Susie's Diary

Susie has been diagnosed with FIP (Dry form). This diary notes her progress and shares pics of her :)

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November 3rd -10th
November 15th-23rd
November 24th- 30th
December 1st - 8th
December 9th and 10th and update from August 2003.
Links - more information

Discussion and Support Area


November 24th

She has been very quiet today and didn't want any food earlier. She did get through a small tin of Hi Life chicken as well as a whole tin of a/d later in the day though. She seems to like the HI Life Pate, and I noticed that Felix now do a pate. I bought a few tins and will try her on some of that a bit later.

She was good with pills today - now her antibiotics are finished it is just Prednisone (7.5) and a vitamin so we're back down to two and a half pills now.

I noticed that she is urinating alot more than usual. I expect it's the increased thirst that the Prednisone is causing but was still very suprised to see the amount of liquid in the tray - I changed it about two days ago, i'll have to do a complete change every day from now on I think.

It's late at night now and I've noticed her drinking a lot of water - the vet said that would happen but in the last day it's just been so much water. I feel a bit scared. I'm on my own tonight so have noone to help calm my fears if they play on me too much, but I feel scared. All that water in her litter tray and all this drinking - What if she drinks too much? Vet isn't open tomorrow but i'll call the 24 hour vet and see what they say. This while thing is truly breaking my heart. When I lost Mitzi it was quick - unexpected and sudden. I always thought 'if only I'd known, and had time to prepare myself - known that her heart might give out soon and so just treasure the time I had with her. However, now I just realize that it's no different - the pain doesn't lessen in either case. I want to just make this go away - she has been sittingon the couch most of the day - just getting up for water. She looks so small and vulnerable. I keep thinkinghow senseless this disease is - there must be something I can do - there has to be. What if there's something I am missing - if she's in pain will I know? I am taking this one day at a time, but every now and again - like right now, I just can't take my mind away from the statistics - ultimately fatal in most cases. PLEASE, not my Susie.


November 25th

She was very quiet today - mostly just laying down on the couch all day. She ate a tin of a/d and a tin and a half of Hi Life (these are very small tins though). I've now run out of a/d so I need to pick up some more.

I'm taking Betsy into the vet next week but dont wanna wait that long so will have to get down there sooner I think. It seems like she has trouble with food she has to chew - lapping at it is easier which is why I think she's better with the a/d and the Hi-Life Pate. I tried her on the Felix Pate and she loved it - i'm sure it's something to do with the consistency.

She drunk a bit less yesterday - but mostly laid down all day. She was alot quiet than usual - she didn't seem to enjoy being made a fuss of as much as she normally does too. Her pills went down easily though - no fuss or trouble. I suppose the fact that the Prednisone didn't get down her properly the other day might mean she feels off colour today.

Betsy on the other hand is becoming very spoilt - she now wont eat her diet food and I am having to give in to her and give her fish. She also wont get off the couch for her dinner sometimes. I think she's doing that because that's what Susie is doing - I don't want Betsy to feel neglected, but I can't have her spoilt rotten!!


The Two Headed cat!.....Susie has a new friend!


Susie's fur hasn't grown back yet after the ultrasound. It must be cold for her!

November 27th

The a/d won't be in until Friday so until then I am feeding her on mainly Hi-Life chicken and the new Felix Pate if I can find any. I tried her on cod but she didn't want it today. She ate a little mackeral but seems to find solid foods difficult to eat. Today she'd had two and half tins of Hi -life (she might finish the third by the end of the night), they are small tins but the label says an adult cats needs 2-3 tins per day, so I think it's high in nutrients which is good, as she doesn't have to eat 'bulky' foods.

She has diarrhea again, but no blood. Also today she has had a watery eye. It alarmed me quite a bit, especially as there was a brown discharge coming out of her eye. I wiped it clean and her eye seems ok so far. Hopefully it was just a one off.

She has been pretty quiet all day really - mostly just asleep on the couch. Her drinking is at a morenormal pace now which I find more reassuring, it was an alarming amount of water that she drunk the other day.

Another thing is that yesterday she went to the toilet in the bathroom on the floor. She rarely goes into the bathroom so I was surprised and concerned. I checked the litter tray and it was clean enough, so there was no reason really.

At least she has been purirng alot tonight while I've stroked her and made a fuss of her. She seems happy enough when I make a fuss of her, although she won't play - I wish she'd just swipe at one of the shoe laces I dangle for her - Betsy plays away, amusing herself with a small piece of paper she found on the floor, and jumping around crazily, but I just wish Susie would join in.

I thought Betsy she should have some pics up here as well! She is Susie's daughter, and a real sweetheart . :)

November 29th

This week marks the 8th week since she showed symptoms.

She ate some HiLife this morning but over all has been very quiet. I came home from work and fed her again then I went out to Bingo for a couple of hours. She was still napping when I got back. I decided to give her her pills when I back because it's better to have it later rather than too early (I read that it stays in the system for up to a day and a half). I thought of her alot while I was out - These days i'm not going out much at all - so when I do I just worry about her.

I picked her and put her on my lap to get her in a good position to give the pills, and as I did that she started making a sort of gasping. I was quite alarmed, and stroked he chin. I gave her her pills pretty quickly, and after the first pill, as I reached over to pick up the other one, she was panting. Susie has never done that before. I kissed her and put her back down on the couch, and she sort of laid with her neck stretched out quite a bit - it was just an odd position. She also had a strange look in her eyes.

I know that when I take Betsy to the vet she pants - she literally has a panic attack - her heart beats really fast, she dehydrates, because she is panting so hard and salivates alot. She gets in a right state. I'm guessing that Susie panted like this because she hates the pills and didn't want it. I hate to think she is frightened by it, but there's nothing I can do - she has to have these pills. I laid next to her on the couch and she rested her head on me, and Betsy came up and laid around us as best she could.

Later, I picked Susie up and took her to the bedroom. I was careful to pick her up under her arms, and support her back legs properly - as I put her down on the bed she seemed to lose her balance a little. It might be that she was half asleep though.

I'm going to the vet tonight to pick up two trays of a/d - I shouldn't have let myself run out of it. She really likes it these days so she'll be glad for it.

November 30th

She ate a tin of Hi Life this morning and when I got back from work I picked up two trays of a/d. I fed her one right away when I got home and she ate the whole tin gradually.

She is definitely quieter and her eye was a little runny - a sort of brownish discharge but I wiped it away and it seemed okay. Her eye was a little watery but it did seem to clear up.

She got up for her breakfast in the morning but in the evening she was very quiet and just sleeping most of the time. She seemed to like me stroking her head though, I guess that's a good sign.