SHUT DOWN
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Katy the cat was subdued at her vet appointment last week. (Photo: Mark Caudill / News Journal)
I knew something was wrong with Katy.
My tabby cat wasn’t her usual spirited, picky self. It was lethargic and seemed to be fading before my eyes.
Katy went without food for five days in her first real health scare since I adopted her in September 2018.
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Readers who have followed Katy’s story will know that her only real problem was vomiting. With a small dose of a steroid in their diet, this problem was largely kept under control.
After not throwing up in weeks, Katy vomited three times on Memorial Day. I removed her food bowl until the next morning, but her stomach problems continued for the next two days.
She even vomited after eating just one pellet.
It was time to see the vet. Again I could tell that something was wrong with Katy because she allowed me to slip her into her tote bag without a fight.
Katy was silent on the drive to Phillips Animal Hospital. She usually meows in protest on every trip.
Her lethargy continued when we got to the appointment. Dr. Jordan took her temperature and Katy barely beeped. Because of the trauma she suffered three years ago, she doesn’t even want me to return her there.
Katy was also showing signs of a urinary tract infection, so she was given three injections, including a steroid and an antibiotic.
She made no sound.
Dr. Jordan said to let the injections work and feed Katy when I got home from work. Katy didn’t touch her food all night. I could tell because she usually scatters the pellets.
Katy didn’t eat anything on Friday, but she seemed more like herself when I got home that evening after an epic day at work.
On Saturday we went back to the vet. By then, Katy hadn’t eaten for five days. Dr. Jordan told me that after six or seven days without food, a cat’s body begins to fail.
I was on the verge of panic mode at this point.
I flashed back to my previous cat, Kimba. I took him to MedVet in Columbus on a Thursday in November 2016 and he was gone two days later. Katy seemed to be going downhill.
This time we saw Dr. Andrew, who had previously operated on Katy, when someone stuck a firecracker in her rectum in July 2018 and inflamed it.
We had to wait about 30 minutes for an exam room to open on Saturday. A German Shepherd passed out on the floor after being sedated to cut a toenail. Light!
Dr. Andrew gave Katy another injection for the nausea, probably the reason she showed no interest in food. He also gave me an ointment to apply to Katy’s ears to stimulate her appetite.
Katy had some tests done. Her blood counts were largely normal.
We drove home. Katy had eaten something on Sunday morning. The next morning her food bowl was almost empty.
Katja was back.
Our two vets believe that my cat has irritable bowel syndrome and that her past trauma is not the cause of her symptoms.
In addition to the other complaints, Katy has another problem that confuses me. She went to the hairdresser in mid-March and had most of the hair on her stomach shaved. Almost three months later, the hair stopped growing back.
When Dr. Jordan saw the condition, he immediately thought, Katy had over-prepared the area. I assured him that was not the case.
He didn’t seem too concerned about the quirk. I’m not either, just looks weird.
I just need Katy to be fine.
mcaudill@gannett.com
419-521-7219
Twitter: @MNJCaudill
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