My cat is sick

[pameladean]

Raphael and I came home from hiking yesterday evening, and there was no Aristophanes to greet us. I eventually found him curled under a chair in the hottest room of the house. We worried that we had not left enough air conditioning on for him. After dithering a while, we took him over to the University of Minnesota's Small Animal Clinic, where he was discovered to have a high fever, dehydration, and possibly a pain in his belly. His white count was elevated but there was no clear sign of infection. I am still waiting on the urine culture, but since he has mild kidney disease and can't concentrate his urine well, there might not be any bacteria in it even if he does have an infection

They hydrated him and perked him right up; his fever was normal this morning, so since I had decided against an ultrasound right this moment, opting for antibiotics and hope.

He is much better than he was last night. I am sternly enjoined to make him eat and am doing my best. He tends to eat for a minute and lose interest, but repeated applications of fresh wet food, or a handful of new dry food, do make him eat more each time. He is looking tubby and lopsided because of the sub-cutaneous hydration. He has a pink stretchy bandage on his left front paw, which he hates, but resists my taking off. I have cut through most of it with the bandage scissors and decided to leave him alone for a bit, since he has been messed with far too much already.

I have been trying to forget all the things they told me it might be if it's not an infection, but I can't quite forget "pancreatitis." They kept saying, "a little pancreatitis," so I hope it is not the same thing as "a little bit pregnant."

He was only gone for about 12 hours, but I missed him tremendously. We have been together for more than fifteen years. I hope we will have a few more.

Pamela

Comments

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

Oh dear--lots of good wishes for him.

And you. :)

Pancreatitis can be a serious permanent condition or an ongoing chronic condition with flares or a one-time thing secondary to something like an infection or whatever. SO maybe one of the non-serious, permanent things is what they mean.

[madmanatw.livejournal.com]

Wishing you and him the best of luck. I sympathize extremely with the way you have to be feeding him- I'm doing the same thing with one of my cats right now. I hope it just clears right up.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

I can attest to the power of sub-q fluids in helping an older cat's health. Too often their other health problems (large and small) get exacerbated by dehydration.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

Best wishes to your kitty and you.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

Hoping he comes out of this okay.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear. I will be holding both of you in my heart.

[baka-kit.livejournal.com]

Hoping for a speedy and complete return to health for your kitty.

[17catherines.livejournal.com]

Best of good thoughts to you and Aristophanes. I always feel utterly terrified and miserable when one of our girls gets sick.

Much love,

Catherine

[aedifica]

I wish Aristophanes well!

If I'd known you were coming in, I'd have stopped over to say hi--that's where I work.

[willshetterly.livejournal.com]

Hoping for the best for both of you. Our guys, when they've aged, have always responded well to subcutaneous fluids.

[clindau.livejournal.com]

Keeping a good thought for you and Ari.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Oh no! Sending good thoughts for his speedy recovery! And hugs to you all.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh, prettiest kittyboy, I hope he is doing well again very soon.

[wiredferret.livejournal.com]

Our boy had a bout of pancreatitis, and recovered just fine with sub-q fluids and some antibiotics and some painkiller. We gave him sub-q fluids for about 10 days which no one enjoyed, but we caught his sickness much later than you did.

[lcohen]

i hope that the hydration and the antibiotics fix him right up and he's back to his old self soon!

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Oh no! Her Majesty and I send our best wishes. (Or she will, when I finally get home to her. She's doing much better, saith the vet.)

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor kitty. I hope he feels better soon!

If it helps at all, I had the same thing happen to my elderly cat last year (left him alone while it was hot, came home to find him weak), and he was just fine after a couple of days. The vet had already thought he might have an issue with pancreatitis; it does just seem to flare up every once in a while and then settle down.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

Poor little beast. Good thoughts for him.

It's such a worry when our pets get sick. They can't tell us where it hurts, and we can't explain that those nasty things the vet does to them really are meant to help them get better.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh. How unwelcome. I wish him a quick recovery.

K.

[shalanna.livejournal.com]

Will be praying for your kitty, and Raphael, and you!!

[coffeeem.livejournal.com]

Oww. Poor Ari, and his people. I'll keep him and you in my thoughts.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Poor Ari! Hope he feels much better soon.

[oursin.livejournal.com]

Sending good wishes.

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

Oh no, your kitty baby! Sub-q does often perk older cats right problems right up, as someone else said, so I am sure he is feeling better, and knows you are taking care of him. I hope he recovers quickly and fully.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Oh, my. I hope it just turns out to be some feline version of the flu, exacerbated by spending time in a hot room.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I hope he continues to recover rapidly. Poor little beastie, what an awful day.

[indigolands.livejournal.com]

I am sending good thoughts to you and your kitty. I hope he gets better soon!

[intertext.livejournal.com]

Holding my thumbs and crossing my toes for your kitty, and good thoughts to you.

[csecooney.livejournal.com]

Poor Aristophanes! Any creature, cat or otherwise, with such a fabulous name, should live a life-age of the earth and never wither. Hope he improves. Best luck.

[redbird]

Hang in there. I wish you both well.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Best wishes to both of you.

[fgherman.livejournal.com]

I hope he's feeling better quickly.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Cats do look funny after sub-q, don't they. I hope he gets better soon!