TBT: The Mews and I have gone on too many vet visits this week! I'm tired of getting them into PTUs and driving to the vet. I'm tired of sitting in waiting rooms and small exam rooms. I'm tired of pulling out my credit card. The Mews are tired of sitting in PTUs and getting poked, prodded, probed and stabbed
It started Wensday. I previously mentioned that Marley needed a renal panel and that resulted in a Sub-Q drip. And he goes back later today for another (and 2x a week for a month).
On Thursday, Ayla and Laz went in. Ayla for a 6 month senior exam; Laz for an exam and for me to discuss "calming options". Which is really where I start today. Both got positive exam results.
So I talked to the vet about Laz's cat-on-cat aggression. We discussed him for about 15 minutes. The options were about what I expected. Calming collar, meds, behaviouralist. But I didn't know there were "calming treats" and she had never heard of "vibrating collars" (and felt "iffy" about that).
So I asked for the order of things to try (least to strongest). The result was that I buy a calming collar. At the same time, I give Laz a calming treat and a crushed calming pill. The vet provided a bag of calming treats and arranged a prescription for a prozac-like calming pill. I expected her to resist the idea of calming med pills. We will save a behaviouralist for later if those don't help.
But it doesn't end there. After we got home Thursday, I realized that Ayla wasn't eating. She normally eats any food I provide. Wet, dry, treats... A problem is that I'm not positive about how long since she last ate. Well, Marley had to be "fasted" since 8 pm Tuesday, which meant the other Mews were too. I don't know for sure if she ate Wensday afternoon or evening. I know she didn't eat Thursday.
Friday I kept deliberately trying to get her to eat anything on Friday. She recognizes the food bowls. She saw there was something it the bowl. She would sniff but she wouldn't eat. And it wasn't the "fussy" kind of sniff. She kept putting her nose to the bowl. It was either that she couldn't eat or couldn't smell the food. I tried several flavors of wet, offerred kibble, offerred treats. No luck.
And I never see Ayla drinking water. Maybe she sneaks drinks from the toilet. Maybe she only drinks from the regular water bowl at night. I think wet food is her only source of water, though. Well, she is 16 so her water habits must work for her. And the bathmat showed no sign of pee or poop today...
And I noticed another problem with Ayla. She became unsteady on her feet Thursday after returning from the vet. I'm sure that is coincidence; she didn't get any shots or meds at the vet that day.
But she was having some awkwardness. She likes to sit on the aquarium hood lately (it is warm there). I saw she walked on it uncertainly and I saw her slip a paw of the edge and almost fall. She also like the bathroom windowsill. I can usually hear her when she jumps down. It's a light sound, but I hear it. Friday, I heard more of a "thud". I think she fell off. Friday, I saw her walking down the hallway and she had a definite mis-step; a slight stagger.
So Friday afternoon, I became concerned and called my vet and described both issues. They said they were literally over-booked (and had even used up all their "squeeze-in" possibilities) and said I should go to the Emergency Clinic immediately.
Which I did, of course! A technician did a quick exam for anything obvious (internal oral blockage, breathing difficulties, abdominal sensitivity, etc) and then took her away for the vet to examine her. He came back and said he couldn't see any obvious either and suggested x-rays and a blood test.
After a while, he came into the exam room and said "good news, bad news". Both were the same. He couldn't find anything wrong with her, except that she had a very solid stool in her colon and she was dehydrated. He suggested an enema for the hard stool and a Sub-Q injection (by them) and "appetite pills", and an orally-administered "something" (for me to do at home).
If she is not eating by Sunday, I am to bring her back.
So right now, I have Marley needing 2 regular vet visits per week for a month (while I observe how to do Sub-Q injections) and probably for life (he is 13). I have Laz needing a calming treat once a day and 1/4 of a crushed pill in his food 2x a day. And now I have Ayla not eating and being dehydrated!
Between the vet visits Wensday, Thursday Friday, and (Marley) later today, I will have spent about 6 hours cooling my heals at vet visits. And $1200 on exams and meds. Well, at least I'm retired so I have time. And who needs money anyway? 😜
I'll be going through the vet reports and listing the various meds and test results (I'll have to call the regular vet for Marley's renal panel numbers - somehow, those are not in the documents they gave me).
It seems that I may have to set up a small medical station for Marley (Sub-Q supplies) and Laz (calming treats and pills). And Ayla may turn out to need some kind of regular treatment. I'm sure glad I have a spare bedroom (The Mews Room) as dedicated space for all that. I'll get separate plastic containers Marley and Laz there (and a small one for Aylas oral stuff that needs to be refrigerated). I have a small dresser in there that will serve as an "operating room".
I will get used to the procedures and (hopefully), so will they. They might even get so accustomed to be handled for treatment that they will even tolerate me clipping their claws!
My project for later today is to make lists of procedures. Both "how to Sub Q" and "who gets what when".
Such fun... 😣
And BTW, my apologies for not visiting lately. It feels like most of my waking hours lately are spent worrying about The Mews, stopping fights, collecting them into PTUs for vet visits, sitting in vet exam rooms, getting them home and soothing their stress from the experience, and remembering to control their feeding on a more deliberate schedule (basically, if they said they were hungry, I fed them). And other free time, I grocery shop, cook, do yardwork, keep track of which Mews are outside or in, and clean litter boxes.
We'll get through all this... They are with me for life.
Hoping for future days with pics like this...