Tiger is full of shit!
LoL. I know I shouldn’t make light of the situation because it’s still serious, but that is essentially a fact. Finally got the poor little kitty into the Vet last night. During the examination, the doctor quickly found a large mass in or around Tiger’s intestine. Was easier to notice this time because he had loft more weight, especially in his tummy area. She was pretty convinced at the time that it was a tumour because it was so hard and irregular … not really like a poo. I wasn’t prepared to put the little guy through surgery at his age (15yrs) and told the Vet as much. Luckily for me, she was curious enough about what was going on (after 3 visits already) that she offered to do an xray for free to see what was going on. Xrays revealed that he is literally full up with really hard poo-poos, and it’s backed up in such a way that it’s unlikely to come out on it’s own. Poor cat! He must be the toughest cat on the planet to have survived this long like that … it’s been a month or so since I noticed the serious problems. Anyway, brought him back home last night and fed him some kitten milk and water during the night - hoping that will soften things up a bit. And this morning, he’s back at the vet for what they call a “lavement.” The details of which I will leave to your imagination, except to say that it’s not going to be pleasant for Tiger or the Vet! He’ll be put under anaesthesia and on oxygen … and I can bring him home tonight. I’m hopeful that it will go well and he can start his road back to good health with only soft food and liquid from now on. I’m going to plug the Vet here for anyone who lives close by, she’s fantastic and probably the most caring vet I’ve ever had. And undoubtedly will have saved little Tiger’s life if she clears up this blockage. So, if you live in or around St-Jean, look her up:
Clinique Veterinaire Lynne Fontaine
495 Boul. d’Iberville
Iberville, Quebec
Canada J2X 3Y8
Tel: (450) 347-5964
[UPDATE: Sat. 12:20am] I just got back from supper a at a friends place. I dropped Tiger off before I left and let him sleep. He seems to be doing ok, got him purring here a bit and his eyes are looking more lively. Gave him his medication (some liquid laxative and a chewable pill to encourage eating. Didn’t like those too much, but got em anyway. Hopefully he’ll sleep most of the night and start eating tomorrow. keep fingers crossed!
[UPDATE: Sun. 5pm] Tiger just ate on his own for the first time! It was only 3-4 bits of tender vittles but it was really encouraging that he ate them on his own without my prompting or anything. I’ve been keeping up with his medication and laxative twice a day, and giving him some food and water with a syringe. About an hour ago I gave him a bath, and boy did he ever need one! He didn’t put up too much of a fight during the bath+rinse itself, but quickly grew tired of me drying him with a towel. I’ll just turn up the heat in here to make sure he doesn’t get sick from a cold.
