She's very much a one person cat ... and I'm her person. Cat sitters almost never see her. She finds excellent hiding places. Except when she doesn't, and just becomes a kitty lump under the covers of my bed. I imagine her curled up into a ball thinking "Serenity Now! Serenity Now!"
Let's count the stressors in Delilah's life since November:
- Naomi starts packing for her move
- Naomi leaves for Syracuse for a week over Christmas
- Moving from my apartment to the house.
- Living in one room in the house
- Lots of noise in the rest of the house during the day ... for a month
- Lots of strangers in the rest of the house during the day ... for a month
- Naomi is slowly unpacking (things keep moving around)
- Naomi goes to Tahoe for 3 nights
- Naomi goes to Bloomington for a week in Feb
- Naomi returns just for a week
- Naomi goes to Syracuse for a week in Feb
- Naomi hosts a visitor for the weekend
And ... it created a horrible, horrible impaction. I noticed she was having trouble/wasn't pooping, but didn't realize how serious this was. I took her to the vet yesterday (Friday) - after asking a colleague if she thought I should. Thank goodness she said yes!!!
Delilah is a very sweet cat, and I was pleased that she was interested in exploring the exam room while we waited for the vet -- in the past, she has just cowered in her soft-sided carrier. Once the vet arrived, Delilah let the exam happen without too much fuss.
The vet guessed she was impacted and was also concerned about the weight loss (she weighed 6 pounds, after weighing 9 pounds in November -- how could I have missed this????). Her treatment plan was to give her iv fluids, give her a pain killer, xray to see how bad her colon looked, draw blood, and to deal with the impaction as indicated. Step one was to put her in one of their plastic carriers.
They told me it would be at least an hour, so I went to the nearby Trader Joe's and did some shopping. Before I got to the register, the vet called and said she had freaked out. I said I'd be right there.
Well, the in person report was this: when they went to take her out of the plastic carrier, she went berserk and bit one tech and scratched up another. So they just put her back in the plastic carrier and called me.
I was in shock - she has NEVER behaved like this. Probably in a lot of pain, making her far more short-tempered than usual. Plus all the stress from the above hasn't dissipated.
When they brought her into an exam room in the carrier, they had put a towel over it. This guy brought her in, and had a pair of forearm-covering leather gloves with him, and a syringe. He said they had to give her a shot, so I started talking to her. The fight-or-flight response earlier had prompted some evacuating of unnecessary fluids (but not the impaction), so the carrier stank, as did Delilah.
I took the towel off so Delilah could see me and then I started to open the carrier to take her out. "Don't do that!" the vet tech shouted, simultaneously with me starting to reach in to get her. Delilah hissed at me and leapt out of the carrier. There wasn't anyplace for her to go, so her leap took her about three feet up the wall, startling me. The vet tech fled the room at the first sound of Delilah's hiss - if he had a tail, it would have been between his legs. I'm surprised his flight response didn't include his body jettisoning unnecessary weight.
I was just horrified at Delilah's state of mind that she would leap up a sheer wall. Then she slid down, landed on the scale but frantically scrabbled to get further away, knocking the scale off the table. The cupboard under the exam table was open, so she immediately went in there and hid to the extent it was possible.
I felt so awful for her, but it didn't keep me from memorizing the image of her splayed against the wall, paws and claws extended, then slipping down it -- exactly like a Chuck Jones cartoon (think the cat being chased by Pepe LePew).
The vet techs are now terrified of my sweet Delilah - the two veterinarians came in the room to help me get Delilah back into my mesh carrier. We managed it without too much additional stress, and it was decided all around that we should try to treat her again the next day ... today. Unfortunately, there wasn't an opening, but one of the vets kindly agreed to treat her during her lunch hour.
Of course, Shindy, the little bitchy alpha cat, was extremely unhappy with Delilah's return. Perhaps it's the smell of the vet that remains, perhaps it was Delilah's stinky state. I posit the theory that Shindy just doesn't want Delilah to return. Period. Whatever the cause, Shindy attacked Delilah and the fur literally flew. Delilah sought refuge in my bed, so I closed the bedroom door with Shindy on the outside.
Delilah clearly felt awful and exhausted in the morning, because she didn't fight me much when I put her in the mesh carrier and took her back to the vet. I figured they would want me with her to keep her calm, but instead they had a whole new action plan of sedating her while in the mesh carrier.
xray, in which almost all of Delilah's descending colon was taken up by two very large, very hard turds. The vet said it was a really difficult job, and that Delilah would be very sore. But given her extreme weight loss, they are keeping her overnight to give her IV fluids and some pain meds.
My poor poor kitty! I feel like a horrible mother for not noticing her weight loss and changed eating/eliminating habits much sooner. She would have been spared a lot of trauma had I only been paying more attention.
I kind of figured it was bad on Thursday night when she curled right up against me on the couch. These are my first kitties, so I'm still learning the signs of distress. Basically, if either of my cats wants to be right next to me for any length of time, other then when I'm sleeping ... then it's likely a health problem. Hindsight informed me that when Shindy curls up right next to me on the couch, pushing her head into my thigh and getting totally pissed if I move ... then her teeth hurt.
I love my kitties and hope I can see the signs more quickly for future issues. Guilt reigns.
