A Heavy Heart

The past few days have continued to be an up and down roller coaster of emotions. I'm dedicated to finding a way to help Bob feel good, consistently, not just for a few hours or a day, but it's taking it's toll on my health, now, too. When Bob is sick, I feel sick with worry. Whatever is ailing him, we still do not know for certain. The candidates range from pancreatitis and/or inflamed bowel disorder affected or caused by, cancer, hyperthyroid, heartworm, bartonella, who knows what.

I do know that Bob came home on Friday night and seemed to be glad to be back. His appetite was good and he kept his food down. The next morning, I heard vomiting. I jumped out of bed to find Gracie vomiting up a hariball! Can I PLEASE get a break here?

An hour later, Bob vomited, too. A BIG, HARD, HARIBALL! I was furious! Was THIS the reason for Bob being sick all this time? $4000.00 in Vet bills for this??? Surely that is not the case!

Bob did well that day, but the next day I woke to vomiting again. I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest! This time it was Spencer vomiting up a hariball. Man, I don't know why the timing has to be like this! At least Bob kept his food down, but...

...only until 1 hour after he ate. On Sunday at 1 AM he barfed up his food. I was despondent. He continued to vomit at 2 AM and 4 AM, both times mostly just foam or a tiny bit of fur. By 10 AM that morning, Bob was hungry and ready to stuff himself again. I was surprised, but relieved. Bob only gets 1/8 c of food, 4 times a day, so he gobbled everything up and was ready for more. Big meany-me would not give him more... (to see photos and more about Bob, click link below)

Monday he was perky, he groomed himself and had his first real poop. I know, exciting! I fed him that night and hoped he would continue to keep the food down. I finally got some rest. Nice and quiet in the house until 6:20 AM. He vomited a tiny bit of foam, but was hungry and I fed him and he was fine! For the rest of the day, he did great. I even started to relax. Stupid move!

Tuesday, I gave Bob a bit more food, thinking it was okay to start giving him a bit more. He did fine. I fed him again that afternoon, then had to leave to run some errands. When I came home, I found vomit. I knew it was Bob's. He was basically acting fine and even snuck into one of the food bowls and got a small mouthful of Spencer's food. He vomited it back up, of course.

That night, Bob seemed in good spirits. We saw him roll belly up and fall asleep purring. I haven't seen him do that in a very long time. I fed him late, giving him more time to recover. I gave him a tiny bit less than 1/8 c just to be safe. He seemed a bit down by then, but did eat his food. At 5:35 AM this morning (Wednesday) Bob vomited just a tiny bit of foam. No food. He vomited again at 6:33 AM, 7:00 AM and 7:35 AM. Just tiny bits of foam. Bob seems very down in the dumps. It's been 9 hours since he last ate. I offered him food at 6:35 AM, but he didn't want it. I even put a tiny bit of tuna water on it and he walked away. I fed all the other cats and Bob just laid on the sofa, instead of dive-bombing the food bowls. He wouldn't purr. Bob always purrs.

It's 10:15 AM on Wednesday. Bob seems to have perked up again, just a bit. I lured him over to one of his favorite cat beds, by the sliding door to the deck, where rays of sunshine warm things up nicely. It's cool in the house and maybe some solar therapy might help him feel more relaxed. Nora is keeping him company. Meanwhile my own stomach churns with fear. I know this may take a long time, but I worry that we will have to put Bob on a feeding tube and do the endoscopy after all. I'm looking into ways I can finance this, if needed. Maybe I have a bit of time to prepare for this. I don't know. There are many test results still due to come in and those may guide us to understanding how to help Bob. It's all a big question mark.