Home again , Home again jiggety jig!

Hi all!

Okay - the best news first - Bijoux is home and doing well. Thanks so much to everyone who has been asking about her - it is so nice that other people care about this wee girl too!

She and I are learning the fine art of tube-feeding but she does seem happier to be back in familiar surroundings.

Since being back she has been laying in the sunshine by the patio door, scratching on the scratch post, chasing flies, curling up with the other cats, and just generally being a normal cat. The other cats think her t-shirt is interesting (she needs it to keep the feeding tube in lpace and still) but it doesn't seem to phase her at all - we tell her it makes her extra special to wear clothes!

The other news is that my foster beagle Luna (Balloona) had her babies on Saturday.

Wayyyy too much excitement - I hope your weekend was a bit calmer!

ttys, Shelly

Ups and downs and ups and - well you get the idea...

Oh I am beat (and I am not even the one who had the surgery!!!)

Poor wee Bijoux just has to keep us guessing...

Yesterday when we went to visit her she was looking better. They had put an e-collar on her because she was up and around, and trying to groom herself. Grooming is a no-no right now but nice to see that she was feeling well enough to want to try! They had removed the chest tube, were weaning her off of her pain medication and everything was moving forward well. Except that I thought she sounded a bit odd - slightly wheezy...

The vet said that she had been planning on doing a chest xray anyway. Sure enough - what we had been fearing - Bijoux has fluid in her chest.

So today, they reinserted a smaller chest tube to drain off the fluid - and it appears that there is a bit of infection. She is already on antibiotics, so they may have to change the type she gets. She is also back on painkiller (a milder type though) and she does have a fever.

Esophageal surgery usually has a 3 to 5 days danger period and I was so hopeful - since we are now at the 5 day mark, but I guess we will have to keep worrying for a little longer.

Thanks to everyone who has worried along with me. I will certainly let you know how she is tomorrow...

Shelly

What a week!!!

Wow - this has been quite the week!

First of all - I spoke to the vet this morning and Bijoux is doing quite well. Hurray!

Yesterday they took out her chest tube and she seems much more comfortable now. She is getting out of her bed and using her litterbox, sitting and looking around a bit more. She is still on IV and the feeding tube, but seems to be breathing much better and having less pain.

I will be going to visit her tonight and I will give her gentle hugs from all of you, and let her know how many people are wishing her well!

THANK YOU!!! to everyone that has been asking about her her, and huge thanks to everyone who has made a donation to help cover her vet bill. I really appreciate it!!!

Although I have been quite preoccupied with this little girl, the rest of the program hasn't stopped moving along. I had quite the surprise yesterday when I picked up the sweet little beagle I was supposed to be taking to the vet for her spay. She was - ummmm - how to put this delicately? - very, VERY fat!

As it turned out - she is very, very pregnant. Not that I need another project!

So is there anyone out there who has been thinking of fostering, has whelped a dog before and is feeling like this might be the time to join Project Jessie as a foster home? If so, please let me know as I would be very grateful...

I don't know if it was a planetary thing, or just sheer, bad coincidence, but this was a bad week for many creatures we know.

Buddy, the gorgeous big blind fellow that often helps out in the Animal Alliance main office passed away on Tuesday after losing his battle with nasal cancer. His picture is above - isn't he beautiful! I hope he is happily chasing chipmunks at the Rainbow Bridge - free from any more pain...

One of the budgies from the "great Budgie Caper" of last spring passed on Tuesday as well - rest in peace dear girl...

And on Wednesday our own rescue hedgehog Thistle was found dead in her bed - having passed in her sleep. She was at least 7 - so an older girl in hedgie terms - but it was a real surprise as she had never been ill and was vibrant and energetic to the end. We will miss her very much.

So that's it for the moment!
I hope that all is well with you and your own feathered, furred or finned friends. Have a lovely weekend and I will let you know how things progress in my world!

(((hugs)))
Shelly

Still hanging in ...

I went to visit Bijoux today and was told that she was not doing well...

As soon as I started to pet her little head, she looked up, opened her eyes wide and started to purr. The vet was surprised as they had never heard her make that sound before. (She has a funny little "chirpy" sound instead of a normal purr).

Anyway, she seemed very tired but was certainly more perky once I came to see her.

I told her about all of the well-wishes and how many people were rooting for her and I am sure that she understood.

Thank you for caring! I will let you know how she is doing tomorrow...

Bijoux - the day after...

Wow - what a roller coaster ride...
The good news is that Bijoux is still alive, but there are a few bits of baddish news and she is not out of the woods yet...

The summary version is that she spent 5 hours under anesthetic yesterday. The doctors were amazing and did their very best to try and help her. She basically had 3 specialists working on her the entire time.

