Sunday Whatever Post, Vol. 3, #24: Cat Out of the Carrier

So this week will be a short sequel to last week's entry when we had placed Oreo in a carrier for transport to the local veterinarian hospital.   As readers may recall, the wait time for medical care given to us last weekend seemed to defy the tolerance of the most patient human being on the planet,  let alone a cat in a carrier.  Wait 10 hours in a cramped plastic jail?  I don't think so,  and Oreo readily agreed.

I decided to wait for the previously scheduled house call from our regular vet.  Alas,  she called Wednesday morning to rescheduled the Wednesday afternoon appointment.  I reviewed Oreo's latest symptoms at that point -  still no bowel movement, urination okay,  decreasing interest in food. The vet urged me to get her to the hospital.  My panic attack kicked into hyperventilation drive at this suggestion,  but I was soon on the phone hoping for some sort of encouraging news that they could see her that day.

As luck would have it I was being given the same long wait time of 6-7 hours I received the previous weekend.  I then pressed the prompt reserved for emergencies.  There a live person (!) answered and listened to my tale of kitty woe.   I was told that I could bring her in and the vet could triage her within a few hours.  I agreed to get her there soon, even though I had not even gotten her back into her carrier at that point.  I anticipated a struggle getting cat info carrier.

A quick call to my supervisor advising that I would be punching out for the day,  dressed quickly,  coaxed Oreo up from her basement room, and wrapped her in a towel so I could drop her into the upended carrier.  Naturally she howled the entire time,  but I reassured her that this kitty abduction was for her own good.

Oreo arrived at the hospital by 11:00 that morning, and as luck would further have it (this time better luck) a vet saw her within an hour.  They would do blood work and x-rays to see what her blockage problem was and advised that they would keep her overnight.  I agreed to this,  paid a large deposit for her care,  and returned home.

I got a call that night with an encouraging prognosis.  Oreo was indeed impacted and they would do at least one enema to unblock her.  They found that her colon was dilated, a condition which could make prevent future bowel movements.   We're keeping an eye on this mega colon issue.  They would give her an IV for hydration purposes,  but so far she was not showing any interest in eating.  The vet assured me that her lack of appetite could be just stress from being in a strange place where four-footed beings much larger than herself were apt to be barking their heads off all through the night.

A call the next day gave me some encouraging news, but only to a point.   Oreo's bowel movements had gone from super hard and unyielding to excrementally runny (gross pun intended).  Also there was no change in her appetite:  the howling of the other inmates at the hospital were making her into a nervous wreck.  They would keep her one more night,  but they expected that she would improve.

Day Three:  a call from the hospital around noon gave me the good news that her appetite had improved and I arranged to pick her up that evening.   Oreo came home with two medications -  one liquid administered into the mouth via syringe and the other a pill which I could put in with her food.   I have given her the liquid drug a few times,  I haven't got quite got the hang of getting her mouth open.   I will keep trying.  I also need to arrange another house call from the regular vet to do a follow up appointment.

So, Oreo is better and as ornery as ever,  but we still have a ways to go.

(Thank you for reading and thank you all for your well wishes.)