Mia's story
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Mia is amazing! Mia is a warrior! Nothing and no one embodies one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes more than Mia. And I am so happy and honored to share in her story and share her story with you.
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"And though she be but little, she is fierce." |
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Mia was surrendered to a local vet clinic my mom was working at a few weeks after her birth in fall of 2020. She was suffering from some paralysis and damage to her tail. We do not know if this is a genetic malformation or if she was injured during or shortly after her birth.
The initial issue was that she was unable to control her tail, which led to her feces being trapped under her tail against her skin. The vet docked a small segment of her tail to see if that would help. My mom brought her home for us to monitor during the holiday season, when the clinic would be closed for extended periods of time. I bet you can guess how that ends...
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Mia as a wee bébé!
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If you guessed Mia never left, you would be correct. Mia quickly became a passion project of mine. If this cat was going to live this life, then I was determined she was going to live it well!
Mia never gained control of her tail and her feces continued to remain trapped. For her to have any quality of life without suffering a constant infection, we ultimately decided to dock her entire tail. This is a risky and delicate surgery that vets only do under the most extreme circumstances because it can lead to extensive nerve damage and paralysis. But, since Mia already had those things, we decided to to do it. That resolved that issue.
However, Mia continues to deal with chronic urinary incontinence. This is a possible risk of the type of surgery she underwent. However, it is very likely that Mia already had some form of this prior to the surgery. Ultimately, Mia's condition can be summed up as paresis in her lower spine / sacrum area.
Mia and I struggled for a year. There were days I broke down sobbing from the stress and knowledge that nothing I was doing seemed to be helping her. The vet was trying but we were making very little progress. She suffered from chronic burns and sores from the uric acid irritating her skin from her leaky bladder. And she leaked constantly. So we struggled to keep her and the environment around her clean. Mia also never developed physically. She remained the size of an 8 week old kitten, no matter what high calorie diets we fed her. I decided that we needed to look outside of traditional veterinary medicine for a solution.
After some research, I found Dr. Michelle Jobert of Well Adjusted Pet when she was located in Folsom, Louisiana. Dr. Jobert practices holistic veterinary medicine. She provided chiropractic care, acupuncture, and laser therapy for Mia. She prescribed Mia some medication that would help with the urinary incontinence and uric acid levels. Dr. Jobert also prescribed Chinese herbs to help with Mia's physical development, and a Chinese topical powder we could apply on her skin lesions when they occurred. Within a couple of months, Mia was like a new cat. She developed rapidly, gaining weight and height, and became more energetic and adventurous. Basically, Mia became an actual cat. The transformation was amazing! Mia remained in Dr. Jobert's care for almost two years, before Dr. Jobert relocated to Illinois.
Mia then entered the care of Dr. Chalyn Fayard, formerly of Folsom Veterinary Clinic, who also practices integrative medicine. She continued Mia's care, minus the Chinese medicines, which Mia really no longer needed. She also added a new medication to her regimen to help Mia more effectively move her bowels. Mia was under Dr. Fayard's care for close to a year, until Dr. Fayard relocated to Scotland.
Mia struggles with occasional urinary tract infections, though we work hard to keep them to a minimum through strict dietary, medication, and grooming regimens. Mia must undergo routine baths to ensure she remains clean and to inhibit bacterial growth. I also routinely shave Mia's hind quarters to the skin to help keep everything clean and tidy and make it easier to clean her up when accidents do happen. While Mia protests these offenses, she is overall amazingly calm and receptive to these treatments. Mia is, not surprisingly, developing osteoarthritis due to her uneven gate and malformed sacrum.
Now that both of her integrative practitioners have relocated, Mia is currently fully in the care of Stafford Veterinary Hospital in Hammond, LA for emergent conditions and maintenance medications. They are amazing and take really great care of Mia! But I am on the hunt for another practitioner in my area or region that can offer those specific integrative veterinary services for Mia, in conjunction with Dr. Stafford's care.
But - despite it all - Mia is an amazing cat. She has many nicknames in our household. She is most commonly referred to as MeeWee, because she is still very wee, only weighing in at 5.6 pounds. Most of that weight gain has happened in the last 3 years, while undergoing integrative veterinary treatments. So I cannot praise this enough for any fur babies with chronic conditions.
Mia is also known in our house as the "Pretty Princess MeeWee" because she loves nothing more than to snuggle in her pretty princess beds for a nap. Unless you count her supervised visits outside. Mia lines up with the dogs to go outside during their routine potty times, where you will often find her sunning on the back patio or catching lizards - though we intervene and redirect the lizard homicide, much to her consternation!
