Saturday, June 02, 2018

Gretal's Vet Visit

I took Gretal to the vet yesterday.

Gretal has been here a long time.  She's somewhere over 12 now and has been experiencing stinky voluminous diarrhea.

I wormed her about three weeks ago, gave her fluids, hoped that would do it.

It didn't.

So once the latest mom and kittens were out of the bathroom, I got her in there.  It's not an easy thing.  She's wild as they come.

And sometimes a little bit menacing.  She can growl like no other.  And she gets mad.

I gave her fluids nonetheless.  Sub cu.   Through a net. 

She was in there days as I contemplated a course of action.  Then I just loaded her up in a trap and headed to the coast vet.  That was yesterday.

They do drop in appointments.  I left at 7:30 a.m. instead of the usual 4:30 a.m. when I take cats for surgery.  But I didn't quite make it there before they close down drop in appointments at 11:00 for a couple hours, so I had to come back at 1:30.  We hung out in a parking lot.  I read a book and talked to her.

The vet who saw her was kind.  And practical.   She ruled out cancer because cancer cats don't have the appetite Gretal has.   Kidney failure cats don't either.

That left gut parasites like coccidia and giardia, along with hyperthyroidism and diabetes.

She told me to come back at 4:30.   She did a Giardia snap test and tested her poop too, for coccidia and anything else.   She said that wasn't hard to do, because she finally let go with a round of really stinky poo, once under anesthesia.  She had to have a bath.

But getting a stool sample was easy!

She did blood work on her and everything including her thyroid and blood sugar were normal.

This left the default diagnosis of IBS, inflammatory bowel disease.  Shoot.

Gretal, being a wild thing, would need monthly steroid injections, since I can't reliably chase her down for daily liquid steroids, as I did Miss Daisy, for years, or pills.  She said its not as easy to control with injections.  She sent me home with next months and gave her one yesterday.

If they work, she'll send them to me.  I hope they work.  I let Gretal out once I got home, which wasn't until after 8:30.  Gretal gave me a last hiss and took off.  This morning she's following me from ten feet, enamored.  That happens.   Road trip with a cat is a personal adventure for both of us.  We bonded again.

I rescued Gretal over 12 years ago from the side of highway 34 after seeing her walkiing, shoulder to shoulder with her brother, edge of a busy highway, in a freezing windstorm.  They were a pathetic pair, skinny, weak and in that freezing cold.  I spent the next three days parked along the highway after them and finally got both.

Hansel and Gretal went into foster with a Salem woman but she returned Gretal suddenly a few months later and right after I moved here, when the place was a wreck still and unfit for cats.  Wasn't easy, but we somehow made it work.

Gretal is a toothless old gal now, kinda like me.

I love her.


 I don't care one whit that she's not the cuddling type.  I don't need that to love a kitty.

4 comments:

  1. Oh, the poor dear. Thank you for being such a kind and caring person. She is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, she is something else. I admire her. She is so gutsy and also extremely smart. Sometimes Sam gets a bug in his butt and goes after her, especially in the spring, which makes me not very happy with Sam. Sam too is old now, like everyone here. But he has his moments.

      Delete
  2. Of course you love her. As she in her grumpy, bad tempered way does you. I hope the treatment works. For you both.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks EC me too, hope it works. Seems to already be having a positive effect.

      Delete

Round Up

Today is cat round up for tomorrow's five spots.  Two more came up from the vet student in Harrisburg late this morning.  Over 60 fixed ...