Last Saturday morning was a worrisome time in the house of Spice the wonder-cat. He wouldn’t eat or move and our social little critter wasn’t interested in us. The vet’s office got us in for 10:40 am and although my brother-in-law was here to assist, I had no trouble pouring our beloved feline into his carrier. He had no fight in him.Â
Everyone in the vet’s office loves Spice. I’m sure they love most of the animals they care for – a pretty important quality in Veterinarians. He usually hates getting picked up but he let me hold him like a burping baby and then submitted to a physical, purring the entire time. Spice has always had a rattly purr. We call it his rusty purr. But Derek had detected something more in his breathing. The vet couldn’t listen to his heart and lungs because he purred so loudly so she decided to take him away from me to see if he would stop.
“That won’t work!” I said with a smile. “If there’s a human nearby, he’ll keep purring.” Spice proved me right. She had to swab a bit of alcohol under his nose to make him quiet down so she could ascertain that his lungs were clear and his heart was strong. The new sound was coming from his throat. The likely cause: an upper respiratory tract infection contracted last week by the stress of us having to clear out of the house for 4 hours while a pest control company sprayed for carpenter ants. We had an invasion mostly limited to my office-studio and the day we went out was supposed to be a milder one. The night before, another cold weather warning was issued. I did my best to keep him sheltered during the brief time we were outside but he’s an indoor cat and it must have been a shock for him. We suppose that’s what made him sick. (The vet says it could also be a latent virus he’s had for a long time.)
Although she diagnosed the problem, the vet still asked me to consider a $250 X-ray. She even said that it would only confirm what she already believes is true.
“What would you do if it was your cat?”, I asked.
“I think I’d take the medication and see how he was over the next couple of days.”
Bingo. If she had been uncertain or thought he had a serious problem I wouldn’t have hesitated. It just seemed like overkill.
Back at home, as I took our lad out of the car his carrying case suddenly unlatched and Spice went briefly airborne before landing in a snowbank. I couldn’t believe it! I picked him up and brushed the snow off his legs, scurrying into the house where I checked him over. He was fine. He ran downstairs for a minute and then came back up and made a beeline for his food bowl. Maybe he’s part polar bear? After a long sleep he was his old self, playful, hungry and social. What a strange day.
Spice is 14. He eats kitty fast food because that’s what he was raised on by previous owners. We’ve tried to feed him better food and he simply turns up his nose and walks away. He has to eat, so burgers and fries it is. When we adopted him more than 2 years ago he was the only adult in the whole shelter. He needed us and we needed him. So we’re grateful for every day and on Saturday we were relieved that he didn’t have anything worse.