Cat tale

[mamculuna]

My cat Orange had some kind of health crisis today and we rushed him off to the vet. He came through the cat door and started wailing in this terrible low throaty yowl, over and over, even after we came in to see what he wanted, then staggered about ten feet and flopped down. He kept licking his lips but would't eat or drink or do anything, just lay there. Eventually he got up and staggered and fell again, so we took him in, making it through rush hour just in time to get there before the vet closed. Orange is a very old cat--we have no idea how old--and clearly arthritic in the hind legs, but we thought maybe he was having a stroke or a slipped disk or some other horrible thing. By the time we got there he was a bit better, still not walking well. The vet took his blood pressure (had to shave a little of his tail fur--if you're not scared to death, it's pretty funny to see a little kitty blood pressure cuff around a tail, especially on a dignified old cat)and he was fine. She poked around and looked at his stomach and paws and legs--nothing wrong that she could see. She gave him some kind of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory stuff made from milk, said she thought the problem was something to do with his spine, probably some nerves maybe pressing against a vertebra. Ouch. But she said he wasn't in extreme pain. By the time we got home, he was walking ok, and can now jump up on chairs.

We don't dare let him out the cat door, and he's very frustrated. But did deign to use the litter box, which we put right in front of the locked cat door to make everything clear. Incarceration won't be too hard on him since he sleeps 23 1/2 hours a day, taking only very brief food, bathroom, and purr breaks.

Comments

[ladystarlightsj.livejournal.com]

Poor kitty! I hope he heals up okay.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Thanks. He's no doubt on his fifteenth life by now, but does seem to be doing ok.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

This sounds very much like something Bronte, the cat I was looking after last year, had happen. She came in, yowled like Orange did, and staggered around, and flopped down. I thought she was having a seizure or something. I took her to my Vet, and he said it was something called an ideopathic vestigial event (I think). He said it might have been due to labyrinthitis, or inflammation of the inner ear. We kept her quiet, gave her fluids, and she recovered quickly over the next day.
Hope Orange continues to purr!

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I wondered about inner ear, too. I'll keep your post and if he doesn't get better, ask the vet. I notice that he didn't want to go up stairs tonight, but he is walking a bit. Thanks.

He purrs through it all. A very imperturbable cat. Another cat in the waiting room was hissing and growling in its carrier. Orange, such a calm boy we can carry him in our arms, was amazed. He hisses only at dogs.

[dherblay.livejournal.com]

I hope that everything turns out all right.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Thanks. So do I. Appreciate the concern.

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Kitty!


I have kitties, and someone old kitties to boot, so I am having a sympathetic-kitty moment.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Old kitties. We've been dealing with aged felines for about five years now, and they are sweet, but sad. But very brave.

Thanks.

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

My kitties are 12 and 13. Senior citizens, but not OLD old, yet.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

My previous kitty lived to be 21, and was healthy up until the last week of her life. Lots of time left for your kitties!

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

They're pretty lively and bouncy.

And troublesome.

*g*

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I think that sets in around 15 for healthy cats, but some are bouncy in their late teens--like people, I guess, depends on genes and weight and doing crossword puzzles and...

[arielblue.livejournal.com]

Poor thing! I hope he's okay.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

He seems much better today. I think the medicine is working, I 'm glad to say.

[hfx-ben.livejournal.com]

Om many padme hum

purr, li'l critter, purr ...

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

He's better! He's been such a good cat, surely headed for some better future life--if there is one that's better than what he has now.

[hfx-ben.livejournal.com]

"The inestimable benefit of human rebirth" ... surely something to be puzzled over, yes?

Maybe his purrs can inform or inspire us.
:-)

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Indeed--I can understand why we're the only ones aware of suffering and the path to escape it, but some animals seem to me to have it at least as good as devas! but others not, for sure. ^-^

[hfx-ben.livejournal.com]

"seem to me to have it at least as good as devas!"
Yaa, I think that's the thing ... maybe the polatirities of long-lived gods / hell realms is what we can opt out from, to live wholesome fulfilling productive lives.

[ann1962]

Hope he is having a better day today.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

He is! Thanks.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Poor little cat.

Hopefully, it was a passing pain.

Vincent, my daughter's cat, slept on my lap yesterday and purred and kneaded (with his needle-claws)--I adore him.

I sympathize completely--when a pet is ill, it's so sad, and--unlike a human--there's no real way to communicate the problem.

I'm glad he's better.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and this one had some hard years as a stray, and loves being a pet again so much. But this seems to be better today. He's not falling down, at least, and not yowling.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

Awwww.... get all better Orange!!!

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

He is!

[mummm.livejournal.com]

We love his name!

[wombatina.livejournal.com]

oh. poor poor pussy cat! poor you! so scarey. glad to hear he's doing better. purrrrr.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Orange thanks you. He's not up to kitty yoga, but he is decidedly better.