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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / August 2005Harriet's in the hospital
Harriet, one of our two store cats, is spending the night (at least) in the hospital. Last week I noticed that she was going back & forth between litterboxes, and it would take several tries over a couple of hours before she produced anything (solid). She also pooped twice outside the box. Eventually she would go. Today she was doing the rounds of the boxes again so I called and made an appointment for her. Brought her in at 4:00, and explained how the same thing had happened last year (May 2004). At the time, I couldn't get an appointment so I took her to another vet, where she was also kept overnight, given fluid & enemas. This time, she's also getting blood tests done (today) and x-rays (tomorrow) as well as fluids/enemas. The vet said she could feel a very large, hard mass in Harriet's lower portion and a smaller on further up. Last year, the vet said that she had finally passed the biggest hairball he had ever seen. For the last few weeks, Harriet had been eating & drinking normally and not acting any different. She had thrown up her food a couple of times, but she always does that, especially if Stinky doesn't eat all of her breakfast and Harriet finds the leftovers and makes a pig of herself. Harriet tends to cough up hairballs on a fairly regular basis (the last one was earlier this week) but I guess so much hair still gets trapped inside. I had been giving her Laxaire, Laxatone or Petromalt several times a week (not all at once!) I call back tomorrow to find out the test results. The vet said Harriet may have to stay until Saturday. I asked her if it could be a physical problem, and that this will keep happening but she said they won't know until they get the results back. -- Liz > Harriet, one of our two store cats, is spending the night (at least) in > the hospital. Last week I noticed that she was going back & forth [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > -- > Liz Oh dear :( Please keep us posted.gvvvvv]vvvvb > Harriet, one of our two store cats, is spending the night (at least) in > the hospital. Last week I noticed that she was going back & forth > between litterboxes, and it would take several tries over a couple of > hours before she produced anything (solid). She also pooped twice > outside the box. Eventually she would go. <snip> Poor Harriet :( I hope it's nothing serious. -Kelly > I call back tomorrow to find out the test results. The vet said > Harriet may have to stay until Saturday. I asked her if it could be a > physical problem, and that this will keep happening but she said they > won't know until they get the results back. I hope she'll be okay, I'll be thinking of her. I think it's neat to have work cats. Candace > Harriet, one of our two store cats, is spending the night (at least) in > the hospital. Sorry to hear about Harriet! Those giant furballs can be *the worst*! Hope she's feeling better soon and that all is ok. Keep us posted. -L. > > Harriet, one of our two store cats, is spending the night (at least) in > > the hospital. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > -L. I called the vet at 11:30 this morning. Yesterday, they said they would draw blood, given her fluids and an enema. They were going to do the x-rays this morning, and told me to call back around 11:00. The x-rays showed that she still had some stuff blocking her inside, but that most of it had passed. She said the turds were large & round, not skinny logs. Harriet's last few BMs at work were also larger & round and I know that it must have hurt getting them out. There was no indication that anything else was wrong inside - everything looked to be in the right place! The blood tests were "unremarkable" according to the vet and all of the results were normal. They're going to do another enema today and if the rest of the blockage passed, she can come home today. Otherwise, she'll stay another night. The vet said that she seemed much more relaxed today and was being very sweet. I told her that Harriet wasn't being sweet, she was being terrified. The vet said that since she's had this problem before, they'll probably prescribe a long-term stool softener that we'll give her on a regular basis to prevent it from happening again. I'm supposed to call back at 4:30 to see how she's doing and to find out if I can pick her up today. If she can come home today, I'll try to pick her up after 6:00 because a co-worker brought his dog, Dora, to work today and Harriet won't want to deal with her. She normally doesn't mind dogs & she meets a lot of them at the store, but I don't want to stress her. -- Liz Poor girl. I hope she is well soon. > > > Harriet, one of our two store cats, is spending the night (at least) in > > > the hospital. [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > -- > Liz > I called the vet at 11:30 this morning. Yesterday, they said > they would draw blood, given her fluids and an enema. They were [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > she meets a lot of them at the store, but I don't want to stress > her. I hope she's "home" and doing better by now Liz. Good news about the bloodwork. The stool softener should help, just be on the lookout for anal sacs that can't clear. Though, I'm sure the softener won't make them TOO soft. Poor girl, but it sounds like she'll be fine!  