I don't know what to do. Tea is pretty sick. I took her to the vet on Friday and was told that she has jaundice and is dehydrated and probably has some problem with her liver. They wanted to keep her in the hospital and put her on IV and take X-rays and do other tests and well, it was just all too much. She actually ate some food while at the vet, so that was encouraging. I had them do a blood test and took her home with some prescriptive food and some pills to see if she would improve.
All weekend Dean and I forced water down her a few times a day, gave her the pills to boost her appetite and the antibiotics, tried to tempt her with all kinds of food with partial success, and I prayed a lot. She hates the pills and one of my first attempts to give her one resulted in her frothing at the mouth a bit, twitching and running wildly into the other room, and throwing up all the water we just got into her (and the pill). Very hard to watch. Yesterday she had a fever and was very listless. She still refuses to drink, but does eat intermittently. Today she ate some cat treats and a tablespoon of tuna. She even peed in the litter yesterday - yay! But all in all, I don't think she is getting much better.
So this afternoon, I will pack her up and take her to the pet hospital to be put on IV. We don't know exactly what the problem is, and the blood test came back quite normal, except for one liver marker, so that's good. But she has to start eating and drinking or she will die, and I cannot make that happen at home despite my best efforts, so before she deteriorates any further, I am taking action.
Sometimes it is hard for me to admit that I cannot make things better myself. Sometimes I still make decisions based on how much it will cost instead of what is the best choice. Sometimes I get cynical and cold-hearted and just want to move on without fighting to save something/one, just because it costs me less emotionally. I am trying to change those things.
Sometimes I don't know what to do, so I pray, ask some good friends for advice, and then take the best course of action that I can figure out. That is what I am doing today.
I just selected the next book for our book club. It is called: The Gift Nobody Wants by Dr. Paul Brand and is all about pain and its purpose. Kind of timely for me to read again, I think.
This is a photo of Tea sleeping in our bed in the house in St. Lazare a few years ago.
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