Major concerns about Missy, any advice right now, please?
Missy's having diarrhea. She doesn't groom herself any more, so I have to clean her up -- mostly the back of her tail as well as around her anus. That concerns me, not just because it's messy and I have to do that (I dealt with worse when I worked at the vet's, believe me), but more importantly, because we have a few ants wandering into the bedroom from under the sliding door. That's not much of a problem right now -- they don't seem to find anything, and the problems are worse in the kitchen -- but she spends a lot of time sunning there, and this morning I checked her and found ants starting to crawl on her D: And, still more importantly, I'm afraid it'll worsen her chronic dehydration -- which we're just keeping at bay already -- to a dangerous level. Being the weekend, of course, my vet isn't available, although the hospital is 24 hour as an emergency place and I can take her in if they tell me it's important to do tonight. I'm going to call shortly and see what they think.
Yes, cost is a concern, as is the stress on her, but if she's in danger I will of course take her in anyway.
This started after she had a little cheese -- she's been eating very little, and only with lots of coaxing and handfeeding --- and we gave her a few bits mixed with her chopped chicken breast. She was so unusually enthusiastic, and we were so happy, but apparently cheese does commonly cause diarrhea, dammit. 30 minutes later and she needed a major cleanup, the first.
That evening she got really interested in our steak and I cut a few bits -- about ten small ones -- from the inside of mine (to keep out salt and pepper) for her. She ate that with gusto, but the next morning, more diarrhea although not as bad. That day I brought home some canned Sheba and she ate that happily too. But diarrhea again this morning (and the ants). Apparently Sheba could cause it too.
I gave her a little more Sheba just now, and I'll keep an eye on her and see what happens. She's done so well -- I think I mentioned in the last post that she's been brighter and happier -- that I hate to stop it if it's not the cause. Not eating could dehydrate her again, but so can diarrhea. I'll try to encourage her to drink as well.
I think she'll be OK tonight, at least -- again, I'll check with the vet shortly -- especially since we'll be giving subQ fluids in an hour or so when B gets home from work. But I'm going to the store to get some baby food, people tuna, and chicken I can cook up quickly. (At least I can probably get her to drink tuna water.) If I can keep her going on any of that with no diarrhea, I can check on Monday and get more advice from my vet or whoever's there (I'd trust any of them to know what they're doing).
I know I can't wait for immediate advice from this post (crossposting to cathealth as well, in any case), but can anyone give anecdotal advice? I was so hopeful when she started eating the Sheba -- she will eat a little Fancy Feast, which doesn't seem to give her diarrhea -- but she's becoming iffy on that now.
I know none of this is good for her kidneys, or nutritionally, long term, but she's unlikely to have long term anyway. Her vet said that just keeping her eating enough to keep her going is the most important thing right now. But the diarrhea and danger of serious dehydration...
Calling the vet now. Any advice, please?
Edit: Missy's better. The vet tech said to hold off on the Sheba, do the subQs as usual and monitor her. I think Missy will be fine until Monday, when I can talk to her regular vet. She chomped happily on chunk light tuna in water, with added water and smushing to make a kitty stew. She's doing OK :)
Yes, cost is a concern, as is the stress on her, but if she's in danger I will of course take her in anyway.
This started after she had a little cheese -- she's been eating very little, and only with lots of coaxing and handfeeding --- and we gave her a few bits mixed with her chopped chicken breast. She was so unusually enthusiastic, and we were so happy, but apparently cheese does commonly cause diarrhea, dammit. 30 minutes later and she needed a major cleanup, the first.
That evening she got really interested in our steak and I cut a few bits -- about ten small ones -- from the inside of mine (to keep out salt and pepper) for her. She ate that with gusto, but the next morning, more diarrhea although not as bad. That day I brought home some canned Sheba and she ate that happily too. But diarrhea again this morning (and the ants). Apparently Sheba could cause it too.
I gave her a little more Sheba just now, and I'll keep an eye on her and see what happens. She's done so well -- I think I mentioned in the last post that she's been brighter and happier -- that I hate to stop it if it's not the cause. Not eating could dehydrate her again, but so can diarrhea. I'll try to encourage her to drink as well.
I think she'll be OK tonight, at least -- again, I'll check with the vet shortly -- especially since we'll be giving subQ fluids in an hour or so when B gets home from work. But I'm going to the store to get some baby food, people tuna, and chicken I can cook up quickly. (At least I can probably get her to drink tuna water.) If I can keep her going on any of that with no diarrhea, I can check on Monday and get more advice from my vet or whoever's there (I'd trust any of them to know what they're doing).
I know I can't wait for immediate advice from this post (crossposting to cathealth as well, in any case), but can anyone give anecdotal advice? I was so hopeful when she started eating the Sheba -- she will eat a little Fancy Feast, which doesn't seem to give her diarrhea -- but she's becoming iffy on that now.
I know none of this is good for her kidneys, or nutritionally, long term, but she's unlikely to have long term anyway. Her vet said that just keeping her eating enough to keep her going is the most important thing right now. But the diarrhea and danger of serious dehydration...
Calling the vet now. Any advice, please?
Edit: Missy's better. The vet tech said to hold off on the Sheba, do the subQs as usual and monitor her. I think Missy will be fine until Monday, when I can talk to her regular vet. She chomped happily on chunk light tuna in water, with added water and smushing to make a kitty stew. She's doing OK :)