Hey folks,
I don't generally post a lot, but right now I'm in a pretty stressful situation and I need to share and hear thoughts.
I have 4 cats at the moment (Harley, Max, Electra & Jess). Harley is the source of the cat-stress at the moment.
Harley is 6. She is an indoor only cat (with exceptions in spring & summer when I take her out on a harness & leash).
Yesterday, mid afternoon--about 3:30 I noticed that she was growling at Max in the blanket box that the cats like to hang out in.
As far as I had seen he had been grooming her. I told him to be nice (because sometimes grooming becomes roughhousing & biting).
She left him there and stood up and jumped down from the box to the floor.
The first sign was that she made a mew-y noise and then walked over to the food bowls. I got up to look at her (I tend to be hyper vigilant with my furbabies) and it was then that I noticed that her right side (if you were standing behind her with the tail facing your legs) had a distended look to it. (Harley is a fat cat. We've tried moderating the amount of food she gets but it hasn't been very successful in lowering her weight).
I know I freaked at that point because the first thing I am thinking is: tumor, internal bleeding, twisted stomach or something else. I got right on the phone with the vet and although he is usually booked solid I was able to drive over and bring her in.
He took her out of the carrier to begin looking at her. She threw up a hairball on the table, and then retched up some partially digested food.
After he cleaned that up he examined her and said that her vital signs were all normal, and that nothing seemed wrong with her. Where was the bulge?
I pointed at the side but he squeezed her about (whatever it is that vets do when they're feeling a cat's underside) and said he didn't feel anything. Actually he said he thought he'd felt something but then didn't so .... What did I want to do?
They could do bloodwork but that it might just be a bug giving her problems and doing it at this point might just put her through more grief than she needed.
He gave her an antibiotic & vitamin injection and suggested if I was worried to leave her there over night and think about what I wanted to do...
So I did.
I left her over night thinking that at least if there was an emergency they would be there and I wouldn't be at home wringing my hands and going if only I had... When I got home I called my husband who is out of town at the moment (Harley loves him best) and told him the situation. He suggested and thought that Harley had hurt herself while running around the house and attempting a jump and more than likely fell and hurt herself that way. It is a possibility since she is not graceful by any means and her balance has never been good (when we had adopted her she had such a bad ear mite infection that our vet at the time thought she might never be able to jump or walk in a straight line. That cleared up and although she's no where near as klutzy as she was, she still is a klutz).
I called first thing this morning (I could hardly sleep last night. Harley usually sleeps on top of my side).
They said that she hadn't eaten or drunk (or gone to the bathroom) and that again all her vitals read fine.
I wanted to go see her and decide then if this was something that was really an issue or as he had suggested, possibly gas or an upset stomach. I pretty much went over there not knowing what to expect. I was very worried because Harley was a shelter cat when we had adopted her in the UK and I was afraid that being held there overnight might have made her think that we had abandoned her.
I got there and got to see her in the room. She was covered in drool (the vet said that that could be a combination of stress and upset stomach. I didn't like the fact that she hadn't eaten anything (I brought her food with me but she wasn't interested in it at that point). So I told the vet that yes, tomorrow I would like them to do the blood draws and the x-rays to see if they can figure out what was wrong. And that I was going to take her home for the day and night and I would have her back to them tomorrow am by 8am sharp (that is their surgery day).
She's here now, and as soon as I got her home she ate and drank. and ate and drank some more. I cleaned the drool off her front and face and gave her a gentle combing of that area and made her comfy. She tried to jump up onto the cat tree to get onto her favorite spot on the arm chair and instead mewled and tried to walk over to it and then made an attempt to jump up. She made another little sound and I tried to pick her up (supporting her rear since she is hefty) and that appeared to cause her pain. I also noticed that when she settled down, she did so also making little crying noises and took her a bit to find a position that seemed comfortable.
Right now she is curled up in a box that I cut the side out of so she should be able to just walk out of it if she wants to (she had tried jumping into it with more sounds and I thought I'd make it as easy on her as I could. I have a heating pad set on low that I am turning on and off every 10-15 minutes so that she stays warm.
I'm particularly worried about the pain she appears to be experiencing around her hips/flanks areas and the bulge. I don't know how optimistic I should be about the x-ray and blood tests tomorrow. I'm scared she is dying on me, and I don't know what if anything else, to do.