As I explained before, the diagnosis was Vascular Ring Anomaly which is quite rare. Of those rare cases, about 95% of the time the issue is called Persistent Right Aortic Arch (PRAA). Of the remaining 5% there are 7 other conditions that could cause the same symptoms, only 2 of which need to be addressed by going in on the other side of the heart...

Well - you can guess what's coming can't you? Sure enough - our rare girl did not have PRAA, nor did she have anything that could be fixed from that side of the chest. By the time that all possibilities had been explored and ruled out she had been under for almost 3 hours.

The other thing that was very apparent was that her esophagus was packed solid with "gunk". The vets could not believe that she had been able to eat at all (She has been eating one to two cans of diluted wet food every day), and they could not move the solid mass of stuff out of her esophagus.

The decision was whether to continue under anaesthetic and do a second, entirely different surgery to remove the mess in her esophagus - or to let her die on the table without recovering her.

She is such a feisty girl, with such a will to live, that the decision had to be made to give her another chance...

Sooooo - they started the second surgery - a small incision in the esophagus. They pushed from the bottom and tugged from the top and eventually pulled out a solid "tube" of hair, partially digested food, and unidentifiable gunk out of her. (Imagine something like you would fish out of your bathtub drain and you would be pretty close...)


While doing this, the endotracheal tube popped out - which meant that she had no airway...
While one vet worked to reinsert it, Bijoux's heart rate slowed dramatically - the other vet needed to start open heart massage to keep her heart going. Once the tube was back in everything perked right back to normal - It was very close though.

Bijoux now has a feeding tube in place (hopefully short term only) to bypass the part of her esophagus that was opened, and allow it to heal. Apparently esophageal tissue does not typically heal very well, so she is still in danger of infection, tissue breakdown, or other complications. She is in the ICU unit and receiving the best of care though.

The good news is that once the stuff was removed from her esophagus, the constricted area could be seen to be larger than previously thought. As long as we can manage to keep her esophagus fairly clear, she should be able to eat much better. The bad news is, that since the vascular problem is on the other side of her heart, the likelihood of it being fixable are very small - even if she could survive another big surgery...

Of course, the extra surgery has pushed her bill up too. I think at the moment we are looking at around $2500, but if we had been doing this anyplace else we would be around the $10,000 to $12,000 mark - obviously we are getting a VERY good deal, even though it is still a lot of money...

So please, if you pray, or can send healing vibes, thoughts and good wishes her way it would be much appreciated. The next few days will be critical and then we will see where we are at.

Thank you to everyone who has phoned or emailed asking about her. The fact that you are following her story is very touching and really, really helpful!

I hate to even ask, but the bills are there. If everyone reading this could consider making a one-time special donation of $10, $20 or whatever just for her, it would go a long way to covering her bill. You can access our online donation page through the Project Jessie website http://www.projectjessie.ca/ or directly at https://wwws.vex.net/aac/jessieform.py
She is a great little cat and we are really hoping she will make a full recovery.

Thank you for caring!
Shelly and Bijoux

Bijoux's Surgery - today...

We are just about to leave - wish us luck today!
Thanks!!!

Back to school and back to normal?

Phewww! The kids went back to school yesterday across most of the province and I *hope* that means that things will be getting "back to normal" for people and that cat adoptions will pick up.

Over the years, I have noticed a real rhythm to adoptions:

Spring is usually okay for adoptions of young creatures but slower for the adults - almost everyone loves the babies...

Summers are slow because people are planning on going away on holidays and a new companion wouldn't fit in well...

Fall is usually fairly stead for adoptions of all sorts until just before Christmas...

Then people are looking for kittens and puppies - usually for the wrong reasons - as gifts or surprises instead of thinking about the lifelong commitment they are making. Occasionally though people are looking at that time because they have no parties and travelling, they are off work for a week or more and they are thinking it is a good, quiet time to bond with a new friend...

Winter is often slower as people cocoon up inside...

This year has been incredibly slow for cat and kitten adoptions. Not just for Project Jessie - but for every rescue and shelter that I have talked to. People still aren't getting the spay/neuter message and I have no idea why.

In this country we kill over a million healthy dogs and cats - every single year - simply because they have no homes.

It is incredibly sad and totally unnecessary...

So - if you are thinking of adding a new dog or cat to your home - Please adopt! If you are close enough to adopt through Project Jessie of course we prefer that! If not, please visit your local animal shelter or humane society and DEFINITELY make sure that the animals you live with are spayed/neutered!!!

It is safer and healthier for them, and better than producing more babies that won't have homes....

Shelly