Gracie update

Gracie went to the vet’s for the first time since her stitches were removed last winter. I’ve been avoiding bringing her and have instead called the vet after each period of time had pased before lowering her dose of Predinsone. She’s on a quarter-pill every three days now, which is 1.5 mg twice a week, as opposed to 10 mg a day when she was first diagnosed with IBD. She also needed her shots, and got her claws clipped. Too late to save my shirt, though. She did not want to go, and fought harder than she’d ever fought before. Well, there goes another shirt for the ragpile where she manages to sleep in the wintertime.

Gracie did not enjoy the vet, needless to say. But she didn’t do more than hiss at me while I put her in the carrier, and (sigh) rip my shirt. She’s gained about a pound and a half, and is back up to a comfortable weight for her. She weighs 11.4 pounds, but she’s a big girl and should weigh about 11 or 12 pounds. I think she’ll stay where she is until winter, and then put on a few more ounces, but hey, don’t we all do that in the wintertime?

The vet wants me to keep her on the quarter-pill twice a week. He said he’s almost never seen a cat recover completely from IBD, and that even the little amount she gets is enough to keep her immune system fighting the IBD. So, though she hates having a pill shoved down her throat twice a week, and believe me, I am sick and tired of shoving a pill down her throat twice a week, we’ll be continuing the process for some time. The vet told me that stopping the pills altogether might bring Gracie back to needing two pills a day. Considering that I can finally go away for the weekend without having to board Gracie, I think we’ll stick to the status quo.

I would like to thank all of you who contributed to getting our girl over the IBD. Thanks to those of you who contributed money, and thanks to the rest of you who sent emails or posted comments. I’m so pleased to tell you that Gracie is now happy, healthy, and running around like a cat half her age. We have a nightly routine at bedtime, where I stop at the bottom of the stairs and wait for her and say, “Want to race? One, two–” and she’s gone before I get to three. She flies up the stairs in no time at all, then waits for me to give her one last bellyrub before bedtime.

It’s a very pleasant evening routine.