Why I Couldn't Make the Bed Until 2 p.m.

Cammie’s battle with her latest episode continued on Friday. She vomited all Thursday night, throwing up reddish green foam. I tried to feed her the following morning, but she was having none of it. I had no choice but to take her to the hospital. Several things were done for her there.

She was physically examined this time, and nothing extraordinary was found. Blood was tested, and her potassium levels were down, though this may have been through dehydration. Her kidney failure has advanced to the later phases of stage two, but this as well may have been influenced by her current conditions. A large amount of fluids was given her. She was given another injection of Cerenia, as well as a mirtazapine pill. The former was to reduce stress on her stomach and eliminate vomiting, the latter to stimulate her appetite.

I am pleased to write that things have improved. After waiting a certain amount of time, I fed Cammie and she ate a good amount of Z/D soft-food. She ate a few more times Friday night (I didn’t want to feed her too much; I was afraid of causing a rejection of her meals, and thus vomiting.) But she did not throw up during the night, and this morning she consumed more food. Since last night, she has eaten half a 5.5 ounce tin of Z/D, and it is staying down, so far.

An interesting aspect of this event is that Cammie becomes very restless when she is hungry. I wonder if the mirtazapine is strong enough to cause some discomfort, if she doesn’t assuage it with some food in her tummy. When I first noticed this characteristic, I thought she was about to be sick; she seemed in fact to be looking for the food dish. Once that was provided, and she had eaten, she settled down.

The hospital called me this morning to see how the princess was doing. Her doctor would have been available until noon, though this weekend, I would have been able to call upon none of the hospital’s veterinaries, in an emergency. Provision is made in such rare cases for another hospital to take over the responsibilities temporarily, but for a number of reasons, I did not want to resort to that. Because of this situation, a pill of mirtazapine was given, rather than a transdermal cream, which I could have given. The pill is stronger and lasts three days; I likely would have had to give a rubbing of the cream each day. So far, as I have written, Cammie is doing well, and has not thrown up.

She is resting when not eating, and seems uninterested in roaming about, as she sometimes does. I am not surprised. With two drugs in her system (three, if one counts her daily high blood-pressure medicine), extra fluids (now absorbed) and what is likely an unnatural feeling of hunger, my Siamese girl is probably feeling out of sorts. But she is eating and keeping her food down. That is the important fact.

Cammie is, however, very affectionate and needy. I noted this earlier in the week. It may be a by-product of her blindness, a necessity for comfort and reassurance. She spends most of the night on my head now, first trampling me as if I were a grape in a wine vat, to find the right position. During the day, she enjoys lying on my chest, purring, up to half an hour at a time. I am glad that I have been home these past three weeks to accommodate her.

So, while my previous entry’s hopes may have been premature, this time I think there is true improvement. At the very least, a substantial amount of nutrition has entered her system, and won’t be coming back up. And yes, it was two o’clock in the afternoon before I was able to make the bed.