So as I have noted before, Sake has not been doing well. She does not eat well and she has not been grooming herself. Her weight has declined over the years, from a chunky 13 pounds, to a svelte 8 pounds when she went to the vet last May for her shots. The vet thought 8 lbs was an okay weight for her, although I thought it was a little light, because I could feel her bones. But generally she was doing well, although she was not always grooming herself, but I was helping her and she was not doing so bad.
I do not know exactly when the problem began, but she stopped grooming and became a very picky eater. I know I have written about this before. Looking back, the problem got worse in September, and I have babied Sake, and tried multiple foods and types of foods. Sometimes she would eat well, sometimes she would not. She was still eating hard food until early October. But things seemed to be worse and worse.
I finally called the vet's office and explained the problem. They pulled the records and saw the problem. They suggested they could sedate her, but would ask me to sign a disclaimer if something happened to her under sedation. The day I called, Sake did not show up for breakfast, as she normally does, and I was feeling very hopeless. I responded that I understood the risks, but felt I needed to do something, because the situation was not acceptable to me as it was. I did not want Sake to die, but, if she is suffering, I needed to do something.
I got an appointment to bring Sake in for today. I was not sure about feeding her this morning, if they had to sedate her, but they did not tell me not to feed her, and she seemed hungry. She ate well. She did not hide, as she has done some mornings, and even wanted me to hold her, as she has, some mornings.
She did not resist when I put her in the crate, and I was amazed to learn, at the vet office, that she had only lost .5 lbs. But, for an 8 lb cat, that is a lot of weight loss. Sake let me take her out of the crate in the examination room. While we were waiting, one of the techs wanted to bring a pit bull through the room to get a weight. I asked them to use a different room. He did. Sake barely let the veterinarian examine her, but he identified a gum infection almost immediately. He said she needed an antibiotic and a cortisone shot. Sake maintained her composure until the vet swabbed her for the injections. We threw a towel over her, a vet tech and I held her down, and we herded her into the crate easily after the injections.
When I took her home, she was eager to get out of the crate. Atypically, she let me hold her and caress her after she got out of the crate. I petted her for a while before I went to work.
I left the crate in the kitchen. I always clean out the crates after I use them. Usually I will put them on the washing machine, or in the garage, until I can clean them. Today, I left the crate on the kitchen floor.
When I got home from work tonight, Sake was at the door, and she wanted into the garage. Very shortly, she wanted back into the house. I put out a whole jar of baby food chicken. Whereas she was not eating a half jar of food before, she ate about 80% of the jar. Wow! I could tell she felt more energetic, too. Later in the evening, she ate some more of the baby food chicken, and then ate some hard food treats! I am so pleased.
She let me do a little grooming, but not much. That is okay. As she feels better, she and I will work on that.
Haiku came into the kitchen for dinner, but Taki did not. I found her cowering under the bed in the spare bedroom. She let me get her out and walk her around the house, but the problem became apparent in the kitchen, where the crate was on the floor. She was very scared of the crate. She went into the garage for a while, but when I brought her back into the house, her fears had not diminished. I let her be, and cleaned out the crate, and put it away.
I found Taki again, and walked her around the house, in the kitchen, and the living room. When I walked her through the bedroom, and she could see the crate in the bedroom closet, she became very upset again. I worked with her for a while, and she settled down.
I have to wonder if she was so frightened, that Taki spent the day under the bed in the spare bedroom. That makes me feel bad. I got her out once, but the crate was still in the kitchen , and it frightened her. I did not realize that would happen. She ended up under the bed a second time, and when I got her out, I had cleaned the crate and put it up. She still identified the crate as bad, but was not as anxious about it.
I got out the catnip mist and sprayed the scratching posts and the cat tree.
I think it helped when I was doing my physical therapy exercises. All three cats joined me in the living room. Sake sat on the towel and belt that I use, for a while. Haiku and Taki just watched my behavior. That was good.
Sake seemed to be cool. Like, this is okay, and I am okay. Haiku was a little skittish, but was okay. Taki settled down when I was doing my physical therapy exercise. She wants to be with me when am doing them, but was a little skittish tonight. But her desire to be with me won out, and she is doing okay now.
So, I think the girls are okay now, although I am still concerned about Sake. We will pay close attention to her.
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