Update on Sake

Sake has not been doing very well. She has not been eating well, and often when she eats, she vomits.  I have seen her eating very little the last couple of days although I think she may have eaten some paté style food overnight, even though she does not usually like paté style food.  Some one ate it, and Sake's trade mark is to take it out of the dish and eat it off the floor, and there was a mess around the dish.

I made an appointment for the vet today. Sake has been on steroids consistently since May of last year. The decision was to take the risk of sedating her, draw labs, and see what else is going on.  She weighed in at 6.5 lbs., down a pound from her last vet visit on 6/30/15. She had been maintaining a weight of 8 lbs.

The vet agreed to shave off some of her matted fur, since she cannot keep up with grooming herself, and she does not let me help her to groom.

When I picked Sake up close to closing time at the vet, she was still very groggy. Because she is so difficult for them to manage when she is awake, it is better for her to come home and finish waking up.  The vet said her mouth looked good, so they did not give her another steroid shot.  Her labs were all normal. So we do not know why she is not eating and vomiting when she does eat.

The instructions were to not let her eat or drink overnight, and keep her in the crate if need be. (Which makes the food/water situation easier with the other cats.) Feed her just a little bit of her favorite food in the morning.  Call in a report.  If she eats, great, let the vet know. If she does not, they will try to give her an injection to stimulate her appetite.

I put Sake in the computer room with me, thinking it might be good for her to know I am close by. Haiku and Taki usually join me in the computer room, but not tonight   I have checked on Sake from time to time, and mostly, she is still resting.

But, at one point, she started scratching at the crate door, and wanted out. I closed the door to the computer room, and let her out. She could just barely walk.  I picked her up and held her for a while, until she became restless and wanted down.  She still could barely walk. I shepherded her back into the crate, and she seemed relieved. Her mew was raspy as if her throat is dry, and I suspect it is. She occasionally comes to the crate door, scratches at it, then decides to lay down. 

I may let her out of the crate overnight, but keep her in the computer room. She will have no food, but access to a litter dish, if need be.  She is usually very fastidious about her grooming and hygiene, so access to a litter dish might be good for her.

We shall see how this plays out.