He was very lethargic when we came home from work on the 12th. He had also possibly vomited blood, and had the squitters. I felt his belly and it seemed…lumpy. Not the smooth fat kitten tummy I was used to.
It was a Thursday and well after walk-in hours, but when I rang the vet looking for an emergency after hours number, one of the vets answered (yes, one was still there and answering the phone after 7pm) and when I explained what was going on he said to bring Lumi in. Thank you!
Lumi had just had his nuts off the weekend before, so our worry was that he had accidentally picked up a bug when at the vets, or maybe he ate a plant that disagreed with him (my indoor plants should all be safe for cats, but…), or he ate the rubber band that went missing, or one of the many, many hair ties that iDJ loses, or ate something from the Christmas tree … he is still just seven months old, so who the hell knows what he has been chewing on!
The vet didn’t seem too concerned about the lumpy belly. Which was good. He didn’t want to give antibiotics yet, either – also good in my mind. Lumi did get a shot to settle his tummy and some pills to do the same.
And it worked, for a few days. By Monday evening, he was back to not being part of the household by sleeping upstairs on the bed, not coming to say hello to me or himself, and there was a big, wet, smelly, bloody poop in the litterbox. Dammit.
Tuesday morning I took him to the vet again. The other doc this time, and three young observers. He looked at Lumi’s history, checked and felt him all over, and listened to my concerns. He said that cats don’t normally get intestinal blockages – but when they do? It’s right around Christmas when all the tempting tinsel, etc, is there to nom upon.
He wanted to do a barium run and X-ray my wee man as it progressed through his system, in case there was a blockage or another issue. I was hesitant, having flashbacks of leaving Spot in and never getting him back again. But I agreed in the end.
24 to 36 hours was the estimate for how long this would take! I was sad, hubby was sad. Worst of all, Lokii broke our hearts by walking around looking in all of Lumi’s favourite napping places to no avail. He loves his brother so much.
Next morning at 9am, the office told me that the barium had raced through to his intestines in only 4 hours. Way too fast! But as of yet, no sign of a blockage. I’d have to wait and see, as once it his his guts it slowed right down. At 11:30, they still didn’t want to release him – more X-rays. By 4, they said I could come get him. Of course I left work (I work until 6:30) to go get my wee boy.
He came home with a ‘cocktail’ of medicine. The dreaded Pink Stuff. I can pill a cat with ease, but this gag-worthy pink liquid is nearly impossible to get into a Bengal after they have tasted it once. Twice a day this time! Suffice to say that by now, the meds are gone but I’m still finding pink drool spattered everywhere: I have to wash the couch cover, and probably the curtains.
The cocktail consisted of Betamox (amoxicillin) and Flagyl (metronidazole); both are antibiotics. Also Imodium (loperamide), which is for helping stop diarrhoea and slows down the digestive process. No actual diagnosis, unfortunately. He is also on a dry gastrointestinal specialty food. He was disappointed in it at first, but is back to gobbling it down like a mad thing. We got him gastrointestinal wet pouches last Saturday, and he loves those – as does Lokii!
So far he has been fine, back to his mad tricks. Last night and the night before he projectile vomited food that was very much on its way to being digested (brown liquid basically, not the normal cat puke which is easily identifiable as kibble or treats, etc). Tonight we are on lock down to make sure he gets nothing at all other than the special food. Hope it works.
He is definitely interested in the flower arrangement I got today!
