Daily Cat Sitting and Why
I’ve toyed with writing this post. A lot of cat sitters write these posts because they need to explain their policy of daily cat sitting visits, also known as “No EOD” (every other day). I have never needed to explain my policy because my clients all request daily visits. Suddenly, I need to explain my policy. Not because someone asked, but because something happened.
Zoe
It all started with a booking from a long-standing client, mom to Zoe. Zoe is a treat, she’s an all-black beauty who took about 2 years to win over. Services started Wednesday, and I arrived to find Zoe a little anti-social, which is Zoe’s normal greeting. As the visit goes on, she’ll warm up and play her cat hide-and-seek game with me where in order to pet her, I have to find her. Normally she hides on Mom’s bed. Super inconspicuous-like. So I cleaned the box, prepped her food, cleaned out her water and went to find her but she wasn’t on the bed, she was in the bathroom. She accepted her pets, but something seemed a little off. She ate some while I was there, which was normal. I couldn’t really put my finger on anything tangible that was against type for her so I just hoped I was being hyper-sensitive and said my good-byes and love-yous.
Gut Instinct
The next day, I decided to show up a little early because I was still not done worrying about her. Best decision I made all week. I went in and the first thing I noticed was that she’d only eaten half her food. That’s abnormal. She came out to greet me, refused her fresh food and wandered off. Now I knew, without a doubt, something was wrong. I followed her and watched her lay down on the floor, all limbs and tail tucked under her in an uncomfortable looking hunch. We call this “meatloaf position” because they look like a meatloaf. I knelt down and petted her and could see the segmenting of her fur. She was breathing quickly, another possible sign of pain. I called Mom. She called the vet and made an appointment for 3 hours later. I went off to my next appointments.
What Is That Glow?
Three hours later, I came back to pick up Zoe for her visit and the sight of her was chilling. I saw something I’ve never seen on a client cat before: yellow skin. In 3 hours, her illness had progressed to liver distress so profound it had caused jaundice. I raced her to Dr. Johnson, of Princess Anne Veterinary where Dr. J did a full blood panel, discovering extremely high liver values. We had no choice, Zoe had to be admitted to a facility with overnight veterinary care. Again I packed Zoe up, and off to Blue Pearl we went.
Oh my Precious
Two days later, Zoe is still at Blue Pearl, and currently, the cause of her liver failing is unknown. What is known is that she’s improving, that it’s going to be a tough road for her and her Mom, and that if I had no visited her that day, she’d be dead. And my heart would be broken. They may be your baby, but they’re our baby, too. Thanks, Mom for requesting daily visits. We saved your little girl’s life.
And Zoe’s life is just one reason why I require daily cat sitting visits.
