Mia's StoryBy Jan Cullen

I fostered Mia in January 2017. She was around 4 weeks old and had been taken to Hawkesbury Shelter at around 3 weeks of age. She had stayed with another foster carer for a few days and appeared to be doing well. She didn’t do so well with me. She refused to drink kitten formulaand nothing I could do would convince her otherwise. She ate kitten food with gusto. She refused to use the litter boxes provided for her and I ended up with 3 litter boxes around the house which she eventually decided were safe to use. She didn’t like Emma (my DCH adopted Pomeranian) or me. On her first night I popped her into a sleeping cage in my bedroom. I woke up during the night to find her at the end of my bed. The next night I blocked all possible exits from the cage but the same thing happened so the cage was popped back into the shed and she was allowed to sleep on the bed.

It took her weeks to decide that Emma and I were okay. We let her get to know us at her own pace. She didn’t purr and was happy to sleep on the bed or play with her toys. She definitely wasn’t an affectionate cat.
She had all her vaccinations and was desexed, however, she remained a very small kitten.

Given time, she started following me around and when I was watching television or on the computer she would jump up on my lap. She started to purr which was like music to my ears. What appeared to be little steps to me were huge leaps of faith (and trust) for her. She loved her food and would often wake the dog early in the morningknowing that the dog would harass me until she got her breakfast. She would then chase the dog out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. It was like a herd of elephants running through the house. We all eventually settled into life together and I made the decision to adopt her. Mia loved the windowsills, especially the kitchen one where she could watch the birds in the birdbath.

She appeared to be lethargic one Saturday so I kept an eye on her and when she didn’t improve I took her to the Leura Emergency Vet early on Sunday morning. They suspected a kidney problem and took blood which showed her kidneys were fine. However, her temperature was high and they put her on a drip. They kept her overnight. It was the first time I had been parted from Mia and it was awful. I worried about her constantly and on Monday morning, she was transferred to Katoomba Vet. I picked her up and took her to Julie at Bowenfels Vet. A blood test was done and it was suspected that she had toxoplasmosis. She started treatment and was kept on a drip until Thursday morning when I brought her home. She didn’t respond very well and for the first 3 weeks of her illness, I didn’t think she would make it. Emma was her constant companion and we all formed a very close bond. Then she seemed to turn the corner on the fourth week - she started eating a little more, wanted to hang out and I was thrilled with her improvement. However, after her next lot of tests it was suspected that she had Feline Infection Peritonitis (FIP) and she soon went downhill again. By the following Sunday she was becoming lethargic, snuffly and lost interest in food. Her weight had gone down to 1.9 kgs. Unfortunately, on Monday morning she showed signs of the neurological form of FIP. She was deteriorating quickly and the decision was made to euthanase her as she was starting to show signs of discomfort.

I missed her terribly and nothing I did could fill the void. The house was empty without her. She really fought to keep going and I am so pleased that she came to me. There is a special place in my heart for the beautiful girl who never got to enjoy a long life.
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