Hey team, I just wanted to reach out with an update on our cat Mr Possum Pants who was saved by the amazing SASH team 4 years ago now.
I adopted Possum when I worked for a cat rescue organisation in 2007 as I felt an immediate connection to him as he is such a loving, snuggly cat. He quickly because a mummys boy with a very cheeky side but as he had me wrapped around his little paw he ruled the house.
We had initially been referred to SASH to investigate long term diarrhoea and we were going to explore if this was related to intestinal lymphoma or IBD.
Unfortunately, a few days after the initial SASH consult and abdominal ultrasound, we needed to come back to Sash urgently as Possum had started vomiting repeatedly. He was also hunching up and seemed very uncomfortable. Although he has had vomiting before from hairballs, this continued vomiting was very much unlike him and I knew something wasn’t right.
A repeat abdominal ultrasound found he had a gallstone blocking his bile duct, and the only treatment options would be to surgically remove it or euthanasia.
We felt he was still young, healthy and strong enough to pull through such a complex surgical procedure and thanks to the amazing team of surgeons, anaesthetists, internal medicine specialists and nurses at SASH, the surgery was successful and they saved our boy. He spent a few days in ICU with a dedicated nurse monitoring him constantly and was able to come home after about a week.
Being an older cat, it did take him some time to recover completely from the surgery once home and after further investigations he was diagnosed with IBD.
Since then, Possum has been absolutely thriving on a home cooked diet specifically formulated for him by a veterinary nutritionist to ensure it is nutritionally balanced.
Possum celebrated his 17th birthday earlier this year, and loves his new human baby brother, which is all thanks to the skill, care and dedication of the SASH team and we are so grateful to have more time with our special boy.
Love from Felicity Grant and Mr Possum Pants.
