08/31/2026
Our morning was MADE (and made early) when we checked the Alessia cam shortly after 5:30am and saw she had gotten up and 🎉🎉🎉URINATED🎉🎉🎉.
This is a big deal because ever since Saturday afternoon, it has been clear that Alessia's leg has been bothering her more than it had been since her surgery last Thursday (August 20) - she put *herself* on bedrest. In response, we increased her pain meds, and increased hot/cold therapy. We didn't say much about it here, because we didn't want to worry all of you in case we were pre-emptively fussing over nothing, and we also didn't want to manifest that kind of negativity. 😿
(We also do this thing where we don't talk about a situation if it's a problem? because then we have to discuss it. We'd rather reserve that energy for situations that are PROBLEMS! Does that make sense? Because it does to us, lol.)
But more alarmingly, while Alessia did continue to eat small amounts of wet food, we did not see ANY output in her litter box. We even tore apart the enclosure and used a blacklight to check the bedding and pads, because previously she would skip the litterbox and instead sandwich her waste between the washable pads we use to line/pad the bottom of enclosures. But we found nothing.
So throughout Sunday, in addition to providing Alessia with additional comfort and pain-relieving measures, we also administered subcutaneous fluids, some glucose and calorie gels, and in case the increase in pain meds had slowed down her bowels, we gave her a dose of stool softeners, too. We also offered her a variety of mini-buffets of every type of wet food and treat we had on hand (THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH for the gift of wet food, baby food, Churu treats, etc. - Alessia tried them all!) - with water and weight gain liquid added to everything.
When we went to bed Sunday night, we had officially graduated from "concerned" to "worried", and were prepared to run her to the emergency veterinarian first thing Monday morning if we didn't find anything in the litter box. Because while she wasn't acting like she was in any discomfort when we palpated/pressed on her abdomen/bladder, we also know it is generally not good for any living creature to cease having output of waste, either!
So, you can only imagine what a relief it was to check the Alessia cam before dawn and see the attached video, after watching four minutes of her going from bowl to bowl like a forest piglet hunting up truffles (the trickling sound is a water fountain - one of many we offer our fosters *and* house cats)! (The litter box was practically *SLOSHING* with urine, yay! And there was a small bowel movement, too!)
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In all honesty, when it comes to caring for cats, and especially kittens and ESPECIALLY if they are sick or injured, there is no such thing as overreacting or over-worrying, but there is every such thing as underreacting. We always say: if they so much as BREATHE weird, jump in with care - and that is how we always react.
We would much rather "waste" time, energy, and supplies giving cats care, fluids, and medications they don't necessarily need, than to withhold care they DO in fact need, because that decision can and is often life-threatening.
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This exact scenario actually just played out a few days ago. We don't want to speculate or make any specific accusations, but we shared a story about a kitten who survived panleukopenia (aka distemper, known as parvo in dogs) and was recovering with supportive care, and we will die on the hill that had that supportive care continued as it had been going, he would have made a full recovery.
Unfortunately, supportive care fell off, the kitten began to decline, and nothing was said to anyone or done for the kitten, until the kitten was literally lateral (on his side, like a fallen horse), with a low body temperature and a faint pulse. He was eventually rushed to PETS and underwent hours of critical care, but unfortunately, it was too late - he could not be brought back from the brink, and he ended up passing away despite the very best efforts of all staff there, including a rescue friend of ours (who also was instrumental in saving Alessia and getting her to safety - you know who you are, and we 💗 you!).
The saddest part about this is panleuk kills over 90 percent of unvaccinated kittens - so the fact that this kitten, a sickly, worm-infested stray, survived it to begin with (his two siblings didn't) was nothing short of a miracle. Also, the rescue who sponsored his medical care paid THOUSANDS for his ICU-level care just the weekend before, so that makes his death even more bitter for us rescuers, because we KNOW how statistically improbable it was for him to have made it, and what all went in to make that remote chance even a possibility to begin with.
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The truth is, cats and kittens are VERY delicate. It's why time and time again, you will read about us dropping everything to throw everything at a cat who seemingly just stumbles - but those seemingly minor stumbles are often the tip of a big and bad iceberg, and we know what's underneath the deceptively calm surface, which is why we come down so hard on those cats and kittens with everything we've got, because we know if we don't, they, too, could very easily end up lateral and dying on a metal table in a vet's office, and we will always do everything in our power to prevent that.
In Alessia's case, had we not stepped in, what could have very easily happened is: she would have stopped eating altogether, become completely dehydrated and fully constipated and possibly obstipated, and then organ slowdown and eventual shutdown would have followed. It would only take a few days for this to play out, and once one or two systems (usually the kidneys or liver are the first to go) go down, it is very, VERY hard to turn them around.
We love you, Alessia ~ we've got you, baby girl! Thanks for putting up with us poking and prodding at you. Now go rest that leg! 💕
![Alessia is working HARD on her recovery. Every day we do multiple [short] sessions of physical therapy - gentle movement...](https://img4.voofla.com/607/836/122314941326078363.jpg)
