Ill Cat

[TimO]

I just got back from the FNRttC, having left the house for 24 hours, and rather than the normal cat bouncing out the door at me, Talisker is in the kitchen looking very sorry for himself.

I've checked him over, and there's no sign of injury, but it doesn't look like he's eaten any food, or drunk any milk since I left.  Oddly, he's sat with his head over the water fountain, but I haven't actually seen him drink any water.

I rang the vet up, but they're having computer problems, and are about to shut one surgery and open another, so I need to ring them back at 1pm, and I suspect I'll have to take him in then.

I wonder if he's eaten something that's upset his stomach, but on the other hand, cat's digestive systems are quite fast, and if that was the case, I would have expected that it would have cleared his system by now.

Hopefully it's something trivial like that, but he clearly isn't his normal happy self, and I don't think waiting until Monday would be a good idea.

[Mrs Pingu]

Oh poor Talisker, hope it's nothing major and he's feeling better soon.

[TimO]

He's rather pathetic, if I pet him, he'll meow in a sort of "make it go away" fashion, and sit there with his head literally hanging down.

I've tried him with his favourite treats and some fresh milk, which he'd normally demolish in seconds, but he's not interested.

[Jaded]

A visit would be a good thing if the vet can see him. Older cats can lose weight fast if they aren't eating.

Alfie had a bad weekend three weeks ago (it turned out he had an infection) and by Monday his vertebrae were poking up. 

[TimO]

That's what worried me, cats hide things so well that they can be very ill before you realise there's a problem at all.

The vet doesn't know whats wrong with him.  He's not running a temperature (and barely complained about having it taken, which wasn't a good sign).  He is dehydrated however, although that's a symptom rather than the cause, so they are keeping him in to put him on a drip, and to do some blood tests.

[Deborah]

Poor puss. I hope he's better soon.

[Butterfly]

Poor Talisker. I hope they get him sorted out fast .

[border-rider]

yes, ours have their paws crossed for him.

[TimO]

I just had a phone call from the Vet.  He says that Talisker is much more active now, wandering about his cage, meowing, and eating and drinking.  I'm going around to pick him up at midday.

Yay!

I presume he had the cat equivalent of a 24 hour bug, or ate someone who disagreed with him.  Just one of those things.

[rogerzilla]

It's known as "a bad mouse" in our household.

[TimO]

It's known as "a bad mouse" in our household.

It'll probably be a bloody expensive mouse.

[Gruff]

It'll probably be a bloody expensive mouse.

I'm curious for no other reason than I have absolutely no idea, if it's not too rude, can I ask out how much this will have cost?

What's the damage for a once over, couple of tests and a night in "the cells"?

[border-rider]

mmm

Varies

We got a bill of over 700 quid for a day in the cells (no overnight) and a battery of tests on our Big Cat last June.

[Gruff]

We got a bill of over 700 quid for a day in the cells (no overnight) and a battery of tests on our Big Cat last June.

Oh my goodness!   

[TimO]

He's back.

When I picked him up, he was already wandering about in his cage, and meowing, so a lot more active than when I dropped him off.  I fed him a bit of a chewy snack stick which he likes, and some milk, both of which he polished off, so his appetite is back.

I can't let him out for a while, since I'll have to wait until after I've taken the bandage off of his paw (where they shaved him and put the drip in).

I suspect they haven't actually run the blood tests yet (their lab is probably closed over the weekend), so I think I've just paid for an overnight stay and the drip, based on the previous occasion when this happened.  The total bill was £85, which isn't too bad.

[rogerzilla]

The last time Boo was in overnight (suspected torn median cruciate ligament, which self-healed) it was about £150.

Sassy was £800 when she had a shattered pelvis, assumed to have been caused by a car.

Both of the above were covered by insurance    but we can't afford to insure the older cats any more - premiums are about a fiver a month for a 2 year old cat, but £25 a month when they get to 12 or so.

[TimO]

I might have spoken a bit soon, he's not quite as bouncy as normal.  He normally comes to the door to see me whenever I come in (assuming that he's in the house and not out terrorising small crunchy animals), but when I just got back from the shops, he didn't rise from where he's slumped at the top of the stairs.  On the other hand, he's not as utterly dejected and washed out as he was on Saturday morning.

Hopefully it's just that he isn't quite over whatever lurgy he had, and is a bit washed out, but I'll have to keep a close eye on him, just in case he needs to go back to the vets.

[Mrs Pingu]

What a fetching bandage!

[TimO]

What a fetching bandage!

They are aren't they!

The last time he had a funky blue and green one.  I've taken it off now, it only had to be on for a couple of hours, just until where they had put the drip in had stopped bleeding.  He's occasionally licking it, but I suspect it tastes pretty foul, since I can still smell the not unpleasant odour of the bandage on him still.  I don't imagine it's that nice a taste though.  On the other hand, cats pretty much lick everywhere, so I guess they're used to it!



He's eating a bit now, if I sit there and individually feed him treats, or if I give him my sandwich ham!

[Wowbagger]

If they put a drip in then he must presumably have had an anaesthetic? It took Morphy several hours to recover from his when he had his x-ray.

If he did have an anaesthetic and your bill was only £85, I think I want sign Morphy up with your vet's.

[Pingu]

It depends on the cat, I think. When Pippin has had blood taken she's not needed an anaesthetic, but I imagine a highly strung cat that really hates going to the vet might need to be sedated.

[TimO]

Talisker isn't highly strung by any measure, I've had a cattery say that he was the most relaxed cat that they had ever met, and they must meet a lot of cats!

As far as I know he wasn't anaesthetised at all, he was so lethargic when I took him in, he had to be lifted out of the cat carrier, and could barely sit up, so wouldn't have been a problem to shave and put the drip in.

They've given him an anaesthetic in the past, when doing dental work, which is understandable with a cats teeth.  He has bloods taken at least a couple of times a year for his hyperthyroid treatment, and all they do prior to that is shave his fur on his neck so that they can find a vein.  It's all done with a short appointment.

[TimO]

He's still not 100% back to heath.  Normally in the morning he'll come up to the bedroom and wake me up (a sharp claw poking you in the face is hard to ignore!), or at least meow very loudly from the bottom of the stairs, but he hasn't done that on the last couple of days.  When I do go downstairs he does get up and stretch, and clearly wants his breakfast, but doesn't seem to have the motivation.

The food and drink is disappearing from his bowls, but not necessarily as fast as it has in the past.  He has his appetite back, at least partially, so I don't think he's going to get dehydrated again, but clearly not back to his normal bouncy self.  It's rare that his entire breakfast doesn't disappear in one sitting, but he's only eating ¹/₂ or ¹/₃ of it, and picking at the remainder later.

I guess it the equivalent of a bout of flu for a cat.  In the past when he's been ill he's got over it very fast, but I suppose as a more elderly chap of 12 or 13 now, his body is starting to creak a bit, and it takes him longer to recover from any illness.

[longers]

How's the patient now?

[TimO]

He's been mostly eating all the food I put out for him.  This morning he did come up and try and get me out of bed (which I ignored), but then he hacked up a fur ball (there's nothing like to sound of a cat vomiting on the carpet to get you out of bed!), and wasn't quite so enthusiastic about his breakfast.

I gave him his normal can of Encore, which he wasn't too keen on eating, which is unusual since the Chicken flavour is one of his favourites.  I got out some prawns, that he decided was acceptable, and promptly scoffed most of.

When I get home there's a good chance (hopefully) that the chicken will also have disappeared along with the milk that I left.  Yesterday he'd also been eating the dried Iams food, so I think he's mostly back to his normal self, and it was just the fur ball that upset his appetite a bit.