Darwin is Back!

I got a call from the vet this morning, and I was expecting to be told what was discovered during Darwin's surgery, but instead was told that she had eaten most of her food, used the bathroom, and was up at the front of her cage, waiting to go home. So I went to go get her! Of course, we still don't know about what was stuck inside her, and if she continues getting sick we will have to bring her back, and they will do the surgery. I was also given some special wet food to  feed her for the next several days, to help her digestion, but otherwise no medication. She has been home since about nine this morning, and has been eating and acting pretty normal, though grumbling and hissing at Huxley more than usual (I don't know why she decided she didn't like him once we moved here), and drooling occasionally. I've been trying to clean up her backside without her getting too upset, but we may have to attempt a bath this evening, as she is not the most sweet-smelling cat at the moment. The vet will call to check in tomorrow morning; hopefully we won't see any signs of trouble. But for now she is curled on my lap, napping with her head in my arm.

 not gonna put it away just yet...

Update on Darwin

Hux smells his sister on my shirt...

We just got back from visiting D at the vet hospital. The doctor, Dr. Gudgel, was really nice and let us come visit after our phone call, even though they are closed on Sunday. It was wonderful to see her, but sad seeing her in such a sickened state with an IV in her shaved leg. She was a bit of a mess from having an enema in the morning and throwing up again, but she was very happy to see us and I didn't mind one bit having to change my shirt afterwards (also Hux went crazy when I got home; he definitely smelled his sis all over me). The vet is going to see how she is in the morning, but as of now his plan is to do an exploratory surgery early in the morning, to see what exactly that "something" inside of her is. It is staying in one spot, and he said it could be a tumor, inflamed lymph, or a foreign object, but from any scans they can't tell. Whatever it is, she hasn't really been eating still. She is a tough little kitty though, and aside from being sad to be stuck at the vet and not at home with us, she seemed to be doing alright, still alert and strong. It made me feel better being able to see her. Hopefully we can bring her home soon, healthy and happy. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and concern!

Sick Kitty

resting after a trip to the vet and a bunch of shots

Poor little Darwin is sick. She threw up Wednesday morning once, and was fine the rest of the day. Thursday early morning she was throwing up more, didn't eat or drink much through the day, and was sick again in the afternoon. Luckily Kyle got home from work early, a bit after three, so we were able to get her to the Temple Veterinary Hospital yesterday. She had a fever and the vet felt something hard in her intestines; maybe she had swallowed something she wasn't supposed to (though that is more like something Hux would do). As it was later in the day, he couldn't do an X-ray then, but gave her three shots (antibiotics, one for the fever, one for the vomiting) and instructed we bring her back in the morning for the X-ray. We got her home and she started drooling like crazy (like a slobbery saint bernard or something). She seemed confused herself, swatting at her drool, whiskers and nose soaked, dripping on everything (sorry for the visual). So I called the vet to check she wasn't reacting poorly to the medicine or anything. He said it was just her vomiting working its way out and the medicine kicking in. She stopped after a while, and ate and drank a little. Poor sweet D.

a little bit scared at the vet

Today I took her in to the vet at 8am for the X-ray. I was expecting them to call after a few hours at most, as I was pretty sure they said it'd be a few hours, but fast forward to 4 in the afternoon and I still hadn't heard anything (and been resisting the urge to call them since about 1). So I called and was told that the vet hadn't even looked at her X-ray yet. ... The vet called back half an hour later. To summarize: the X-ray didn't give any answers as to what might be causing the block in her intestine, they did something called a barium swallow that is therapeutic and like pepto bismol and found that there is an area in the intestine it is not passing through, they had a crazy day are going to keep her overnight and X-ray again in the morning and see if anything has changed, and go from there. She doesn't get any food tonight in case they have to explore or do surgery tomorrow. I said OK a bunch of times and then I cried. I do not like this.