More Cat Drama

So Mazzy is proving to be a medical enigma. Ever since February she's had what appears to be a common cold or allergies, with sneezing, watery eyes - nothing too alarming. I ignored it while I focused on child bearing, assuming her body would take care of it. But then - gross out warning - around Easter she started throwing up, and it had a red tinge to it. The vet diagnosed it as an upper respiratory infection, and Mazzy (or May-zee, as the vet calls her) was prescribed a complex regimen of meds - an anti-nausea pill to take twice a day, half an hour before eating; an antibiotic to eat with each meal; and a gel I had to smear directly into her eyes twice a day. This conflicted with our weekend plans to visit my parents-in-law, so Mazzy tagged along. I couldn't subject my catsitters to that, even if one of them is the daughter of a vet. Mazzy seemed happier that weekend than she had in a long time. She was social, her fur felt noticeably softer, and her symptoms disappeared. It could have been a cold, it could have been allergies, or it could have been a reaction to a stressful situation at home, which she was relieved from with a trip to the lake house.

Sometime close to the end of April, though, the sneezing and vomiting returned. This time the vet guessed it to be allergies, so she gave us some antihistamines. Two days later, Mazzy threw up all day long, again with a reddish hue, and even peed outside the litter box for the first time in her life. Our vet was out of town, so her husband advised we take her to the emergency vet, where she ended up spending the night.

The emergency vet ran every test imaginable (including an X-ray, which showed something in her stomach. Jury is still out as to whether that something was just FOOD - helpful) and concluded she had some kind of virus (as well as an "unrelated" urinary tract infection, which we were given medicine to treat). They then tested her for two of the three bad (aka, fatal) feline viruses - feline leukemia and feline AIDS - and cleared her of both. The third they recommended our regular vet test for, but statistically it would be a real stretch if she had that one. Good news is, all of her organs are fine. We had been worried about her kidneys and about her suffering the same fate as Callie and were relieved to know that wasn't the case. So, $700 later, we're back to the common cold theory.

That theory would hold if Mazzy didn't have another issue. At her late April visit, her vet told us to watch her weight. She had lost a pound since her last checkup six months before, but that also could have been due to the addition of a kitten in our household. The emergency vet found Mazzy had lost an additional two pounds since then - which was just a matter of days. Another theory was thrown in the hat that she had inflammatory bowel disease, but our regular vet doesn't seem to think that could be the case. Mazzy was fed fluids through an IV during her overnight stay at the emergency clinic but didn't eat any solid food while she was there. That worried the emergency vet, but the second we got Mazzy home that Sunday she ate about three bowls of cat food.

We switched up her food from the weight watchers formula to the fatty-bo-batty formula, and increased the number of scoops we feed her. Since then, she hasn't gotten sick, and her sneezing has been better (we cut her off of those antihistamines, though, since they could have been a cause of the vomiting). The only issue we've had is the bandage covering her leg where the IV had been was on a bit tight. When I cut it off, her foot was swollen to three times its normal size and she couldn't put any weight on it. It's fine now - just looks a little funny from having been shaved around the ankle.

But this morning she got sick again, at least three times between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. I called the vet and have been instructed to bring her back this afternoon for some kind of injection that will "quiet her tummy." Mazzy will also be given some anti-inflammatory medication twice a day, and put on a bland diet. Sounds like we're just grasping at straws now. Anyone got a dart board and a blindfold?

If all this weren't enough - remind me to tell you the story sometime of how the kitten (Cleo, by the way) went into heat about a month back. Oh wait, she's been spayed. At least according to our vet, who claims Cleo was "just enjoying the springtime."

These cats are making owning Jonas look easy.