Noelle – Ragdoll of the Week

Noelle Olivia

I have always wanted a purebred cat growing up. I started researching different breeds, and came across the Ragdoll breed. It was exactly what I was looking for… a long haired blue eyed cat with a great personality, doglike, and great with children. On October 13, 2016 my beloved cat Krystal crossed the rainbow bridge at 20 ½ yrs old. I was heartbroken that my fur baby was no longer with me. Growing up we always had cats, and this was the first time that I was without one. The house was not the same without a cat, so I decided to adopt a kitten at a local shelter. Unfortunately the kitten I was going to adopt as well as its litter mates became quite ill. After waiting about 10 days, and she was still not better, I decided to look into getting a ragdoll kitten.

I came across a local breeder and quickly made an appointment to see the last two available kittens. When I went into the room where my beautiful Noelle was, she ran over to me and greeted me, playing with the zipper on my coat. She was the feisty one of the group, very passionate about playing, and mischievous! I fell in love with her immediately and decided that Noelle was truly meant for me. I was happy to hear that I was able to bring her home the next morning! Noelle Olivia was born on July 18, 2016 and is a beautiful blue mitted ragdoll. Her name Noelle was chosen because she was my Christmas kitten. Noelle was the cutest cross eyed ragdoll I have ever seen.

Within 24 hours of bringing Noelle home she had a conjunctivitis and a “kitty cold”. This was an easy fix with some love and eye drops. Little did I know the medical ordeal Noelle would have to go through. Within 48 hours of being home Noelle also had terrible foul smelling bloody diarrhea. Her diarrhea would be so severe at times that she would have up to 15 episodes of bloody diarrhea. These loose stools waxed and waned. We tried everything including deworming and multiple different foods for possible food allergies. As a pediatric nurse practitioner, I knew there was an underlying cause for her GI difficulties. I did extensive research about kitten diarrhea and came across a rare parasitc infection called tritrichomonas that fit her symptoms. After changing vets for the third time, I insisted on getting a complete diarrhea stool panel to test for the tritrichomonas parasite. At a year of age she was diagnosed with tritrichomonas. It was so rare our vet’s office has only treated this parasite once in another cat. There was only one medication that would treat this parasite, which could cause irreversible neurological side effects. Thankfully she had no side effects, but unfortunately she now has lifelong IBD due to her tritrihomonas parasite being undiagnosed for so long.

In March of 2019 Noelle ate a piece of a pipe cleaner off a homemade toy that I gave to her. She needed emergency upper endoscopy surgery to remove the 2 inch pipe cleaner out of her stomach. It was quite the ordeal for both Noelle and I. All pipe cleaners have been thrown away since our day at the emergency vet.

Noelle has a sweet sing song meow, with so many different chirps and talks all the time. She has a love for water… this includes the sink, toilet, or shower. Noelle’s favorite is any type of bag. We call her the bag lady!! Noelle is always at my side, I call her my puppy kitten! But beware if you don’t see Noelle, it means she is getting into trouble somewhere!! She has learned to open cabinets, interior doors, closet doors, and dresser drawers. Be careful though because she likes to eat socks, clothing, toys, and anything else she should not have. She continues to have a love of playing, and continues to have a feisty loving personality! She loves snuggling and sleeping on my lap. At night she sleeps in bed with me, kneading and licking me every morning. Noelle will also play fetch with her favorite squiggly toy. She enjoys watching the birds, ducks, chipmucks, squirrels, and even the deer outside! She loves her 48 inch cat tree, hammock cat bed and her cat carrier from chewy.com. Everyone who meets Noelle falls in love with her. She has the sweetest deposition.

Despite all I have been through with Noelle in her short 3 years, I am beyond in love with her. She is the sweetest ragdoll cat I could have ever hoped for. I hope my story educates people about tritrichomonas, and to diagnose this rare parasite as soon as possible to prevent lifelong IBD symptoms. I hope to have many more years of love, happiness and health with my sweet Noelle.

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