A Stomach ache by any other name Current mood: calm Category:
Pets and AnimalsIt started like any normal day, got up, fed the cats and made myself coffee.
Any semblance of my normal work day disappeared after that.
Wolfi, my orange Maine Coon, started to projectile vomit.
At first I thought it was just a hairball as he has some trouble processing those through his body. It usually takes an entire day and a couple of doses of his malt medication. So I did that, but things werent working.
This cat really does have me wrapped around his paw, though. No sooner would he throw up then he would hightail it to the kitchen and sit, not in front of his food bowl or water bowl, but in front of the saucer where I fed him some baby food to see if he would eat. He did this EACH time he threw up.
Still not believing he was actually sick, I spent the day cleaning up after him and making sure he was eating and drinking. Then all of a sudden I realized he hadnt been eating or drinking enough to make it worth my while and he hadnt used the box since the morning.
And I panicked.
You see, he is two years four months and 4 days old. He is actually too young to suffer from urinary blockage but thats not a hard and fast rule. Im extremely hypersensitive to that because Wilbur, my first MC, suffered from that and I almost lost him to it. It cost roughly 5000 dollars before I was done.
So you see why I panicked. The symptoms Wolfi was exhibiting were the same ones that accompany urinary blockage. Along with the target group of large, male cats 3-7 years old. Except for the 3 year old part he had it all,
So I call the emergency hospital code for CHA CHING and the receptionist advises me that he really should be seen but it costs $115.00 just to walk in the door. I decide to wait a bit longer and see how this pans out.
Then I made a fatal mistake I looked up the symptoms of urinary blockage to double check and thats when I made the connection and completely fell apart.
I call back to the emergency room. This time one of the nurses picks up. I should have known better really. She proceeds to tell me that the cat needs to be seen immediately because its obvious he cannot pee. If I dont he will die by morning.
Can you all say Alarmist???? Now my perceived panic is out right hysteria. I drop everything, I call my two best friends and both are not home. I left messages.
As I am now getting Wolfi together, S calls me back. She calmly listens to me as she always does and proceeds to impart this logic:
If he isnt eating or drinking anything and hes throwing up stomach fluids, why on earth would he be peeing and pooping? What is there to pee or poop?
Of course, this is perfectly logical and makes perfect sense. But the snowball is rolling downhill already and I decide to follow through just to be safe.
No carrier Lord knows who borrowed it, So I bundle him in a blanket and hustle out to the car. Mr curious has never been in the car before so this is of course going to be interesting. He wasnt too inquisitive but I did drive one handed all the way to the north shore.
Once there I hold him in one arm and fill out forms with the other. We wait for 45 minutes ( for which they charged me $115.00) and then we are called in. The same nurse who advise me that he would die if I didnt bring him in, bustles in importantly, weighs him ( 14 LBS) and proceeds to tell me what his diagnosis is. I ask her if that is her opinion or fact? She looks confused. She was very abrupt when she tells me that she has been a Veterinary nurse for over 20 years and that she can diagnose by looking at the animal. Then she tells me the doctor will be in shortly and leaves.
I shake my head in wonderment, pet my cat, then it comes to me. I know her. And I know from where, and I didnt like her much then either. She was the nurse who assisted when I had to put Wilbur down. She told me that I was not allowed to be in the room when they put him down. When I asked why she told me because she would have to catheterize the cat before they do it. I hit the roof, they are putting my cat to sleep and I cant be there because it will put her out? The vet put a stop to that quickly and fast forward, Im in the same room dealing with her crap again.
The Doctor arrives, she is wonderful. I respect her very much. She checks his heart and his lungs ( both clear and healthy heart has no arrhythmia or murmer), takes his temp (102 perfectly normal), checks gums ( perfect), eyes ( perfect) and says.
Tell me whats going on. There doesnt appear to be anything wrong with this cat.
I share with her the story of the day. She offers up an x-ray but says its very pricey and she doesnt believe that its necessary. In her professional opinion, this is not a cat she is going to lose sleep over tonight. There are some, but hes not one.
So we decide against the x-ray. She tells me that she is going to give me something to settle his stomach. I told her I almost gave him some pepcid and she tells me thats exactly what shes giving him. I gasp. For 170 dollars? Are you KIDDING Me???? So she laughs and says that there are more injections than just that. He also got subcutaneous fluids, and an antibiotic just to kill off any secondary infections.
They bring him back smelling like the nurses perfume. He has been flirting with them in the back. They are all in love with him and as usual he has been charming the pants off everyone.
We settle the bill. They hand me the insurance forms pre-filled out and ready to go with all the copies necessary. We leave. The poor baby is shaking like a leaf from fear. We get in the car and head home.
We step off the elevator in our building. He immediately recognizes this place hops out of my arms and trots down the hall. He stops at the corner to meow at me to hurry up. We get into the house, he goes to sleep. We get one more bout of projectile vomiting and he is out like a light. I pick up all the food and water so no one gets anything. I go to bed.
Somewhere around 3AM, Bandit joins me on the bed. 10 seconds later he is joined by Wolfi, who proceeds to start bathing Bandit. See below:
By 5AM my life is no longer my own. I am unable to sleep because Wolfi either wants food or love or both. This continues till 8:30 when I finally get up. I feed him some baby food per the vets orders. He eats it in record time and start barking for more. Then he starts eating the regular food. He uses the box and sleeps most of the day. Hes not 100 ut hes about 85 and Ill take that.
I read the bill this afternoon. For the diagnosis of Gastritis with a treatment of Pepcid, fluids, antibiotic we paid 287.00. Code for A stomach ache.
Now thats the most expensive trip to Garden City Ive ever taken.
