Keeping a Watchful Eye

[Tambrey]

My Gypsy is 15 adn really showing her age...this last week she suddenly went downhill and I thought sure I would loose her!!

She does have a URI and bad tooth, but until we get infection cleared up, and she gains some strength, I cannot even risk getting the tooth pulled...she is on Clavamox (liquid) and fights it to the hilt!!...Hopefully we can get her in next week for a follow-up and get that tooth out of there...but she needs to be a bit stronger before I will be comfortable letting her be put under for that...and I do not think they want to attempt a local!

Since I have been offering her canned food, or cooked eggs or pretty much whatever she would eat, she is looking better...brighter eyes and more movement physically...lastnight I came home to her GONE...Mom and I searched the house for over an hour, moved furniture...I took everything out of the entertainment center and crawled in through the bottom doors to look behind....finally my son said that out bedroom door had been open when he got home, so he just pulled it shut...we looked in there and she was in my husband's closet...
Now this is NOT an easy task for her....from where she has been sleeping in the dining room, it is through 2 rooms downstairs...into the entry hall...upo 16 stairs....down the hall and into our room...then his closet is actually a metal wardrobe that is on top of a 3 drawer dresser!!

Today she drank a little bit of KMR formula, and ate some C/D canned food...but she was more interested in the formula!! I did mix some Science Diet seafood entree with the CD, hoping maybe that would entice her a bit more, and it did, but she did not eat alot of it....oh well...I will keep offering even a spoonful every couple of hours and see how she does...

She was just out at the water dish and drank alot...she is still drinking quite well...hydrated good...
and right now, she is giving herself a bath!!!...something she has not done in a few days either!!!!

Another reason I really thought I was going to lose her is that a few nights ago, the others gathered around and she was just sooo lethargic...I cried myself to sleep finally around 2:00am that night....
here is a few pics from them...









and as I was submitting this, she came to sit on my lap and is purrring and not just flopping down...she is sitting in my lap with her head up even!!!....again, something she has not wanted to do...and she is my lap kitty!!

[Traci]

When was she seen and the antibiotics prescribed?

Are you sure this isn't a URI but rather an abcessed tooth? These do in fact resemble the symptoms and can be mistaken for a URI...if she has an abcessed tooth, I don't have to tell you how excrutiatingly painful that is, maybe you should have her seen again and checked tomorrow instead of next week. If she's painful, she may stop eating, completely, you can't risk that.

Photobucket isn't loading at the moment.

[Tambrey]

hhmmm....my pics loaded find....

she was at the vet Tuesday and got on the Clavamox...there is no abcess showing, but a dark fang that is most likely the culprit of the tooth pain...

but I got to thinking after I typed that she has also been drooling more...

However, since she has been on the Clavamox and is eating a bit more...I am not so worried at the moment about her...
she is standing and walking more...wanting to love up more...

so yes...it could be the tooth starting an infection, rather than URI...but it does not look to the point of an abcess yet...

she will not eat kibble, but she will lick at, almost ravenously, canned food, or as I said, a soft boiled egg or she ate a few pieces of cooked hamburger lastnight...she does not eat alot at one time, but eats greedily for the few minutes she does eat...so I am just making sure she is offered lots of small meals throughout the day....

[Tambrey]

when I was putting dry kibble in the bowls in the kitchen...Gypsy appeared and looked ready to eat, so I put a teaspoon of C/D and a teaspoon of seafood entree in a dish and slightly nuked it (since it had been in the fridge) and then added a good splash of KMR and heated it a few more seconds...most all of it is gone...this is quite a bit compared to what she had been eating...

Now she is busy cleaning her face

WOW....my old girl might be with me a bit longer!!

[Tambrey]

Even better today...when I went to the kitchen to put food in dishes...I always make sure they each have enough for a cat and are kept semi-full at least and they free feed...

anyways....Gypsy was right there with the rest of them, waiting for hers...she is getting spoiled eating canned food with KMR on my desk
I put a good heaping spoonful of the C/D and also of SD seafood entree and warmed that, mixing it together...then added a generous helping of KMR and nuked it a few seconds more...

she jumped up onto the desk...yesterday she tried and could not quite make it...and wolfed it all down...she is gaining a bit more weight again too and when I hold her, she grips onto my shoulder rather than just being a limp rag in my arms...

We still need to see about the tooth/teeth next week...hopefully she will be better and strong enough to do it...

[Traci]

If she's only eating KMR and canned, that's a pretty good indication her mouth hurts and could very well have an abcess. The antibiotics may help that and may help reduce inflammation, but they may not be enough. Do keep an eagle eye on her, in the event this may be only part of something else going on too. (since she's 15, she might have something else going on). If she isn't eating enough or worsens, don't hesitate to get her in to your vet immediately for additional treatment/pain medication etc.

Btw, photobucket's server is hanging, the imaging parts of the server are not connecting. I noticed a few avatars/images here hosted on photobucket aren't appearing (your's, silvrwhisprs', etc).

[DeVon]

Tambrey, sorry I'm just seeing this, but adding my prayers for your sweet Gypsy!!!!!!

[Tambrey]

Thanks Traci and DeVon...

Traci....would we not need to clear up infection, even from an abcessed tooth, before surgery could be done?

I am checking in from work so might not be on much today

[JUDY S]

I'm so glad to hear that she is doing better. I'm sending prayers that she will be with you for a while longer yet.

[Traci]

Ideally, yes, but if the infection is so severe that antibiotics aren't enough, it may need removal sooner. Didn't the vet tell you if this was abcessed or not?