I feel like such a heel.
This evening Ian and I brought Tandoori to the vet. Things were just not right with him. Disdain for the kittens goes pretty far, but his behavior was beyond crotchety old cat grumpiness. Something was really off. There were patches of sticky stuff on his fur. In fact it seemed like he wasn't cleaning himself as normal. He slept a lot. I know, I know, he's an adult cat, it's what they do. But this was different. He slept all the time. Didn't interact with anyone. Didn't play with anything. Didn't sit on my lap... didn't sit near me.. in fact there were entire days where I barely saw him. His miserable meow (he's never meowed properly) was worse, broken and weak. He gave me a baleful yet angry stare. I blamed it on the kittens and their rambunctiousness irritating him to distraction.
He walked gingerly. He smacked his lips oddly, even after drinking water. He didn't really eat, even wet food. He kept himself in a ball, and once even hissed at me when I pet him. More often if I pet him he would turn take a step away and turn his back to me. He seemed hunched and balled up.
He seemed very very unhappy. The kittens didn't help, but they didn't seem like the sole cause either.
So we made the snap decision to go to the vet.
He doesn't have a fever, but the issue he had a couple weeks ago with something stuck in his throat (the xrays didn't show anything stuck but an exam showed there had been something) hadn't gone away. His throat showed inflammation and infection.
The poor guy can't swallow. And he hurts. And kittens are annoying.
The vet shot him up with an antibiotic (we had some in liquid form, but if he won't eat I can't mix it in food, and if he hurts he'll claw me to shreds if I try to squirt it in his mouth) and an anti-inflammatory.
We then left him in his carrier for a few hours.
And now that we're all home....
He immediately ate some soft food.
He climbed up and sat on the arm of my chair next to me, and let me pet him.
He hissed at the kittens a bit, but also just watched them walk by along the floor.
His ears are up.
He clearly feels better.
And I should have known and done something days ago.
This evening Ian and I brought Tandoori to the vet. Things were just not right with him. Disdain for the kittens goes pretty far, but his behavior was beyond crotchety old cat grumpiness. Something was really off. There were patches of sticky stuff on his fur. In fact it seemed like he wasn't cleaning himself as normal. He slept a lot. I know, I know, he's an adult cat, it's what they do. But this was different. He slept all the time. Didn't interact with anyone. Didn't play with anything. Didn't sit on my lap... didn't sit near me.. in fact there were entire days where I barely saw him. His miserable meow (he's never meowed properly) was worse, broken and weak. He gave me a baleful yet angry stare. I blamed it on the kittens and their rambunctiousness irritating him to distraction.
He walked gingerly. He smacked his lips oddly, even after drinking water. He didn't really eat, even wet food. He kept himself in a ball, and once even hissed at me when I pet him. More often if I pet him he would turn take a step away and turn his back to me. He seemed hunched and balled up.
He seemed very very unhappy. The kittens didn't help, but they didn't seem like the sole cause either.
So we made the snap decision to go to the vet.
He doesn't have a fever, but the issue he had a couple weeks ago with something stuck in his throat (the xrays didn't show anything stuck but an exam showed there had been something) hadn't gone away. His throat showed inflammation and infection.
The poor guy can't swallow. And he hurts. And kittens are annoying.
The vet shot him up with an antibiotic (we had some in liquid form, but if he won't eat I can't mix it in food, and if he hurts he'll claw me to shreds if I try to squirt it in his mouth) and an anti-inflammatory.
We then left him in his carrier for a few hours.
And now that we're all home....
He immediately ate some soft food.
He climbed up and sat on the arm of my chair next to me, and let me pet him.
He hissed at the kittens a bit, but also just watched them walk by along the floor.
His ears are up.
He clearly feels better.
And I should have known and done something days ago.
Awww! Poor kitty! It's so hard to tell with cats. They hide pain too well. :( So glad that he is being treated, ate a little, and seems to be feeling better.
ReplyDeleteGlad he's feeling better - hope things continue to improve!
ReplyDelete