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- Dec 1, 2021
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I'll start off with a timeline of my cat's health issues in the past two weeks, to make it easier for you to understand:
26/11 - Threw up 4x in one morning. Rushed to the vet, who did a physical exam and noticed that Louie (my cat) felt discomfort when he touched a part of his intestines. He gave him a shot to stop the vomiting, another liquid medication I had to give him for 3x, and sent us home.
27/11 - I called the vet in the morning because Louie spent the previous 24hr refusing to eat or drink water, and he barely moved. He told me to go to the emergency, I did, and he had surgery for an intussusception that afternoon. Nothing was found inside him, and a piece of his intestines was cut.
28/11 - Recovery going well, but he had a fever.
29/11 - The emergency clinic called me, said his apetite was back and he was ready to come home. We were confused and asked if that was safe, they said yes, so we went. At the clinic, they explained to me that he had a small inflammation at the site of the surgery, saying it was normal, and told me I didn't need to keep him from moving around the apartment or jumping on the bed or on the couch ("you can pick him up and help him if he's hesitating"), and I could feed him normally. I needed to give him anti-acid medication (for humans), and two antibiotics.
30/11 - I called his regular vet again, he asked me to go over to his clinic so that he could see all the documents the emergency clinic had given me regarding his surgery. He read through them, explained what the intussusception was and that it could happen again, now that we know he might have a pre-disposition for it. He told me I could remove the cone from his head and put him in a onesie instead, so I did. He also told me not to offer his regular amount of food, because he wanted to avoid pressuring the internal sutures on his intestines.
30/11 - 03/12 - Louie didn't want to eat. He moved less and less throughout the week. I called his vet 4x, basically once a day, to ask if this behaviour was normal, and he wasn't concerned. I posted on this forum too because I was starting to panic.
04/11 - My friends and I learned how to take his temperature, it was at 39.8. I called the emergency clinic, and the vet that picked up the phone told me "we don't consider that temperature a fever. You can bring him here tomorrow or on Monday for us to have a look at him, as him not eating could mean he's in pain".
05/11 - His temperature was at 38.6. I called the emergency clinic and scheduled to go there in the afternoon. I took him there again, they did an ultrasound and told me he had an abscess at the site of the surgery, and "another blockage", which they said looked like fur, right in front of the place where they operated before. He needed another surgery, and the prognosis wasn't good. He lost 0.5kg during the week. I authorised the surgery, as I didn't see any other way out of the situation, and the vet gave me 5 minutes with him... I realized it could be the last time I'd see him.
The 2nd surgery "went well" according to the vets and it was less complicated then they originally assumed. They cut another part of his intestines out. His temperature was at 39 when they called me for an update this morning, and they said I could go visit at 5pm today (so in 1 hour).
I'm holding out hope I'll be able to bring him back home, but this past week traumatised me completely and I don't trust the people that have been handling the situation to give me good advice anymore, so I feel helpless. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I feel like I've been chasing the vets and that the only reason he didn't die on the 27th and on the 5th was that I kept insisting. I kept being told he was fine.
He's not out of danger yet, but I'd like to be prepared to take care of him if he pulls through. If anybody could give me advice on these topics, I'd be grateful:
26/11 - Threw up 4x in one morning. Rushed to the vet, who did a physical exam and noticed that Louie (my cat) felt discomfort when he touched a part of his intestines. He gave him a shot to stop the vomiting, another liquid medication I had to give him for 3x, and sent us home.
27/11 - I called the vet in the morning because Louie spent the previous 24hr refusing to eat or drink water, and he barely moved. He told me to go to the emergency, I did, and he had surgery for an intussusception that afternoon. Nothing was found inside him, and a piece of his intestines was cut.
28/11 - Recovery going well, but he had a fever.
29/11 - The emergency clinic called me, said his apetite was back and he was ready to come home. We were confused and asked if that was safe, they said yes, so we went. At the clinic, they explained to me that he had a small inflammation at the site of the surgery, saying it was normal, and told me I didn't need to keep him from moving around the apartment or jumping on the bed or on the couch ("you can pick him up and help him if he's hesitating"), and I could feed him normally. I needed to give him anti-acid medication (for humans), and two antibiotics.
30/11 - I called his regular vet again, he asked me to go over to his clinic so that he could see all the documents the emergency clinic had given me regarding his surgery. He read through them, explained what the intussusception was and that it could happen again, now that we know he might have a pre-disposition for it. He told me I could remove the cone from his head and put him in a onesie instead, so I did. He also told me not to offer his regular amount of food, because he wanted to avoid pressuring the internal sutures on his intestines.
30/11 - 03/12 - Louie didn't want to eat. He moved less and less throughout the week. I called his vet 4x, basically once a day, to ask if this behaviour was normal, and he wasn't concerned. I posted on this forum too because I was starting to panic.
04/11 - My friends and I learned how to take his temperature, it was at 39.8. I called the emergency clinic, and the vet that picked up the phone told me "we don't consider that temperature a fever. You can bring him here tomorrow or on Monday for us to have a look at him, as him not eating could mean he's in pain".
05/11 - His temperature was at 38.6. I called the emergency clinic and scheduled to go there in the afternoon. I took him there again, they did an ultrasound and told me he had an abscess at the site of the surgery, and "another blockage", which they said looked like fur, right in front of the place where they operated before. He needed another surgery, and the prognosis wasn't good. He lost 0.5kg during the week. I authorised the surgery, as I didn't see any other way out of the situation, and the vet gave me 5 minutes with him... I realized it could be the last time I'd see him.
The 2nd surgery "went well" according to the vets and it was less complicated then they originally assumed. They cut another part of his intestines out. His temperature was at 39 when they called me for an update this morning, and they said I could go visit at 5pm today (so in 1 hour).
I'm holding out hope I'll be able to bring him back home, but this past week traumatised me completely and I don't trust the people that have been handling the situation to give me good advice anymore, so I feel helpless. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I feel like I've been chasing the vets and that the only reason he didn't die on the 27th and on the 5th was that I kept insisting. I kept being told he was fine.
He's not out of danger yet, but I'd like to be prepared to take care of him if he pulls through. If anybody could give me advice on these topics, I'd be grateful:
- Would it be safer for him to be kept in a playpen, without places where he could jump on, during his initial recovery?
- I bought him gastrointestinal food, different types because I was trying to get his apetite back. He's not a big fan of wet food... does it sound like it might be okay to give him dry food, or should we stick with wet for the time being? (Pressure on stitches, quantity, easier absorption, I don't know).
- Should I ask for the vets to give him pain medication? He wasn't getting any last week. But now I'm wondering if he'd be alive now if he wasn't feeling pain from the condition, so I'm scared.
- Are there any questions I should ask before his discharge? Would it be better to ask the clinic to keep him there longer? I'm terrified because of that abscess he had despite being on two different antibiotics.