Tale of the Taz (update)

[Systematic Chaos]

Click here for the original thread of Taz's adoption and a photo of our new expensive date....

So, we've had Taz for about 3 weeks now and she's been a total bundle of joy. After about three days, her hysterical banshee screams at the other cats when they got too close had turned into cute little quiet mumbly sounds, and after a week they were all grooming and playing together like they'd been together for life. Things started going bad recently, however. About three days ago, she vomited rather profusely, and then we began to notice that she couldn't "go" in the litter box. We gave her small doses of Milk of Magnesia, which didn't seem to help, and Jeanette put her on a harness and leash to let her go downstairs and eat grass. She took to the harness like a duck to water and didn't panic on the leash at all. Truly an amazing little critter. :)

So, today we knew there was no choice but to get her to the vet. We were going to take her anyway to make sure she was disease-free (which she is), and to see about getting her fixed. As it turns out, the poor thing has a fecal impaction that is about 3 to 4 times the diameter of a normal stool. So, the vet is going to have to sedate her and do some gentle digging in order to scoop it all out. Further up her intestines, the x-rays showed much more normal stool, and the vet is reasonably confident that this will only be a one-time occurrence. If not, he assured us that there is an inexpensive medication we can give her that will help, and we can use small amounts of mineral oil or high fiber food.

I will be calling the vet's office in a few hours, and she should be ready to come home at that time. I will post an update to let you all know her prognosis (and the damages). Just when we thought we were ahead a few hundred bucks, there goes compassion kicking us in the teeth. Oh well, I think she's worth the expense. Taz is just an absolute all-around jewel. :)

[Beaverhausen]

1. Poor little Taz

that has to be VERY uncomfortable. Hope everything works out...er...Hope she is OK!!!

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Sweet girl. Sorry she has been having such a tough time.

Hopefully this will be a one-time thing.
Good food and lots of TLC should prevent it from happening again.
:grouphug:

[IndyOp]

3. I am sorry about her current medical issue -- but

really glad to hear she is 'disease free.' I had worried a bit about that just because it is hard to give your heart to a new pet only to find out something is seriously wrong.

Regarding her current 'issue' - you might want to keep her on a hairball laxative - if they ingest a lot of fur that can be the start of a nasty compaction. :(

Laxatone is *delicious* - or so my cats told me...

[Systematic Chaos]

4. Update:

The total cost for all services, plus a run of prescription food (Hill's Prescription Diet w/d in a bag and a half dozen cans) and some fiber capsules, and a tube of Laxatone, came to just under $400. They had to sedate her and evacuate her bowel, but she is home now and other than being a little wobbly from the procedure and the sedation she's acting normal, and used the litter box with no difficulty. And yes, I checked online and the price they charged us for the prescription food is comparable to places like petmeds.com. The good news is that even after that we're not completely broke, and in the unlikely event that we have to bring her back a repeat visit won't cost that much. They'll probably just give us a prescription to aid the colon muscle, but apparently it's not an expensive drug. We believe that this all came about because the poor thing ate almost constantly for the first few days she was here, but since then her eating patterns have normalized with the realization that we're gonna keep feeding her. :)

[IndyOp]

5. She ate constantly the first few days she was with you --

That sounds pretty typical for strays who've just found a home. ;-)

My chocolate lab mix (who weighs around 50+ pounds) now eats about 3 cups of dog food and treats daily (two meals per day). When he first arrived I wound up feeding him 4 times a day; about 1.5 - 2 cups per day --> almost 8 cups of dog food a day!! He would sit by his crate where he was fed and cry with anxiety, so I fed him. I dropped the meals down to 3 a day and then to 2 a day a few weeks in. He was thin and needed to gain weight, but even more importantly he needed to know I was gonna keep feeding him. :-)

[Beaverhausen]

6. So glad everything is OK

:hug:

[China_cat]

7. One word

Pumpkin. Canned. Not the pie filling with sugar, eggs, milk, etc added, just the plain pumpkin. Works like a charm and the best part is you don't have to wear your chain mail to get it into them. Haven't had a cat yet that didn't love it.

[CountAllVotes]

8. wow, that is interesting!

I'll have to keep that in mind as I have one very old cat and other younger one. Both are doing well, but you never know.

And Gentle Giant, I'm so glad your cat is doing better now. It might take awhile for total health to emerge but I hope it happens soon.

It is just amazing what a little love, care and good food will do for one of our friends! :D

:kick: