by Jill Holbrook
Feather
is a lovely, shy cat. She was born under a trailer in the desert and
knew only the outside until we adopted her and her sister at 7 weeks
of age. She has lived with at least 2 dogs, her sister and 2 moms in
the same house for 11 years now. She is very attached to her home and
prefers the indoor life. If all the doors were open, Feather would stay
in the house and probably try to keep the dogs from coming back in.
Feather has always been a bit of a picky eater, so it was difficult to notice that her appetite had really dropped until she refused her morning tuna bite. That was at Thanksgiving. We watched her closely and noted that she was very quiet, hiding and sleeping more than usual and looking much thinner. We took her to our vet on Monday morning when it was clear she was not eating at all.
Like most cats, Feather is not fond of going to the vet’s. She does not hiss at the vet like she does at the dogs or her sister, but instead looks terrified and tries to hide. I did a quick Healing Touch for Animals® Bridging Technique and let her know that we were taking her there to get better and to be calm and not frightened with the procedures. She endured blood draws, X-rays, IV fluids, injections and an ultrasound that day. All the technicians praised her for being so good. She even lay quietly during the ultrasound without sedation that is often required for most animals.
At the end of the day, the diagnosis was either gallstones or a triad of inflammation to the liver, pancreas, and upper intestine more common in cats. Hydrated and with some antibiotics in her system, Feather home for us to entice her with treats. I did very short sequences of Unruffling, Ultrsound and Laser to reduce the inflammation and promote healing. Feather was more comfortable and did not seem traumatized by her experiences at the vet, but she still refused to eat so we took her back the next day for maintenance IV hydration, IV antibiotics and a definitive diagnosis.
Feather was in the animal hospital a total of 5 days. She had surgery for gallstones; one which was totally obstructing the common bile duct. I visited her at least once everyday as well as before and after her surgery doing Unruffling while petting her. She came home 2 days after surgery with a feeding tube and instructions to keep her quiet. We kept her in a playpen covering the top. I continued Unruffling and some Laser to seal the energy over the incision. At home she curled up and purred for her tube feedings that included Unruffling. She began eating on her own the first day. Her energy came back quickly and she soon wanted more freedom. As soon as we let her out of her playpen she wanted in my lap for more Healing Touch.
She was amazing and the vets – both our regular vet and the surgeon were amazed at how cooperative she was and how quickly she recovered. In less than a week it was difficult to tell that she had even had surgery. She still had her feeding tube, a shaved tummy and an incision to remind us. Our vet decided to remove the feeding tube and stitches early as she was so well healed and too active to protect the feeding tube. Feather was our only but best and most expensive Christmas present for 2003.
