January 24, 2007 (Wednesday)

I hand-fed Ashley most of her ¼ can of breakfast. Ashley has an 8:45 a.m. appointment with Dr. Wellman this morning.

Dr. Wellman confirmed my suspicions. Ashley has come down with an upper respiratory infection. He said it hasn’t gone to her lungs yet – that is good because pneumonia can be deadly. At the moment, it seems to be only in her nasal passages. Dr. Wellman asked us if we had any Clindamycin at home. We do. Clindamycin is an oral antibiotic. I like to keep it on hand for alternating with Cindy’s (Ashley’s sister) prednisone for her asthma. For some reason, unknown to us, it helps her, although not as well as the prednisone. Also, I keep it on hand in case any of the cats come down with an upper respiratory infection over the weekends or any other infections like scratches from slapping at one another. Dr Wellman told us to give her 25mg twice daily for at least 5 days to a week. She also has a slight fever; however, he didn’t tell us what it was. I forgot to ask.

Ashley’s first dose of Clindamycin was at 10:30 a.m., when we returned home, after a couple errands (a pharmacy run for Mom and picking up some dog food).

Ashley has been very listless and quiet except for difficulty breathing through her nose.

I hand-fed her supper. I tried to force her to eat at least half of her usual ¼ can serving. She fought me pretty good trying to push my hands away with her little paws, but I got her to almost finish her entire meal. I know she needs to eat in order to get stronger.

Ashley got her second dose of Clindamycin about 10:30 p.m.

Also, of note, Dr. Wellman says the Prednisone, in addition to the chemo, would reduce her immune system, allowing her to be susceptible to other illnesses and viruses.

Late, between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., Ashley began having a lot of problems breathing. We were worried if she might actually be dying. Her breathing was kind of noisy – guess it could be congested, but it sounds very strange. Being late, naturally there’s no one to call. We did take her temperature because her right ear felt a bit warm. (Her left ear is usually always warm because of the inflammation from the lump.) Ashley’s temperature was slightly higher than 102F.

After taking her temperature, Ashley became very restless. She got up, and I helped her to the litter box, as she has to keep stopping for breaks. She doesn’t have the strength to walk for long distances. She goes a little bit, stops and lies down. Then, she gets up again after a short rest and goes a little further. She peed a good bit, and then she headed for the water bowl. She stopped about half way to the water bowl for another rest; so, I placed her in front of it. She rested a little while and then got a long drink. She then headed back to the couch.

I wonder if the Clindamycin makes her thirsty. She seems to be drinking more today than the past several days.

I placed her back in the couch and arranged some towels we keep just for the critters around her to help keep her propped up. I noticed that when she lies down on the couch, she tends to roll to the back of the couch as she falls asleep. This causes her nasal passages to drain down her throat causing her to cough/gag/choke on it. I figured if I could keep her upright or with her head slightly raised, like on a pillow, and leaning a little forward, she might not have so much drainage down her throat. This might help prevent some of the gagging and upset tummy she seemed to be experiencing.

I wish I had known she could have the Clindamycin on Tuesday. I would’ve started her on it; since, Dr. Wellman couldn’t see her right away. I didn’t know she could have it with the chemo, and I had to be sure that it was an upper respiratory infection first.

My other fear is that the other nine cats will come down with this upper respiratory infection now; since, Ashley is so sick with it.

Wouldn’t you know it – later, Taffy started sneezing. Have to watch her.