Kitty ER

Yeah, so around 8pm last nite, I decide I want to cuddle with Lestat. She has three main hangouts: the chair in the front hall, a chair in my mom's room, or in the middle of the bed I sleep on. I track her down in my mom's room and carry her back to the couch to get ready for an all new episode of Degrassi (Shut up, I love that show). After about 10 minutes, she freaks out and scratches the shit out of my arm and chest trying to jump off the couch. Very unlike her, she usually will lay with you as long as you want her to. I don't think in five years she's ever scratched or fought to get away.

She goes into the dining room and starts meowing her head off, I immediately blame Roux and yell at her, but Roux comes in the room and Lestat is still screaming. Mom and I jump up and enter the room just in time to see her fall over and miserably attempt to stand up serveral times before mom carries her to her water bowl. She doesn't want any.

She's staggering and bobbing her head and can't stay on her feet for more than two uneasy steps. Goo goes to find the vet's emergency pgr number, while I try to talk sweetly to the cat to calm her down. I realize that she can't see me. Her eyes are darting back and forth. She tries to walk again, this time against the wall, but she's almost ramming herself into the wall and panting heavily. Then I smelled it. She shat herself. This is a very sick cat. Freaked me out.

The vet finally calls back and he's out of town, but thinks we need to take Stat to an Emergency Animal Clinic right away. So, Goo and I find Fred's old pet taxi and get ready to take her in.


Anyway...the pet ER is no fun. You can feel it before you even get inside, all the cars in the parking lot are crooked, taking up two spaces, lights left on, etc. Worse than the parking jobs I've seen at human ERs. Seriously. I started thinking how depressing it would be to work there. You're not going to give Fluffy her annual shots or Fido heartworm pills and send them cute little postcards when it's time to schedule a new appointment. You're only going to see Fluffy and Fido if they're dying.

It took about an hour and a half before anyone even came to examine poor Stattler (we did discover she weighs just over 16 and a half pounds) and they think she has Vestibular Disease. And a neurological condition called Ataxia which was causing her to fall, and Nystagmus which is casing her eyes to jitter.

She seems better today that last nite... she still can't walk or even really stand. But she's more responsive and the movement in her eyes has slowed down. She won't eat or drink, so I've been forcing water down her throat with a dropper and bribing her with tuna. Wasted a few pills that she vomitted right back up, but the try seems to want to stay down.
Poor kitty.