I'm pretty sure we'll be saying goodbye to Opie this morning. I think he had a stroke last night.
The new med did work, it made is COPD better, that hitch was gone from his breathing. But his actual breathing just kept getting worse and worse.
Yesterday morning, he wouldn't eat. I did get him to take a little baby food, but he barely lapped at it, then wanted down. I gave him his new med around three yesterday afternoon, then his other meds around six. Shortly after seven, I heard a meowing from the bedroom. I went in to check on who it was and it was Opie.
He was sitting at the door opening, he threw up. Just foam. When I cleaned it up, it was greenish. It was from the pill he'd gotten four hours earlier. He got back on the bed and around 8:30 last night, he was no longer on the bed and I couldn't find him anywhere. I got up every ten to fifteen minutes, doing the rounds with a flashlight. Inside, outside, behind, under, he was just gone. Around 10:30 I told Brian to go to bed. Even though he was sleeping, it wasn't a real good place to sleep. He went to bed. I took his spot on the loveseat since three cats had taken the sofa and around elevenish, I heard noises in the office. I came in here and just listened. Noises from under Brian's desk. Opie was behind the old safe and was trying to go behind the trash cans. (They just block the outlet from peeing cats, there's no trash in them.) I got him out and set him on the floor. I watched as he walked around, obviously not right. His head was down and with his breathing, it sounded like he was sniffing things, but I think at his point, his sense of smell was completely gone. I picked him up and took him into the bedroom and put him on the bed with Brian.
Opie went under the covers. I figured he'd stay there. An hour later, I checked, asked Brian if he was in there and Brian said he left a long time ago. I found him in the dining room trying to get behind the cat food feeder. When he couldn't get behind, he was trying to climb over it. He was completely out of it. Didn't respond to my voice or my touch. There was no way in hell that he could get outside in this condition. I closed the door in the office and had a time of it in the garage, because that door hasn't been shut in a very long time. I finally was able to put the baby gate up, Opie wouldn't be able to navigate that, but would another cat knock it out? Most likely.
Brian was back in bed and he got out and was able to get the door shut. So, the gate wouldn't get pushed out. But watching Opie crawl the floor, I ended up setting him up in my bathroom. With a carrier, a blanket on the floor, food, water and litterbox. The only thing he did was get into the carrier and face the other direction. When he was out of it, he was walking the perimeter of the floor. He was no better this morning.
I think he had a stroke or whatever is in his nose/throat has grown enough to push on his brain. At this point he has no quality of life. The best option is to say goodbye.
It's going to be a rough day.
