Going to Montreal and Pippin gets sick

We got back from our two week trip to Montreal last Sunday evening.

The main purpose of going to Montreal was to help our youngest move. Also, way back in February that same child, her boyfriend and myself bought tickets to see Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide Tour in Toronto on June 28. Going to that show was wrapped up in the trip also.

Everything about the trip was very urban, being both in Montreal and the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

Not surprisingly city realities are different from our country life.

We have it pretty cushy here in our climate controlled home, forest-filtered fresh air, and ocean breezes. In comparison, the city felt hot, crowded, dirty, and less safe.

Living and visiting Montreal I’ve always felt safe walking around the city. But in the years following the pandemic car theft became an acute problem in Montreal (and Ontario and Quebec more broadly).

This spring we purchased a 2024 Toyota RAV4 and this make and model tops the list of most stolen cars in the province (and the country). No doubt in part because they are a very popular car so there’s more of them to steal.

Honda’s are also at the top of the chart. A few years back, while we were still living in Montreal, old friends of ours from Maine came to visit us while driving their son to his first year of college in Minnesota. Their Honda CR-V rental car was stolen while they were in city along with a lot of their son’s belongings that were in the car.

With that experience seared in our memories and knowing of the overall car theft problem in Montreal we took measures to secure our vehicle. We had it tagged after buying it. And we have a wheel lock.

Contending with all this makes me feel like the city is less safe and this takes a mental toll on me. It’s less relaxing.

The car situation was especially stressful when we had the U-haul trailer attached for a couple days. It was less likely to be stolen but it was also much harder to park in a city of difficult parking to begin with.

I have grown accustomed to lots of (relatively safe) personal and privatized space, and being back in a densely populated and shared space context was jarring to my senses.

Moving as the focal point of a trip is not a recipe for a relaxing vacation so I don’t think we had unrealistic expectations going in, we knew it would be a giving-out time, but that knowledge still didn’t protect us from feeling wiped out by the end.

All that is true AND we had a great time seeing our kids and we were grateful to have the physical ability and the means to help. (I was reminded of how important it is for me to keep up with strength training and overall fitness maintenance.)

For two weeks straight I was able to be physically present with one or more of my kids and that’s a real treat for this empty nest mom. I don’t get to show my kids love in-the-flesh on a regular basis so I deeply appreciated being able to do that, and to receive their in-person love likewise.

One of the chief factors that added stress and worry to our trip and no doubt amplified the overall intensity and our tiredness was our cat Pippin getting sick right before we left.

In the month prior to our trip we had noticed Pippin slowing down a bit in his activity level and a change in his vocalization over the last 6 months, his meow has been replaced by a squeaking sound.

We’d taken him to the vet back in May to check on the meowing, there wasn’t anything apparently wrong. Fast forward to mid June. He was a little slower than usual in the days leading up to our departure and he had been eating less. Cats are sensitive to changes in environment and we figured some of his changed behaviour was in response to us packing, preparing the house for the cat sitters, and generally getting ready for our trip (more household hustle and bustle).

And then on Friday morning (the day before our scheduled drive to Montreal), our surprise that he didn’t wake us up at 3:30 to be let outside quickly turned to fear and deep concern when he didn’t get up to eat (that never happens). Additionally, the nictitating membranes in his eyes were clearly visible, which was really creepy and is often a sign of illness or injury.

We immediately called the vet and thankfully got Pippin in for an appointment that morning. They did x-rays and blood tests. Pippin was running a fever and had an infection of some kind. Nothing was visibly apparent in the x-rays but the blood test showed he has Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV). Similar to HIV in humans, FIV weakens the immune system and makes infected cats more vulnerable to secondary infections.

In Pippin’s 11+ years in our home and taking him to the vet for various things - eye and paw infections, urinary problems (which was resolved with a diet change), and regular immunizations - this was the first we’d heard of this diagnosis.

This is not surprising as cats with FIV can be asymptomatic for years which means prior to this there was no reason to test for it.

Pippin is an indoor/outdoor cat and his interactions with other outdoor cats in Montreal were most likely when the transmission occurred, though he could have gotten it from his mother. It’s likely he’s had the virus for a long time. And there is no vaccine available to prevent it.

Friday was supposed to be a day of getting all the last things ready for our trip and easing ourselves into our travels. Instead we were in crisis-response mode.

The vet gave Pippin an antibiotic injection and we were on high alert watching for signs of recovery or worsening symptoms which would require euthanizing him since his underlying FIV might have compromised his immune system to the point of no recovery.

Meanwhile, our cat sitters were on their way from Ontario, starting their two day drive on Friday morning, the same time we were taking Pippin to the vet and awaiting his diagnosis. In exchange for taking care of our cat (which when all the arrangements had been made was otherwise healthy) they would get accommodations for an east coast vacation. It was to be a win-win scenario.

