My Buddy Boy, Jake is gone from this earth. RIP my little man.
(Jake's Miracle and original story can still be seen below.)
My sweet, loving "Buddy Boy" Jake crossed the rainbow bridge
Wednesday afternoon, September 19, 2007 after fighting valiantly, a long and
difficult battle. He tried so hard to bounce back from his illness this time but
his little body wouldn't allow it. Jake was 6 years old.
For those who do not know, Jake got very sick about 2 1/2 years ago and was
diagnosed with feline lupus. Jake has a strong, fighting spirit and with a lot
of work and tons of worrying, we both Got through it and Jake bounced back. Even
when many told us it wouldn't happen.
This was Jake's 3rd flare up since the initial one. He didn't get the sores like
he did the first time but when he would go through stress he would stop eating
and/or get an underlying infection, stop eating and lose weight and get fatty
liver. This last time his poor little liver must have just been through too much
trauma and wouldn't bounce back.
This last time I thought I caught it early. I noticed he was losing fur and had
lost about a pound or so. I started the antibiotics, prednisone and syringe
feedings right away. He'd get better, then worse, better and then worse. He'd
eat well for a few days and then not eat at all. Even though I kept up the
syringe feedings I couldn't get any weight back on him. The vet just kept
encouraging me to do what I was doing because all we could do was supportive
care. It was either going to help or fail.
Tuesday night I saw Jake limping so I took a look at him and discovered both
legs and his ear on the left side were swollen and his left ear (the inside of
it) was deep purple. He was painful when I touched them even gently. The next
morning I got up for work at 3:30 A.M. and noticed he was much worse and barely
able to walk. I put food and water near his litter box so he wouldn't have to
move much and went to work. I made a Vet appointment and left early. When I got
home, I picked up Jake to put him in his carrier and had blood on my fingers. He
didn't have any cuts or anything but he was bleeding through the pores of his
skin.
I Got Jake to the vet and they tried to do some tests, including billirubin (CBC)
and clotting factors. They could only get a couple drops of blood from him and
even that clotted as it was coming out. I knew that meant his liver wasn't
controlling clotting as it should, which also meant he was in end stage liver
failure. The vet said they could keep him and try Heparin IVs, stronger
antibiotics and prednisone but she didn't think he'd make it through the
treatment and they'd have to put the IV in his jugular because his vascular
system was deteriorated. At that point I told them no, enough is enough. I spent
20 minutes holding Jake and talking to him and then the Vet came in and gave him
the injection. Jake passed away less then 30 seconds later peacefully in my arms
as I pet his head, rubbed the bridge of his nose (he loved that) and planted
kisses on his sweet little round cheeks. Then I laid him down on the exam table,
laid my head down on him and cried really hard for about 1/2 hour. My poor
little Buddy Boy was gone and my heart was and is empty.
Last night I kept thinking I saw Jake. I saw him as I walked into the kitchen,
laying in his food bowl eating like he always did. I saw him laying off to the
side when I got on the computer for a few minutes, I saw him when I woke up in
the night laying on his pillow next to me in the bed. And I saw him this morning
laying on top of the covered litter box (another favorite place). I got home
from work tonight and almost started calling for him. I always used to come in
and say, "Buddy.... where are you?" And he'd come out as if to say, "Here I am!"
About Jake: Jake was a gentle, loving, kind spirit. You picked him up and he'd
give you a hug by wrapping his paws around your neck. You look in his eyes and
you would see his soul. I loved his sweet, round cheeks and kissed them all the
time. Jake liked catnip bubbles, catnip pillows and string toys. He liked to lay
and sometimes play in the bathtub. He also liked to lay on the bathroom vanity
as I did my hair in the morning. Jake was also fond of playing rough house on
the tall cat tree. He also liked to play peek-a-boo on the cat tree. He checked
out every bowl of food before Peaches would eat. He'd just kind of sniff it and
then step aside as if to tell Peaches it was safe. He did that with Hallie too,
when she was alive. Jake liked to follow me and always liked to be where ever I
was in the house. I also called Jake my lion king because when he was healthy,
he had a beautiful, full coat especially around his face. Don't tell Peaches,
but you were the best cat I ever knew. You were a perfect boy cat. Jakey, I love
you and miss you so much already. I hope you're eating to your hearts content
and without pain over the rainbow bridge. Please watch over Peaches and me.
