Mr. Milky Update

Sat. Aug. 30: First, I want to thank all of you for the huge outpouring of love and support you've given us. I don't know how I ever survived day-to-day life without all of my wonderful friends in the Cat Blogosphere!

I just spoke with Dr. Shew, and the somewhat good news is Milky is no worse. He kept him fully sedated yesterday to keep him calm, then brought him out of the sedation early this morning. He's still too dizzy to stand and walk without falling, and he still has nystagmus (eyes darting back and forth), but Dr. Shew says he thinks it may be slightly less severe. And he doesn't think Milky is in a lot of pain. He also said he doesn't see any signs of permanent impairment, but it's still too soon to be absolutely certain about that.

We thoroughly discussed whether or not there were tests that could be done that would show for certain if Milky has had a stroke or if something else has happened, possibly an inner ear problem. Dr. Shew says 1) He has no doubt whatsoever that it was a stroke and 2) The only place in our state that could do such sophisticated tests (which aren't always 100% certain) is the Purdue University Veterinary School, a long drive from here, and horribly expensive. Dr. Shew assured me that if he felt we should do that, he would recommend it, but he doesn't.

He said I can call him as many times a day as I want, and I can come visit Milky any time, but he wants to keep him hospitalized for several more days so he can keep a very close eye on him through the critical stage.

Let me tell you, when it rains, it pours. A month ago we had to install new air conditioning, and while all this is going on with Mr. Milky and my dad and my sister, our furnace has been leaking water all over the basement. I found out this morning that now we need a new furnace, $3,000 that we just don't have, especially after taking out a loan for the new air conditioning. So I hope you'll all forgive me if I start putting up all kinds of new Artsy Catsy products for sale on our blog - if I can find time to make them between caring for kitties and beans. :-) But whether you need any new Artsy Catsy kitty glitter or not, please know that I'm so very thankful to all of you for your caring friendship! There's just no way to express how very much it means to us.

Fri. Aug. 29: We just had to rush poor little Mr. Milky to the vet. He suddenly started crying and couldn't control his legs or stand, circling and falling all over the place and couldn't hold up his head. His pupils were completed contracted and his eyes were darting rapidly back and forth, his equilibrium destroyed. One minute he was fine, and the next was just terrible.

Dr. Shew is certain that Milky has suffered a stroke. He has hospitalized him, giving him steroids to counteract the inflammation and sedating him because he was terrified and maybe in pain. We won't know for at least 48 hours whether he's going to survive and whether or not this will leave him impaired.

I'm just devastated, and heartbroken for this magnificent kitty. We've worked so hard, with such generous help from all of you, to give Mr. Milky a better life, and now he has to go through this. It was so hard to say, but I told Dr. Shew that if Milky has another episode, or suddenly gets worse over the holiday weekend, and if he feels the merciful thing to do would be to let him go, he has my permission to help him to the Bridge even before calling me. I don't want this precious kitty to experience one single more painful minute in his life.

This courageous little guy needs all your purrs and prayers over the next few days. And if anyone has experience with a kitty suffering a stroke, I would welcome your advice. The Artsy Catsy human family could use a few purrs, too ... our father started radiation treatment for prostate cancer this week, and my sister Suzanne is disabled with a torn muscle in her rib cage. Not a good week.

~~Sharolyn

P.S. You can read the story about how Mr. Milky came to us here.