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Description

This is a pet portrait of my current "foster" cat Miyu. She's with me since August now and is finally starting to settle in completely.

Miyu came towards our shelter around May/June this year from a compulsive hoarder after they died. She was rather petite and thin, that together with her good teeth made us suspect she was around 1-2 years old at that time. There was a vaccination record found with matching age and fur colour, but she didn't have the microchip mentioned in that certificate, so it most likely wasn't hers.

Miyu had a very hard time at the shelter, sitting there wide eyed, not moving all day and not eating either. While this is normal for many cats the first 2-3 days, even the ones with more anxiety start eating at night after a few days. She didn't... so to avoid damage to her liver we had to start force feeding her, additional to giving fluids. Bloodworks didn't show any out of the ordinary aside form slighty elevated liver values. That was to be expected, as it was not known how long Miyu had gone without food.

But even with fluids and forcefeeding she didn't start eating on her own aside from a few licks here and there. We offered everything, wet foods, dry foods, raw and cooked meat of call kind, treats, sausage, cheese... nearly nothing for 6-7 weeks. She was getting thinner despite feeding and bloodworks showed her liver and pancreas values going up too. As her white bloodcells were going up, inflammation was suspected (triaditis) and she was put on antibiotics and prednisone.

We tried giving her company, but that didn't help either. Miyu wouldn't react at all, just continue to sit there, wide eyed, not moving...

That was when I decided to take her home, to see if another environment would help her. Obviously it didn't change much the first days. She would hide in a small space between fridge and wall or inside my bathroom closet that she entered from the side, as it had a rather large gap there. Miyu would only come out at night or when I was away to use the toilet. Other than that I still had to force feed her. Sometimes after feeding her she would jump up to windowsill. To my surprise she immediatly started to eating the grass there, but nothing else.

But after a few minutes she would go into hiding again, but at least sometimes would enjoy a few strokes along her back. After two weeks of offering everything, she started to eat on her own. Just a few kibbles here and there, but it was something! And she would give soft headbutts, before go into hiding again, now always into my bathroom closet. Guess the towels and bigger space were more comfortable.

That's when someone I helped with their cats gave me food their cats wouldn't eat. It was a brand that I hadn't tried again for quite some time, so I just for the fun of it offered it to her. And the next morning everything was gone.

You can't imagine how happy I was. But she would only eat this food. If I tried something else, she would take a bite and leave it. That's when she started to enter the kitchen in the morning after I placed her food, even when I was still into there. When I moved she would bolt, but after a few days she got more brave. She would stop eating when I move, but not run away anymore.

Thats when she realised cuddling was a thing. When I was in the bathroom she would approach me, meow at me, give headbutts and enjoy careful cuddling. But she was extremely anxious with changes. After my parents visited me oen day, she would not leave the bathroom again for a few days and even use my shower as a toilet.

Shortly after Miyu got into heat for the first time. That cleared the question weather she was neutered or not... While being in heat usually is stressful for cats, it actually helped her to leave her hidingspot more often to get my attention. She would come into my bedroom and climb onto my bed to get cuddles. And to my and her luck Miyu kept that, even after the heat was over. But she stayed jumpy, when I moved to fast or in a way she didn't suspect - mostly when she tought I was approaching her on my terms rather than waiting for her.

But at least she now was eating very well, but also started drinking very much, while staying on the thinner side. Due to her extreme reactions to stress and changes I decided to do the control bloodworks at a later time. Miyu got into heat a second time at the end of october, this time with clear discharge. After I sometimes had the feeling that she wasn't feeling to well around her stomach, I decided it was time to bring her to the vet to get her neutered and to get the bloodworks done.

Miyu got over the surgery without problems. Her uterus was actually swollen and thick and had a cyst, but was not filled with pus to our luck.

Bloodworks came back mostly unchanged. One liver value has gotten better, the other worse. Her crea was still in normal range, alltough higher than the last time and her urea was extremely high. And her thyriod was way to high too.

This would explain her good eating and still staying thin, her drinking behaviour and her bad breath, too.

Her food was changed to kidney diet and she was started on medication for her thyroid.

Miyu was especially skittish the first days after the surgery, but is now back to her old self. And even better: she doesn't hide anymore. She either sleeps in my living room or at the end of my bed on a small staircase after I placed a blanket on it. (Well... I placed it there because I was too lazy to fold it... now it's hers)

Miyu comes to visit me in my bed to cuddle and she loves belly rubs. She remains anxious to changes and visitors, but is getting better. Miyu also remains jumpy to certain movements, or if I have to go into the same direction she goes. But overall I think she has settled in great. And even tough she runs as a foster cat, Miyu will stay with me, as no one can say where her health will go.

This was done in Photoshop in ca. 10 hours.

