We spent this week very worried about the health of our dear old cat Minimi.
We'd planned to acclimatize Minimi and the kittens to each other by keeping them separate for a few days, and alternating their access to the living room so they'd get used to each-others scent. Then introducing them again, gradually increasing the amount of time they spend together. The kittens were mainly kept in Hannah's room and we kept our bedroom strictly Minimi's territory so he'd have a safe place.
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| Sick cat |
Minimi didn't adjust well to the change. He seemed sad and anxious. From Wednesday evening he stopped eating, and became more and more listless. We initially thought he'd just get hungry and resume eating. On Friday night he came and woke me up at 3am in obvious pain meowing and complaining of a swollen stomach. So first thing Saturday morning we took him to a vet in Tai Po.
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| Going to the vet |
The vet gave him a physical examination, which confirmed a swollen stomach but no other abnormalities. He was slightly dehydrated and after 3 days without food needed to be fed to avoid liver damage.
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| At the vet |
They then performed blood and urine tests which were all normal. In fact pretty good for his age, which at 13 years is equivalent to 75 years for a human.
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Next step was x-rays to check for abnormalities in the internal organs and obstructions in the gut. In case he'd swallowed a foreign body (see 'Curious George goes to Hospital')
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| x-ray: gassy stomach in black |
This showed gas in the stomach but no other abnormalities. The Vet proposed putting him on a drip to rehydrate and keeping him in hospital for a few days for observation.
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| X-ray |
By Monday Minimi was livelier but still not eating by himself. So the vet suggested he remain in hospital for even more tests. They performed a Barium Swallow to check the functioning of the gut and an Ultra-Sound of the internal organs to check for abnormalities that don't show-up on x-ray. But no CAT-scan!
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| Minimi at the cat hospital |
The results confirmed no abnormalities or obstructions but suggested his gut wasn't working very effectively to move the food along. This was consistent with our observations - unless we serve him breakfast in two sessions he tends to vomit it up. Most importantly, we were very relieved that there was no sign of serious age-related illness like stomach cancer.
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| Minimi's 'Brazilian wax' (for the ultrasound) |
On Wednesday Minimi returned from hospital with a home-care plan and pharma-copea of drugs: appetite stimulant, gastric secretion inhibitor, pain relief & relaxant, anti-diarrhea, de-worming, antibiotics, appetite stimulant (again) and gastric protector.
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| Minimi's medicines |
Minimi had had the full-service treatment complete with private room, Brazilian-wax, lube and wheel-re-balancing. Total cost was an eye-watering HKD 16,000. But I was glad he had a full medical and there is no evidence of serious illness.
But we still don't know what is wrong with him! I wonder whether he has a minor GI problem that was exacerbated by stress from the arrival of our new kittens.
