Long Night's Journey Into Day

| posted in: life 


Nekko’s condition, after seeming to stabilize Wednesday and Thursday, started to diminish on Friday.  She stopped eating and was more and more listless through out the day.  By Saturday morning we were concerned that she wasn’t eating, and had, apparently, not moved her bowels in a couple of days.  At the recommendation of our vet we went to a near by pet store and got some natural, grain-free cat food hoping to entice Nekko to eat.  She would only sniff the food; she wasn’t interested in eating.

Thinking that the change in her condition, coupled with a change in diet, may have constipated her, we tried giving her some mineral oil.  We were out for a couple of hours in the evening and when we returned she had vomited green mucus-y stuff in a couple of places.  Some quick research seemed to indicate some problem with her bile system.  

By midnight her condition hadn’t improved at all and so we took her to the emergency hospital, the same hospital where she was diagnosed with diabetes twenty months ago.  They did some basic vitals and agreed with us that something was wrong.  Her temperature was down, and her skin tone was off.  The cost to stabilize her was far past the amount we could afford.  After consulting with the attending doctor we decided to have them inject some fluids subcutaneously, which would help to re-hydrate her.  We brought her home and spent the last few hours of the night napping on the futon and getting up to check on Nekko.

This morning she is still very listless.  She does respond when you talk to her, opening her eyes, and sometimes lifting her head.  She is still capable of moving around; once we spend some time with her in the bathroom, where she tends to gravitate, she’ll move back under the futon.  We are both thinking that she is dying, and that even something heroic wouldn’t alter that eventuality.  

I don’t know what today will bring.  For now we are going to keep her warm, and give her water, and loving attention. 

Author's profile picture

Mark H. Nichols

I am a husband, cellist, code prole, nerd, technologist, and all around good guy living and working in fly-over country. You should follow me on Mastodon.