Widow's Voice

Resolve

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“He who is firm and resolute in will moulds the world to himself.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I’m still dealing with my kitty, Freya, who is stumping veterinarians with severe anemia. Everyone has been guessing with a diagnosis of IMHA, or Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. It’s a scary mouthful and an even scarier and often long-term immune disease to deal with. She was doing pretty well after an initial blood transfusion last month, but after taking bad advice from a local vet to lower her steroid dose (the steroids help to suppress the immune system from attacking red blood cells), she crashed again.

We went through 2 more blood transfusions a week ago and increased the steroid dose again. Even if I told you to sit down, you would be unprepared to hear the running total of the cost so far. I honestly don’t want to think about it right now. At least I am in a position where I have oodles of credit. I really feel for anyone who gets this diagnosis with their cat and dog and doesn’t have the means to pay for treatments.

Tonight, I spent an hour going through Reddit posts of other people who have gotten this diagnosis with their cats. It is rather rare. But the thing I find so daunting about it all is the almost everyone else’s stories are matching up with mine – dealing with multiple vets, from regular veterinarians to emergency veterinarians, to specialists such as internists and NONE of them ever make a conclusive diagnosis. Occasionally, there will be a “suspected” cause, such as infection with a blood parasite. The problem, as was in our case, is that when a cat first presents with symptoms, it’s always thought to be some sort of low level infection and immediately treated with antibiotics before running more thorough tests on a blood sample before antibiotic treatment. I won’t bore you with everything I’ve learned about all possible feline blood parasites in the last month or so, but suffice to say, even when they ARE the cause, the critical condition remains the anemia and the body attacking its own red blood cells. So even if any parasites are eradicated with waves of hardcore antibiotics, the anemia remains.

The further we go into this, the more I feel like there is something else at play … some other core reason why so many younger cats (just from what I’ve observed reading other’s stories) come down with this. While I’m playing along with the vet’s guessing game and getting the 10mg daily steroid dose in, I’m also consulting with my vet I used many years ago who is a regular veterinarian, but also skilled in traditional Chinese medicine for animals, just for a different perspective. I use Chinese medicine myself and it’s solved many a health issue over the years. I also have a couple other natural supplements that I’ve used in the past with another cat (long story short, vet was recommending to put my cat down, I used this one supplement, she fully recovered and lived to be 19 1/2).

A lot of veterinarians frown on natural or alternative options, but the way I see it is, whatever works… especially when facing something this serious. And unlike people who are susceptible to the placebo affect, animals are not. If you give them something, and they recover, either a miracle happened or what you gave them actually worked. If the prognosis is dire and you give them something and it doesn’t work, at least you tried.

So Freya is still hanging in there. I’m her biggest cheerleader (although she’s got many at this point). I’m hoping the prescribed medications will start having a positive action and then any supporting care also has a positive effect.

And no matter what anyone else thinks, animals can absolutely pick up on human “vibes”. So I’ve been trying to be really positive for her as well as just letting her rest in a calm environment. I’ve also been giving her some fresh air and sunshine on my deck. As soon as I unlocked the French doors in the bedroom, she got up and walked out with me. So this has been our morning ritual the last few days. The first time we ever met was on my deck in a rain storm.

A cat lays on a wooden deck

I’m also trying to do my best to take care of myself doing this. I’ve made some progress on adjusting my sleep schedule (hey, I’m writing this at 10:20pm rather than 2:20am!) and trying to switch things up a bit with my work to be more productive in less time.

It’s stress though, but I am being firm and resolute in my will that everything will work out.

About Sherry Holub

I met my spouse, Mario, at UCLA School of Art in 1993. After graduating in 1995, I founded a small agency specializing in web and graphic design. Mario became my partner in the company in 1999. In 2002, we were married at the Costa Mesa, CA court house because neither of us wanted a big wedding ceremony (after already being together since 1995).

Mario was a highly talented artist, musician, illustrator and 3D Designer, but a tortured one. He was one of those gentle, creative souls who ended up burning twice as bright for half as long. Mario lost the battle with liver disease induced by alcoholism (almost exactly 6 months after he became sober) on 2/10/21.

I’m a long-time artist and writer with a background in photography who enjoys cooking, getting outdoors, staying young at heart, and sharing experiences to potentially help others. When it comes to writing, I’ve written both for fun and professionally over the years. Writing is also sometimes therapy for me and I don’t mind sharing my personal experiences with a wider audience.