Category: Lucy

arcane science lab cat is very ill

whbeebe3 Comments

Lucy is at the vets this weekend. She’s been there since late this past Thursday, on an IV solution to get her strength back up. Before she was taken to the vets by my wife, she’d stopped eating nearly everything I could think of to put in front of her, and wasn’t drinking much at all. She’d been ill with something since this past November when she started vomiting about once/week. We took her to the vets, and tried out some anti-vomiting medicine, which seemed to help a bit. But about a week ago she took a turn for the worse.

Although we have two other cats and the two Labs, Lucy really is mine. The house is very empty without her. There’s no Lucy to run up into my lap in the evenings when I’m sitting in my chair. No Lucy to come out late at night and herd me back to bed. No Lucy to sleep at my feet, no Lucy to walk on my shoulders and purr in my face in the mornings.

I’ve checked on her every day including today, and she looks and acts a lot better than she did this past Thursday. She comes over and talks to me when I visit. I think the hardest thing for me to accept out of all this is how I almost killed her with kindness, thinking I could figure out what was wrong with her. Owning a cat doesn’t make you a cat expert, no matter how long you’ve owned here, and no matter what you’ve read over time.

She’s been in the household since 2008. That’s seven years. She’s had a good life with good food, toys, places to play indoors, and regular vet visits. Hopefully she’ll be around another seven years. If not, well, I have a lot of memories, and there are no shortage of little guys and gals who need rescuing. But Lucy will always have a special place.

In 2008 she picked me. I didn’t pick her. And she’s been a loyal little thing ever since.

lucy’s under the weather

whbeebe

Not only has my wife been under the weather, but Lucy decided to join in as well. After all, misery supposedly loves company. Lucy has been having stomach upsets over the last two weeks, with three incidents (at night) of vomiting; in her case ballistic vomiting. So I get to wipe up the chunky mess (thank goodness for our all-tile floors in the house) and then mop everything.

Lucy has also been coming over more often to look for comfort and rubs from me, her Person. The photo above is typical of Lucy putting her head down on my midriff and looking up for rubs. She purrs like a motor boat while I rub her. Her favorite rub spots are around her ears. Note that these are slow, gentle rubs. Cats are not dogs, such as our two Labs.

Today I took her to the vets for her annual shots. I also took Ellipse to check the weight. Surprise, surprise, both cats showed noticeable weight gains, even Lucy. So while Lucy might be throwing up occassionally she’s keeping enough down that she’s gained about a pound and a half, which is a lot for a little cat.

As is so typical both of them meowed all the way over to the vet. Once there, they stayed quiet and in their carriers (or very close by). Cats are smart and have long memories. The vet is very good and gentle, but cats don’t like to travel and they are supper cautious around the vet and his assistants.

I came home with a new cat food (Royal Canin vet diet) formulated to be easier to digest as well as having less odd-ball ingredients. We’ll try this out for the rest of November and see how Lucy reacts. So far she seems to like it. But I know one thing, no more Purina Fancy Feast. It seems to cause more upsets with Lucy and Ellipse than I want to clean up.