He's just not doing much better. Maybe a little and I really have to watch him to see it.
The doxycyline pill form got here last Thursday and I started him on it. He's not that hard to pill. But he seemed to have a hard time finding it when it was wrapped in a Pill Pocket. I found this strange. Then I started watching him eat. He barely ate. He'd stick his nose in the food, lap a little, then walk off. And it dawned on me.
He can't smell. And that's one of the major things with cats eating. Is being able to smell their food. So, this weekend, I started syringe feeding him (always have Hill's A/D in the cat cupboard) Saturday morning, he wasn't sure what was going on and he didn't like it very much, but I got about 30ml of food into him and he kept it down. I did this again later in the day. Yesterday, we did the same thing, I upped the amount I gave him.
This morning was a lot easier. He swallows without a problem, so I know his throat is open, he eats most of what goes into his mouth (syringe feeding is messy). He got over 48ml at one feeding this morning, this was great. I don't want to overfeed him just yet, I want to make sure everything's working the way it should be. Well, this morning, after he ate, he went outside and was crying. I watched him as he dug in the dirt and pooped. It was a nice looking poop. And as many of us vigilant cat parents do, I squeezed the top part of the poo. It was hard, so he hadn't been going (nothing to go) and after the initial stool, the rest was firm and looked perfect.
But, as many of us cat parents have found out over the years, when you've had a sick cat and they finally go, the act of squatting seems to cause another reaction. The vomit reaction.
Yep. All of that food he got this morning came up. Oh, well, it was still early. I waited an hour, gave him his antibiotic (since he's actually been GETTING the med into his system, his phlegmy sounding breathing isn't as bad as it was). A half hour later, he got more food. And he's a little more active. Not much, but a little.
I hadn't given him the allergy pill in a few days since there weren't that many left. And this morning his ears were seriously bothering him, so I called the vet and refilled the script. And gave him a pill this morning.
I don't know if he'll ever get his sense of smell back, but I have to do what I can do. If that means giving him a chance by feeding him a couple of times a day, I'll do it. When your body is weak, it's hard to fight off bad stuff and starving doesn't help.
I asked the vet for syringes for feeding and they're giving us a couple with the allergy meds today. Working with something that holds 60ml should be a lot easier than something that holds 12ml, you know?
I just glanced out the door and he was sitting in the sun, grooming himself. This is a great sign. I hope we can keep it up.
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