We were scheduled to leave our place Saturday morning and they were due to arrive Saturday afternoon.

Things played out a little differently.

We stayed home an extra 2 days, watching to see if Pippin would improve, which he did, before deciding to leave. The cat sitters, coming all this way, needed a place to sleep so Damien and I made use of our camping trailer, and vacated our house the way we would have had we actually left on Saturday morning.

An incredibly stressful and sad situation was made better by human kindness, compassion, and adaptability.

Incongruously, that weekend was full of birthdays and celebratory days - Damien’s birthday, Father’s Day, my mom’s birthday. With our trip delayed we took time to celebrate these events with special meals.

Feeling somewhat confident (we couldn’t be totally sure but all the signs were right) that Pippin was improving or leastwise stable we decided to leave for Montreal on Monday, two days after our scheduled departure date. To be frank, contingency plans were in place for Pippin’s possible euthanasia in our absence.

On Tuesday morning the cat sitters texted that after showing improvement over the last 3 days, Pippin had taken a downturn. We called the vet who prescribed a second round of antibiotics, oral medication this time.

Based on his symptoms his infection was something respiratory. This antibiotic would cover a different spectrum of bacteria. But after this one there was nothing else the vet could prescribe. She explained the end-of-life signs with a respiratory infection, things that would show Pippin was seriously struggling and beyond recovery. In which case, the compassionate course of action would be to have him euthanized.

The cat sitters picked up the meds, and more importantly did the work of giving him the oral pills, caring for him, watching and waiting.

Short story: he didn’t die.

Pippin did not need constant care, he sleeps most of the time, and the cat sitters explored the area and had their east coast experience while we were in Montreal helping our daughter move and spending time with our kids.

Being gone for two weeks, we had lined up 2 different cat sitters but with Pippin’s illness there were changes to planned arrivals and departure times, and more responsibilities for the cat sitters - giving oral medications, keeping a watchful eye for worsening symptoms.

I was doing what I could to help from 2 provinces away.

With the moving (and the parking), and Pippin’s illness, it was a logistically and emotionally complicated couple weeks. We are grateful to our competent and kind cat sitters and the continuity of our nephew’s assistance and presence on-site. (My parents were traveling at the same time as us and not on-site.)

All things considered, it went pretty well. And like I said, Pippin pulled through, this time.

Overnight Pippin became an indoor-only cat as we can’t risk outdoor-borne infections and illnesses. (Nor do we want to keep giving him tick medication as we’ve noticed a period of lethargy following each application, possibly indicating stress to his systems, even though it doesn’t technically affect his immune system. No tick medication means no roaming outdoors.)

Like him, we are adjusting to this new reality with our return home. He doesn’t have his pre-sickness vitality so he’s not pestering us too much to go outdoors.

Today Dad and Damien are building a catio on the deck so he can still enjoy being outside but with much less risk. We’ve also getting an indoor climbing structure.

Transitioning a cat who’s used to freedom outdoors to being indoors-only can be difficult and stressful for a cat (and their humans). With these additions/modifications we’re hoping to make indoor life as good as possible for him.

There is no cure or remedy for FIV. In the last month he’s cashed in at least 2 of his 9 lives. And who knows how many he used up as an outdoor cat in Montreal?

Pippin is 12 this fall and for an indoor/outdoor cat who spent most of his life prowling the backyards of our Montreal neighbourhood he’s had a long life. With this diagnosis he’s definitely in the later years of life expectancy, but according to the vet he could still live for years. One can hope.

All of this has been top of mind this week.

My other priorities have been food and garden related. We had been using up fresh and frozen foods before our departure so this week was a good time to defrost the freezer before the berry harvests.

After two weeks of the bare minimum care of watering with an automatic timer, the fenced garden has needed tending - weeding, fertilizing, and more directed watering.

Some of our plants - garlic, lettuce, peas, tomatoes - are doing well. Others are spindly, slow, or pest-eaten. I’m hoping some concentrated care and nurture will improve the situation.

The perennial garden on the other hand is fulfilling my cottage garden dreams with its riot of colour and contrasting foliage. It’s an absolute delight to me and I marvel and appreciate it every day, multiple times a day. (I get so much joy from it.)

Mom and I went strawberry picking this week and I’ve been having strawberry shortcake on repeat.

To wrap it all up:

We went to Montreal. We did fun things there. We saw our kids. Our daughter got moved. I went to a Noah Kahan concert. I’m so glad we do could all that.

Our cat pulled through and we’re doing what we can to make a good life for him.

Tending to home, nurturing growing things, and feeling nourished by the food and beauty of those growing things brings me back to a solid and satisfying centre.