Tuna On The Decline and Then On The Incline

Tuna was on the decline and now is back to us.

He has various problems, the most severe of which is feline leukemia virus, and also some kidney problems, or maybe just a singular kidney problem. He’s been on long-term medication.  

Several years ago, during the pandemic, Tuna joined our family. It was a slow burn, where this strange and beautiful and friendly alley cat would come in and out of the house at leisure, trying to befriend Chicken, sometimes snacking on Chicken’s food, sometimes just lurking around Chicken. He was naughty and affectionate and silly and smart and pathetic. Summer became fall and we started kicking him out at night so he could go “home.” Then fall became winter and I would discover him waiting outside the door first thing in the morning, head bobbing around waiting for movement from inside the house so he could be let in. I couldn’t bear to think of him outside in the cold at night, so we finally relented and started keeping him in with us overnight, which then of course meant we had to start feeding him. I think I vaguely figured that if he had a home, he would be staying in it, since he seemed to be a cat that didn’t like the cold.

We still let him out whenever he asked, but as the snow came, he went out less and less often, and then started urinating in the plants, so, in what I would describe as the turning point in his unofficial adoption, we got a litter box for him.

And then in the spring of 2022 he was being weird, so we brought him to Chicken’s vet, who gave us the terrible news that Tuna was On The Decline and in fact basically declined, and in dire need of a cat blood transfusion, and had this fatal feline leukemia virus, and had 2-3 weeks left to live until the blood cells in his shockingly expensive cat blood transfusion died off, him to follow. Some heartless emergency vet offered to put him down for us, which was unfathomable and horrible and tragic. Instead we took him home for the 2-3 weeks he had to live and I tried to convince Chicken’s vet to allow Tuna to survive on ongoing direct Chicken-to-Tuna blood transfusions, which, I was informed, was not going to work for a number of reasons.

And then it turned out he was okay! The original prognosis was 2-3 weeks, and it was 2-3 terrible weeks. 2-3 weeks turned into 2-3 months, and because I couldn’t handle the ongoing emotional turmoil of wondering when, at last, Tuna would give out on us, we went on another very expensive journey to the cat specialists. It turned out that Tuna surprised us all and that his anemia was secondary to his feline leukemia (or something). His short-term steroids became his long-term steroids, which pepped him up, and he returned to his naughty ways: chewing the plant leaves, drinking from the toilet, sniffing Chicken.

And then over the last couple of weeks he was on the decline again. I thought it was it for him. It was terrible. Chicken’s vet (now also Tuna’s vet) and the vet at the VEC grimly offered him a Hail Mary steroid and we went with it. And! It’s working! He has once again returned to his naughty ways, for who knows how long. A cat with nine lives who has used up at least three of them.

And so now this vaguely anemic and slightly underweight cat is getting endless treats in operation Fatten-Him-Up in anticipation of his next decline. Previously Chicken was on the premium (expensive, medical) diet and Tuna got scooted away anytime he tried to have a taste, and now and Tuna has all these cans of wet food that Chicken can’t eat and Chicken is, let me tell you, intensely displeased with this turn of events.

In any case, that’s the update on Tuna. He is on borrowed time, getting all the go-gurts he’ll eat, trying to convince Chicken that he’s not half-bad, and breaking all our hearts.