Last week, I was all set to have a fun time celebrating my birthday and Valentine’s Day, rolling into a long weekend. Instead, we had a health scare for my cat, Yuri, and spent most of our free time at the vet’s office.

We’d been noticing for about a week that Yuri wasn’t eating much and seemed to be losing weight. She’s a shorthair but very fluffy so she looks a little chubby, but I could start to feel her spine poking up on her back. After being unable to tempt her with any food, we finally took her into the vet on Wednesday.

At first, it didn’t seem so bad. The vet diagnosed her with a UTI and said her bloodwork pointed to liver inflammation. They didn’t know the underlying cause, but they gave her antibiotics for the infection, injected some fluids and antinausea meds. We were told to monitor her at home for twenty-four hours to see if she felt better or started eating again.

When she first came home, she seemed a little better and she even ate some cottage cheese. But then she curled up on the bed and didn’t move from this spot all night.

Obviously something was still wrong with her. We didn’t wait the full twenty-four hours. First thing in the morning, we called the vet and brought her back in to get checked out.

This time they did an ultrasound and X-ray to see if there was something wrong inside. The scans showed pancreatitis. They put her on IV fluids and pain meds so she spent all day on Thursday in the office. Then she came home Thursday night to see if she would relax at home and eat, but she was gagging at the sight of food. So they recommended that we take her to an animal hospital for more intensive care on Friday.

Yuri wasn’t very happy in the hospital, but I knew she needed better care than we could give her at home. I did bring her my Sailor Moon blanket so she could sleep on something that smelled familiar. She spent most of her time in this cage just hiding in the corner. We visited her several times of the weekend to reassure her and bring her food, hoping we could coax her into eating.

She never ate when I was there, but the nurses told me that she started eating on Saturday night and continued to snack so they felt she could finally come home. We brought her back on Sunday afternoon.

The difference was clear: she was doing much better. She’s now eating, has some energy back to jump onto her tower, sleeping comfortably in her bed and full of affection. Today, she continues to improve and I hope she will be back to normal in a few days.

Here is Yuri when she came home. Since she loves stuffed animals and her favorite is Elsa, I got her this Elsa bear from Build a Bear Workshop. She loves snuggling with the teddy bear. I just have to watch that she doesn’t try to eat her outfit.

I’m grateful that my kitten is finally home and feeling better. I was really worried for a while, but she got good care from the vet and the animal hospital. Maybe it wasn’t what I planned for my birthday, but I would do anything to take care of her. She has always been there for me when I’m not feeling well. Now I can enjoy being with her again.