Tummy Trouble – Dub’s Story
Dub’s second hospitalization came in October of 2006.
My husband fed the cats as normal when he got up that day, they ate well and all seemed fine, but over the course of the day, Dub vomited and had a few trips to the litterbox with liquidy bowel movements. I called his regular vet early on and we decided on the “watch, wait and see” approach, since he was drinking water, his color was good, he was alert and otherwise fairly normal. He seemed a little bit out of sorts, pacing around the apartment a bit, but he eventually calmed himself enough to nap for a few hours. We checked on him often, and he seemed fine, rolling over and exposing his belly for us to scratch, which was good since it apparently wasn’t tender or causing him any pain.
We headed out for a quick bite to eat around 3, and when we got home, we offered him some food again but he wasn’t interested. He did drink water, but he had more liquidy bowel movements, so I was getting more concerned. He was also starting to get a little vocal – coming up to where I was sitting and whining a bit, which felt a lot like he was trying to tell me something. I called the vet around 5 to report back, and the vet assistant told me that someone would call me back after they finished the surgery they were doing.
Dub finally decided to eat again around 6, Mike gave him a small amount of food and he kept it down for all of about 5 minutes – strangely enough, he puked just as my phone was ringing, a return call from the Vet. She asked for an update, she told me it sounded like this was progressing and not in a good way, and that she would suggest we take him to Fifth Avenue Veterinary Specialists. She would call ahead to let them know we were coming and have his records faxed over.
Dub always puts up a huge struggle when we try to get him into his carrier, but he was strangely cooperative that night, and mostly quiet on the way there. We got there fairly quickly and easily, and after filling out a short form were able to get him right into an exam room. A vet and assistant took his history, temperature, and did a thorough physical exam, and then he was taken downstairs to have bloodwork done to check his kidney and liver function, etc. He spent the night there, got some subcutaneous fluids and drank some water, but he didn’t eat. Still, his tests were normal and/or negative, his x-rays were clear, and the vet there said that while we waited for the radiograph results, if we wanted to bring him home the next day, keep a close eye on him and see if we could get him to eat, we could. They would be following up with us, and we would also follow up with our regular vet.
Unfortunately, though he was happy to be home, he had a really bad night. He was up with vomiting and diarrhea about every hour from midnight or so until about 7 in the morning. Mike and I got up with him every time he was getting sick. At his vet’s suggestion, I cooked up some turkey cutlets and soft brown rice for him, but he wasn’t interested in those, nor was he interested in his regular food or the Cat Chow we buy for the neighborhood strays.
We took him in to see his regular vet on October 6th, where he was examined again, given IV fluids and some injected medications to help settle his stomach, help with his pain and treat any inflammation in his belly. He had an ultrasound on the 7th which showed no obstructions, no pancreatitis and no tumors. His organs looked normal and healthy, but there was a bit of “sludge” in his bladder they wanted to check. The biggest issue was that he still wasn’t eating. By the time my husband and I came in to visit him the next afternoon, he still hadn’t eaten, but when he saw us, he totally perked up. Mike got him to eat and it was one of the happiest moments of my life. I felt like we had hope again. Although he still had vomiting and diarrhea issues that night, his appetite perked up over the next couple of days, and our little fighter was able to come home to us on October 11th.
The vets were not 100% sure what caused all of this, but all of the really bad, scary stuff was ruled out and it was narrowed down to either pancreatitis or IBS. Either of those can be either acute or chronic in nature, but both are very treatable, and have similar treatments anyway – change in diet, antacids and steroidal medication (which he was already taking for his anemia) to keep inflammation down.
Dub has since regained all of the weight that he lost, and he is back to being a healthy, strong and happy kitty. However, after the scares we have already had with him, I am extra observant of both him and his sister Kali, and I am always going to be a little overprotective of them.