We Survived

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you are just happy to survive?

That was us this week.

We survived... barely.  And we are thrilled for a three day weekend.

It all started last Saturday when Mr. Mittens started throwing up.  That's not his normal behavior so I kept an eye on him for several days and it didn't stop.  We felt so bad for him.  I called first thing Monday morning to get him an appointment ASAP.  The vet could see him right away based on his symptoms.  I'm so thankful we found a great vet that we love last year.  I dropped the kids off at home after school and then took him to the vet.  He wasn't thrilled about it.

They did an exam and xrays.  He had a fever and xrays didn't show anything concerning.  All signs pointed to an irritated stomach and stomach/flu like symptoms.  They gave him a hydration shot, an anti nausea shot and special food to calm his belly.  I had to call in the next day to let them know how he was doing.

Tuesday, still sick.  Not showing any signs of improving.  Getting worse really because he was withdrawing more.  Back to the vet.  About the same temp, he was dehydrated and still not eating/drinking or moving much.  They did bloodwork and it all came back fine.  More hydration shots, anti nausea shots and call with an update in the morning.

Everyone loved him at the vet's office.  He was curious and sweet, but I just knew something was going on with him.  It was so stressful to not know what was wrong.

Leo's version of our week: 

Sick kitty at the vet all week long.

We talked about our options of an overnight stay to IV hydrate him and more xrays, but decided he'd be most comfortable at home and that more xrays might not really be that helpful.  He was not a fan of the big dogs.  He did love all the ladies loving on him in the office.

Wednesday morning: Worse.  Not moving, lethargic, no eating or drinking and still throwing up despite having strong meds in his system.  Bring him back in ASAP to be seen.  I was at work so Kevin took him in and dropped him off before he went to work.

Lots of phone calls back and forth with the vet.  

She asked to do an ultrasound instead of an xray this time because it would be more accurate.  I guess cats are challenging to xray and his first xray wasn't very helpful.  I agreed.  They found what appeared to be a foreign body stuck in his intestines.  No clue what it was at that point.  But they were pretty sure something was lodged in his intestines.

Our options: Surgery immediately or end of life care plan to put him to sleep.  I cried.  

I wasn't expecting those to be our options.  She said he could not survive this obstruction in his intestines.  We had to do something.  We talked through all the details, I talked to Kevin and we came up with a plan.  Mr. Mittens is YOUNG (not even 2) and overall really HEALTHY.  We had no clue on Monday that we'd be dealing with these options on Wednesday.  I wasn't prepared to say goodbye to him.  None of us were.  We'd just gotten him a new brother in the Fall and they have become the cutest friends.  It wasn't time to say goodbye.  So we settled on a plan and his surgery was scheduled for that afternoon.

School was crazy.  I was teaching and had a surprise observation that went great and managing all the vet phone calls in between.  No wonder this felt like the longest week ever.

I called for an update around 1:00pm.  They let me know that he did great!  Surgery was very straight forward and that they did find something in his intestines.  An earbud!?!  We don't really even use ear buds so I was shocked. They said he was up and moving and already seemed so happy.  I cried again.  He was instantly feeling better.  We made the right decision.  They said to pick him up after 4:00pm.

I dropped the kids off at home and zoomed to get him.  

This is where it gets a little funny.  The tech tells me she can tell Mr. Mittens has a big personality.  She says he pulled out his IV before surgery, pulled out 3 staples before they could get his cone on him, wiggled out of his cone like Houdini and so he'd be coming home in a surgery suit to protect his incision and 10 staples.  She said it was nearly impossible for him to remove.  She showed me the foreign object - which I immediately recognized as the orange tip of a Nerf gun bullet.  That little stinker!  We have these all over the house and I never ever thought about the cats eating one.  We are doing a whole house Nerf clean up this weekend.  Those will be outside toys from now on.  And then she gave me special food and a list of restrictions.  We got checked out and headed home.

Mr. Mittens was groggy and glassy eyed, but happy to be home.  We were all so happy to see him.  He started purring and laid on my lap.  He was not a fan of his surgery suit and he seemed annoyed about his new haircut.  We keep laughing at his furry boots.

We have since learned that surgery suits are not impossible for cats to remove.

The special diet is very tasty.

Restrictions of keeping him in a bathroom to prevent him from jumping are tolerable, but not ideal.

Pumpkin really missed his brother.

We head back in a week or so to get his staples out.

Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation with a pet??  Swallowing something they shouldn't have?  We have had cats for 15+ years and never had anything like this happen.

We survived.  

We took good care of Mr. Mittens and we are all ready for a quiet rest of the month.  Or maybe a quiet rest of the year.  

Hope you have a great weekend!  See you back here next week :)

Linking up with Momfessionals