Merrill had tummy woes really badly on Sunday

Abnormally awful from Sunday morning until 2am when she finally fell asleep

Monday she didn't eat or drink

This morning she tried to have water and couldn't keep it down

So here we are. Bloodwork is happening. Trying to determine if an ultrasound is best

The vet said she felt something in her intestines that didn't feel quite right which prompted the potential ultrasound

oh noooo baby, i hope she recovers soon from whatever's wrong

I hope so too. We just had a routine vet visit 3 weeks ago and she lost 1 lb since then. Most likely from the last 3 days

Hopefully it is just temp nausea, or a troublesome hairball

poor baby, I'm keeping her in my thoughts ;;

Thank you! We are home now. Bloodwork showed a tiiiiiny bit of inflammation, might be related to the intestine oddity. She's also on the border for hyperthyroid but not bad enough to medicate. So that's on her tracker now for her next check up

She was too squirmy to do the ultrasound

Oh baby

But hopefully being squirmy and active is a good sign?

So they gave her anti-nausea medication, some fluids. Lot's of poking and prodding. I'm not surprised she was upset by the time they got to the ultrasound portion of the visit

Oh squirmy probably was polite for "she got angy"

Ah I see

Lol that's my guess. So she's gonna get some treats in an hour once the nausea medicine fully kicks in. They gave us gabapentin to make her chill out in case by Thursday we need to do another visit and the ultrasound then

Just to help her be agreeable

The vet didn't seem extremely worried but was simultaneously encouraging the ultrasound just so we can be 100% sure everything is good (also can't check pancreas without it)

Anyway, we'll know by Thursday

oh no! i hope that everything ends up ok with her!!

Sooo she still hasn't eaten. We're going back for the ultrasound tomorrow afternoon

I'm really upset, so I don't really want to talk about the details right now. If I have more concrete answers I'll feel better, I think.

I'll just update here with what happens tomorrow

here's hoping they can figure something out for her

The appointment is now just a drop-off. I called this morning and it was agreed she'll need to be observed overnight. Taking her over in about an hour

She's really doing rough you guys. Best vibes appreciated

she's in my thoughts ;; all the good vibes I can sent her way

keeping you and your kitty in my thoughts

I dropped her off around 10, the vet called to say they are waiting for the gabapentin to kick in and then they'll do the ultrasound. The vet is pretty certain she has IBD. And we're very hopeful for that because it's an easy medicated fix. The ultrasound should help determine if it is or not so just need to wait for those results to come in

Thanks for the thoughts and vibes, I really do appreciate it.

We likely can bring her home this evening, depending on the ultrasound results

hopefully the results are the best they could be and you'll have her home tonight! and good to hear that it's something that can be easily treated

Okay 70% certain it's IBD. Ultrasound did not find any obvious cancerous tumors (thank fuuuuuuck).

She got a steroid for the IBD, more fluids, more nausea meds. But I need to give them an update tomorrow and we need to go back Saturday for another round of steroids

The steroid she got is like a 2 day quick acting thing to just get the initial inflammation down. The one on Saturday should be good for 30 days. After that, fingers crossed, we can do a pill of some kind and avoid monthly vet visits

Tentatively hopeful, it's just been such an exhausting week. She's home, resting and being more responsive than this morning

This morning was so bad, I don't really want to mention it. I don't want to see her like that ever again. It was just awful, I've never seen her so sick

So even if her recovery takes time, just anything but that is a relief

I'm so so glad to hear she's home and better than she was

Oh man, it's a relief to hear that it's most likely something that's easily treatable!

Another rough night, I've messaged the vet and am just kind of waiting on what they say. I mean, it's 6am so I'll be waiting another couple of hours. The medications can cause nausea as a side effect so I'm hoping it's just that and not back to square one with trying to figure out what's wrong

Called the vet

She needs surgery

F

Bringing her in before noon and they have permission to do whatever they need. This is all coming out of the funds meant for my MEd but she's worth it. I don't know what else to do.

oh fuck

all my love and thoughts to you and Ms Merrill

oh god.... i hope she comes out okay

poor dear

This has been such a rollercoaster

We brought her in. The vet did more ultrasound, more x-rays then a barium x-ray and they found NOTHING.

