Wednesday, January 25, 2017

What do you do with a high strung cat who may or may not be ill?


Eli started his life as a foster with us back in 2002 when I had *no* idea what I was doing. I was told to feed them, cuddle them, play with them, and when they got sick I medicated them.


Unfortunately, Eli was very sick with calci - blisters and everything - and once again we did everything wrong in relation to medicating and socializing and as a result by the time he was healthy he was scared to death of us assuming we were going to medicate him every time we touched him because that was what he was used to. And once again I did everything wrong by assuming that leaving him alone was the best option. He spent the next 10 years running from us.

Halfway through those ten years, I learned. I attempted to help him but he resisted. I learned of Rescue Remedy and I gave it to him whenever I could and slowly he started to not run at the sight of me, which allowed him to see that I wasn't always coming at him, which slowly let him realize that my walking in his general direction wasn't my coming to get him, which slowly let him realize that I wasn't evil.

The major problem is that while he has long ago forgotten why he was running from me, he has it ingrained in his psyche that if I want him that it has to be bad. So now when I suspect that something might be amiss with him and I want to look him over he freaks right out and gets all tense and curls himself up into a ball and tries to make himself small and protect himself.

The past few days things seem to have been off with him. Both Twee and Skippy have been chasing him around the house. They will sometimes play chase, so this isn't completely unusual, but it has been happening a little more frequently. Then I found pee in the spot that Eli tends to urinate when he's uncomfortable. I immediately called the vet to schedule the dental he needs. I was hoping to do it next week when Jack's medication is over (he is on antibiotics for a runny eye) so I could report what is happening with him. But if he is uncomfortable it might be his teeth and I wasn't going to wait anymore. He is scheduled on Friday.  Then he vomited.

So, really, I'm panicking over a little urine, but since he has a history of crystals which tends to be a problem for him when he is stressed, it could be that is causing him a problem.

So I picked him up to see if he was tender in his belly and remembered this is Eli not Jack, so I did the only thing I could..


I put Eli in the guest room with a litter box and some water and a can of food, which means Muffin REALLY wants to get in that room. She and Fleurp have made a real nuisance of themselves which I'm sure is stressing Eli out even more. Muffin was even driving me nuts so I locked her up for a while too


After eight hours he has eaten but still hasn't gone pee, but that is not unusual at all. When I locked them all to collect stool samples for the KittyBiome project it took quite a while before he relaxed enough to go. If he hasn't gone by the morning I will take him directly to the vet. He'll be fine, of that I have no doubt, but I know that things like this are made worse simply because of his nature.

4am update: still no pee. Signs that he investigated the box once but not that he got in it. I had fresh litter in there and a weird box so to attempt to make him more comfortable I switched out the litter to clean but previously used litter. I opened up a third can of food which he not only ate, but willingly came out to see me to do. Encouraging signs that he will pee before sunrise... Fingers crossed

7 AM update: we have urine. He is so upset with me, so I'll be doing my best to keep an eye on him without upsetting him any further. He is seeing the vet on Friday, and I'll probably have them do a urinalysis while he is there just to be safe.

22 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear this, and I hope he's better soon! He is Wendy all over again . . .

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  2. I hope Eli is feeling better soon!

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  3. We hope Eli feels better soon.

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  4. I hope he feels better soon. Sending good thoughts.

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  5. Get well soon Eli! There's static to be enjoyed!

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  6. We hope it's nothing serious!

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  7. Poor guy. It just seems like you can't win, doesn't it? I'm going through some anxious moments with Toby right now, watching and waiting.

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  8. C'mon Eli! We are all praying for you, sweet boy.

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  9. Prayers for you and all your furkids.

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  10. this is so hard....currently having a similar issue here and it is making me nuts

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  11. Aw, Eli. You want to help them but not upset them. I hope he is feeling better soon.

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  12. I get the stress. Prayers and purrs for Eli and you. Eli's back story reminded me a lot of my Rose, although she won't let us anywhere near her. How did you administer the Rescue Remedy? We're not able to touch Rose and she's very finicky about her food, only eats dry when under a couch. She won't do wet, probably thinks we're poisoning her. I think it's time we try to RR. It sounds like it took a long time even with the RR for Eli to settle.

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  13. We're purring for Eli and hope he is okay.

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  14. :/ Praying you get a positive resolution soon.

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  15. Hoping it's just stress and nothing more serious, though stress is serious enough, in our opinions. We can relate and have taken to keeping some of that Kit4Cat hydrophobic sand in the house for just this kind of urinary tract worry (amazon).

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  16. At least you have not thrown him into the too hard basket, hope he is well

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  17. Eli dood. Ordinarily we'd oppose getting upset with Aunt Connie ... but we feel your pain. ~ Maxwell

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  18. Sorry to hear this. Hope it's not too bad. Hey Eli, get better sweet.

    Emma and Buster

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  19. Oh dear, I feel your stress. Skootch has put me through so many anxious moments, especially with litter issues, and Louie and Wilbur pick on him. I hope Eli is able to straighten out and get better!

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  20. I hope everything is okay with Eli. The kitties send their purrs.

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  21. Poor Eli. We're sending lots of purrs and prayers, and hope he's on the upswing soon!

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  22. Hoping Eli feels better soon!

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