SignatureCheryl "The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited breath." - W.C. Fields > I hope she's "home" and doing better by now Liz. Good news about > the bloodwork. The stool softener should help, just be on the > lookout for anal sacs that can't clear. Though, I'm sure the > softener won't make them TOO soft. Poor girl, but it sounds like > she'll be fine! When I called the vet back at 4:30, she said they wanted to keep Harriet for another night. She hadn't passed the remaining stool, even after another enema, so they thought it would be better if she stayed. I have to call again tomorrow morning, and then I get to go to work on a Saturday to pick her up. I know she must be miserable and terrified, cooped up at the hospital. I'm a little worried about bringing her back tomorrow. We have one employee - a very nice, quiet guy - who Harriet hates for some unknown reason. He only works one day (Saturday) and last week she attacked him again. I know that since she won't be feeling that great, she might want to take it out on him tomorrow. Harriet had been declawed by her original owner(s) but she still has teeth that she likes to use. -- Liz >> I hope she's "home" and doing better by now Liz. Good news about >> the bloodwork. The stool softener should help, just be on the [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > -- > Liz Maybe when she comes back there is a little comfortable room she can be in for a while until she is feeling better. I know it's a worry. My mom's Tycho is in the hospital tonight. He has what appears to be a big chunk of hair in his stomach. It worries me because that is what happened with Grant but the hair was stuck there because of the stomach cancer. I sure hope both Harriet and Tycho get over their respective hair problems. They are so miserable:( > I sure hope both Harriet > and Tycho get over their respective hair problems. They are so >miserable:( Me, too. Best wishes to both Harriet and Tycho and I hope they get to go back to their respective homes on Saturday on the fast road to recovery. Candace > Maybe when she comes back there is a little comfortable room she can be in > for a while until she is feeling better. I know it's a worry. My mom's Tycho > is in the hospital tonight. He has what appears to be a big chunk of hair in > his stomach. It worries me because that is what happened with Grant but the > hair was stuck there because of the stomach cancer. I sure hope both Harriet > and Tycho get over their respective hair problems. They are so miserable:( How is your mother's cat? The first time this happened to Harriet last year, the vet said there was a massive amount of hair inside. This time it seemed to be more stool, but I'm sure there was plenty of hair as well. I called the vet at 9:00am, and was told to call back at 11:30 because they were doing the rounds in the hospital. Called back a little after 11:30 and was told I could pick her up. When I finally got to see her, she was in her crate and looking *much* better. Instead of being huddled in a ball in the back, she was right up front, looking relaxed and alert. Walking back to work she kept moving around in the crate to see what was going on outside. I stopped and put the crate on the sidewalk for a bit so she could watch a bunch of pigeons & other small birds in the street. She seemed very interested in what she saw. She didn't cry, hiss or growl like she often does on trips to/from the vet. When we got back to work I opened the door of her crate and she came right out and immediately began exploring, checking out the entire store. I guess she wanted to make sure everything was the same. I went downstairs to put her crate away and when I went back up, she ran over to the top of the stairs, flung herself down and began rolling around like she always does when I come up. The prescribed a diet food - Eukanuba Low-Residue. They gave me a bag of dry and I asked about canned, so they gave me some cans to try as well. Harriet has always preferred dry food, but I'd like to get her to eat more canned. She does drink plenty of water. They also gave me Lactulose, and she's going to get 1cc daily, starting Monday. She's to stay on it unless they tell me to stop giving it to her. I'm already imagining the fun I'll have on Monday squirting that into her mouth. She actually is pretty good at taking meds but I've never had to give her a liquid before. Her blood tests and x-rays were all normal. There was no sign that she had ever broken or fractured anything and there was nothing unusual about any of the blood tests. She will have to have a dental cleaning and have some teeth pulled, and I'll set that up next month when both Harriet & Stinky are due for their annual shots. Since they're in a public place, I make sure to have their shots up-to-dat. Harriet is a biter, and so far I've had two customers who demanded to see her medical records. Fortunately they didn't make any kind of fuss after seeing she was vaccinated. Harriet is upstairs now eating some of the Eukanuba dry. She dove right into it and didn't seem to notice it was a new food. Stinky will also have to eat it, because Harriet likes getting into Stinky's leftovers. I hope Tycho comes home feeling just as well. Harriet is SO HAPPY to be home! -- Liz >> Maybe when she comes back there is a little comfortable room she can be in >> for a while until she is feeling better. I know it's a worry. My mom's Tycho [quoted text clipped - 58 lines] > -- > Liz Well, she called twice this morning. First he hadn't done anything and now he's done some but not enough. I think they are going to give him more enemas. Mom is SO despondent. I sure hope he comes out happy as Harriet. I will tell her to ask about the diet. His hair is very long and very course. Not like persian hair but like long regular short hair. If he got water on him, it would just roooolll off and he would be dry as a bone. I'm glad Harriet is feeling so well. Thanks for the update. > Well, she called twice this morning. First he hadn't done anything and now > he's done some but not enough. I think they are going to give him more [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > him, it would just roooolll off and he would be dry as a bone. I'm glad > Harriet is feeling so well. Thanks for the update. Harriet is short haired, and we're always surprised that she has such bad hairball problems because we rarely see her cleaning herself. When we first got her, the fur on her back, right before her tail, always looked greasy. The fur actually looked like it had a part in it. Her fur always looked messy, like she just woke up! She really *hates* being brushed but I still do it sometimes when I'm feeling suicidal. In the last couple of years her fur has looked better, but she's definitely a slob as far as cats go. I think Harriet ended up getting three enemas. It might have been more, but I recall the vet mentioning three specific times. She said her last stool was loose, but that was expected because of the enemas. I'm guessing they gave her something else because she said not to start the Lactulose until Monday. She may have to be on that long term. I hope your mom gets some good news about Tycho soon. -- Liz >> Well, she called twice this morning. First he hadn't done anything and now >> he's done some but not enough. I think they are going to give him more [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > -- > Liz She went and visited him today. They were hopeful because the last enema they encountered "some resistance". But he will have to stay again. She took a dirty old catnip toy he likes and some of his food (like they don't have that there :) ) She pet him and he thought he was going home. I don't know who is more miserable :( I sure hope it turns out OK. I don't see how the enemas will help with the hair in his stomach. He definitely needs purrs. I'm glad Harriet is home and OK. >Harriet is SO HAPPY to be home! Yay for Harriet! I've always meant to ask you, Liz, don't the store cats ever try to get out or don't you worry they will somehow be let out of the store? It must be hard to keep track of their whereabouts. Candace >>Harriet is SO HAPPY to be home! > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Candace There are actually two doors to get through to get inside the store. The first one (from the street) opens into a tiny vestibule, and then there's the door into the store. When the weather is nice the inner door is propped open, but when it's very cold or very hot (air conditioning on) the inner door is also shut. The outer door currently doesn't close completely unless you really push it. I've been told that Harriet has stepped outside a couple of times but always came right back in. It does worry me that one day she might decide to go for a walk, but so far she's just stepped in/out. I don't worry about Stinky at all, since she's afraid of everything and mostly stays downstairs in the basement. She has bouts of (relative) fearlessness, and will sometimes go up into the actual store while it's open. If it's quiet, she'll walk around for a bit and might even let a customer approach her if they do it slowly. If the inner door is closed, she might even go up to that and look out at the world. As soon as someone approaches the outer door she runs to the back of the store. It's usually not hard to find Harriet. She has her favorite places and doesn't really hide. Stinky is another matter. She can manage to disappear completely. She loves to climb ladder and walk on pipes and ducts near the ceiling, and if she follows the pipes to the front of the basement she can hide there unseen. Whenever she goes to the vet, I have to make an early appointment so I can be the first one at work. Once she's eaten her breakfast, she goes to one of her hiding places and sleeps for the rest of the morning/afternoon. She lost her collar a couple of months ago, so I can't even hear her bell jingling to give me a hint of her location. She likes an all-elastic collar and I haven't been able to find any. My cat at home, Tiger, used to be the store cat (at another location) and one night she did decide to talk a walk, while my boss had the door open and was loading his car with stuff. He didn't realize she had slipped out and he locked up and went home. I came in the next morning and Tiger was GONE. I spent the next three weeks crying, putting up posters and searching for her. She was missing for three weeks and when we recovered her, I immediately took her home. I'm still amazed we got her back, as there were reports that she was seen a couple of times by an extremely busy road two blocks away. I think she had been spending most of her time in an empty building right behind us and was able to keep out of trouble most of the time. -- Liz > My cat at home, Tiger, used to be the store cat (at another location) and > one night she did decide to talk a walk, while my boss had the door open >and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > building right behind us and was able to keep out of trouble most of the > time. I don't think I would have the temperament to have store kitties around. I would worry about them all the time and spend all my time looking for them. I worry about my own house cats getting out and they're horrified of the doors anyway but that doesn't stop my worrying when we have company (who the cats hide from anyway, usually). I always like seeing store/business cats, though, because I know that those are kitties who may not have gotten a home otherwise. Are you the one primarily responsible for the cats' well-being? What would happen if you ever got a different job (see, I'm worrying already). Candace <snip> > I hope Tycho comes home feeling just as well. Harriet is SO HAPPY to > be home! > > -- > Liz Glad she is home and feeling better. Let's hope the new food keeps her moving freely. ;) -L. |
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