Description

This is a pet portrait of my current "foster" cat Miyu. She's with me since August now and is finally starting to settle in completely.

Miyu came towards our shelter around May/June this year from a compulsive hoarder after they died. She was rather petite and thin, that together with her good teeth made us suspect she was around 1-2 years old at that time. There was a vaccination record found with matching age and fur colour, but she didn't have the microchip mentioned in that certificate, so it most likely wasn't hers.

Miyu had a very hard time at the shelter, sitting there wide eyed, not moving all day and not eating either. While this is normal for many cats the first 2-3 days, even the ones with more anxiety start eating at night after a few days. She didn't... so to avoid damage to her liver we had to start force feeding her, additional to giving fluids. Bloodworks didn't show any out of the ordinary aside form slighty elevated liver values. That was to be expected, as it was not known how long Miyu had gone without food.

But even with fluids and forcefeeding she didn't start eating on her own aside from a few licks here and there. We offered everything, wet foods, dry foods, raw and cooked meat of call kind, treats, sausage, cheese... nearly nothing for 6-7 weeks. She was getting thinner despite feeding and bloodworks showed her liver and pancreas values going up too. As her white bloodcells were going up, inflammation was suspected (triaditis) and she was put on antibiotics and prednisone.

We tried giving her company, but that didn't help either. Miyu wouldn't react at all, just continue to sit there, wide eyed, not moving...

That was when I decided to take her home, to see if another environment would help her. Obviously it didn't change much the first days. She would hide in a small space between fridge and wall or inside my bathroom closet that she entered from the side, as it had a rather large gap there. Miyu would only come out at night or when I was away to use the toilet. Other than that I still had to force feed her. Sometimes after feeding her she would jump up to windowsill. To my surprise she immediatly started to eating the grass there, but nothing else.

But after a few minutes she would go into hiding again, but at least sometimes would enjoy a few strokes along her back. After two weeks of offering everything, she started to eat on her own. Just a few kibbles here and there, but it was something! And she would give soft headbutts, before go into hiding again, now always into my bathroom closet. Guess the towels and bigger space were more comfortable.

That's when someone I helped with their cats gave me food their cats wouldn't eat. It was a brand that I hadn't tried again for quite some time, so I just for the fun of it offered it to her. And the next morning everything was gone.

You can't imagine how happy I was. But she would only eat this food. If I tried something else, she would take a bite and leave it. That's when she started to enter the kitchen in the morning after I placed her food, even when I was still into there. When I moved she would bolt, but after a few days she got more brave. She would stop eating when I move, but not run away anymore.

Thats when she realised cuddling was a thing. When I was in the bathroom she would approach me, meow at me, give headbutts and enjoy careful cuddling. But she was extremely anxious with changes. After my parents visited me oen day, she would not leave the bathroom again for a few days and even use my shower as a toilet.

Shortly after Miyu got into heat for the first time. That cleared the question weather she was neutered or not... While being in heat usually is stressful for cats, it actually helped her to leave her hidingspot more often to get my attention. She would come into my bedroom and climb onto my bed to get cuddles. And to my and her luck Miyu kept that, even after the heat was over. But she stayed jumpy, when I moved to fast or in a way she didn't suspect - mostly when she tought I was approaching her on my terms rather than waiting for her.

But at least she now was eating very well, but also started drinking very much, while staying on the thinner side. Due to her extreme reactions to stress and changes I decided to do the control bloodworks at a later time. Miyu got into heat a second time at the end of october, this time with clear discharge. After I sometimes had the feeling that she wasn't feeling to well around her stomach, I decided it was time to bring her to the vet to get her neutered and to get the bloodworks done.

Miyu got over the surgery without problems. Her uterus was actually swollen and thick and had a cyst, but was not filled with pus to our luck.

Bloodworks came back mostly unchanged. One liver value has gotten better, the other worse. Her crea was still in normal range, alltough higher than the last time and her urea was extremely high. And her thyriod was way to high too.

This would explain her good eating and still staying thin, her drinking behaviour and her bad breath, too.

Her food was changed to kidney diet and she was started on medication for her thyroid.

Miyu was especially skittish the first days after the surgery, but is now back to her old self. And even better: she doesn't hide anymore. She either sleeps in my living room or at the end of my bed on a small staircase after I placed a blanket on it. (Well... I placed it there because I was too lazy to fold it... now it's hers)

Miyu comes to visit me in my bed to cuddle and she loves belly rubs. She remains anxious to changes and visitors, but is getting better. Miyu also remains jumpy to certain movements, or if I have to go into the same direction she goes. But overall I think she has settled in great. And even tough she runs as a foster cat, Miyu will stay with me, as no one can say where her health will go.

This was done in Photoshop in ca. 10 hours.