Symba update
Aug. 31st, 2007 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gothams3rdrobinPoor love had to suffer a third day of indignity and humiliation, bless him.
The whole thing started because he'd been passing blood in his stools off and on over the last few weeks, and seemed particulary unhappy last Friday morning. As I've said before, at the grand old age of thirteen, I pay attention to his health as best I can.
So I managed to get him an appointment at the PDSA PetAid hospital down in Butetown - which involved a bus ride into the town centre, then a ten, maybe fifteen minute walk under the railway line to one of the city's worst districts. Thankfully there's an urban renewal project going on in that area, and I don't have to actually go into Butetown to get there - just the outskirts.
The initial verdict was that he's suffering from colitis, and he was put on medication and a bland diet. This was a nightmare, as I had a hard time getting him to eat anything other than baked chicken fillets. By the check-up on Wednesday, he hadn't passed any solids, so the second vet at the practise wanted me to give him rice instead of chicken, probably to give him some fibre. However, Sym was having none of this and, as a result, had eaten pretty much nothing between then and his third visit this afternoon. He had managed to find some old bits of dried cat food that had gotten under the fridge without my noticing, but this lead to him vomiting this morning. Unsurprisingly.
By the time we got him to the vet again this afternoon, he hadn't passed anything other than urine since Saturday, possibly as late as Sunday. He wasn't exactly under the weather as a result, but his back passage was looking rather uncomfortable and swollen. We were in with the second vet again, which was comforting as she was familiar with his case, and she was concerned about this, thinking perhaps he has a hernia or a prolapse. She took him out the back to examine him with the help of a nurse (probably wiser than getting me to hold him, since she came back somewhat scratched up....) and a couple of minutes after she brought him back he had a bowel movement right there on the table - you can imagine how relieved I was! She's sticking to her opinion that it could be a hernia or prolapse, and said the blood in his stools could be due to that rather than colitis. He's on antibiotics over the weekend, with a follow-up appointment on Monday evening.
He also had what I assume was a panic attack a couple of minutes later - he sat there with his mouth wide open, gasping. It was kinda frightening to see, but it only lasted maybe thirty seconds and he seemed fine. After an initial moment of worry, the vet seemed unconcerned too. I did mention the diagnosis of a heart condition, but when she had a listen for herself she couldn't hear anything abnormal - which adds fuel to my suspicion that the vet at the pet supermarket was just trying to fleece me while I was a bit daft with grief at losing Tammie.
Much to everyone's relief, the vet did say Sym could go back to eating cat food again - though the wet variety, not his usual dry diet. This normally gives him the runs, but that's what she wants for him at the moment. So I picked some up this evening and doled it out to him a little at a time; the poor love was desperately hungry, so I had to watch he didn't wolf it all down so fast he made himself sick. He seems a lot more content right now, and hopefully his next check-up will show an improvement.
I just thank god for the PDSA - I'd never be able to afford three visits in the space of a week, plus medication. And we're not done yet.
All this meant that I couldn't make it to the team meal in Varsity this afternoon - which was a shame, as it was being paid for through the Team Incentives fund. I would have had to take Rowan with me, as Mam was working this afternoon, but the management were fine with that and kids are allowed in the pubs till about eight or nine in the evening - especially since the smoking ban came into force back in April. Which, frankly, has been a godsend; nights out and team meetings in the pub are now much more pleasant. The only downside is the increase in people crowding in the doorways trying to get their nicotine fix.
I did, however, manage to make it down to the bowling alley. We played two games, and I was pretty poor tonight. Mind you, I'm used to playing with the bumpers up these days! *grins* After that, most of the team headed off, so I wandered down to the cinema in the complex - the one I used to work at - to see if there were any good films on. The next one I wanted to see was not for fifty minutes, so I decided not to bother. I would also have liked to call into the Oriental Garden for some chinese, but I didn't feel like going in Billy-no-mates. So I headed down to the Tesco in Mermaid Quay to pick up Sym's food, taking a stroll down Roald Dahl Plass on the way. It's really nice after dark, and surprisingly quiet. I could hear the pontoons creaking out on the water.
Rowan's staying over his Nan's tonight. As a result I'm somewhat reluctant to go to bed - it's so damn quiet without him in the house, even when he would be in bed asleep.
