Not the 2nd worst day of my life

Today is not the second worst day of my life, though it sure started out like it would be.

I got home at midnight from a ballet party following our Summer Rep performance. Tired and longing for sleep, I was greeted not by 2 cats and a cozy bed, but rather by 1 cat and several terrifying messages from my roommate. At 11 last night, Mitzi had a seizure. She calmed down, but shortly began having much worse seizures. Fortunately, my roommate was home and took her to the ER at the UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Hospital at about 11:30. I sped over half an hour later as soon as I found out where they were.

It was very grim. Poor Mitzi was knocked out by the seizure medicine and in very bad shape. Her bloodwork showed that some of her electrolyte levels were sky-high from the seizures. The vet had never seen levels so high! Of course, I'm proud of Mitzi for setting records, but I wish she'd set her sights on less terrifying statistics! It was terrible to see her in that state. Though not really conscious, her eyes were open, and she was just flopped out on the table, a very un-Mitzi-like pose. I completely broke down. And unfortunately, at that point, there was nothing reassuring they could tell me. It's very bad when cats have seizures. When I asked the vet what Mitzi's chances were, she said that she didn't know, because she's a cat, but that if Mitzi were a person, she'd say that she had no chance. What an awful thing to have to hear, especially about the beloved cat who's been there for me throughout more than half of my life.

I stayed with Mitzi until 2 in the morning. After I left, they moved her to the ICU and continued to monitor her and work on getting her electrolytes back to normal. They promised to call me if anything bad happened and to give me an update in the morning. Somehow I managed to get about 3 hours of sleep. I was relieved to have not heard any bad news over the night, but very anxious for my morning update.

Mitzi has been showing steady and remarkable improvement all day. By 8 this morning she was starting to move around and even eat a little. By my lunchtime update, she was responding to her name. At 5, they let me visit her. She's dramatically better than she was last night. Everyone is so thrilled about her improvement. The doctors and nurses who were with her last night were especially enthusiastic at how well she's doing now. It made them so happy; they kept grinning at me. Mitzi's recovery is spreading sweetness and light! Mitzi's returning to her old self too, which is such a relief since there's the danger of brain damage with seizures. She's wooing everyone at the animal hospital. They say that she's quickly becoming the queen of the ICU. I told them that that sounded like my Mitzi; that "regal" has always been the best word to describe her.

Tomorrow the neurologist will run tests on Mitzi to assess her general health and try to figure out what caused the seizures. They need to determine the cause of the seizures and the amount of damage they caused to judge what her chances are and what additional treatment might be necessary. Things are looking much better, though. Hopefully my Mitzi will be able to come home in another few days.