Every week we look for interesting stories from cats and their owners. This week, we spoke to Ana from the Netherlands. Ana is originally from Romania, but moved to the Netherlands. She now lives there with her husband and her two Spanish black cats.
A hidden problem
Recently, Ana unfortunately had to say goodbye to their cat,
Vlady. He died after a fierce battle with pancreatitis. Unfortunately,
pancreatitis is a difficult disease to diagnose in cats. The symptoms are not
always clear and visible. Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas. It
occurs when the pancreatic enzymes in the pancreas are activated. When this
happens, the enzymes digest the pancreas itself.
How do you recognize this in your cat? Here are some of the
most common signs to look out for. The signs of pancreatitis in cats tend to be
vague. Some cats have only one or two of these symptoms.
They include:
- Listlessness
- Don't eat
- Dehydration
- Fever or, more often, a low body temperature
- Vomiting (occurs in about 1/3 of cats with pancreatitis)
- Bellyache
- Diarrhoea
- Labored breathing (if the lungs are affected)
- Loss of coordination (if the brain is affected)
Black cat
Her other two cats, Loki and Kali were adopted from a shelter. They were looking for two black cats because they are harder to adopt because of superstitions and the idea that they would not be pretty in photos. Initially, she thought she would take home a boy and a girl. ‘We thought we were adopting a boy and a girl, but the boy turned out to be a girl on the day of sterilisation,’ she said. She had fooled everyone so she was given the name of a trickster God,’ Ana says.
I told my cat my heart was broken and she came and lay on my chest
The other cat did not respond to her given name so they started testing out a few others. ‘She meowed at ‘Kali’, so that's what we called her,’ she said.
Comfort
The girls were not so sure about their new home at first. ‘They were quite shy and kept hiding. Luckily, I befriended Kali. I told her my heart was broken and that it needed mending and then she came and lay on my chest purring,’ Ana says. Ana had recently lost one of her beloved cats. It was as if Kali could feel her pain.
Familie
Ana sees the cats as family, so she cannot mention any disadvantages about her two black cats. ‘Okay, a disadvantage might be the vet costs, but in my opinion, that's worth it to save your family,’ Ana says. The cats also have their own scratching post, which they do appreciate for taking naps. But it is not their only place to sleep. ‘As I said, my cats are family members. They live in the house and are allowed to use the house just like us humans,’ so don't be surprised if you find a cat sleeping on the bed or in the sink!
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Once upon a time...
05.08.2022
Every week we look for interesting stories of cats and their owners. Disneylover Bianca lives with her two cats Tinka and Mogli in Darmstadt, a city in Germany. Even though the names remind you of Disney films, Bianca did not choose the names.
