Lily's Story:

This first part was written in May 2006:

The picture is Lily looking not too well after her 2nd operation.

Lily is a lovely black & white female cat who was on our list to come into care due to an expanding human family & the reason that they couldn’t cope with a cat as well.

When I went to pick her up in December 2005 she was curled up asleep on the hall floor, just a quick look at her told me that she wasn’t very well. Whilst sorting out the paperwork I asked her owners what her story was. They told me that they had originally adopted her from the RSPCA about 5 years previously when she was about 2 years old. They said she had always been a little snuffly, & they had been told that she had suffered from cat flu before coming into RSPCA care. However about 2 years previously she had been shot in the mouth, she had had an operation to remove the pellet but the hole left by the pellet in the hard pallet had opened up again after the operation. Unfortunately, as diagnosed by our vet later, the sinus was draining directly down through the hole causing lots of sneezing & discharge from her nose & this was the real reason they no longer wanted her. She was only allowed in the hall & the kitchen & spent a lot of time with an elderly neighbour.

Lily’s fur was in a terrible state, indicating to me that she was no longer washing herself. She was a very depressed little cat when I got her home. I took her to the vets & they were extremely worried about her. They took blood samples for full blood tests which were sent away & the vet confirmed that the hole had reopened. Unfortunately after a few days of waiting the results showed that she had quite severe liver damage. The vet prepared me for the possibility that Lily might have to be put to sleep but a course of steroid treatment was decided upon. She was moved from a cat pen to our spare bedroom (in case it was to be her last few weeks & I felt that a room would be more normal than a cat pen).

After a few weeks on the steroid treatment another set of blood tests were taken & thankfully the liver damaged had decreased. After another month or so a further test showed that her ALT level were within normal range, meaning that the liver was now working ok.

During this time Lily was a very quiet & still slightly depressed little cat. A couple of different types of operations for her mouth were discussed & the least aggressive operation was decided upon. The surgery took place & Lily really seemed to buck up. She became slightly more active, insisting on sitting on the table in front of the keyboard, meaning that you had to type around her. She started nibbling at your hair & then your neck while you tried to type! Things seemed to be going ok.

Then she started sneezing again. A check up after 1 month confirmed that the hole had opened up again. Poor Lily then faced another operation. The second operation involved taking a flap of skin from the soft cleft & sewing it over the hole on the hard cleft (at least that is how I understood it!)

She had this done on Monday 24th April, I brought her home that night but she was very uncomfortable & in pain, & would not eat or drink. She was dropped back off at the vets Tuesday AM & they gave her pain killers & syringe fed her. She would swallow but would not eat on her own. She was kept in the vets until Wednesday evening when I brought her back home. I tempted her with a tin of Gourmet Salmon in a very smelly brine type of sauce. She was refusing to talk to me & ignored her food – I think I was the big bad person for giving her so much pain.

However after leaving her in her room with the very smelly food, when I came back it was all gone! I gave her the other half which was also quickly devoured, I think I was forgiven (I hope!). She will be taken to the vets for daily check ups & injections (as opposed to tablets) for the next few days but now all we can do it wait & hope that all the pain she has gone through recently will be worth it & the hole will stay closed.

As you can imagine, this has cost us over £300 so far but we felt that she deserved it.

This part was written in JULY 06:

Lily Update

Since I last wrote about Lily there has been lots happening & much money spent!

Unfortunately, after all the pain she went through with the second operation at the vets, after a month or so the hole opened up again. I asked the vet to refer us to Bristol Veterinary University Hospital, as they would be our last hope. They were contacted & all her notes sent off.

They came back with a date of Wednesday 28th June 2006 for me to take her along, no mention was made by them of starving her in case she had the op that day but my vets advised it, just in case!

