Last Thursday, our four-legged, meowy little feline started behaving oddly. I arrived home from work at 5pm to find her curled up on the chair by the front door. My husband said she had been there for a few hours and, despite him trying to coax her into her 4 o’clock meal (Who has to coax a kitty to eat, I ask?), she seemed to want no part of it.

So I tried…and got nowhere.

On Friday morning my husband took her to the vet and they did some tests and gave her an injection because she was dehydrated. Then they sent her to Animerge, the animal care hospital where they did an ultrasound and more X-rays. She’d dropped nearly a pound.

She slept through all of Friday and into Saturday, not eating and having some, er, potty business issues. She was stinking up our house so bad we had to light several candles just to douse the noxious fumes. Poor baby.

I made another trip back to the vet on Saturday to pick up some meds and drop off a “crap trap sample,” as I call it. At that point we were still waiting for results from Friday’s blood work.

The meds they gave us were pretty challenging. We’ve never had to give her something in her mouth (oh, we’ve done ears, eyes, and tail, but nothing right down her throat). I actually went online to look at some videos because we were both very apprehensive with reason. After the first dose, she wound up with a long trail of saliva down her chest. We were flipping out thinking we’d harmed her. We both no how horrible we’d be as parents. I can’t even imagine (and we’re both relieved that each has no desire to find out!).

Another trip back to the vet on Monday for some other fun stuff and a crash course in how to give a cat some meds was in order. Turns out, the meds have a bitter taste and it’s normal for the saliva trail to occur. Good to know for next time. I HOPE THERE’S NO “NEXT TIME!”

At this point, she’d dropped nearly two pounds.

All of this has taken a toll on our kitty, our hearts, and our wallets. We’re down $1,000+ but I’m happy to report that things seem back to normal. While the vet couldn’t give any one diagnosis, she (and I) think it was IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease). The vet conveyed that she wasn’t surprised considering all the other maladies Roxie has had (ear infections, biting tail excessively for some unknown reason…we spent $2,5000+ to figure that out with no clear resolution, etc).

Now, she’s back to normal…driving me nuts because she wants to eat, eat, eat all the time!

She’s been put on notice that she’ll have to get a real job to pull her weight around here. Chasing after those pesky squirrels is just fun and games for her. I’m thinking hard, menial labor like…like playing with the neighborhood children!

Tags: brown tabby, IBD, irritable bowel disease, roxie