Bonding with My Sick Cat

When I purchased my Siamese kitten in a pet shop in Barcelona, Spain, back in the early 70s, I didn’t know anything about cats. I just liked to look at their antics, play with them, pet them and enjoy their purring while sitting in my lap. Like so many pet owners, I followed the instructions the pet shop gave me, took him to the vet who gave him the suggested vaccines, which in those days were limited to the Rabies and Feline Panleukopenia . He also made the kitten swallow an antiparasitic tablet to get rid of any worms he may had in his digestive system.

The day after the vaccine was given, Lobsang was very sick, laying down all the time and looking miserable. He lost his appetite, did not eat or drink and couldn’t even stand up to go to the cat litter furniture. I touched his nose to see if he had a fever and it was very hot and dry.

Being my first "baby" --so to speak--, I was quite concerned and worried about him. We called a veterinarian friend or ours for an emergency home visitation. He came and checked him. His diagnose was that he had contracted Panleukopenia as result of being inoculated with the virus. Apparently it wasn´t so rare that some animals --and even people--would actually contract the sickness right after being vaccinated against it. Hopefully --he said--it would be a mild case.

The vet inserted a needle in his vein and put him on a  medicated glucose drip.  He trained us on how to change the bottle, as that was the only liquid or nutrition he was receiving and was very necessary to avoid dehydration. Poor kitten, he looked so pitiful, so sad and sick and he could not even meow at us.

 I stayed by his side many hours praying and keeping vigil thru the night.  I could not bear the thought of waking up and finding him dead, so I claimed God´s mercy and healing for my beloved pet. I did all I could and fell asleep on the chair beside Lobsang.

Early next morning I woke up to the happy sound of Lobsang meowing.  He was standing on his four legs, pulling on the drip to try to go to the litter. After all that glucose liquid in his little body, he needed to go pee desperately.  I was so elated to see him standing up!  I brought the litter to him so he could use it.  I called the vet and he came to see the incredible recovery, took the drip off his vein and told us the worse was over!  It took a couple of days for him to regain his total strength.  What a miracle!

I think that going thru that sickness together is what helped me and my cat bond as deeply as we did.  He knew he could count on me and I became his best friend for the rest of his life. He died of a car accident five years later, but somehow i know i will see him again in Heaven.