The assumption was It MUST be an obstruction, hence surgery!

And even though all of these tests showed nothing! The vet says it's not 100% certain unless they opened her up

She is in such rough shape, I can't put her through that kind of trauma without certainty. It's not fair to give a maybe after so many (expensive) tests come up blank to say, "but we won't know unless we see it" kind of deal

I told them no explorative surgeries. I just hope I'm right and that % chance we didn't find anything but still could be something is wrong

An obstruction would kill her. So no one wants to be wrong right now

She's staying with them overnight because I can't give her the care she needs. She needs injected fluids and she needs injected anti-nausea and I don't have those things for her. Could I give it? Yes. But I don't think that's an option.

I'll also just feel better if something comes up, they can react and I can't react without putting her in a carrier she hates, down a windy mountainous car ride that upsets her more

I'm getting a call from them in about an hour with an update on her condition. I'll get another call tomorrow morning to hear how she handled herself overnight. And we just have to go from there.

On Saturday she'll have been a week without food or water and I'm just hoping she can slowly come back and eat and drink after all this trauma if we just give her more time

I'll keep updating but that's where we are at

this is a roller coaster. I'm so sorry you're going through it.

The vet called, her condition is still deteriorating. It's exploratory surgery or nothing. If they find something in surgery, we can hope she recovers. If they find nothing, they don't wake her up. I call them in the morning to tell them to go ahead with the surgery or not.

I don't know what to do. I'm not ready to say good-bye and it feels like that's inevitable by now

And that's probably getting in the way of making a decision

But she's clearly suffering. She's clearly not improving. They've done everything they can think of that works for everyone else. So her case is just out of the norm and we're grasping at straws.

I just don't want to say good-bye

oh no, i'm so sorry

That’s fair, she’s your girl. It’s such a hard decision to make and this all happened so fast

oh alex

God, this is a terrible decision to make. I'm so so sorry.

For the sake of time, I'll call at 8am when they open and tell them to do the surgery. I won't get a good-bye but we've wasted enough time debating and as much as I want to see her off, whether it's tomorrow or in a few years I can't make her suffering be prolonged just so I can see her again tomorrow beforehand.

I think this is just it. I want to be hopeful they'll find something but I've been in this spot before in other ways and I just know better than that. If the universe can prove me wrong, that'd be great.

And thank you guys for being on the rollercoaster with me. I'm devastated but I appreciate the support

I don't want to sour your weekends with this but I'm glad for the warm words, I really am

You’re not souring anything. You’re our friend and we care

I'm so sorry, Alex, i know you've been through so much over the years with that cat.

i am so sorry, that's such a terrible spot to be in and so suddenly. i don't even know what to say but just second that you're not souring anything.

Called this morning, surgery will be today. The vet surgeon is moving things around to make sure it happens today. Otherwise we'd have to transfer her or wait until Monday. She doesn't have until Monday. They'll be texting me when they start

If anything comes up where I need to make a decision (discovered tumor, discovered nothing, etc.) I'll get a phone call

If they can go in and fix her up, easily get whatever is ailing her out of her system, no phone calls until it's all finished

Let's hope for no phone calls .-.

All good thoughts and love to her and you

She's in surgery now

good thoughts and prayers for you that everything works out

PANCREATITIS

We're not out of the woods yet, but there's treatment options we just have to hope she responds to it

They checked her stomach, intestines, they look okay. But the pancreas was inflamed and not happy to say the least. It is likely due to a prolonged undiagnosed case of IBD

The vet is closed Sunday so she will be home this evening and heading back on Monday. That's kind of the preliminary plan but I just want her in my arms right now

omg that's SO manageable tho like a best possible outcome (which is weird to say for pancreatitis but)

LOL I know I was like YAY PANCREATITIS on the phone with the surgeon

she'll be so happy to be back in your arms too~

oh my gosh, i'm so happy for you and her

snuggle that baby so much

She's gonna be sick of cuddles (impossible tbh)

She has stitches to recover from and pancreatitis/IBD to manage so that all sucks but thank fuck no tumors

Oh my god I feel terrible saying that's wonderful BUT

yeah this is definitely one of the best case scenarios you could have gotten here

lmao yes weird to say wonderful but I very much agree

oh my gosh i hope she responds to treatment quickly!

