Bob took a trip to the vet's office yesterday. We hadn't been there since November, so obviously, it had been awhile.
Over the past couple of weeks I noticed Bob was coughing off and on. Nothing serious, but certainly something I kept an eye on.
After returning from vacation this weekend I noticed Bob's cough had gotten worse and he sounded terribly congested. Plus, he just looked like he didn't feel good.
I picked him up yesterday morning to take him in. In the seven minutes I was home I managed to step on Bob's foot and then his tail while trying to put him in his travel crate. And then I almost dropped him and the crate while falling from the house into the garage. Grace, isn't my middle name.
We arrived at the vet's office 20 minutes later. By this time Bob had cried so much in the car that he was squeaking instead of meowing.
Great, I was the girl with the 20 pound, hysterical cat that sounded like a mouse. Perfect.
I signed us in and took a seat on the bench, putting Bob's crate on the floor by my feet. He started coughing, his coughs grew louder and his crate starting rocking back and forth. Mini Cujo? Perhaps.
The two other pet owners sitting in the lobby with me looked horrified. Their expressions quickly changed to annoyance the minute Bob stopped coughing and started up on the squeaks.
We're popular people, Bob and Me.
Finally, our favorite vet tech appears and whisked Bob and I back to the exam room.
Heather, the tech, loves Bob. She makes over him as if he were a celebrity. Bob, lover of all people and affection, is happy to be in Heather's arms.
Our vet arrives soon after and we begin our exam.
I explain the symptoms and express my fear, we all know is coming, congestive heart failure.
Bob has a significant murmur, it increases his changes for heart failure 10 fold. Add to that his weight problems and other health issues, it doesn't look good.
The vet agrees and gives me a grim smile.
He starts listening to Bob's heart and lungs. The whole time remarking about how much Bob purrs.
We joked that he needed an off switch.
Good news, Bob's heart sounds great, lungs sound clear.
To be safe, the vet orders a chest x-ray and blood work to ensure we haven't caught anything in the early, early stages.
He then looks at Bob's teeth and mouth and throat.
WOAH- INFLAMMATION.
It's obvious he's got a sinus infection.
Easy enough to treat, not life threatening.
However, it doesn't explain the whooping cough.
Heather takes Bob off to have his x-rays and blood work.
They return 20 minutes later.
Bob's arm is wrapped in a pink bandage. (Heather knows him well)
The vet has the x-rays.
He tells me he's discovered some interesting things about our Bob.
From back to front:
-Bob's hips and lower spine are arthritic. This we know
-Bob's right kidney is non functioning and has stones in it. Again, this we know.
-Bob's liver is deformed. Huh? Vet thinks this is no big deal, since he's 12 and shows no signs of liver issues.
- Bob's "poop shoot" is full and semi compacted. Eww! (more on this later)
-Bob's heart is perfect in size and shape. Finally, something is working the right way
-Bob's lungs are in fine working order, no fluids, no deformities. Yay!
And so, back to the "poop" shot.
The vet asks me if Bob is an obsessive licker or groomer.
As he's asking me this I see from the corner of my eye that Bob is licking the exam table.
I point to Bob who is now trying to eat a tuff of hair clinging to the floor of his crate.
I roll my eyes. The vet laughs so hard tears are rolling down his face.
Long story short. I dragged my cat 1/2 across town yesterday to discover he has a sinus infection and hair balls?
That's the best $300 I spent all week.
We returned home with some steroids, a round of antibiotics and tuna flavored laxative that's supposed to get things moving in the right direction.
Wish us luck. We're going to need it!
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