The vet was so busy the other day they didn’t even get to Elly until this morning. But the x-ray showed nothing bad in her system, and she didn’t puke up any more ribbon.
As I was too busy with cleaning the cat shelter, delivering cats to adoption event, and then cleaning Gabi’s house of 60 cats, a friend brought Elly home for me. I gotta go pay the bill on Monday. Good thing I didn’t pay an adoption fee for this stupid cat! Saved it for vet bills ;p LOL
Yesterday I spent over 14 hours in bed with an upset stomach and feeling generally “blah” both physically and emotionally (I despise winter!). Today I got up an hour late at 8am, snarfed down the only thing I had to eat that was quick – microwaved macaroni and cheese – and wanted to be out the door by 9am to do my grocery shopping at the food bank so I could be home in time to put stuff away and leave for work by 12:30. My tummy decided either it didn’t want so much so fast, or just didn’t want THAT, or just wasn’t going to settle after resting all night. So I go back to bed and set the alarm for 12:15… guess I’m getting my groceries on Tuesday.
12:03pm I hear cat puking. Eh…roll over and go back to sleep. More puking…again and again. Good grief! So I roll over to peer over the side of the bed to see a piece of gift ribbon in a puddle of foam. D’oh! By 12:15 there were nearly a dozen puddles with no more ribbon.
Elly decided she was going to go hunting for stuff to chew on and found the ribbon in a box in my office. As I have no idea how much she ate, I called the vet and asked what to do. Got told I should watch her for the next few hours. Um… I was supposed to be working for the next few hours. So I dropped her off at 1pm and they could examine and watch her, and all that good junk.
No more vomiting on the way, but she doesn’t like carriers and was probably too stressed to resume purging her system during the car ride. Either that, or she was done by then anyway.
I called at 4pm, to be told they were so busy they hadn’t even seen her yet! So poor Elly has to stay the night, and I’ll check with them again in the morning.
Hoping she gets rid of it naturally, and doesn’t need surgery.
Paizly went peacefully to The Rainbow Bridge on October 19, 2012 at 2:45pm
Pictures I took before taking her to the vet.
While she was still “healthy”, her quality of life was practically gone. By now, she could barely walk, and it was obviously uncomfortable and too awkward anymore. All she did was lay in bed all day, except for one or maybe two trips to the litter box – which she can’t even climb into anyway, and I put a plastic mat on the floor for her…which sometimes she used, sometimes not. I had put her food bowl by her bed, as she used to sit and meow pitifully while looking over to where the food bowl used to be…halfway across the room. She also needs 3 medications daily (urinary & arthritis), and she HATES me doing that every morning and it’s much too stressful…for both of us.
She would still purr and act happy when I pet her and snuggled her in bed (after having to lift her up…she wouldn’t even use the pet stairs the last few months). But for the other 20 hours of the day, she was “stuck” in bed and probably bored when she wasn’t sleeping. I had started feeling bad about this a few months ago, but wasn’t sure if I should keep her around or not.
I finally decided that maybe it would be better for her if she didn’t have to suffer with all these annoyances every day, the few times she was active.
Next month I plan to bring home Orange Momma, who has also had a rough life. She got attacked by raccoons, her litter killed and almost died herself of the injuries, then has lived in the shelter the last 5 years. Time for her to be pampered and spoiled!
For anybody who’s wondering, this is the cat center… or at least the back room. Somewhere I have (better) pictures of the front room and infirmary. I’ll have to find those next week, and maybe make an album of them or something.
The infirmary has cages, but in the front and back rooms the cats are loose and roaming free!
Back room. For the more outgoing cats.
I don’t know if it’s because the medicine is working and Paizly feels better from that, or the fact I forgot to give her evening dose so she wasn’t mad at me then… but she came up on the bed to lay with me last night! Even with Nebbie and Xanthe already with me, too! Okay, so Paizly did do a bit of hissing and growling, but eventually she settled down and napped for a bit. When I woke up a couple hours later, she was back on the couch. Maybe she wanted some active attention/petting.
I think I’ll dedicate a half hour (or more!) when I get home from the doctor appointment, to sit on the couch with her and try to give her some lovin’s. A’course, with my luck, she won’t be in the mood then and will tell me to go away and not bother her. Oh well, I can try!
I took Paizly to the veterinarian office this morning, to be shown how to express her bladder. Not one, not two, but THREE nurses all told me I had to have her put to sleep for it. I don’t know if they were just ignorant, or trying to get money out of me!
I realize that cats have their bladder expressed after being put to sleep and belly-fur clipped, so that they don’t do it during surgery and contaminate stuff. Maybe this is what the nurses were thinking of. One told me you can’t do it when the cat is tense from being scared. But since I have seen 3 different vets do it to Paizly on the exam table, I know it can be done. Plus there’s plenty of internet videos about other awake/stressed cats having theirs done too.
I just can’t figure out how to do it on her deformed pelvic area. I think I keep squeezing the wrong part, and I’m afraid of rupturing something – another thing the nurses pointed out. “If you don’t do it right, you could rupture the bladder or another organ”. Yup, that’s exactly why I came to be taught by professionals!
Anyhoo. I guess both vets were busy, and I gave up trying to convince the nurses that it can be done on a conscious cat. Instead, I asked about non-absorbent litter. Another thing I’ve done internet research on, but apparently none of the companies that make it will sell to individuals, and always instruct you to get it from your vet. Once again the nurses tried to say “I’m sure you can order it yourself.” Once again, if I could do it myself, I wouldn’t have come to the office! OIY!!!
Both vets are wonderful, and I trust them. The nurses…eh, not so much.
Eventually I got them to give me a small sample (little baggie) of their non-absorbent litter, and asked them to order me a full supply, which should arrive on Friday.
Tomorrow I’m going to isolate Paizly in the bathroom, as much as she’ll hate it, so I can finally get a urine sample to test. I guess I may only test every couple of weeks, rather than once a week, if this is how it’s going to be.
It’s so frustrating not to be able to explain to animals that health care may not be pleasant in the moment, but helps them feel better eventually.
Every time I give Paizly her medicine, you would think I was squirting acid in her face, not syringing medicine in her mouth. Four times a day until Thursday, then only twice a day….for the rest of her life. *sigh*
I’m also supposed to express her bladder once a day, but haven’t been able to yet because she fusses, squirms and nips at me so much. So then her urine festers and she gets sick, and needs medicine…and gets fighty with that! Sheesh.
This might seem horrible in some opinions, but sometimes I wonder if I should just euthanize her so she doesn’t have to deal with all this junk every day. All she does is lay on the couch, except to eat and use the litter box once a day. That’s no life! I try to get her to play, but she just turns away and acts like I’m a bother.
I’m taking her to the vet tomorrow, so they can show me how to express HER bladder. Her pelvic area is deformed, so that may be why I’m having trouble doing it. I’ve read articles, looked at pictures and watched videos to learn how to do it on a normal cat… but when I try on Paizly, I just can’t get it. I’m afraid I might be squeezing the wrong thing, if things are all misplaced, and that’s why she nips at me, and I don’t want to force it and rupture something like her spleen or liver!
Mountain Sunrise
vividdawn 