Mercedes Update

Reading about Max the 23-yr old Siamese made my heart break. Mercedes is 20 and I know she is in the winter of her life, but no older creature be it human or animal should be discarded like refuse. It is heartening to know that there are decent people out there who will step up and rescue these poor helpless souls.

I know I have not posted an update on Mercedes in a few days, but I do have good news. She is eating and drinking on her own, neither very much, but she is not in danger of starving to death or dying of dehydration.

My vet said she looked very good for a 20-yr old cat, but that she needed a dental. Unfortunately, anesthesia on a cat that old is very risky so we did our best to get as much of the tartar off without having to put her under. We got a bunch off with our fingernails and a dental scale I have for my ferrets. Not perfect, but it will do.

Of course, the underlying question is: can you convince a 20-yr old cat who has lost everything she knows that she wants to live? For a few days, my answer to that question was no and I fully expected her to die. She wasn't eating, she did not want me to touch her, and I was forced to syringe feed her 3x day to keep her from starving to death.

I did this faithfully for a few days and then a miraculous thing happened. Mercedes began to purr, and with that purr I knew she would make it. She began eating on her own and snuggling with me when I put her on the bed. Now she spends a good couple of hours on the bed with me at night before she gets down on her own and crawls into one of the cabinets under our bed.

She still isn't a demonstrative snuggle bunny, but I can tell that she is thinking that life isn't so bad anymore. Her original owners must have loved her very, very much and I hope that the shelter was able to let them know that she was adopted and is okay.

I don't have any new pics or vids. Sorry. I've been very busy getting ready for our vacation that is coming up in a few days and I haven't had any time to film or UL things.