The medical adventures of Mr Spike, part whatever

I've been so busy with doing the cat health thing that I haven't commented on it, so here's the update.

When we started this little adventure, the jury was split on Spike's diagnosis between lymphoma and inflammatory bowel disease. His course to date strongly indicates the latter: doesn't rule out lymphoma, but the door's open to a variety of other causes. Spike initially responded very well and very favourably to the prednisolone, applied in the outer ear twice daily.

That's the good news. As he grew stronger and put on weight, our sweet kitty (who has never liked being handled) began to register his objections with vigour. My wife had never responded well to aggressive behaviour, from two or four-legged beings. Not only did it become harder to get Spike to cooperate, it grew harder to get C to cooperate. The climax of this was an evening when she picked Spike up diffidently and carelessly, leaving herself vulnerable. Mr Nice Guy bit her, about as hard and deep as a male cat can. I suggested that she needed some topical antibiotics immediately. C resisted (sounds like the cat, eh?), with the result that the wounds became badly infected. She ended up at the local Walk-in clinic getting oral antibiotics and a good scolding.

What with all this, Spike's meds fell off from twice a day to twice a week. He began to decline quickly, indicated by a return to spectacular projectile vomiting...nearly everywhere. In itself, this is not home improvement, although the damage will likely lead to some home improvement. With my inquiring mind, I began to observe wads of plastic coming out with the puke. We went on plastic lockdown as well as returning to the proper medical regimen, to avoid adding to what seemed like a gut full of ill-gotten plastic gains. We've had to reduce his food intake, and we began to withdraw the foods that seemed to set him off more quickly. We are now delighting the local Petco by purchasing a variety of outre, and expensive, food for the sensitive kitteh tum. So far, he deals best with quail and chicken, and tonight duck is on the menu. I don't see why you can't get mouse and rat flavours: both are lean, high in protein and, obviously, the most natural of foods for cats.

All this is to be expected when one is the pet of a cat with IBD. Those who don't want health complications should either get a pet rock or a robot.

However, we take comfort in small things. We have had two days without projectile vomiting (not without vomiting: this is a cat, get real) and if we get through a third day, Mr Spike can have a few more calories. Probably not duck, though: that was not well received, and at $2 a mini-can I have a low tolerance for leftovers. By the way, the unopened food that doesn't work out goes to Friends of Marblehead's Abandoned Animals, supporters of our local no-kill shelter. Go thou and do likewise.