It's been a really long week

So last Sunday I woke up to find my sweet Squeaky was in dire trouble. She had just been diagnosed with probably carcinoma in one lobe of a lung. Probably why she's been ill for almost 2 years. But last Sunday morning, she had one droopy eye (right side) and what appeared to be a frightened look in her left eye. She was having difficulty walking and breathing. I called the vet's office expecting to be told she might need to be put down. I'm sure she was terrified, she kept reaching out her paw to touch me, which she never did before. As I was getting ready, the thought occurred to me that her symptoms were like a stroke. And that is what the vet told me had definitely happened. But after they kept her several hours for monitoring, they said she seems to be "recovering" somewhat, able to move about and able to chew and eat, albeit not very interested in food. She prescribed for her an appetite stimulant and doubled her prednasone dose.

She seemed to be rallying, and quite determined to be independent. By the end of the day Sunday we were suspecting she might have lost her eyesight, or most of it. She would walk around and around a room, up and down the hall, always staying close to the wall or whatever was against the wall. But she was doing much better. After several days, I guess maybe Friday, she seemed to be having more difficulty with her left limbs, getting wobblier. I had to start holding her in my lap on a chair to feed her soft food, because her jaw doesn't quite work like it used to and she ends up grinding her teeth a lot with kibble. But she remained, and still remains, able to respond to us, to hear us and walk toward us, and she eats and does her best to clean up after eating as cats do.

But I'm exhausted, and she's definitely weakening. I just feel like it's been a really long week.

I should be glad that this happened while I am staying home nearly all the time. The other cats are being very nice to her, but they will take her food in a heartbeat if she lifts her head. So I am holding her a lot. And dreading what is to come sometime soon. We won't let her suffer, so until she seems to have given up, we will support her as best we can.

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