Somewhere there is a Book of Cat Rules. Somewhere it is written: "If you are going to throw up, never do it on an easy to clean surface."
Aradia was at the food bowl and started to get ready to barf--first came the lips smacking and then the tell-tale "gaga, gaga, gaga" with the body heaves. I set her on the kitchen floor as I need to mop anyway...
she promptly ran to the carpet and barfed.
I have caught them trying to puke on the bed (and found barf on the bed, usually just after I have changed the sheets), on the pillows, on Charlie while he is sleeping, in the food dish, in the water bowl, down the side of the toilet tank, in the windowsill, in my shoes, down the vanity in the bathroom (I remind Charlie constantly that he MUST shut the drawer where he keeps his toothbrush or one day they will barf in it!) and I am certain there is not a single piece of furniture in the house that has not had puke on it at least once.
Dawg is no better. He vomits in the living or the dining room. Usually so that it is partly under the bookshelves, or on the entertainment center, or in the corner where some of it has gotten on the kick board and the wall.
The foyer is linoleum and is just outside the bedroom. The bathroom, kitchen and laundry room are also linoleum. Over and over I have seen animals exit these rooms to vomit on the carpet. Dawg, if you catch him, will follow you outside. The cats? Nooooo. They MUST puke on carpet. If you try to catch them to pick them up and move them they will RUN, while puking, so you don't have just one spot but a line of upchuck that goes from the edge of the linoleum to behind or under a chair. :nods: Yes, they have stood at the edge of the floor to puke onto the carpet.
And Charlie wonders why I say that I will *NOT* replace the carpet with *MORE* carpet, but only with flooring. If/When that happens, it should get really interesting the first few days. I picture puking cats running from room to room desperately seeking carpet!
- Mood:
aggravated
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bluesgirly. Please post a picture of yourself, your kids, pets, your loved ones, your house or something amusing. Post a new icon you are willing to share that you are convinced I must have.- Mood:
busy
Updates: Aradia, Annie and Riley are all eating again. Riley is still not 100%, really more like 70%. Annie and Aradia are about 95%. So, THAT, at least, is Good In My Life right now.
Unfortunately, as a caregiver of an animal, we are often required to draw a line in the sand. We have to decide what is the extent of treatment we are willing to put our animal through. We have to decide when quantity is not as important as quality. We have to decide when and what is finally Enough. We have to decide when there is no more hope of keeping this beloved being here with us any longer and whether or not, as a final act of unconditional love, we must put our own pain aside and Help Them to cross to the Summerlands.
Last night Aradia ate about two tablespoons of chicken. I had force fed her a teaspoon of nutracal and a teaspoon of baby food just hours before that. She drank maybe two ounces of tuna water throughout the day—this is after being offered various cat foods, salmon, tuna, and chicken. That was IT for the entire day and more than what she has eaten in previous days. She has lost at least a pound, which she couldn’t afford to lose in the first place. You can feel her hips and her spine. We had to sub-q her and only managed 50 mls, despite the fact that I had warmed the fluids to lukewarm temps. Although she is sick and should be weak from malnutrition, she is still Queen of the Witches and fought like a panther—something that is very Not Fun/Cool when you have a three-inch needle stuck inside your pet.
Lying in bed with Aradia between us I told Charlie, “If she is not eating good by Monday, that is a week and a half. We are going to have to decide if we want to put in a feeding tube or put her to sleep. I will not do to her what happened to Dee. We are going to have to make A Decision.” Naturally, he didn’t want to talk about it and I dropped the subject for now.
- Mood:
hopeful - Music:Optimistic Voices—The Wizard of Oz
Well, on the positive side, Aradia ate well for me this morning, although by eating well I mean she ate most of what I put in front of her, which was about one heaped tablespoon of food. ‘Gearing up to make another go at feeding her.
BUT
Over the last few days Riley and Annie, especially Riley, have developed similar symptoms to Aradia. No fever, but not really interested in food, litter box runs and puking white foam or food. Annie did not eat Fourth Meal last night and refused breakfast this morning. Still, she had a 360 mg/dl preshot. I had assumed last night's food was rejected because she didn’t like it, but breakfast was Poultry Platter and she’s hardly touched it. 'Will be testing her bg’s again soon.
Mind you, Riley gets Very Little exposure to my other cats and Annie will only occasionally see Bessie or Nova because they come to visit her. Bessie and Nova are not sick. We don’t know what in blazes made Aradia sick—the vet is stumped as all tests point to Normal. Like Aradia, Riley has never been sick. The other cats in the house (KNOCK WOOD AND ANTI-JINX!!! Blessed Be!!!) are all Fine. WTF is going on here???!!!???
By the way, Woody, who has a weakened immune system, is fine. (KNOCK WOOD AND ANTI-JINX!!! Blessed Be!!!) So I am not thinking it is anything contagious. The food is split among multiple cats out of the same can...AND Riley will NOT eat canned anyway, so I don't think it is the food.
Somewhere in the cosmos one can hear: This is a test. This is only a test of Kimber’s stress coping skills and teetering sanity. If this had been an actual Breakdown Event she would be curled in the fetal position in the closet nursing a bottle of Grey Goose rather than posting to her blog…
Now where did I put that bottle of Grey Goose…
- Mood:
indescribable - Music:"Under Pressure" by Queen & David Bowie
She has ate maybe a Tablespoon All MF Day!
When I went to shower, she ran in there to eat, as usual, and I put her favorite food in the dish...one dish with the food Properly Squished & Chopped with the "gravy" over top, one made into soup the way Annie likes it (figuring if there was an issue with her mouth, soup is good food). Also some chicken AND sliced smoked ham.
