One Big Ball of Stress

I've been kind of quiet lately, mostly because I have been stressed liked a mad monkey and distracting myself with escapism reading and laundry.

Happy has not been doing all that great. Her second anal sac abscess is healing fine but either the second antibiotic shot irritated her stomach or she has pancreatitis, because last Thursday she decided to stop eating. Not only that but she was fussy (not normal-fussy but in-pain-fussy) and Friday morning she vomited up some green bile (which is really hard to get out of carpet, FYI).

She had run out of her pain medication on Wednesday, so the vet thought that might be why she wasn't eating and felt uncomfortable so they gave me a refill on that Friday morning. No help. Still not eating and more vomiting that evening. So Saturday we took a trip to the vet where Happy had some fluids and an anti-nausea shot.

Saturday and Sunday, still no eating. But at least the vomiting had stopped. And honestly, she was improving. She was a lot less lethargic and more her normal self. Just her normal self with no eating (or licking).

Yesterday, we had another vet trip to get more fluids and an appetite stimulant.

Fingers crossed but I think it has worked. Last night, after days of tempting her with practically everything kitty-friendly under the sun (tuna, different wet cat foods, milk, butter), she finally started eating her normal kibble. Yes, with tuna and canned cat food and a multitude of other options available, she went for the normal kibble. ("Here, have some chocolate." "No thanks, I think I'd prefer the brussels sprouts.")

Regardless, she is eating again and that's all I really care about. She still hasn't had a full meal, but this morning she probably got pretty close. And the appetite stimulant should work for about three days so I'm hoping that she'll be back to normal very soon.

The fact that she's eating again is a huge weight off of my mind. Yes, I would prefer her to be eating more but at least now the fear has quieted substantially. Ever since we lost Nibby, I have the fear that any little sickness will result in sudden death. I realize it is not totally rational but hey, at least a trip to the vet no longer makes me cry with worry, right?

So Happy is on the upswing and I no longer feel quite so buried under stress and worry that I want to hide from the world. I think the next battle will be getting Happy to willingly rejoin general pop. again. She's in the guest bathroom with her own litter box, a food and beverage buffet, a towel, a cuddly blanket and, in my worry, I've been spending a fair amount of time in there sitting on the floor so she can camp out in my lap. I'm going to have to be less frequent in my visits so hopefully she'll be willing to leave the bathroom in order to get parental cuddles. But if that turns out to be the biggest problem this week? I can totally deal.