She has spent most of the last 24 hours sleeping in my laundry basket, which is, er, full of laundry. Today when I get home, I’m going to switch her to the rag basket. I need to wash clothes.
She ate yesterday, nothing so far this morning. Well, no wet food. I’m pretty sure she was downstairs eating dry food at 5:30, because that’s when noise from downstairs (I told you I’m a light sleeper) woke me up. That, or the dream about the tidal-wave-height high tides I was dreaming about.
Tig has been leaving her alone while she’s in the basket. He was a brat to her yesterday, and he and I had words about it. But he’s easing off.
I’m going to have to take Gracie to the kitty plastic surgeon. She lost so much weight so fast she has folds of skin hanging over her legs. And one of her legs seems crooked. I don’t know how she got bowlegged, but she did. She seems to walk with a limp now. It’s not the paw that had the IV in it, either.
Waiting on the labs, but otherwise, she seems happy. And except for not eating much, healthier.
I’m glad Gracie’s home and resting up from her ordeal. If I were a cat, the laundry basket would no doubt sound like a great place to snooze too. I hope the lab results come back with some helpful information! Virtual scritches to Gracie for hanging in there in spite of all the vet-chaos :)
~~ Robyn
Sounds like good news so far. Our kitties have various ‘safe spots’ as well. So long as they’re in the spot, none of the other kitties can bother them. Not sure how it works, but it does. Snuggles to Gracie!!
I’m not a vet or any sort of medical pro, but it’s possible that some sort of bone thinning could take place from malnourishment. Call the new vet, or give Gracie some unsweetened condensed milk (evaporation concentrates the calcium, etc).
chsw
I wonder whether the limp might be caused by some type of arthritis. Osteoarthritis is not all that common in cats (except Siamese), but my vet says that cats are susceptible to arthritis caused by infections or immune system problems. He always checks my 11-year-old for joint stiffness during her annual checkup. FWIW, cats with sore joints often lose their appetite too.
More prayers for Gracie and for you (and the job situation).
Meryl, one of my readers alerted me to Gracie’s story.
My kitty, thirteen year old Bentley has nearly identical symptoms.
We haven’t done surgery, biopsy or endoscopy yet, but I’ve tried many of the same things you have — including nutri-cal (what a mess to get out of kitty fur), Fancy Feast, baby food, chicken broth, prednisone. Oh yeah, huge bills at the veterinary office, only to find out nothing seems to be wrong with him.
I can completely empathize with your posts. Please keep us updated. Hugs and kisses to Gracie.
I don’t put Nutri-cal on her fur anymore. I stick it in her mouth, on the roof or along the sides. She has to eat it, then.
I have anti-emetic pills that I’ve been giving her. Yesterday, they settled her stomach long enough to get her downstairs. Today, no such luck.
Still waiting on the tests.
If you decide to go with the biopsy, try to find someone who is an expert in endoscopy. They can get biopsies that way, and it’s far less invasive than surgery. And make sure your vet is competent. I’ll never make that mistake again.
Anti-emetic and prednosone shots worked wonders on Gracie, but only temporarily. IBD seems to be a very likely suspect.