Aradia is polite. She licked each one, but declined to eat Every Single Thing.
She is still FIGHTING to Go Outside. She DID drink at the water bowl today--first time in a week. BUT, this food thing is An Issue. I told her if she didn't fucking eat something I would take her to the vet and Leave Her There where they would Force Feed Her.
Although I have one of the world's worst potty mouths, I cannot repeat even here what her reply was...
- Mood:
gloomy - Music:No music, just me SCREAMING
(Sorry, Mom! Although I uttered the Same Words to her on the phone when relaying this story just moments ago...poor mum has No Net--GASP!)
OMG!!! So I went and bought all her faves, AND all the Tried & Trues for Past Cats…
The vet calls me while I am at the pet supply and suggests a pain pill (Yes, I am a Vet Clinic Pharmacy and actually DO have some on hand!) because Maybe it’s her mouth BUT,
REALLY
She (Vet) is just as chagrined as I am.
SO, I get home, bring in the bags and Aradia follows me to the bathroom to eat Like Normal. She jumps on the counter waiting to eat, Like Normal. (At this point I am, Sincerely, about to Pee Myself with Excitement)….I break out her Beloved 9-Lives Chicken Dinner….dump it into a plate…she sniffs
And
PASS….
picture person throwing themselves on the floor and tearing out chunks of their own hair in Absolute Frustration that has nowhere else to go
- Mood:
frustrated - Music:"Freak on a Leash" by Korn
Every Animal In This House decided this morning that Today Is The Day to grate every last nerve mommy has somehow managed to hang onto.
Aradia still won't eat. The vet has been in surgery all morning, so I haven't been able to talk to her. Woody is more demanding than usual (as is Riley and the dawgs). Annie played bucking bronco for her preshot test and sure enough, after wasting two test strips, she was too low to shoot which meant, LUCKY ME, I got to test her Again an hour and a half later. On her way up so she got her shot. Several cats trashed several portions of the house during the night.
Had some work to do for The Business that was equally deflating.
My house looks like a war zone and I have No Ambition What-so-EVER.
Oh, and Charlie is CRAB-BEE.
After I hit "post" I'm going to go dig a deep hole behind the garage and hide in it.
- Mood:
drained - Music:"Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains
The cypro is NOT stimulating her appetite at all. She will sniff food and turn away.
I syringed 2.5 cc of food mixed with nutracal into her this morning.
It took two of us, but we managed to get 100 ml of fluid into her.
What makes it worse is that the vet really doesn't know what is causing this.
I only managed to get fluids into her once yesterday. I tried twice later in the day--once couldn’t manage to get the fucking needle in, and the other time it either came out or went through and I couldn’t get it back in again, but did manage to stick myself with it. Charlie came home and she was NOT having ANYTHING to do with fluids. I force fed her 3 cc food and 3 cc broth with some nutracal mixed in. This morning she still will not eat, although I think the fever has broke—her ears are cooler.
Aradia has always been Kipling’s “Cat Who Walked With Himself”. If you cannot manage to make her think something is her idea, she will not do it. She is only eight pounds, but that is eight pounds of Pure Will, muscle, teeth and claws. I am sincerely doing the best I can and I am frustrated and frightened beyond words.
Yesterday two different people told me I am not doing enough for my cat, that I am not doing the best I can. That now that I am once Again faced with fighting for the health/life of yet Another one of my cats, if I fail, it is All My Fault—AGAIN.
Thank you. I really needed that right now.
- Mood:
sad - Music:"Loser" by Beck
I was all freaked out because I couldn't give Aradia the Sub-Q fluids she desperately needs. I called Charlie, because he had difficulty giving them last night. He told me to use her scruff instead of between her shoulders. Needle went right in! I got her to sit still for 50 mls. So she's had her fluids and her first large dose of meds...
- Mood:
accomplished
She is to get fluids twice per day and antihistamine (as it is obviously an allergic reaction vs. an infection). Vets office tried to tell me one of the other animals bit her. She doesn't have a mark on her. She doesn't tussle with the other cats. Shelby wouldn't bite a flea and Aradia is Jack's cat, so he would rather chew off his own foot than bite her. *I* think a spider bite is more likely the culprit.
I am having trouble getting the sub-q needle into her--making me even more frustrated.
I just hope we can get her through this!
- Mood: frustrated
- Music:"Pressure" by Billy Joel
She is one of the last two of our original eight cats. She turned 12 in May, which I don't consider all that old.
She ate well Wednesday night, but I didn't see her at the food bowl all day Thursday and when I went to give her her daily can of food, she didn't want it. She threw up white foam. I realized she was dehydrated, so we gave her some fluids and that seemed to make her feel better, but this morning she is still refusing to eat, still smacking her lips, still throwing up foam.
We have a vet appointment for 5:15. It was the earliest they could get me in. If I can get her to eat, she may not need to go, but she MUST eat. She is actually one of our few that is "Proper" weight, which from past experience screws them every time because it narrows the window that you have. A thin or correct weight animal doesn't have the pudge to fall back on if they go off food.
She has never been sick a day in her life. The other two cats who shared the can with her are fine. The other two cats that got flea control from same box/same lot with her three weeks ago are fine. I am terrified it is her kidneys.
It hasn't been even a year yet since we lost Loki, Pudgie and Mozart...not even six months since Salem Moon was murdered...
- Mood:
scared - Music:"Prayer" by Disturbed
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