A day was booked off work & the journey was made to Bristol, not too far from where we live, just about a 45min car journey. When we get there everything was explained to the vet & he took a look at her mouth. He said that they could operate on her that day but, of course, there was no guarantee of success. So I left her there & drove back home. I worried all the way whether I had done the right thing or not.. she had had a hard time after the last op, what if it was worse this time... did I have the right to put her through even more pain? so many doubts & questions. I awaited their call to let me know how she had done. By 16.55 I had received no call.. I knew that they shut at 17.00 so I gave them a call. The vet was still in surgery & would call me as soon as he could.

About 17.30 I received a call, she had had the operation but had haemorrhaged from her mouth, they had tried to stop the bleeding but were unable to & had to continue with the operation until it was complete. Lily had, at this time, lost about half the blood from her body & had to have a blood transfusion. They were very worried about her, especially regarding her sight, which was one of the most sensitive parts that could be affected. She was in the intensive care part of the hospital. They promised to ring back about 8.30pm with an update. As you can imagine I spent the next hour or so in floods of tears, convinced of the worst & blaming myself for putting her through this.

Just after 8.30pm I received a call from the night shift at the Veterinary Hospital. Lily was awake & seemed to be doing ok, they thought that her sight was ok but weren't sure. They would call again in the morning with an update. I was slightly happier but still very upset. Next day she was doing better & they were going to move her out of intensive care & into the cat care ward. A call was received late morning on Friday 30th June & the vet said that she seemed to be doing well, eating ok & could come home that day. Frantic grovelling at work(!) got me the afternoon off & I drove over to pick her up. She was very quiet & subdued but she seemed quite happy to be home. She ate a little well mashed, watery food & slept a lot (not unusual for any cat!).

Things seemed to be going along ok, until Thursday 6th July when I came home from work to find blood all over the floor of her bedroom. I went into panic mode again & contacted Bristol Veterinary Hospital. As it happened the vet on call was the same vet that had performed the operation. After a few questions he said that she was not haemorrhaging & as she was no longer bleeding, not to worry & that it should settle down. Needless to say I continued to worry. I checked every 2 hours throughout the night & she was ok at 4am but there was more blood again at 6am. I took her straight to the vets at 9am & Byron (her vet) said that he would keep her in, put her on a drip & monitor her. I picked her up that evening & there had been no more blood loss & Byron thought it was probably a nose bleed, however he was not optimistic about the success of the op after taking a look at her mouth.

After this there was no more bleeding & she continued to improve. A visit to the vets on 15th July brought a more optimistic view on the success of the op. I continued to keep my fingers crossed that after everything she had gone through & the cost of the op at Bristol (£940), she would come out the other side with the hole being closed in the roof of her mouth. Her coat was still unkempt, but I had caught her washing her paws a couple of times so I was hopeful. She allowed me to brush her for about 10 seconds before moaning & then biting me so it was a slow process trying to clean up her coat. She was no longer sneezing quite as much as before & seemed to appreciate it when she was allowed out of her bedroom & into the living room.

Just under 6wks after she had had the op in Bristol, Saturday 5th August, I took her back to her vets for a check up, this was the moment of truth, was it all worth it??? Unfortunately the answer was no, the hole was back, perhaps even bigger than before. It was devastating. Everything she had gone through was for nothing, the pain, the loss of blood, the cost... However she does seem better in herself, as I said above she is no longer sneezing as much as she used to. We have taken the decision to allow her free access around the house & to go outside while we are here. Unfortunately Lily does not like other cats & as my cats are all timid & do not like other cats either things are quite difficult. We are having to try to keep everyone separate which is not easy in a 2 bedroom bungalow!

We will now have to put our heads together to see if we can come up with a plan to try to get her a loving home as an only cat, something that she really deserves. She is the most loving of cats, to humans, & likes nothing better than to sit on my husband's chest, purring away - he is a little scared that she is stalking him! & spends most evenings with a furry quilt lying over him!

Recently she has taken to sitting in the bath or on the toilet seat - she is an odd cat! But she is very loving & deserves better than she has had - although you will have to be ok with being sneezed on occasionally!

If you can offer her a home please contact us on 01633 850476 or 01633 895223 - she is waiting for you!.

PS I have nearly sorted out her coat completely & she is looking a lot better in herself.