Henry suffered from pancreatitis some years ago and he's still around, so i hope she recovers well!

oh gosh I'm glad it's not more serious and I hope she responds to treatment

omg what a relief, im so happy for both of u

i hope it's a quick recovery!!!

Ahhh I'm so glad it was that and not a tumor!

oh thank fuck

Okay she's home. She's alert, interacting, but a little confused and weak. The vet gave me his personal number so I can update despite his day off which is extremely kind of him. But I think the whole vet offices is quite attached to her now

But he was very honest and said, she probably has 50/50 right now based on how long she's gone without food and how much recovery is needed

Can you try to tempt her with baby food?

We have syringes for food

But she's still uninterested (maybe rightfully so) with any of her usual food

So we will take it in small steps. But tonight is just rest. Tomorrow we try some syringed nutrients

Yeah

Man, you can like. Give her belly rubs until the end of time but as soon as you try to mess with her mouth or jaw it's all Tortitude

So this is hard mode and even the vet acknowledged that she is stubborn af with syringe feeding or anything mouth related

I probably won't sleep much tonight and my dad's offered to look after her so I can sleep a little. So everyone's chipping in to look after her

Right now, bright lights seem to be a discomfort so we have kind mood lighting and she's under the bed lmao

So essentially. We are to attempt syringe feeding fluids in the morning, just a little. Wait 30min - 1hr then see how that sits. Then again a little more, repeat until Monday when the vet opens again

Syringe is oral, because she needs to remember how to use her stomach (WHICH HAS STITCHES ughhhh)

Monday will be more vet visits but what happens at the vet depends on how tomorrow's feeding attempts go and her reaction

My baby looking regal af post-op She's just chilling under the bed for now and we are leaving her be for the time being. I don't wanna risk agitating anything

But from the pic you can't tell she's ill??? The shaved arm for the IV is a giveaway but sheesh cats are so hard to read

poor baby

Morning update: Syringe feeding 1 failed. But I did it really fast and she just instantly spat it up. Syringe 2 I'm going much slower. We did a little, I tried to do another round of the same syringe but she was adamantly protesting and almost spat up again. Thank goodness nothing came up though. So round 2 is just gonna be delayed an hour

Even all 4 syringes combined is not enough food for her, but it's more about getting her stomach to function again. At this point, it's just compulsion not to keep things down

The recent syringe attempt caused nausea before I even gave her anything. It's like the concept of it is causing her to be stressed and ill. But she's not eating on her own so I'm not sure what to do at this time

I've messaged the vet. And laid out several various offerings. Dry food, water, dry food soaked in water, wet food, wet food with water enough that it is more wet than food

I want to think she will come out and try something when she is ready because she has done that for water before in the last few days. But syringe seems to be causing more harm than good simply from the stress of it

Vet's message was about what I expected

He wants another update around 4

But if she doesn't stabilize overnight by some miracle, tomorrow's appointment will be a discussion on the best way to let her pass

We're just at the medical limit of what can be done for her

I'm so sorry, honey

Thank you. I think we truly did everything medically possible. So I can at least let her go knowing we did our absolute best for her. We'll see if we can arrange for a home visit rather than another trip to the vet, if she is to pass tomorrow.

I'll cross every finger and toe and eye and whatever else if we can avoid it. But I have to be realistic about the situation as well

I discussed this with the family earlier when her surgery was so uncertain, but it was agreed that if she were to pass, we would look at getting another cat right away. It's not meant to be a disservice to Merrill. No cat will ever be Merrill. But it is meant to help with the grief, and there's so much grief.

