When Catty fell sick

While I was in Jodhpur in the middle of January 2009, I got a call from mom. Catty had been vomiting and completely stopped eating. She was so weak that she couldn't move. Mom thought she was dying and I was completely shaken. She was taking Catty to the doctor and till I didn't hear back from her, I couldn't even eat.

In a couple of hours, mom called back. The doctor was suspecting liver problems. Catty was given saline drip for half an hour. It was horrible. How can such a small animal have to go through so much torture? Over the next 3 days, Catty was given drip twice a day for half an hour each session. Blood tests were performed and the results were what the doc had suspected. Liver inflammation. Why? I wish we knew exactly. There were several possibilities:

1. She ate something wrong - maybe an insect or some garbage.
2. Maybe it was her food. The cat food that she eats everyday. Maybe her body was rejecting processed food.
3. We had just undergone painting work at home. Maybe inhalation of all the dust and paint caused the inflammation.

Whatever it was, she was so weak that even after 3 days she could not walk properly and was sleeping most of the time.

When I came home from Rajasthan, as I entered the house, I called for her. She was under the diwan in the hall and I saw her head pop out along with a faint meow. My sweetheart was sick :(

But mom was happy that at least Catty was now well enough to acknowledge my presence. Mom had been through a very rough 3 days. Unfortunately, I was only around for 2 days, after which I was leaving for the Philippines. I felt awful that I couldn't take care of my cat.

But that day and the next, I took her to the vet for her drip session. The sessions were now only happening once a day. It's a situation I hope she never has to go through again. As the vet poked the fat needle into her veins above her paw, I saw all the earlier needle marks from the previous sessions. She was so weak that she didn't even try resisting the needle. For half an hour, I saw her just lying there, poor thing not knowing what was wrong and why she was being subjected to all this. But she probably knew it was being done for her good. So she stayed. And she bore the pain. It was Sunday.

By Monday morning, she was recovering. Since the tests had revealed what exactly was wrong with her, she had been put on oral as well as intravenous medicines and they were affecting her positively.By Monday evening, her appetite had increased and I was really thankful that I didn't have to leave home with her in a bad shape. I knew that things would be alright.

For all those who have pets, it's a terrible time to deal with their sickness. Especially since you never know exactly where it's hurting them - if only they could communicate that. But we learned one thing from this experience, if you are getting your house painted, it's a good idea to keep your pet out for that time. We suspect that our cat not only inhaled the paint and all sediments, but it also probably mixed with her food and must have therefore created a bigger problem. We had taken all precautions (keeping her food in the room that was not being painted, keeping the food covered), but you know how dust finds its way through!

I love you, Catty :)