A HUGE Scare From Vincent

It started on Saturday night.

Vincent had been very happily eating his raw fillet and raw liver for a few days now. I had suspected that the return to raw fillet could be due to mouth ulcers but since he was eating heartily, I decided to leave well enough alone.

On Saturday morning, I had already given him his Omeprazole (antacid, which acts as an anti-gastric).

But that night, about 2-3 hours after a HUGE (really, really huge) meal of raw chicken fillet and liver, I found vomit upstairs – everything had come out. The raw chicken was, of course, “cooked” by the his body temperature.

Of course that was worrying, but I thought maybe it was a case of over-eating. He really kept asking for more and more food, and since it was Vincent, how can anyone say no, right?

And he was eating so happily too. So again, how can you say “no” to that?

At midnight he vomited again.

On Sunday, I texted the vet and asked if I should bring Vincent in yet, or just observe him for the day. I was hoping it was a case of over-eating and might resolve by itself. The vet said I could wait a day. Also, it was a Sunday, and the vet was open only until 12noon. If Vincent needed to be on drips, there would be no one to monitor him.

The whole of Sunday, Vincent looked absolutely miserable. He refused all food and even water. He would just look at the water bowl, but he could not drink.

I thought “this is it”. When a pet stops eating…it’s a bad sign. Moreover, Vincent has last stage kidney failure. This cannot be good.

I comforted him as much as I could.

If you don’t want to eat, I won’t force you, Vincent.

I offered some food during meal times for the other cats, but he would just look away.

He wanted to drink water, but could not. This is not good at all.

By afternoon, he eyes had become sunken. This was reminiscent of July 2018. It’s bad. He came downstairs and decided to use the bathroom as his “room”. That is good, because the bathroom is cooling and very clean. He would have privacy to rest.

Upstairs, I had prepared a hideout for him in the family hall, but he didn’t like it. There was also no place to hide. We had to close our bedroom door because Vincent would hide under the bed and Ginger would go in and urinate on our bed as a sign of protest. So, our bedroom door had to be closed.

By late afternoon, he would have been without food and water for 24 hours. Subcut was done in the morning, but Vincent was very dehydrated. I force-fed slightly more than a tablespoon of Recovery. He did not struggle as much as was expected, but of course, he didn’t like it. Vincent hates being force-fed. He is a soldier. He is proud.

I also syringed in some water, but he absolutely hated that. Vincent simply hates any syringe put into his mouth.

After a few hours, he vomited the Recovery out. Sigh…

I waited until later in the night before force-feeding a smaller spoonful of Recovery. He managed to retain this, but by this time, he already looked so miserable and emaciated.

For any normal cat, going without food for 24 hours is okay, but not for Vincent. He is already leaking so much protein, he needs to eat constantly.

I went to bed not knowing if he could pass through the night. He looked REALLY bad.

This morning, Vincent was still in the bathroom. sitting in the meatloaf position. This position means there is some pain and discomfort.

I had already packed all his medicines, canned food and a typed out a write-up about everything that had happened. I had to go to work but husband was free in the morning. So, he would send Vincent to the vet’s and I will go after work.

I did a 240ml subcut on Vincent and force-fed another round of Recovery (a small spoonful – don’t want to push it). He managed to retain that.

He still felt very, very dehydrated.

I went off to work and by 9.30am, husband was with Vincent at the vet’s. From the text messages received, Vincent had gas in this stomach and mouth ulcers. That is why he could not eat.

WHAT A RELIEF!!

I knew the mouth ulcers had returned because of the bad breath, but I know kidney disease comes with mouth ulcers and I thought that as long as he could still eat, just leave well enough alone. More medicines means more work for the kidneys and his kidneys have already failed quite badly.

My yardstick was: As long as he can eat and is happy, I will let things be.

I hadn’t suspected gas. He has gas, and that must be so uncomfortable. Poor Vincent.

So, the vet has put him on drips with anti-vomiting meds, an appetite stimulant and pain medicine. So that he gets the maximum benefit from the drips, I will go over to take him back only at 6.30pm.

What a scare!!  But what a relief, too.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2019/02/25/a-huge-scare-from-vincen..

Tweet