The anger and outrage I feel at seeing this post, is beyond measure. For some, they know of how I came to own a black cat with a singular white spot on her chest but for those of you, who don't. This is Lou's story.
Louise or Lou came to me in the spring of 2016 as a stray alley cat needing a safe landing, a landing I was more than willing to provide. What was unknown to me at the time, was just how skinny this cat truly was. On a body index score, she would of scored at most, a 2 or even a 3. So you can imagine my surprise when this literal bones covered in fur, began to balloon. I had her thoroughly vetted only to be told, she was pregnant but due to how skinny and frail she was, she would 'self abort' as her body simply didn't have the means to support kittens.
Less than 3 weeks later, she gave birth to 4 healthy kittens.
What had been a rough labor, turned into a blessing and a miracle. But little did I or anyone know, that she had retained some of the afterbirth and there, set in the motion an infection I had little to next to no knowledge on or about despite volunteering at the local clinic.
Less than 2 weeks after giving birth and while still nursing kittens, I began noticing milky droplets on my apartment floor. Due to how clean my cats kept themselves, I never knew who the droplets were coming from, but honestly assumed the droplets were milk coming from Lou as she had been over producing milk. Never in a million years, did I ever assume it was an open pyometra. I later discovered pus coming from Lou's vagainal area and as it was long after hours and a holiday weekend, I asked in a well known cat group on Facebook, for advice. Upon learning what the issue was and just how serious it was, I jumped into action. By Monday afternoon, Lou was in surgery to have her uterus removed despite still nursing kittens.
To have a so called "rescue" say this, even after they knew the whole story behind the reason why Lou wasn't spayed, infuriates me on every level imaginable. Lou was set to be spayed after she had weaned her babies as I firmly do not believe interfering in the weaning process and will let the mother take full control of this.
Lou showed zero symptoms of a pyometra. "With an open pyometra, fever, lethargy, anorexia, and depression may or may not be present." None of these symptoms were present in Lou. She was still very active, eating right, she wasn't loosing weight (she was in fact gaining it), she was certainly not depressed and according to the surgeon, I was well within my rights to be skeptical of her having one because the fact that these common symptoms were not present and shockingly, even when the vets checked for a fever, she didn't have one. Her temperature was normal.
The woman who runs this rescue, has all but villainized me and I'm only now finding out about this post, 7 years after the fact. When she'd asked for a photo of Lou, I had assumed it was to tell Lou's story. But no! It was to lie and make it out like I'd had no intentions of getting Lou spayed despite this being the farthest thing from the truth! Below is my comment on the post, which will more than likely be removed by the Fixed Furlife Quinsey page owner.
My cats are my life. I don't have the luxury of raising my daughter, so instead, I care for my pets like they were my kid. And to have someone disrespect not only Lou but myself? That hurts. This woman known as 'Darlene' couldn't even be bothered to list Lou's name. She couldn't be assed to tell Lou's story. Of how she fought for survival on the damn streets of Peterborough before coming to Campbellford, and then finally, to me. She doesn't tell the story of how Lou was pregnant and nursing not one, not two, but four kittens. She couldn't even be bothered to be honest about it all. Instead, she led people to assume, I was some monster who didn't give a damn about her pets when that's the farthest thing from the truth.
ᴸᵒᵘ ⁽ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ⁾ ʷᶦᵗʰ ᴮᵃˢᵗᵉᵗ ⁽ˡᵉᶠᵗ⁾
And worse still, Lou nearly died anyways because she had a belated reaction to the anesthesia resulting in her being put on life support at my main vet. My cat nearly died because her recovery had a belated, allergic reaction to the drugs used.
I have never felt so betrayed in all my life and people wonder why I often refuse asking for help. This, all this, right here folks, is why. By not telling Lou's full story, this person only told half the truth and half a truth is still a lie as far as I'm concerned. She's not named 'kitty' and she's not just 'another kitty'! Her name is Louise! Or Lou! Or Lou Lou Lemon! Or Mama Kitty! But certainly not 'just another kitty'!
People may be wondering why I'm so upset about this post and it boils down to the fact that it's slander, it's defamation of character, and it's a bald faced lie. By not giving all the details provided, Fixed Furlife basically made me out to be a villain. But here's the sad thing. I owned Nala, Bastet's mother, for 19 years. She was only ever sickly due to an eye injury which was treated at home and she recovered from. Upon her death, it was discovered that Nala had end stage terminal cancer. A secondary result of the cancer was a pyometra. Adding onto that, was another infection caused by both the cancer and the pyometra which was a severe bladder infection. My vet later determined, that the cancer had nothing to do with her not being fixed but had everything to do with Nala simply being old. She was 19 years old which is old for a cat.
You could spend your entire life saving up for the 'what ifs' and never have them happen. But you get a one off where you don't have the funds available to help your pets, and you're the asshole? That shit and mindset needs to stop. It makes people, like myself, not want to seek out the help even if it's there.
Lou has since, obviously, recovered from her ordeal from 7 years ago and is a healthy, happy, unholy terror of a feline. But in all my years of being a pet owner, I never thought someone would betray my trust like this. And it hurts. It makes me question whether I should ask for help ever again, even if it's needed.
But that's Lou's story. That's the REAL story. Not the half assed one that so called "rescue" gave you all.
ᴸᵒᵘ ʷᶦᵗʰ ᴱᶻᶦᵒ
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