Poor Scooter. She’s been very sick. I have been hesitant to post about it here.
I returned from London last Saturday evening some four hours late. The cat sitter was not scheduled to visit Saturday as I was supposed to be home at a reasonable hour, meaning that her last visit was Friday evening. So, I ended up home somewhere near 10pm Saturday night.
The first thing I noticed is Scooter didn’t greet me at the door, which is something she almost always does. But, I figured maybe she was asleep. I also noticed her water bowl was full, and her food bowl was full. I, at first, thought the pet sitter had come Saturday. She finally made an appearance, looking none-too-chipper, but since she’s not very active when she first wakes up, I didn’t think anything of it. She was happy to see me and spent the whole night sleeping by my side.
Sunday morning, I was out of bed around 630am; gotta love get lag. I gave her some wet food as a treat — normally she’s a dry-food cat. She scarfed it up. I went to Publix to get some groceries. I returned home, and she had yakked up her entire can of food (on the carpet of course — no self-respecting cat would barf on the tile).
She didn’t eat anything all day. No tuna, no milk, and no other people food (stuff she loves but isn’t allowed to have). She slept all day. Scooter sleeps a lot anyway, as she is, after all, a cat. So a 16 to 18 hour sleep schedule isn’t aberrant, but she was getting a good 22+ hours of sleep in. I couldn’t get her to eat at all, nor could I get her to drink much. I also noticed she was no longer grooming herself. I was very concerned.
Monday morning, I took Scooter to the vet. I dropped her off. He was unable to find much of anything wrong, and sent her home. I picked her up around 5:30pm just as the vet was closing. The vet gave her some sort of IV to get her in shape. I took her home, but the same pattern continued. I was able to get her to eat or drink almost nothing.
Wednesday, after a sleepless night, and finding some blood in her urine that morning, I went to work after leaving word at the Vet’s office. The vet called me around 10am when he came in and told me to immediately bring Scooter in and not to wait until after work, so I left work and got Scooter. She didn’t even put up a fight when I put her in the Kat Karrier(R). The vet asked me to leave her off because he needed to run lots of tests, around $600 worth as it turned out. He found a urinary tract infection (she has antibiotics for that) and is looking for other issues. Scooter finally started drinking water. She wouldn’t eat her regular food, but she nibbled at some wet food. She also ate some Pounce.
Thursday evening, I cooked her some chicken. She didn’t seem interested, and I was crushed. However, the next morning, it was all gone, so she finally ate it. She also nibbled at some of her food. She was drinking more, which was a good sign.
Friday the vet asked how she was doing, and about her eating. I told him that if she didn’t start eating Amore, I was bringing her back Saturday morning. But that night, she ate almost a 1/2 can of her food. It might not sound like a lot, but it was way more than previously. She also drank a 1/4 bowl of water and had some milk too. She’s also returned to spending some time sleeping in my bed, and other times walking around. She even moved her Bizzy-Balls around for a bit but that went away. That was a hopeful sign, but she’s stopped. She’s not quite up to playing with her Bizzy-Balls yet, or the laser pointer, or the shoestring.
Saturday morning I went to Petsmart and spent $1 million on cat food. I bought one of every single brand of cat food trying to find one she’d actually eat. I’ve finally found one she’ll nibble at throughout the day. She’s not eating a lot by her standards, but she is eating and drinking. She hasn’t resumed grooming yet, which is troublesome.
However, her feisty demeanor has returned. Her first two doses of antibiotic (tablet) were easy to force down her throat, which is unusual. Today she’s put up a hell of a fight and tried to shred my flesh from my bones. That’s a good sign. I am thinking of letting a lizard loose in the house. She loves lizards, generally eating at least 1/2 of them before leaving the other half for me. I’d feel bad for the lizard, but it might be good for Scooter mentally.
She’s still sleeping too much, but she does wander about a bit more. I haven’t seen her, but I see where she moves stuff around, so I know she’s been up and about. I’ve been very careful about where I position her food bowls and toys so I can know if she’s been mobile and eating while I’ve been out doing errands.
I really need sleep. I am so tired.
[8-17-05 Update]
Scooter is feeling a bit better, thanks for asking. She was at the vet today and she’s been feisty all day which is a good thing. The U/T infection is getting better which is good because giving a cat a pill becomes harder and harder. Hell, even catching her has proven to be difficult.
All tests so far are normal, and she underwent the last tests today. So far, I’ve spent well over $1,000 on my kitty since I’ve returned but she’s worth it. Hopefully the last batch of tests will find whatever it is/was. Frankly, I’ll even be happy if she’s miraculously cured.
[8-18-05 Update]
So far, she seems to feel a bit better, but that may be solely because of the IV she got with nutrients, etc. It did make her eat a lot yesterday. Today however she’s not drinking or eating much again. I did notice she’ll eat more if I’m around than when I’m not. I will continue to test this observation. I am sure it’s significant. I expect the vet’s last batch of test results will be in tomorrow.