We got home and I went in to check on Antioch. Usually when we leave her for the weekend she comes out and promptly yells at us. I went inside and hollered for her and she didn't come out. I went upstairs to check on her...it was bad. She had pooped all over and thrown up three times. She got up and kinda weaved around, looked a little drunk. I immediately noticed how much weight she had lost. She was bones. She no longer has a pouch that swings side to side.
Michael saw her and he teared up too, we both thought that she needed to be put down. I called the vet first thing Monday morning and we both went in at 10, fully expecting to put her down. The Dr. wanted to run some bloodwork, change her diet, gave her a nausea shot, and some medicine. We got the call the next day with the results. All results were fine. White blood count, thyroid, and a couple other ones, fine. She even has good control and concentration in her urine. She weighed 5.2lbs. Antioch has never been a big cat, she was the runt of the litter. That's why I wanted her.
She did well on the medicine and loves the new food. She started pooping in her box, instead of the floor. But cats are smart. She figured out how to flick that pill out of her mouth. I called the Dr. and asked if we needed to keep her on the medicine or could we take it off. Since we hadn't seen any "sick poop" we pulled her off. The next day, the sick poos were back. So they called in a liquid form of the medicine and she has been on that for two weeks now. She hasn't shown any improvement. She has lost 2 ounces every week. Today she weighed 4 lbs, 7 oz. She is practically skin and bones. She is however mowing down and loving her new food, but can't hold weight.
I took her in again today and showed the Dr. pictures of her poop. She said yeah there is definitely something wrong. She started spouting out all kinds of things that could be wrong and I started ugly crying. Good times. We decided our next step would be to do some GI bloodwork and do an ultrasound. Hoping that we can find an answer as to what is wrong with her.
If that doesn't work, then the next step would be a biopsy and or scope. The biopsy is surgery, like when she got spayed. That's our decision to make. She is 14, she might not even make it through surgery. So we would need to evaluate her quality of life. And decide what to do. Hopefully the blood work and u/s can give us an answer and ultimately make the decision for us.
She is at the vet now getting the tests run. It's a sad sad feeling working and not having my cat snuggled in my blanket. One that I think is coming sooner than later. So, I am praying that we find answers and help her the best way we can.
Antioch is an unsual cat. She has always been very mellow, very laid back. She has never hissed a day in her life. The only time I heard her growl was the first time we took her to the vet when we thought we were going to have to put her down. Everyone there keeps saying what an awesome cat she is. I wish I could have 20 more of her. She has been an amazing pet and very little maintenance.
This was this past Sunday. Michael put strings on his guitar and she hung out in the case for a little while.
She always sits by me on our blankie when I work.
This was a while ago.
Her favorite place to sleep, a leopard cube. This picture is from college. It completely describes her. I still have the cube and she still lays on it.
Everytime we let her outside.
One of our many house projects, she usually is involved.
Another favorite. Haven't seen her jump in months.
Her favorite winter activity.
This past Christmas, I can really tell a huge difference looking at this picture. She is always under the tree during Christmas.
Looking back through these pictures, we ultimately know the end result. She isn't the same cat. She is skin and bones who hides behind the couch and won't come out and sit on us anymore. She hasn't slept by Michael since she got sick. That will always be a favorite thing about her...she would always sleep by him and stay in her spot when he left for work. Then I would wake up and reach over and grab her and she smells like him.
We love you ole Snots...I hope we find answers today...you've been the best cat ever.
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