Cat Tales – Page 27

Cat Status

Aug 242004

Well, he seems more or less back to normal now. When I first got up this morning he was still a little wobbly in the back end. By the time I had gotten back from the morning round of appointments and errands, he was feeling well enough to dart outside as soon as I opened the door. I stayed outside with him to see how he was walking, and he seems to be moving normally again.

I guess we’ll never know what happened. Both his regular vet, the clinic vet, and myself have postulated a number of theories, such as:

he slipped a disc in his back
he got into something toxic
he had a head injury

Fortunately the blood tests ruled out disease as a cause. I keep trying to make him stay in, but he’s too smart, too fast, and too determined—even if I’m alert enough to spot him lurking by the door when I come in, I can’t stop him from bolting out without the risk of hurting him. And I need to get him another collar, license, and address tag; he was wearing one of those “breakaway” collars that’s supposed to come loose if it gets caught on something, and it must have been caught on something as he came in without it one day last week.

I’m not much into making animals out to be little people. Their thought processes, feelings, and motivations have similarities to those of humans, but they are also different in very fundamental ways. Nonetheless, I can sort of see how some people wind up thinking of their pets as ersatz children—they require a similar level of care and attention, and we worry about them when they’re not well.

Cat Update

Cat Tales, Geek Wannabe 3 Responses »

Aug 232004

Just back from the vet. Phurball and I left right after picking up Sprog #1 from school; while I was at the vet’s office I arranged to have someone pick up Sprog #2 for me. It was a toss-up between my dad (other side of town) or a close friend (fairly close by); I went with dad because a) he’s off work today anyway, and b) I figured the school would be less likely to have problems with a grandfather than a “friend of the family.” Although I did call ahead and let them know he would be coming.

By the time we let Phurball out of his carrier at the vet’s, he wasn’t nearly as poorly. His back legs were still a little wonky but the front ones were working normally again. He did have a brief ear-twitching, head-shaking episode that seemed almost like a seizure, but again, it was hard to tell.

They did blood work, urine, checked his oil and replaced his batteries and whatnot. A couple of levels were marginally high, but not alarmingly so. He didn’t show signs of pain when she prodded his back; she held him up and had him shuffling back and forth on his back legs, and they seemed to work. He would try to put both back and fore feet down on the table when she bumped them against the edge of it.

In short, we don’t know what’s wrong with the old fellow. They pumped in some subcutaneous fluids in case he’d gotten into something toxic, to flush it out of his system a little faster, and I’m to keep an eye on him tonight and take him to the emergency clinic if he takes a sudden turn for the worse. Otherwise we’ll schedule a follow-up visit with his usual vet, who will come here so the poor guy doesn’t have to endure a car trip.

Back home, he’s still walking funny on the back end, and he had another ear-twitching, head-shaking episode that seemed to distress him (well heck, it distressed me), though he calmed down when I petted him and talked to him until it was over. I’ve moved his litter box up from the basement so he won’t be trying to navigate the stairs in his unsteady state, and duct-taped his little cat door into the basement so that he can’t try and get down there.

So now we just keep an eye on him overnight, and see if he gets better or worse. Man, I wish that cat could talk.

Worried about the Old Cat

Cat Tales, Geek Wannabe Comments Off

Aug 232004

He was fine this morning. He ran outside when Sprog #1 and I left for school, said hello in passing when I left with Sprog #2. About half an hour ago when I got home from the dentist, he was lying in the driveway and couldn’t get up.

I stopped the van halfway up the driveway and went to check on him. He was able to struggle to his feet, but didn’t seem to be using his right hind leg. I felt the leg but couldn’t find anything wrong—not that I’d know what to look for. I picked him up and brought him inside, and phoned his she-makes-housecalls vet and left a message on her machine. Phurball managed to clamber to his usual perch on the back of the couch.

Twenty minutes later he got down from the couch, which thankfully I didn’t actually witness as the thud he made was bad enough. When I spun around to see if he was all right he was staggering across the floor as if his legs wouldn’t work in sync. He made it to the living room and lay down on the floor again. I Googled up the Cary Cat Clinic and the nice lady there said she could fit him in at three. I hope his normal wonderful housecall-vet doesn’t feel slighted, but I don’t know when she’ll be back at her office to get the message and I’m really worried about the old cat.

He doesn’t seem to be in pain but he’s obviously not feeling well. Think good thoughts. I’ve had this cat since some time in 1989, which is longer than I’ve had my spouse.

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