Is it really Thursday already, time flies when you're having fun.
Anyway, back to the story.... part of the reason I am sharing all this with all you humans and fur balls out there is for several reasons. One, if you are a human who has a tiny tot fur ball, that just doesn't seem to grow, and regularly has a wet mouth, drools a lot, and just doesn't seem right somehow- your instincts are correct! Go to the Vet and have your fur ball checked out for liver issues. It can't hurt. Two, all you little fur balls out there, and you know who you are, scream, holler, make a fuss until your human gets it that something is really wrong with you. Keep on screaming fellow fur girls and boys!
As I can attest to from personal experience, it is NOT the end of the world (just yet) to have a liver shunt, or even multiples. I am living proof that live is fine and dandy if your human gives you the proper care, meaning special diet and appropriate medication. When I was diagnosed, my life expectancy was given as 3-5 years. Simply because so little is known about fur children such as me, with multiple issues, no one really knows for sure how long I can really have. I am 2.5 yrs old now and going strong! Yeah! Meow!!
Help is available for fur balls with my condition. And if your fur baby has only one liver shunt, well, that is an easy one, it can be fixed surgically, and all will be great. Just ask Flea, a fellow fur baby, who recently underwent the very same surgery, and is now a happy, healthy Flea!
So, where was I.... oh yeah, mom finally figured it out, the Vet confirmed it. Ok, now what all said. I was on my special diet, had my Lactulose, but I wasn't getting better. In fact my seizures frequency increased, my duration of neurological problems worsened. FYI, there are usually 3 stages, the drooling stage, the neurological stage, and the seizure. The seizure is but a tiny shiver, and difficult to notice if one is not familiar with that sort of thing. It often just looked like I just had a chill from head to toe to my mom, but that one part gave her the whole picture. As soon as she saw that, she knew.
So, back to the Vet, who in his infamous wisdom declared: we need a specialist! Ok! Mom made a gazillion phone calls, searched high and low for someone who could help me out. In the mean time the most wonderful people from CATS Northeast looked for ways to finance this.
As I had no money of my own, no job to pay for this, the brilliant idea was formulated - the newspaper! Yes indeed, my story and pleas for financial help was published in two local news papers. Finally I got the recognition I deserved. (And so the queen was born ).