Hannah came to SHUA in spring 2007. We had taken in her soulmate, Harvey, in the January after he had been dumped at the vets to be put to sleep because his owner no longer wanted him. Harvey weighed 13kg and had hepatic lipidosis, a life- threatening liver condition which was a result of his morbid obesity. His owner had fed him far too much food for a very long time. In addition to the hepatic lipidosis, Harvey had the worst case of cystitis we have ever seen. His urine looked more like pure blood than urine. For it to have got this bad, it would have been untreated for quite some time. Harvey was in agony.
Harvey was hospitalised at our vets for a few weeks and even when they finally released him into our care, they were not certain that he would survive. We did everything we could - EVERYTHING - to help him. In addition to the traditional medications given to him by our vets, we used homepathic remedies, reiki and crystal therapy. But Harvey was depressed. In addition to his physical ailments, he was missing his soulmate Hannah. We pleaded with his owner to also surrender Hannah to us - and luckily, she agreed.
Hannah was a beautiful slim Siamese; Harvey was obese and 100% moggy. They may have looked an unlikely couple but they absolutely adored each other. They spent almost every waking hour together and slept wrapped in each other's arms. Hannah lifted Harvey out of his depression and gave him a reason to fight. He made a full recovery.
Hannah and Harvey had 10 lovely months together at SHUA. They had the run of our utility block and frequently went outside to explore the grounds and sunbathe.
Tragically, nearly a week before Christmas, Hannah became ill and was diagnosed with Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). This is a fatal auto-immune disease caused by a mutation of the feline corona virus. Infection with the corona virus itself is very common in cats and is usually benign, causing no problems for the cat other than perhaps a mild bout of diarrhoea. But in approx. 3% of cats, the benign virus mutates, causing FIP. It is not understood why this happens and there is currently no cure.
FIP is an immune-mediated disease, meaning that it somehow tricks the immune system into attacking the body rather than real bad guys. Hannah had the effusive, or 'wet', form of the disease which is characterised by an accumulation of a thick, yellow, protein-rich fluid (termed an effusion) usually in either the abdomen or chest.
The disease is ultimately fatal but treatment can be given to relieve symptoms and Hannah was not yet ready to leave us. She came home and had 3 and a half weeks with us before finally succumbing to the disease on the 11th of January 2008. She died peacefully in the afternoon with her beloved Harvey by her side. She will be sorely missed.
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