So Long Tilly

I had a long day yesterday.   I returned all the cats, went up and fed the Waterloo boys, began the process of all the trap cleaning and laundry that happens after getting 15 cats fixed, even mowed the front and back lawns.  Rain sputtered through out the day off and on.

I finally collapsed into my chair, to watch TV.  It was just after 8:00 p.m.

I hear a thud, thump, then three small pathetic cries.  All the cats are looking over towards the main window and floor area underneath it.  I look too.  Tilly has fallen and now is dragging both back legs.

I react quickly and get her scooped into a towel and in the bathroom.   She seems to have no use of either rear leg.  She's about ten years old and its not normal she would fall from a shelf that's only five feet high, or that she would injure herself in such a fall if she did.  I immediately think saddle clot.

Then I brush that thought aside and hope she's tweaked back or pelvis is all.

I call the emergency vet clinic to tell them I'm coming over with a feral who is dragging her rear legs.

The vet was incredible.  First he wanted to know about Tilly and how it happened, if I saw her fall, if she cried out before or after the fall.  This is differential diagnosis going on and I like it.  He pretty much knew it was a saddle clot before he took her in the back.   He put her under anesthesia to diagnose her.  The back half of her body quickly became cold, as no blood was getting to it anymore.  This is a classic sign of saddle clot.  A saddle clot lodges where the arteries split, to feed both sides of the rear half of the body.

The cause is usually a heart issue.

Tilly died last night.

I came home with an empty carrier.

Tilly remained feral during her years here.  She was one of nine cats I trapped at Golden West, a place that builds manufactured homes.  They were supposed to go back once fixed but then they would not agree to feed them.   I kept them all here, and then realized they all had terribly bad teeth.   That's when I began going all the way to Astoria, to get dental care for those cats.  Rogue, Tilly's brother, had to have all his removed and so did two others from the same group.   The rest all had multiple extractions.   They had been starving, you see, from the time they were born, eating pigeons to survive, and food scraps employees who felt sorry for them, would toss.

Tilly has been here 9 years.  She was an adult when she came here so I don't really know how old she was.

Rogue is beside himself today looking for her.  They remained extremely close.

Tilly, on the left, with her brother Rogue

The Golden West cats remained a very close knit bonded family.  Up top, Alexi, Stilleto and Sassy.  On the bottom, Cougie, Raindrop, Tilly behind Raindrop, and Rogue.  The only Golden West cats not in this photo are Misty and Haley.

Goodbye little sweetie.

FYI:

• Saddle thrombus is a very serious condition that occurs more often in cats than dogs and is alternately called feline aortic thromboembolism (FATE)
• The "saddle" is the point in the abdomen at which the aorta splits into two arteries to supply the back legs with blood flow; a saddle thrombus is a blood clot that typically lodges in the wedge at the top of the saddle
• Symptoms of FATE involve one or both rear legs, which turn cold and hard as the muscles and nerves swell due to lack of oxygen and nutrients. An affected pet may drag one or both hind legs and cry out in pain
• Saddle thrombus is a life-threatening medical emergency. Pets who survive typically require a great deal of nursing care until they are mobile again, and unfortunately, recurrence is common
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