a second chance

Winston is the love of my life.  He is my main man, my best friend, and - I'm not ashamed to say it - my cat.  I adopted Winston almost four months ago, it's the best decision I've ever made.  Which is why I want to tell his story.


I rescued Winston from a local animal shelter.  Winston is 5 years old, and I am his third (and final) owner. I have no idea why anyone would want to give him up.  Not only is he incredibly handsome, but he has the sweetest personality in the world.  I fell in love with him instantly.  And as soon as the shelter told me he had a clean bill of health, I took him home.


Little did I know, he actually had a pre-existing case of liver failure.  The shelter claims he was healthy when they had him, but my vet says he was definitely very sick before I got him, because within a week and a half of me bringing him home, he had to have emergency surgery.  The thing is, liver failure (aka: fatty liver disease) in cats is brought on by anorexia (please note that this is not the psychological affliction that happens to us humans, it simply means he stops eating, and does not start again).  Winston wasn't eating, and the vet says to get to a stage where he needed emergency surgery, he must not have been eating for at least two weeks before I got him.  The surgery was to put a tube into his neck that went down his throat, directly into his stomach.  I had to feed him food, through syringes, multiple times a day.  The idea is that feline anorexia causes liver failure because the liver isn't getting the daily caloric intake it needs to function.  Syringe feeding Winston not only kept him from starving to death, but also gave him the calories he needed to jump-start his liver again.  The better his liver was doing, the more interest he would show in food (and this would eventually lead to him eating on his own again).


I won't even get into the brain-damage scare we had as a rare reaction to the anesthetic used to put him down.  I will say, though, that the first month of feeding him through his tube was hell.  I literally scheduled my life around his feeding schedule, and we were at the vet's for a check up and bandage change every two or three days.  The second month was much better, as Winston showed clear signs of feeling better, and we'd settled into a comfortable routine of feedings and meds.  This past month and a half has been the best ever.  Winston's been acting like a normal cat, and his tube feedings were reduced from 8 times a day to 3 times a day.


Today has been the happiest day of all, because today, Winston had his tube taken out.  After all sorts of blood tests and behaviour monitoring, results show that Winston is now fully healthy again.  It's been an incredibly happy, but emotional, day.  Most of my friends don't understand why I devoted so much time, energy, and money into Winston's recovery.  After all, he's just a cat.  All I can say to that is: he's my friend.  He's also my responsibility.  How could I not do everything I absolutely, positively could do to improve his situation?


Cuddling with my newly tube-free cat, I reflected on the past three and a half months (which is how long this whole ordeal has lasted).  Everybody knows the old saying "It takes a village to raise a child".  Well, it took a village to help Winston have a second chance at life.  For starters, it took the amazing staff at "Cats Only Clinic" in Vancouver.  They have shown great dedication, compassion, and patience.  Their support - both emotionally and financially - has been the backbone of Winston's recovery.  I cannot praise them enough.


There have also been my wonderful friends Eryne, Neil, Kyle, Yuko, and Christine.  Each of them has bent over backwards to help me when it was needed.  Eryne and Neil were instrumental in helping out that first perilous day after Winston returned home from the surgery.  After finding out first hand how much work I had ahead of me, they surprised me by cleaning my house and making me a week's worth of dinners.  Kyle and Yuko graciously looked after him when I went camping last month, and Christine (my neighbour who's a trained vet technician) has been my go-to person for anything and everything Winston-related.


Anyway - the nightmare of liver failure is over.  As of today.

                                                                              The day I brought him home.

Discovering his favourite spot in the house.

His favourite pastime. 

In a playful mood.

Tell me, have you EVER seen a cat sleep like this before?!