Thoughts?
I don't generally post a lot, but right now I'm in a pretty stressful situation and I need to share and hear thoughts.
I have 4 cats at the moment (Harley, Max, Electra & Jess). Harley is the source of the cat-stress at the moment.
Harley is 6. She is an indoor only cat (with exceptions in spring & summer when I take her out on a harness & leash).
Yesterday, mid afternoon--about 3:30 I noticed that she was growling at Max in the blanket box that the cats like to hang out in.
As far as I had seen he had been grooming her. I told him to be nice (because sometimes grooming becomes roughhousing & biting).
She left him there and stood up and jumped down from the box to the floor.
The first sign was that she made a mew-y noise and then walked over to the food bowls. I got up to look at her (I tend to be hyper vigilant with my furbabies) and it was then that I noticed that her right side (if you were standing behind her with the tail facing your legs) had a distended look to it. (Harley is a fat cat. We've tried moderating the amount of food she gets but it hasn't been very successful in lowering her weight).
I know I freaked at that point because the first thing I am thinking is: tumor, internal bleeding, twisted stomach or something else. I got right on the phone with the vet and although he is usually booked solid I was able to drive over and bring her in.
He took her out of the carrier to begin looking at her. She threw up a hairball on the table, and then retched up some partially digested food.
After he cleaned that up he examined her and said that her vital signs were all normal, and that nothing seemed wrong with her. Where was the bulge?
I pointed at the side but he squeezed her about (whatever it is that vets do when they're feeling a cat's underside) and said he didn't feel anything. Actually he said he thought he'd felt something but then didn't so .... What did I want to do?
They could do bloodwork but that it might just be a bug giving her problems and doing it at this point might just put her through more grief than she needed.
He gave her an antibiotic & vitamin injection and suggested if I was worried to leave her there over night and think about what I wanted to do...
So I did.
I left her over night thinking that at least if there was an emergency they would be there and I wouldn't be at home wringing my hands and going if only I had... When I got home I called my husband who is out of town at the moment (Harley loves him best) and told him the situation. He suggested and thought that Harley had hurt herself while running around the house and attempting a jump and more than likely fell and hurt herself that way. It is a possibility since she is not graceful by any means and her balance has never been good (when we had adopted her she had such a bad ear mite infection that our vet at the time thought she might never be able to jump or walk in a straight line. That cleared up and although she's no where near as klutzy as she was, she still is a klutz).
I called first thing this morning (I could hardly sleep last night. Harley usually sleeps on top of my side).
They said that she hadn't eaten or drunk (or gone to the bathroom) and that again all her vitals read fine.
I wanted to go see her and decide then if this was something that was really an issue or as he had suggested, possibly gas or an upset stomach. I pretty much went over there not knowing what to expect. I was very worried because Harley was a shelter cat when we had adopted her in the UK and I was afraid that being held there overnight might have made her think that we had abandoned her.
I got there and got to see her in the room. She was covered in drool (the vet said that that could be a combination of stress and upset stomach. I didn't like the fact that she hadn't eaten anything (I brought her food with me but she wasn't interested in it at that point). So I told the vet that yes, tomorrow I would like them to do the blood draws and the x-rays to see if they can figure out what was wrong. And that I was going to take her home for the day and night and I would have her back to them tomorrow am by 8am sharp (that is their surgery day).
She's here now, and as soon as I got her home she ate and drank. and ate and drank some more. I cleaned the drool off her front and face and gave her a gentle combing of that area and made her comfy. She tried to jump up onto the cat tree to get onto her favorite spot on the arm chair and instead mewled and tried to walk over to it and then made an attempt to jump up. She made another little sound and I tried to pick her up (supporting her rear since she is hefty) and that appeared to cause her pain. I also noticed that when she settled down, she did so also making little crying noises and took her a bit to find a position that seemed comfortable.
Right now she is curled up in a box that I cut the side out of so she should be able to just walk out of it if she wants to (she had tried jumping into it with more sounds and I thought I'd make it as easy on her as I could. I have a heating pad set on low that I am turning on and off every 10-15 minutes so that she stays warm.
I'm particularly worried about the pain she appears to be experiencing around her hips/flanks areas and the bulge. I don't know how optimistic I should be about the x-ray and blood tests tomorrow. I'm scared she is dying on me, and I don't know what if anything else, to do.
Thoughts?
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