We have been worrying about our youngest cat, Zoey. She's only like 2 or 3 years old (I can never remember, it changes every year). We think she stopped eating on Saturday but it's hard to tell because we don't pay that close attention to her eating habits. We noticed her throwing up a lot on Sunday. Generally speaking, Zoey spits up a lot but she was pretty much just throwing up stomach acid at that point and she was acting like I act when I'm sick (all mopey and tired).
On Monday, she still wasn't eating (although she was still drinking some) and she was gingerly slinking around so we made an appointment with the vet for Tuesday morning.
This isn't a very pleasant thing to deal with. You think about all of the possibilities. Did she swallow something? Does she just have the flu? Is it some kind of kitty cancer? Will she need surgery?
Then, you start doing cost analysis, which makes you feel horrible. We discussed how much we were willing to spend for various levels for certainty of survival (we'd spend more if there was a better chance that she would be okay but we can't afford to fight a losing battle against kitty cancer). But you start thinking things like, what if a simple surgery could fix it but that surgery cost $5,000. How do you look at your cat and say, "we can't spare the money to save you"? Not to mention that we go to a snooty vet where the costs could shoot past our maximum very quickly.
I took her to the vet (because Arial didn't want to, plus I'm closer to Zoey anyways). The vet listened to the symptoms and said that she seemed dehydrated. She said they would keep her for a while, rehydrate her (with an IV), give her something to stop the vomiting and take some X-rays to look for something stuck in her.
They wound up doing two sets of X-rays, one before hydration and one after because the first didn't show anything definitive. The second didn't really change anything. Basically, Zoey's small intestines are kind of bunched up in front instead of loose. The vet said that this can be a sign that there is a string in there, or it could just be how her intestines are.
So basically, they rehydrated her, gave her something to suppress the vomiting, gave her something to induce an appetite and fed her some barium in case she didn't get better and needed another X-ray the next day (I told you that we go to a snooty vet). Then, all we could do was wait a couple hours, feed her and watch to see if she vomits again.
We fed her a half an hour before we were supposed to (because she looked hungry). I gave her a little more than a tablespoon of the canned food that she likes and she ate it all. Then we waited a while to let that settle and I gave her another helping.
As far as we know, Zoey hasn't thrown up since. She is starting to act more like herself, a little more lovey but herself.
I hope that this episode is over. The vet bill was $316 and I don't know if we can afford surgery for her. But she does seem to be getting better and if so, the $316 was well worth it.
mwz
1 comment:
I used to work for a country vet who was very respectful of people who decided they couldn't afford vet costs. It's understandable to feel badly about your pet being sick, but at the same time a pet isn't guaranteed to live very long anyway and your pet could die or disappear immediately after you spent the $5,000 on surgery anyway. At least, that's the country folk attitude. It's great to do what you can though and I'm happy she's feeling so much better already.
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