After all, you are my little man of the house and we need you.
Jake's Miracle
and
Transfer Factor
February-June 2005
Around mid February 2005, Jake became very ill. It started with a limp and what looked like a scratch on his ear. What it turned into is a horrible nightmare with large, pus filled areas on both ears, around one eye and across the bridge of his nose just to the edge of his other eye, and pus filled toes. His claws even fell out one day when I was soaking his paws in Epsom salts. After hundreds of dollars and many vet visits, it was determined he had an autoimune disease that rarely strikes in cats. Feline lupus erythomatosus. Jake didn't respond to antibiotics or anti-inflamatories and we thought we were going to have to put him to sleep. Then someone told me about a natural product called Transfer Factor that was supposed to balance the immune system and even cure some immune and auto immune diseases. As a last ditch effort, I decided to try Jake on Transfer Factor. Here is a pictorial journal of Jake's miracle story.
Below are pictures of how Jake's disease began to present itself. They were taken around February 19, 2005. Actually, it started a couple of weeks before these pictures. He was limping and had a "scratch" on his ear and I thought he got in a fight with one of the other cats. He was always picking on Hallie and I believed perhaps she had finally got the best of him. Boy, was I wrong! Click on thumbnails below to see larger pictures.
Jake only got worse from there. The next pictures are not for the faint. They are approximately 2 weeks later (March 7th, 2005) after being on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory that whole time. As you can see, the sores have spread on his face and his toes look almost gangrenous. This is the point at which I heard about Transfer Factor and I decided to try this one more thing before having Jake put to sleep. Click thumbnails for larger pictures.
The next pictures are after 8 days of Transfer Factor (March 15th, 2005.) I also mixed 1/4 teaspoon of flaxseed oil and 1 teaspoon of grape seed extract in the Transfer Factor. I was also soaking his paws in hot water and Epsom salts 3 times a week. If you look closely, you can see he is getting a little bit better. The dried pus is starting to flake off the ears and around his eye. His paws were producing less pus though they were the slowest to recover and I remained concerned about them for some time.
The next pictures are approximately 1 week later (March 23rd, 2005.) You can definitely tell Jake's sores are getting better but he is losing a lot of fur. At this point, I'm definitely feeling like there is some hope for the poor guy.
March 28th-April 2nd, 2005 and Jake is still healing. His toes aren't producing as much pus and his claws are starting to grow back.
April 4th-8th, 2005. Jake is up and about and playing hard. He's even picking on the girls again! He has hair growing back around his eye and on his paws and only occasionally has pus come from one toe.
These pictures are all from late May and Early June of 2005. Jake is so frisky again! He has that mischief in his eyes again where you know he's up to trouble! You can see some spots on his belly and chest where he doesn't have much fur yet. But that's coming!
I can't believe how time flies. Jake continues to do well and is completely healed. He has finally grown back his full coat and is very healthy. I will post new pictures in the next few days.
To those who have emailed me and I had not gotten back to until now.... again, please forgive me and I will also be getting back with you this weekend (October 8ish). It has been a difficult spring & summer, to say the least. Just as I knew Jake was going to be alright I found out I needed surgery on my foot and ankle and then about 8 days after my surgery I lost my little calico Persian named Hallie. Click here for details. Since then, I have had a set back in my recovery and am struggling to turn it around.
I Have no doubt that without Transfer Factor, I would have lost my Buddy Boy, Jakey. If you would like to know more about Transfer Factor, Please email me by using the link below.
