Scare Tactics

Only eight days after Revelly crossed the Rainbow Bridge, I got another awful scare. Pawscar Awesome, my orange polydactyl “michikitty” (for the shape of his front paws), refused to eat his supper and his breakfast the next morning. He was not as active or as talkative (is “howlative” a word?) as usual either. These symptoms were eerily similar to the ones Revelly displayed before her final hospitalization.

I was due at my Wayne State job Monday afternoon, but managed to squeeze in what turned out to be a rather lengthy visit to the vet before I drove to Detroit. Pawscar was dehydrated, and an x-ray revealed that he was also constipated. Dr. C. admitted him to the hospital for IV fluids and an enema. She ran some bloodwork, which hinted at the possibility of pancreatitis and low potassium. Neither of these turned out to be what ailed Pawscar. In fact, nothing in the testing revealed a definitive cause for his dehydration or constipation.

Pawscar Awesome
Pawscar Awesome in the Hospital

Dr. C. let me take Pawscar home today. I am grateful that he seems better and is acting more like his usual self. A nagging concern remains: if we do not know what caused his problems this time, how can I feel any measure of confidence that they will not recur.

Scare produces prayer (or at least, it should).