So it’s been a while since I wrote about the cats’ various illnesses, and much has changed.

CHF Kitteh

Smudge, the timid one with congenital heart trouble, is now on two tablets daily – ferusemide and fortekor crushed in food – interesting fun, given that we can’t always make sure the right cat gets the right bowl. He’s generally doing ok, but has had two recent scary turns where for three days, he doesn’t eat. By the second day, we’ve usually twigged the problem and started hand feeding him catfood jelly and his ferusemide tablets, and by the third day he drags himself to his bowl and starts eating again. The ferusemide is a diuretic, supposed to help get surplus fluids away from his heart, but the result is he drinks almost non-stop and pees very regularly too.

UTI Kitteh

Fudge, the big hairy strong one with a tendency to urinary tract infections, has had an interesting time of things lately. Before Christmas, he had a major problem with a urinary tract blockage, which manifested itself as the cat getting grumpier and grumpier until he could no longer be handled without hisses and scratches – a sure fire sign that the usually affectionate cat was in trouble. So, into the vet he went on an emergency Saturday appointment, and P came back empty handed. He was sedated and the vet had a good rootle around, removed the blockage, drained his bladder and woke him up again. He had a very strange afternoon with wobbly back legs, and then returned to full health. His routines have had to be changed a bit though – he’s gone from “dry food only occasionally” to “NO DRY FOOD EVAR!” and we have to trick him into drinking water by adulterating his food.

All well and good until a week ago when he suddenly started hiding and refusing to eat at all, another clear sign of trouble. A closer look showed that his back legs weren’t working properly again – almost like when he was recovering from anaesthetic. This was discovered out of vet hours and necessitated a very expensive trip to the emergency vet. Obviously we suspected a UTI problem again, but were able to rule this out following an accident in the kitteh-box on the way.

The clear indication from the first vet visit was trauma of some kind – his claws were shredded, he had no temperature, but was clearly uncomfortable. Car, fight or fall were possible suspects. He got an injection of long lasting painkiller and slow acting antibiotics and was told to present himself to his own vet in the morning for X-ray. The following day, he was completely symptomless, so he went to the vet, but came home right as rain. The further exam brought to light a bit more evidence – another cat’s fur under his claws suggested it was a fight that led to the trouble.

Over the following week, it seems as the long lasting painkiller wore off, he’s been getting worse, until today it was clear he was in trouble again, so I phoned the vet for further advice and ended up taking him in. Fudge and that particular vet have a bit of history since the last injection he had there that led to the cat suddenly – and without warning – going mad mid injection, and causing the needle to fly out of the syringe and embed itself in the consulting table and twang like an arrow in a Robin Hood film.

So today, the vet had to be quite firm, holding cat by scruff of neck and trying to check his foot, but the cat was having none of it – squirming, hissing and yowling, and clearly displeased. It’s clear there’s real pain and the vet couldn’t get close to finding out what was wrong. So we’ve had to leave him for an overnight stay, to make sure he doesn’t eat anything, and then they’ll have another go in the morning – sedating him, examining him thoroughly and x-raying if necessary. No idea whether it’s a broken bone, a soft-tissue injury or maybe an infected cat bite.