Iona Options

[Ken Albin]

I have been posting about our feral cat Iona in the new beginnings section for a couple of months. They took out the pin in her arm but her appetite went down so we took her to the vet. She was running a fever and they put her on antibiotics. She did not improve and when we took her back to the vet again they said she had apparently picked up a bacteria when the pin was put in and it had been growing and was systemic. They gave her a shot of gentomycin and Iona suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing. The vet thinks she reacted to the drug because of her weakened condition and perhaps because she was genetically sensitive to it. I gave her CPR while she was on oxygen and the vet tried to stimulate her and also gave her a shot of Benadryl but nothing helped. She gave a couple of small spasms and then her heart stopped. I am sure she had been unconscious those last few moments and did not feel any pain.

Karen and I are crushed. I had worked so hard with Iona for the past couple of months to turn her from a vicious feral cat with a broken leg to one of the sweetest cats I have ever seen. She loved to play with the other cats through the baby gates and even did this a little bit that last evening by pawing with Sam even though she was not eating. She loved to be petted and loved on as well so I did a lot of that those last few days.

The only consolation is that she was able to walk on her bad leg near the end and she had a loving home for a short time in her life and plenty of food. She also learned to play with toys and other cats, something she did not know how to do. Perhaps her life will have meaning by showing others that all feral cats can be tamed with a huge amount of patience and love.

I know she would have died outside with a broken leg and dislocated shoulder so I am not sorry we tried to help save her life. I only wish things had happened differently. I wish the vet would have done bloodwork to try to catch infections early but with her worm infestations the results probably would not have been clear. Her white blood cell count would probably have been high anyway so it may not have done much to help stop the infection. I don't blame the vet for giving her gentamycin since she had been on 2 other antibiotics and they did nothing to help. He had no way to know she was sensitive to it and that her condition was so fragile. I would have probably given her the same drug under those circumstances when we realized she had an advanced infection in the bone and probably systemic as well. It was a last ditch effort that failed.

Iona is buried in the front yard near a lemon tree. My health and nerves are wrecked. I had such a close bond with Iona that afterwards I developed eczema. The dermatologist said it was the worst case he had seen in his 40 years of practice. He gave me a cortisone shot, prednisone pills, and a strong steroid ointment. I have been slowly recovering from this and maybe it was a blessing to take my mind off of losing Iona.

I have only been able to write about her death now because it tears me up so much to even think about losing her. It has shaken my religious convictions and moral foundations. How could a God allow something like this to happen? Iona deserved better than this after her rough early life. She had so much promise and was just starting to enjoy the world for the first time in her 10 months of life. She went from having vets afraid to go near her to a loving and playful little girl. There is something inherently wrong with a universe where something like this happens to such a sweet little girl. She is at peace now but we miss her so much it hurts.

Sorry this is so rambling but the lack of sleep and bruised soul makes it hard to concentrate coherently. Don't feel pity for us. Feel pity for poor Iona who trusted us. We failed her. We will always love her.

[Flossie's Mom]

What a beautiful girl!!!! Love those eyes.............. I know she knew how lucky and how loved she was and still is.

Ginger