September 2007 Archives
Gavin's still working on his digestive issues, so I missed work this morning to take him to the vet's for a check-up. They were happy with his weekend output, but want to see him again on Tuesday unless more is done today.
Jan at work asked me about Gavin this morning, and we talked about how much we love our cats. During our chat, I told her about one of the cute things that Gavin does.
From time to time, the food dish will run out while we're out of the house. When we get back, Gavin will meet us at the door, and follow us around yowling to let us know that he's hungry. Smidge will almost always be waiting by the food dish, somewhat agitated (which is pretty normal for Smidge). When we fill up the food dish, Gavin will always hang back and wait for Smidge to eat, no matter how hungry he might be. He's a good big brother.
When Carole and I were away in Banff, no one figured out that Gavin needed to be combed, so he had huge patches of mats on his hips and stomach when we got back. We combed and combed for a few weeks, and made some good progress, but he was picking at his skin so much that sores were cropping up. This meant a trip to the vet was in order on Thursday morning.
The vet quickly dealt with the mat problem by shaving them off. He looked a little weird afterwards, but had to be more comfortable. While we were there, the doctor did a routine exam, and noticed that Gavin was constipated - as in, all blocked up.
They sent us home with a couple of prescriptions to help things along, and told us to come back in the morning if nothing moved. Smidge took one for the team by spending the day and overnight in the back bathroom, so we could verify Gavin's exclusive use of the litter box.
Friday morning brought no evidence of action, so I took him back to the vet first thing. They felt the problem was serious, and potentially very serious, and recommended an enema and other treatments to make things happen. I left him for the day to get treated.
I'm sure it will be a day Gavin will not forget. By the time I picked him up at 6:00pm, he had had a total of five enemas - three medicinal, and two with warm water. He'd been pocked, prodded, had subcutaneous fluids, a couple of baths, and looked like he'd been through a war zone. But still, only a tiny bit of output. If something doesn't happen soon, the vet says they'll need to sedate him and use more direct ways of clearing things out.
They sent us home with still more medicine, and the cat version of Ensure. Gavin is getting pretty annoyed with me squirting medicine down his throat, and the treatments left him a little unstable, so he gets to spend the rest of the weekend locked up in the kitchen so he doesn't soil the carpeting.
Around 9:00pm Friday night, I found a big blob on Buddy's blanket in the back bathroom - a very good sign. I've never been so happy to see cat poop outside a litter box. I bagged it up and labeled it for the vet.
This morning I sat and petted him for a good twenty minutes, and combed out some of his post-bath tangles. He got his three medicines (which he really, truly hates), but was purring heartily while we sat together. On my way out, I checked, and there was another big prize in the litter box. I bagged and tagged it, and told Gavin how happy I was.
We'll do this same drill throughout the weekend, and I'll take him back to the vet at 10:15am on Monday. I'm thinking his progress should remove the need to surgery, so I hope it continues.
I needed a plain black baseball cap for soccer refereeing, and my new office is next to the Glendale Galleria, so I hit the Lids store on my way to the gym at lunch today.
My hat size is officially 7 and 5/8ths.
Justin and I drove down to Santa Ana this afternoon to pick up his brand new Kawasaki ZZR-600. It's a cool shiny black, and a great first bike - plus, he got a killer deal. He let me drive it home from the dealer, but took it out around the neighborhood once we got back.
