The crate that Brian got down for me last Wednesday now has an occupant.
Ciara.
We had a big scare with her Saturday. After starting her on a full dose of prednisone Thursday, she got a little better each day. Saturday was a horribly hot day and the house was closed up, the attic fans, ceiling fans and air conditioner all set at “on”. I had closed the garage door to outside, hoping to keep it a little cooler in there, but it was a bad idea, better hot air flow, than stifling heat.
I couldn’t find her Saturday afternoon. I called and called, she finally stumbled in from the garage. She was very weak, she had a very hard time standing up and her belly was very damp. She had a very hard time holding her left front paw, it kept curling up by her side. I put her on the sofa, but when she tried to move, she fell over. She wasn’t panting and her temp was in the normal range.
I ran outside and cleaned out the crate, wiped the inside with a towel, then brought it in. I put some towels in it, then put Ciara in it. I used the old 13 x 9 metal cake-pan for a litter box. Brian found a coop cup and filled it with ice water and I filled another with dry food. Then I changed out of my shorts into some jeans and Brian put his shoes on. I was headed to the garage to grab a carrier and he said “maybe we should wait to see if she gets over this”. I was reluctant, I wanted to go, but other than not standing (which seemed to be a pretty big deal to me) she was okay.
I slept on the sofa Saturday night. Sunday morning, around four, I got her to eat a jar of baby food. Around five, I gave her fluids, since she hadn’t been drinking. A little after that I gave her a prednisone and an amoxicillan (antibiotic). Her immune system isn’t the best and I wouldn’t doubt she had something else going on. Then I gave her another jar of baby food, which she lapped right up.
She peed and she pooped in the carrier, the poop not looking too bad, a little on the soft side. She couldn’t seem to get comfortable, but I kept her in the crate for most of the day. The few times she did come out, she went back to the laundry room and used the litter box. She went right back to the crate and settled in on the blanket in the back. As the day progressed, she was using her front paw more and more. Whenever she ate a little, she’d clean. She’d even sit up and put her weight on one front paw and clean her face with the other, then alternate. So, the paw was holding her weight and she had use of it. I was still concerned, though, ready at a minute’s notice to be out the door.
Brian explained his reluctance to take her to emergency. He said ‘they don’t know her history, and they’ll want to run all sorts of needless tests on her. I don’t have a problem with you taking her to our vet, but I just can’t see taking her to emergency.’ This made sense. It would be different if it hadn’t been an ongoing problem, there’d have been no question about taking her in. But we’re working with some history here.
I tried sleeping in bed, but I just couldn’t. I was too restless and I went back to the sofa. Every hour, I was up, checking on her. At three this morning, I gave her another jar of baby food. At four, I let her out of the crate. She came out and sat there. Then she got up, walked over to one of the short scratching posts, and stretched her length out on it, scratching it for a couple of seconds. Then she followed me around for a little.
Before I picked her up and put her back in the crate, I did a little rubbing of her back. And her most sore area is right by her tail. Her tail bone, I guess. Her tail is working properly, but she’s very sore around it. I remember when I had my sciatica, how long it took for me to recover and how very hard it was to get comfortable.I went into the kitchen and ground up the l-Lysine and bone meal, adding it to another jar of baby food. I gave it to her, then shut off the lights and I laid back down. When I checked later, she’d finished almost all of it.
I gave her her morning meds around six this morning. She’s sleeping now. After a week of the full dose of prednisone, Wednesday, I’m thinking about taking her back to the vet for a recheck. I know that putting her in the crate was a good idea. Brian said we should have done it before. She’s going to stay in it until she’s better. I don’t want any more setbacks.
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