A Grey Holiday

This weekend was not a good holiday at the cosy apartment. Cammie is sick again. It started Thursday. She was well in the morning, but as soon as I returned from work I knew something was wrong with the princess. Through that evening and Good Friday, she regurgitated everything that she ate, usually within a few minutes. She also vomited without having eaten anything.

I gave her slippery elm to calm her stomach; this remedy usually solves the problem, but did not in this case. I called our veterinary hospital’s emergency number - as the hospital was closed for the holiday - and was put in touch with the doctor on call. I asked about Cerenia, the medicine that settles the stomach. The doctor agreed that Cammie could benefit from an injection, so I arranged to bring her in the next morning, as the hospital is open until noon on Saturdays. (We were lucky, as there were no appointments made until about 9.30 that morning; when I arrived, however, I overheard a telephone conversation which stated that the hospital had had a flurry of calls and was now booked solid that day.)

The Cerenia helped Cammie. She ceased throwing up but, though she had tried to eat through most of Friday, the resultant vomiting robbed her of any desire to attempt further. Consequently, she returned to eating very slowly, and I was forced to feed her Recovery by syringe, which is stressful for her, and wasteful, as I suspect only half - if that - of the food gets into her. She tosses the rest away with violent protests.

Easter Sunday, she began eating, small amounts, on her own. The Cerenia, good for 24 hours, would have worn off about 8.30 that morning. Cammie continued to take in little bits of food. She was not eating or drinking enough and her appetite for hard-food came back only in the evening. I was relieved at this, since what she was eating in Fancy Feast wasn’t going to restore the weight she’d lost in the past couple of days (she’d diminished from 4.8 kilograms to 4.52), and I wasn’t forcing enough into her to do any more.

Unfortunately, Cammie threw up during the night. She had just eaten a large amount of hard-food, and I heard her wretching at 2.09 a.m., and all of the hard-earned meal had come back up.

The doctor provided me with a Cerenia pill, of which I can give Cammie half to duplicate the effects of the injection. But I need to be able to give it by syringe with water or it will never get down her throat. And once it goes down, there is no guarantee that it will stay down. I will be consulting with the doctor as soon as the hospital opens.

My princess was drinking water - a long draught of it - just before I left. With her kidney issues, she needs that as much as food, if not more. A great drink of water and a sick cat’s empty stomach do not sound like a successful combination, so any good thoughts for Cammie would be appreciated.