Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Another Battle Won

Over the weekend, Cammie was ill. My princess seems to feel under the weather often compared to other cats. It is not always a serious affliction but this time, it struck me as more worrisome than others. She threw up two or three times a day, usually in the early morning. It did not always depend upon when she ate, and indeed she stopped eating, refusing even to have an interest in food.

At first, I thought the matter was caused by a hairball, so I applied some hairball-remedy. This was not fun for either Cammie or myself, as I had to force the substance into her by syringe. This was the beginning of a number of similar feedings over the weekend. Continued vomiting suggested that a hairball was not the cause of my cat’s problem.

A consequent concern was a lack of nutrition in Cammie’s system. After several days, the absence of sustenance can cause irreversible damage to a cat’s internal organs, so it was essential that she eat, sooner than it would be for a human. I had a tin of Recovery, a soft food designed to restore nutrition to a cat’s body after - or during - an illness, but of course the difficulty remained of keeping that food - any food - in her body, when the very symptom that was causing my alarm was her vomiting.

Enter slippery elm. Suggested by a friend in the Lethbridge PAW Society, this natural substance, which may be purchased in a powder, settles a cat’s stomach. I mixed some with water, heated to a simmer in a pot on the stove, let it cool and then put that into Cammie by syringe. This was followed five minutes later by a similarly syringe-fed Recovery/water mixture.

My princess of course hated the ordeal. More of the syrupy elm ended on the bathroom floor and walls than in Cammie, but by expending ten or eleven cubic centimetres, I was able to put five or six into my cat. I also managed to have her eat enough Recovery to keep her going - if it stayed in her body.


It did. Two doses of the slippery elm, and two accompanying doses of food, seemed to tip the balance in Cammie’s favour. She stopped throwing up and Sunday night ate a little bit of soft food of her own volition. I could tell by other elements of her behaviour that she was feeling somewhat better. She stopped hiding under the bed - which seems to be her new spot for when she wishes to be alone - or lying on the heated towels in the library.

I woke yesterday morning to see Cammie’s silhouette on her cat-tree in the bedroom; another good sign. She ate more food on her own for breakfast - indeed seemed eager for some - and for dinner. Last evening, she came out to the sitting room for the first time in days, and sought me out for some attention, and was happy to spend some purring time on my chest. I think the worst is behind her, but she needs rest and food to recover completely.

Once she started eating on her own again, I ceased force-feeding her, as I did not want to put her off her slowly increasing desire to feed herself. Anything that would cause her annoyance or discomfort had to be avoiding. Fortunately, she was on the ascendant again.

I don’t know what the illness was, really. I am sure that the slippery elm was instrumental in defeating it, as it allowed Cammie to keep food down. But her body’s refusal to retain sustenance was surely a symptom, so merely being able to eat again probably did not defeat the problem in itself, though it undoubtedly gave her strength to do so. Yet the fact remains that once she kept food in her stomach, she improved.

I am not complacent. I could return home today and find her relapsed, though I think this unlikely. I will keep my eye on the little Siamese, watchful especially as this malady, whatever it was, came on suddenly; it may return with just as much warning. Another crisis appears to have been defeated, which is good, because both Cammie and I could use a rest.

21 comments:

  1. that is so odd, this is the third cat I've read about in the past few days that has dealt with something like this, although the other two cats were drooling. I hope she recovers completely and does not relapse.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fingers crossed there's no relapse. I finally resorted to slippery elm for Nicki this summer, when he was throwing up (with blood) so much, so often. The vet had given me meds (okay I paid $50 -$60 for them), but the slippery elm did the trick. I gave it to Nicki (as a syrup) for about 10 days, not much each time because I mixed it with his canned, but it seemed to work.

    Good luck with her, purrs from the boys!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd forgotten that you had given some slippery elm to Nicki. I wish I could give it to Cammie in her food, but however the delivery, it seems an efficacious medicine.

      Delete
  3. not a good way to spend the weekend. we hope she was just having a few off days and is feeling much better

    ReplyDelete
  4. I gave Abby the slippery elm mixture in her food along with pumpkin the last two years of her life. She had GI issues which is helped immensely. You may want to consider continuing to give Cammie small amounts of it in her food everyday. I hope she is all better now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will try it but Cammie is very particular about her food and it may be a losing battle trying to have her eat anything with an additive.

      Delete
  5. So sorry to hear about Cammie. Hoping she continues to improve. I know Kim has had great success with slippery elm with Nicki. I wish I had known about it when we had cats!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We're sure glad Cammie is on the mend and we hope it sticks too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Poor Cammie. We hope her stomach has settled now.

    ReplyDelete
  8. cammie...I send the best of all good intentions and wishes your way; along with healing blessings from St Francis that you are indeed on , and you stay on, the road to recovery. Purrhaps, stress from the move from your familiar surroundings to your new home caused all the nauseousness ??? in any event we are all happy you're improving ...hugs from dai$y ♥♥♥

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The move may have contributed to her problem, but she wasn't physically troubled by such upheavals in the past. In any case, she is doing much better now.

      Delete
  9. I am glad Cammie has improved again. It is such a worry when they won't or can't eat. Flynn has a couple of days every week when he has no interest in food and will eat very little. Thankfully he seems to get his appetite back on the third day, but I always worry it will go on longer.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I hope she is feeling 100% by now, John. Poor wee girl. I want to thank you for dropping by to leave such a thoughtful and kind comment regarding our Sierra. It was very much appreciated. xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. I hope Cammie is back to good health quickly. This slippery elm sounds to be an excellent treatment. I wish I knew of it when my Jessie had some difficult days. Get well soon Cammie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I came home to find Cammie almost back to her old self. I've also found that having cats means constantly learning. We can know only what we discover or are told. If I realised how little I knew about these animals when I first brought one into my life, I probably never would have had the nerve. Jessica was lucky to have had you loving her.

      Delete
  12. We hope that Cammie is feeling better now. The mom has used slippery elm in the past and found it to be very helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank God Cammie is feeling better. I worry about her so. She's a tender soul and I guess I just needed to know she was ok. Too many animal companions have crossed the bridge lately.
    I've never heard of slippery elm for cats but I certainly plant to keep some in the house from now on. Is there a dosing scale you used?
    Are you begining to feel at home in your new place?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cammie seems fully recovered now. The slippery elm I used comes in powder form. I mixed a level but packed teaspoon's worth with half a cup of water, brought it to a simmer on the stove, simmered for a couple of minutes, stirring all the while, then let it cool in the refrigerator. The instructions read to give a ten-pound cat five cc. Afterward, I stored it in the refrigerator, where it will keep for a week; I covered my cup of it with plastic wrap, and stirred it when I was to use it again. I heated the syringe in a cup of warm water until it was room temperature; I figured the princess would dislike it less if it were not cold.

      Others in my rescue-group have used slippery elm to good effect. Kim at the blog Fuzzy Tales also found it useful. Angel Abbey at Manx Mnews recommends adding some regularly to a cat's food, if it will accept it.

      Delete
    2. Excellent! Thanks so much.

      Delete
  14. Thank goodness! Cammie seems so fragile. I am sure that was quite a scare.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Glad to hear that Cammie is feeling some better. I hope whatever ailed her is out of her system. So far, fingers crossed, I've never had to deal with a vomiting cat but I'll to remember slippery elm.

    ReplyDelete