Still hoping she pulls through but that's kind of where things sit for now

I'm hoping so too. Hoping for any kind of miracle for you and her

But at least go into this remembering you did everything and she knows you love her

She is declining very quickly. We're discussing the best way to let her go. The vet office (since covid) no longer does house calls. But the vet that's been working with us has offered to skip out of work for a bit to do it himself if he can find the time tomorrow. We'll hear back tomorrow morning when the office opens at 8

i'm so sorry

at least she'll be in the comfort of her own home, and you'll both get the chance to say goodbye

Yeah, I think I really need that goodbye

I'm so sorry. I'm glad she was able to be home first

i'm so sorry, Alex. You have done so much here

I'm so sorry. You did all that you could and at least she'll be with you at the end

🫂🫂🫂

No tummy upsets overnight for the first time in 8 days which is incredible. But she still has no appetite. She did sniff food, sit next to her food offerings but decided against it. Before, she wouldn't even go near it so that's a weird but good sign. I'm being silly hopeful

Messaged the vet, we'll see what's said. I really want her to pull through I just hope these aren't false alarms and she's actually trying to turn a corner and recover

This has been so scary and awful, but thank you guys for sticking through it with me. I know it's not fun to read all this. The ups and downs have been wild and exhausting. I'll update again with any news. It might be another vet visit (good news), it might be a home visit (bad news)

Vet visit, but it's gonna be for iv fluids only. Trying to buy her an extra 24 hours

Crying sobbing hopeful I really hope this isn't too little too late

She got more IV fluids and they gave her an appetite booster (antihistamine) so she's really wobbly but she DRANK MORE WATER

SCREAMING.

I am hoping hoping hoping she keeps the water down

We have added more offerings to her food buffet, she is sniffing them, she is curious but no progress yet

FUCKING HELL. Bitch, I was planning your funeral ffs and you just get up and drink water like it's NOT A BIG DEAL fffffffffff

^ affectionate

CATS. contrary by nature

Oh, cats. I hope she decides to try some food

I'm so glad you're plurking about this instead of handling it alone.

I’m hoping for some good news as she perks up. Fingers crossed!!

fingers crossed!! her drinking water is good. it's not ideal (especially under these circumstances) but cats can go a shockingly long time without food as long as they have water. so maybe she can bounce back here...

if she's starting to drink, maybe look into making some sort of thin slurry that she can drink but also get some nutrients out of?

SHE ATE.

SHE ATE A WHOLE FOOD.

SHE ATE A WHOLE KIBBLE OF FOOD

I have all this wet food and tasty pastes and treats out and she ate the god damn boring as fuck kibble dry food

BUT SHE ATE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

FIRST TIME IN 9 WHOLE DAYS.

I started crying when I heard her crunching at the kibble

weh I'm a mess

FUCK YEAH#

Yay baby!!!!

She's clearly feeling so much better, she hopped up and stole my desk chair despite belly stitches

YESSSSSSS

good girl!

maybe she's trying that because it's 'normal' and therefore more likely to be safe

i'm crying for you out of happiness, i really hope she's making a turnaround and will pull through

ty ty I hope she can finally work toward recovering

OH THANK GOD

I KNOW ffs

She still has a ton of recovering to do. She went from 12 lbs to 9 lbs which is traumatic to say the least

But hopefully this is the corner we needed to turn and the rest of her recovery will come with time

hopefully she realizes now that food is ok again!!

omg baby!!!! strong brave baby!!!!

Omg that is the absolute best news!!! She's a lil fighter!!! If she's eating and drinking then that's such SUCH great progress!!

this bitch had to test how much you loved her, i guess

but this is good, hopefully she'll keep making progress

LOL she genuinely did. I think she must've used 2 of her 9 lives on this stunt

She's eating in small portions every so often. I think it's safe to say we are on the mend. Her personality and attachment to me is back in full force as well. She's refused to leave my lap since she started eating this afternoon

And I don't think she's stopped purring at all today. She was purring at the vet's office lol

What a booger she is

I'm so happy for you both

Thank you What a fucking ride

if she's grazing and isn't having problems keeping the food down that is surely a good sign

Yeah, definitely. They've always been on a graze diet because my schedule hasn't ever been trustworthy in the past but it's paying off a bit now because she knows how to pace herself in a way

The vet was a little worried when I said she was eating in that we want to make sure she doesn't over eat, but I know she's wise enough to understand she needs to do small portions when she can

It's just hard to convince the vet I trust her lol

Yaaaaay this is such a good sign