Kitty Update

Ripley finished his week of antibiotics and ear drops on a Sunday and was generally acting better. Then he started sneezing. Constant, repetitive sneezing. On Tuesday morning, it was enough that I called to take him in to see the vet but neither doctor was available that day at our regular office. They suggested trying the other office in their practice if we felt it couldn't wait so we decided to make an appointment for Wednesday and keep monitoring him.

When Mike checked him at lunch, he was sleeping under the bed. Six hours later when I returned from work, he was still under the bed. I pulled him out and his breathing was very shallow and he felt warm. Mike decided to take him to the other vet that night (I couldn't go because I had something else going on that couldn't be rescheduled). Turns out he had a fever of 104° and was dehydrated. They gave him a show of anti-inflammatory and some fluids as well as another 10 days of antibiotic pills (great).

Wednesday, I took him back to our vet and his temperature was back to normal. They gave him a shot of benadryl and a dose of Revolution in case that might clear up what he had going on. At this point, his sneezing has lessened, though he's still doing it occasionally. Overall, he seems to be back to normal.

However...

Starting Friday night, Tasha started sneezing. Guess she caught Ripley's cold. I tried to deny it, but as soon as Mike got home Saturday night from his trip to Baltimore, it was the first thing he asked about. By this morning, she was sneezing constantly, wheezing, and just sitting on the bed with her mouth hanging open. She also refused to eat. Fearing another fever, Mike took her in for an appointment of her own. No fever, which is good news. She was too sick to even fight with the vet - her chart has special notes in I'm sure about how uncooperative she is.

So now we have two sneezy cats that need pills each day. And one heck of a vet bill. Let's hope all the kitties feel better soon.

Never wear anything that panics the cat. -P.J. O'Rourke