A few weeks ago we noticed that Snicks had chewed chunks off of some rubber/foam play mats that were in the storage room in the basement. What possessed her to do this, I do not know. They were stacked up in the storage room. We used them in the playroom for the kids because they would need them to run their hot wheels or other toys on the carpet. Now they just bring their toys into the kitchen for our viewing enjoyment. As of Tuesday the mats have found the trash can.
So Snicks had a good time tearing some of the edges of the mats to shreds. We found pieces all over the floor but did not really think she ate any of them. Until she threw up. (Caution, this gets a little more visual from here....) She would be fine a day and then get sick. Fine a day and then get sick. I did not really know what was wrong with her. I mean, other than the vomit, she acted fine. She jumped on the top shelf of the cabinets. Do you think a sick cat would be able to do this?
She used one of Colin's Lego boxes as a treadmill. Would a sick cat do this? She gave us a few hours of entertainment this day. She kept going back to the box and "running" on it.
You can tell from all of these pictures that we really really love this kitty. Yes, these were all taken in the last week. We photograph her often. She is one of the family. She is perfect for us. She is not an overly "lovey" kitty. She will not bother us by sleeping on our bed, curling up on our lap or being annoying. If we want to pet her, we have to go to her. If she is in the mood, she will let us pet her. If not, too bad. Come back later because she will growl at you like a baby jaguar. The kids know when to leave her alone. She is riot when she chases the laser light or tries to hide her mice behind the tv. Steve even likes her so that says a lot.
So, when she kept getting sick and then getting better, I was concerned but not sure what to do. I could not guarantee that she swallowed foam because first of all, why would she? It had to taste horrible. And, at times she acted fine.
On Tues. morning I decided to take her to our vet. She just was not acting right. She was not moving much. She let me pet her all morning and meowed. Snicks never meows. She growls, but never meows. I made an appointment for 4pm that day. Two hours later that morning I could not find her. Camden and I searched all over. We finally found her under the couch. I called Steve to come home because I was really afraid she had curled up there to die. I could not get the couch off of her to get her our without pulling her out by her foot or tail. Steve needed to come home to lift the couch up so I could get her out.
Once we got her out, we decided she needed to go to the Emergency vet (cha ching!). We took her to Aspen Meadows. Diagnosis: She probably swallowed something. Really. No kidding. Her x-rays showed something in three different parts of her digestive system. Her blood work showed that she was severely dehydrated. She needed fluids that minute and emergency surgery that afternoon.
Estimate: $3,500. No way. No way. I could not spend that type of money on surgery for her. I stayed at that vets office for about 3 hours crying.
The vet came in and talked to me. The receptionist came in and talked to me. Steve and I cried on the phone and decided that we needed to put her down. I asked the vet to come back in and between sobs told him that we could not do the surgery. The kids would be crushed. I was already crushed. The vet walked out and asked me to stay a little while longer.
He came back in 45 minutes later (yes, I had been crying the whole time) and said that the Boulder Humane Society had some solutions for us. 1. - I could take her there, relinquish her to be adopted out and they would do the surgery on their dime. I would not have to put her down. 2. They would do the surgery for $1,500 and I could take her home in a few days.
It's funny how after being faced with a $3,500 surgery, $1,500 does not sound so bad. You cat haters out there won't understand, but we did the surgery. She's our cat. We love her. We had to. I took her to Boulder Humane (IV tubes still hooked to her). They continued to ask what she ate. I gave them my best guess but they seriously doubted it. "Do you have any toxic plants? Do you have any Christmas decorations? Is there anything else you can think of that she might have eaten?" No and yes (right, like I could search my thousands of decorations and find out what she ate) and no.
Sooo.... the surgery happened around 3:30pm that day. The Dr. so kindly came out a gave me a stinking baggy full of the stuff that she ate.
She said the rubber acted like a cork on her belly. She would drink water and the rubber mat would float up (thus she acted fine). Then she would throw up and the rubber would sink back down and block her stomach. Hooray. She ate just the perfect item so that I could not tell what was wrong with her. Nice sweet kitty. (She did not eat the dime. I just added that in the picture to show how big the pieces were that she did eat. Yuck.)
A few hours after surgery I had to transport her (again, IV's and all) to an after surgery facility as Boulder Humane does not have the means for those over night services. You should have heard her growling all the way there. She was angry. But she was getting back to her normal self. "She ate what?" Is what I got when I filled out the paper work. Nope, I don't understand it myself. So many people questioned me that I finally started telling people that I sprayed the play mats with chicken flavoring. I don't know why she ate those things! She's not the brightest light bulb in the package I guess. But it's not like I opened her mouth and forced them down her throat. I don't know why she ate them. I warned every person I saw that would be in charge of her care that she was feisty. Guess they did not believe me.
When I went back to get her the next morning at 6:30am to take her back to Boulder Humane for the day (the after care facility closes at 8am each day) they were literally drawing straws on who was going to have to take her temperature for her 6am check up. The vet tech at the front desk hollered back to the room when I got there that I was there to pick up Snickers. I heard laughing from the back room and then the decision that they would let Boulder Humane do her 6am temperature check. I could hear Snicks growling through the door. Don't say I didn't warn you.
So, I took her back to Boulder Humane. They questioned me about the 6am temp check. I told them it had not been completed yet to which Snicks added her own perfect growl. Love that cat!
I left her at Boulder Humane for the day. They called around 12 to say that she would not eat and she had to eat and use the litter box before they would release her to my care. After convincing them that she did not like can food, they gave her regular dry food. She gobbled it up. Strange cat.
I went back that night get to her. Pawned off my wedding ring and youngest child before arriving at Boulder Humane so I could get my kitty out of hawk. (Just kidding, kind of.)
She came home, spent the night and the next day under heavy sedation in the plush confines of our bathroom floor. Last night she was moved to the less restrictive recovery wing of the house (our bedroom). This morning I let her out of the room so she could walk around a bit more.
She came home, spent the night and the next day under heavy sedation in the plush confines of our bathroom floor. Last night she was moved to the less restrictive recovery wing of the house (our bedroom). This morning I let her out of the room so she could walk around a bit more.
She seems to be doing fine. The kids know that she was sick. They know that she had surgery. They know we prayed for her recovery. I did tell them the night of the surgery that there was a chance she would die. They sure are happy to have their kitty. I am too. All 2 grouchy lives left. Merry Catmis.
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