A Glimer of Hope for Elliot, a Veritable Floodlight for Lilly

This is Elliot, when he first came to us, he used to LOVE to ride around in the hood of Sarah's sweatshirt!

 OK- so, tonight, I finally had time to REALLY research FIP.   I had done a periphery research session, of about two hours on Tuesday evening, and come up with SOME hope, but it seemed rather unpromising - and I didn't want to get the girls' hope up, only to have them dashed.  Anyway, I did way MORE research tonight, and at this point, until I have some answers in the morning, neither of these cats are going to be put to sleep - not tomorrow anyway.  There will be some phone calls made and some questions asked, if the answers come down the direction I suspect that they will, we will have a new course of action, which will include finding some help from those who choose to believe that FIP CAN be treated, and is NOT a death sentence.  Elliot - the one who actually LOOKS sick, seems to be more comfortable and less compromised today.  His breathing is MUCH better, He is still eating, and still interested in playing, though doesn't have much energy for it.  But he is still eating!  - A cat who is still eating can't be TOO sick!  Lilly, does not even LOOK or ACT sick, even though she has, over the last several months, been quite sick at times, she is more healthy and playful now than she has been in the past.  At the VERY least, SHE is NOT going in.  WHAT WAS I THINKING!?!?!?!?  Please pray for us to be able to find a vet who will help us find a path through this, instead of trying to shove a dead-end street down our throats.

There was even one cat who was considerably worse off than Elliot (he wasn't wanting to eat, they had to really coax him to eat, he had fluid in his abdomen that was pressing on his lungs making it difficult for him to breath) but with homeopathics and diet changes (to a more natural diet - not the store-bought stuff) he lived to be 19!  AND, he was pretty much back to his old playful self within about 12 hours!  OH my GOODNESS.

If they live, they will likely end up being indoor cats, which will be interesting - because we have people with cat allergies!).  But the other 'interesting' thing is, that Emma went to a naturalpath, on Wednesday, in regards to her constant stomach aches, etc.  And while we were there, I asked about the whole de-sensatization thing, and she assured me that it is not only just 'possible', it is likely, and painless, and not that expensive.  : ) 

We also need to hope (pray) that the landlord is ok with them being indoor cats, because if he won't, we may need to move. 

Tonight (before all this research took place)  Emma was asking those big hard questions, about God, and why He sometimes doesn't answer prayers.  That's a tough one.  It's the VERY one that I have struggled with throughout a good portion of my life, in relation to the prayers we prayed for my mom to get better, and she didn't.   And it was kind of hard for me to know how to answer Emma, tonight, other than to assure her that no matter what, she CAN trust God.  I'm not sure how convincing I was.  It's one of those 'personal experience' things, that a parent can't GIVE to a kid.  They have to get it themselves.  We can encourage, and pray, and point in the right direction, and live an example, for them to see, but, in the end, they have to find it for themselves.

I'm really hoping that God was just planning to show us this way out, just waiting for us to find it.  And this is the answer to her prayers.  Please keep praying.  And pray, not just for the girls, but for the CATS!!  We are going to have a go at trying to pull Elliot through this.  It may not work, but we will know we tried our best, if it does not.  How could we live with ourselves if we didn't?  My hunch on Lilly is that she is not actually sick at all, and simply does NOT need to be put down at ALL.  We'll find out in the morning.  (basically, we believe that the test that was done on her does not test for actual FIP, but for the virus that mutates into FIP, which it only does in 5% of cats with the virus - and as many as 90% of cats carry the virus or the anitgens for it, in their body.  Again, only 5% mutate!  So high numbers on that test - which she did have - are meaningless drivel, and if that is the line this vet was using to 'convince us' to put her down, it's time to find a new vet - this guy can't be trusted!)