Married to the Empire

Friday, May 8, 2009

Rough Day

We've had a difficult day around here today. Calvin has been throwing up profusely all afternoon. And the last round looked bloody. I did what any reasonable cat mom would do.

I freaked. Then I cried. Then I called the vet. Then I cried some more.

I became more worried when it was time to leave for the vet's, and I couldn't find Calvin anywhere. Our boys come when we whistle for them, and Doogie was standing at my feet yelling at me as I kept whistling. (He wanted to go out for the mail.) But still no Calvin. Very unusual.

I found him in the far back corner of my closet. He didn't say a word as I picked him up, which is again unusual. He's usually quite the talker.

The vet couldn't feel any blockages, which is good. She said Calvin looked alert, which is also good. But he was severely dehydrated, which is bad. In addition to receiving a shot to stop the vomiting, he had his first ever "kitty dialysis" session. That just means he had a subcutaneous saline IV. He now looks like Quasimodo with all the fluids gathered around one shoulder.

He's resting at home now, and I don't want to bug him by making him stand up for photos, so for now, all you'll get is his fluid blob, which isn't quite as interesting-looking as his Quasimodo look when he's standing up. (He looks a lot fatter on the right than on the left. That's all his fluids resting in that side of his body, just under the skin.)





**Additional: Calvin came flying onto my desk just after I posted this. I grabbed the camera. He no longer looked hunchbacked. Instead, the fluids have fallen and created a whole new weird look.


5 comments:

Sue said...

:-(
This just tears my heart out. I feel so bad for you...watching a pet suffer is the worst. The poor things are so helpless, and they can't tell you what's wrong...
I hope the dialysis helps. Calvin doesn't seem too bothered by his blob - hopefully by now it's gone down.
Praying for health for Calvin & peace for you!

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

Thank you, Sue. I really appreciate it. He seems to be feeling better this morning. He's been eating and talking to us. We can't get him to drink any water, but his leg is still a little swollen, so I guess his body is still busy absorbing all those fluids. We'll give him some tuna juice later today to entice him to drink.

Still, I'm staying home from a party tonight to watch him, as his anti-vomiting meds wear off this afternoon. I don't want to leave him for several hours, just in case.

Amy W said...

Awwww. Poor kitty. I'm so sorry. I hope he feels better soon!

ann said...

Poor Calvin, I am so sorry, Anne Marie!

Beth said...

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about Calvin being ill. I hope it is temporary and that he is doing better soon.