The Savannah Signal Final Issue 2011
During Neala‘s check-out process, the vet the that was assigned to her went over her aftercare proce- dures. This is when I was notified that she was be- ing fed normal wet kitten food after the surgery as well as the fact that she had not yet kept food down. When I questioned the food she was being fed, because in all of my research it had stated that animals were to be fed a very thin slurry of lique- fied foods for at least two weeks after surgery, I was told that regular wet food was what the sur- geon had indicated on her cage card. At this point in time, I just nodded and waited for Neala to be brought to the exam room.
Already bundled up in her carrier, I picked up her cage, paid my bill, and then went out to my car. Immediately, when I put my hand into the carrier to caress her, a niggling doubt pierced my mind. She was very cool to the touch. For those who have never handled a hairless cat, they are much warmer to the touch then one might expect. They usually feel like a heating pad set on medium- even tiny kittens tend to radiate a lot of heat.
The moment Neala came to the fore of the carrier, as I lay on the carpet in the hotel coaxing her out, I knew something was seriously wrong.
She did try to eat, though; she was starving since she was not keeping the food down at the vet hos- pital and she hurriedly swallowed a few bites of the slurry. As soon as she began to eat, however, she began to noticeably struggle to pull air into her lungs.
I was on my phone with my veterinarian at home and he told me to contact the surgical center. As soon as I did, they told me to drive her back in.
Over the next few hours, things rapidly changed for the worse… The vet called me and stated that he now did see Neala struggling to breathe and he had decided to snap a few more radiographs to decipher the cause of her struggles. The x-ray clearly showed that above the site of her PRAA surgery, a large pocket of food had now accumulated and was pushing into her pleural cavity. In other words, the pocket of food was now taking up space her lungs needed to expand when she breathed.
He suggested inserting a feeding tube directly into her stomach until the food blockage had cleared her
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esophagus. Due to the fact that her body tempera- ture was continuing to fall, he eventually decided to wait until morning before the surgeon would per- form the surgery.
That night when I returned to the surgical center to visit Neala, the technician told me it was almost as though she was a different kitten.
That was the last time I held Neala alive in my arms… That night, at 2 AM, I received a call from the surgical center. The call began with the fact that Neala‘s temperature had started to plummet again and suddenly, she needed CPR. The staff member‘s voice went from frantic to solemn when she asked me to drive to the surgical center imme- diately.
Neala was gone before I arrived. Her tiny body had finally given out on her. Her will could not over- come her inability to breathe. My heart shattered as I held the tiny almost weightless body wrapped in a receiving blanket to my chest.
I wish I could say that Neala‘s story ended differ- ently… I wish I could share a triumphant conclusion to her story, but in the end, much like our lives- Neala‘s life was full of triumphs and losses. She sur- vived her surgery- a remarkable feat for a kitten weighing less then one pound. She did not survive her aftercare and in this, I hold myself responsible for I should have ensured she was being fed the appropriate diet myself.
There are lessons to be learned here though… First, as a breeder, one must know about Persistent Right Aortic Arch and it‘s symptoms. One must also real- ize that surgery is an option for a kitten and that the chance of survival after surgery seems to be good. Aftercare, however, is just as important as the surgery itself and one must follow-up and en- sure the vet staff is feeding the appropriate diet fol- lowing the surgery.
You must also learn to follow your gut instinct. If you feel something is not right, then you need to press for the answers.
Neala may have passed away, but her paw prints will forever remain upon the hearts of those who knew her and followed her story.
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