The whole thing started because he'd been passing blood in his stools off and on over the last few weeks, and seemed particulary unhappy last Friday morning. As I've said before, at the grand old age of thirteen, I pay attention to his health as best I can.
So I managed to get him an appointment at the PDSA PetAid hospital down in Butetown - which involved a bus ride into the town centre, then a ten, maybe fifteen minute walk under the railway line to one of the city's worst districts. Thankfully there's an urban renewal project going on in that area, and I don't have to actually go into Butetown to get there - just the outskirts.
The initial verdict was that he's suffering from colitis, and he was put on medication and a bland diet. This was a nightmare, as I had a hard time getting him to eat anything other than baked chicken fillets. By the check-up on Wednesday, he hadn't passed any solids, so the second vet at the practise wanted me to give him rice instead of chicken, probably to give him some fibre. However, Sym was having none of this and, as a result, had eaten pretty much nothing between then and his third visit this afternoon. He had managed to find some old bits of dried cat food that had gotten under the fridge without my noticing, but this lead to him vomiting this morning. Unsurprisingly.
By the time we got him to the vet again this afternoon, he hadn't passed anything other than urine since Saturday, possibly as late as Sunday. He wasn't exactly under the weather as a result, but his back passage was looking rather uncomfortable and swollen. We were in with the second vet again, which was comforting as she was familiar with his case, and she was concerned about this, thinking perhaps he has a hernia or a prolapse. She took him out the back to examine him with the help of a nurse (probably wiser than getting me to hold him, since she came back somewhat scratched up....) and a couple of minutes after she brought him back he had a bowel movement right there on the table - you can imagine how relieved I was! She's sticking to her opinion that it could be a hernia or prolapse, and said the blood in his stools could be due to that rather than colitis. He's on antibiotics over the weekend, with a follow-up appointment on Monday evening.
He also had what I assume was a panic attack a couple of minutes later - he sat there with his mouth wide open, gasping. It was kinda frightening to see, but it only lasted maybe thirty seconds and he seemed fine. After an initial moment of worry, the vet seemed unconcerned too. I did mention the diagnosis of a heart condition, but when she had a listen for herself she couldn't hear anything abnormal - which adds fuel to my suspicion that the vet at the pet supermarket was just trying to fleece me while I was a bit daft with grief at losing Tammie.
Much to everyone's relief, the vet did say Sym could go back to eating cat food again - though the wet variety, not his usual dry diet. This normally gives him the runs, but that's what she wants for him at the moment. So I picked some up this evening and doled it out to him a little at a time; the poor love was desperately hungry, so I had to watch he didn't wolf it all down so fast he made himself sick. He seems a lot more content right now, and hopefully his next check-up will show an improvement.
I just thank god for the PDSA - I'd never be able to afford three visits in the space of a week, plus medication. And we're not done yet.
All this meant that I couldn't make it to the team meal in Varsity this afternoon - which was a shame, as it was being paid for through the Team Incentives fund. I would have had to take Rowan with me, as Mam was working this afternoon, but the management were fine with that and kids are allowed in the pubs till about eight or nine in the evening - especially since the smoking ban came into force back in April. Which, frankly, has been a godsend; nights out and team meetings in the pub are now much more pleasant. The only downside is the increase in people crowding in the doorways trying to get their nicotine fix.
I did, however, manage to make it down to the bowling alley. We played two games, and I was pretty poor tonight. Mind you, I'm used to playing with the bumpers up these days! *grins* After that, most of the team headed off, so I wandered down to the cinema in the complex - the one I used to work at - to see if there were any good films on. The next one I wanted to see was not for fifty minutes, so I decided not to bother. I would also have liked to call into the Oriental Garden for some chinese, but I didn't feel like going in Billy-no-mates. So I headed down to the Tesco in Mermaid Quay to pick up Sym's food, taking a stroll down Roald Dahl Plass on the way. It's really nice after dark, and surprisingly quiet. I could hear the pontoons creaking out on the water.
Rowan's staying over his Nan's tonight. As a result I'm somewhat reluctant to go to bed - it's so damn quiet without him in the house, even when he would be in bed asleep.
