incident” in my living room and I needed to leave her downstairs with them. That was a huge understatement as I came home to find my living room COVERED in insulation. My walls were covered, my ceiling, carpets, my brand new furniture, everything. It even exploded into the kitchen there was so much of it! Apparently the outside wall leading into my living room gave way and this was the result. They had no idea this was happening and just kept going. Of all days for this to happen! Oh why that day, why did it have to be that day? I had to leave a poor drugged up Alex downstairs in her carrier for a bit while the guys stayed to help me clean it up as best as we could. They felt horrible about it and stayed an extra two hours.

Halfway through cleaning I brought her upstairs and put her on a blanket in my bedroom closet to get her more comfortable. Besides all of this, she was due for her first feeding and not only was I not ready for it, it was the first time I’d ever done it. We were all so exhausted, I was extremely upset and trying hard not to show it in front of her; she was already stressed out enough. The workers were not done for almost another week and the strain did not help her recovery at all. It was a tough situation that could not be helped but I know it hurt my girl’s chances for a full recovery. The very loud and constant drilling into the side of the house, the hammering and pounding, the strange men walking in and out, the dust, etc.; none of that did her or myself any good. Any small disruption to even a healthy kitty’s life is difficult. But this kind of jolt to a severely sick kitty’s life can be, and was, catastrophic.

Alex seemed fine for another couple of weeks after they were gone so her death came as a complete shock to everyone. She seemed to be healing well, even the vet thought so. But I do think the stress was too much for her. I’ll never know for sure if this had anything to do with her sudden passing but I do know it didn’t help. After my experience with her I will never put a sick kitty through that again. If you have a sick pet it may be best to bring them somewhere else more quiet and comfortable while any work is being done to your home; maybe a relative or a friend’s home that has no other pets and is nice and quiet. That in itself will be disruptive to their schedule and comfort level but it’ll be less so than having them terrified because of loud noises and strange people. Or if possible, seclude them in a part of your home that is far from the noise and indoor traffic. Just make sure keeping them calm is a priority.

Life throws us many a curve ball, some we can’t do anything about. But you’ve got to be prepared when you have a sick furbaby because things are bound to happen and unfortunately, they usually do. It’s just too easy for them to have setbacks as they are more fragile creatures than we ever thought they were.