Noona's rescue

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Last week I mentioned a new addition to the feline tribe around here - and here she is. Her name is Noona. She was in a very particular and urgent need of help. I first spotted her in a taverna 10 days ago. You might know it's a very common sight to see cats begging for food in Greek tavernas - it almost epitomizes Greek tavernas. And this one was no different. Most cats though looked well and healthy enough but this little girl sat back and was having a difficult time keeping up with the others fighting over the bits of food people threw for them. I noticed she had a very strange shape. She is little (maybe 6 months old) and looked pregnant, but in a strange way. She looked just in an appalling state. Apart from her pregnant look and being way too young for a pregnancy, she was  emtremely skinny and had a cold. To me it was clear she wouldn't make it much longer in her state. I wowed to come back to find her and to get her to the vet immediately.

I passed by three days in a row before finally spotting her again last Monday. Luckily she seemed to know she needed help -  she popped straight into the transport box! Then off to the vet.

Turned out this little girl had a condition called mammary hyperplasia. A condition where the mammary glands swells due to too much progesterone - something that tends to occur in young unspayed female cats due to pregnancy. So yes, she was indeed also pregnant, but the strange shape was from huge swollen mammary glands. Quite unreal. You can see the enormous extra added weight she was carrying around - and these images above are AFTER she aborted four 4 week old feteuses (that's almost half-way through a cat pregnancy). Before the injection to help cure this condition (which is what caused- and is meant to cause an abortion) she was swollen the whole way up her chest and she could hardly walk. It was more of a waddle. In the second image you can see that her legs had gotten quite bend to allow for all the added body mass. She was and still is unable to preen herself  - she understandably loves it when I wash her.

Well, these bottom images are from today. As you can see she is MUCH better already but will need to go back for another shot tomorrow. She might need treatment for a total of four weeks before this condition is in complete remission. Sometimes it might not completely disappear so I'm keeping fingers crossed she'll be fully cured.

She has spent most of the week resting... and just wanting cuddles and attention. Whenever I've stroked her along her spine I've literally been able to feel/sense the soreness she's been feeling. It must have been hugely arduous for her with the extreme added weight.

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It's literally taken all week to get her cleaned up (her belly still needs the treatment, but that'll have to wait). The muck and dirt (even oil) from the road was so stuck to her fur. But we're getting there. Last weeks trip to the vet was very taxing for her - I hope she'll do better tomorrow. Hopefully the TLC so far will have made her stronger. When I look at the pain in her face and eyes in the first image I sometimes wonder how these cats even have the will to go on. Who cannot not want to help a cat in such a state?