Saturday 21 January 2012

Little Lucky Loo and New Shop

First of all, the important part. Lucky went to the vets today and I was prepared for the worst.

   Yes, she's not been herself since her operation. While she came out of it much better and happier than Sugar did, rest her soul, she's not been completely all right. She's been eating and climbing and doing everything a healthy Lucky does, but she was lying down at the bottom of her cage the other day and I just knew something wasn't right. So I opened the cage door, called her over - and she could barely walk. At first we thought she'd fallen a few feet from the top shelf of her cage, but when it became clear that moving around - or trying to - didn't hurt her, I started to think it was something else.
   Well, we kept an eye on her over the next two or three days, and I began to fear the worst. She's been unable to hold her food, walk properly, get to sleep easily (she used to sleep so heavily you could literally open the cage noisily, put your hand in the cage, lift the entire hammock while she was sleeping in it, press her to the top of the cage and she wouldn't wake at all. It was worrying at some points, we had to shake her for about twenty seconds before she opened her eyes), or lift her head properly. So she went into the vets today.
   Last night I spent the day, believing it was her last, making her treats and cuddling with her. I got her out while watching Dad's Army and she fell asleep next to me beneath the blanket - she has never slept outside of her cage. Never. So this only furthered my suspicions. I made the most of it, and I managed to sneak away just before it was time for her to go back in the cage and Seeg and I to go to bed, and I got a few pictures of her with her head resting on my pillow, all bundled up in a blanket. It was so cute.
    BUT, to the point. She went to the vets today with Seeg and my dad, and she didn't seem much better that morning. She's a little more careful with her movements - more calculating - so she doesn't fall on her side anywhere near as much, but every now and then she gets excited and slips. But still, she went to the vets, I stayed at home crying, convinced that I wouldn't see her alive again. I sat in the living room with my mum, telling her stories about the silly little munchkin, and how sometimes she'd get so ridiculously brave that she would stand up on her back legs on the top shelf, reach up with her front feet and grab the bars above her (like, the roof of the cage) and lift her entire body up and climb - upside down - along the top of the cage, inside it. But, she could never quite get her back feet onto the bars, so she was climbing along with just her front feet, as if she were using monkey bars, her back feet always so close to grabbing the bars, but she just never managed it. She turned around on it once, a complete 180 degree turn. She twisted one paw around to grab the bar from the other side, and WOOSH around she spun, facing the other direction. It was hilarious. And she never injured herself doing it either.

   But I digress. She went to the vets and they had a look. Before she left, Seeg and I agreed that she had the determination and will power, but not the energy, to run around. She'd give it hell trying to run across the bed and the bottom of her cage, but she'd fall every now and then, eventhough each step was clearly calculated (animals are not stupid). But despite that, without the energy, I just didn't think she had much longer. Seeg also observed that her eyes were still bright as ever, though, still full of life.
   But I still feared the worst.
   So I sat at home, crying, talking to mum about her, Sugar, and the dogs we've lost as well, and then almost an hour later the front door opened. I ran out, I saw Seeg carrying her little carry cage - and her nose was sticking out. I ran over, and she was just sat there looking at me and sniffing the air. I was so happy to see her again, I was 95% sure I wouldn't.

   The vet said herself in fact that she was full of life and definitely hadn't lost the will to live, and that there was a very good chance that it was either a blood clot, which could pass on its own, or she could have had a stroke. I thought that rather than having hurt her legs, she'd hurt her head, or it was something neurological, and when Seeg said the word "stroke" I was surprised, but it made a lot of sense. She's told us to keep an eye on it, and if she's struggling to eat, we should consider changing her food from dry which she can hold in her little hands, to soft which she could eat from a plate without having to pick it up. So we're trying to find things that would be appropriate for her to eat. She's also said to give her more time and company, so we're going to get her out every night now even if she only sleeps between us while Seeg plays some games and I read a book. I never pay much attention to much else when she's out anyway, she always gets my attention.

   But the possibility of a stroke is a strong one, which makes sense, and now I have some idea of what could be wrong, I can take more appropriate action. Her quality of life has not dipped, she's still spoilt, she still sleeps, she still gets cuddles - she just gets more of them now.


   And now, on a different note, Dandelion Grenade is up and running! And, if you buy something from there or my jewellery shop, Peaches and Pebbles, you'll help to buy Lucky some softer food! Because I am quite skint at the moment. And, if you've purchased from P&P before, the discount code for returning customers is applyable to both shops. Keep your eye on DG, I've got new products to go up soon, and probably better pictures, too!



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