Tabs is vomiting again

The morning started with Tabs getting quite upset that Cow had taken over her editor's chair.

That's what the Cow Family does - they take over other people's territory, even if it is just a chair.

Well, it's not just a chair. It's a chair where Tabs feels safe in Bunny's Place. It's the ONLY place in Bunny's Place where Tabs would feel safe.

So, Tabs was pretty upset about it.

Luckily she could still sleep at the Penthouse.

By mid-morning, I heard the sound of cat vomiting.

It was Tabs. Luckily I was at home (we are having a study break for 4 days).

Tabs vomited twice (consecutively) and it was food plus two big blobs of hairball. Look at the size of the hairballs!

I don't know whether it is due to the virgin coconut oil yesterday or the wheatgrass that I had given this morning, but I was "glad" that the hairball came out and I thought all would be well.

But to play it safe, I quickly gave her Laxatone.

After about half an hour, she vomited again. This time it was all liquid.

Oh, this is not looking right, I thought, but maybe it's still due to the hairball so I decided to wait a bit and not push the panic button yet. I gave Tabs Vetri DMG.

When I came home (with the canvas bag) at about 4pm, it was dinner time. I saw vomit on the table and the vomit had hairball, but it was of a much smaller size. I figured this must be Pole's or Cleo's as only they monopolise my table.

Everyone had dinner but Tabs did not come to the pantry. I found her sitting in a basket looking extremely miserable.

I offered her food but she ran away and hid under the yellow plastic chair.

That's it. We are going to the vet's. Not eating is never good. Ever.

I called the vet and he had two surgeries lined up and would not be free until past 6pm. We could go and wait, the vet assistant said. I was in two minds if I should just bring her to another vet, but that wouldn't be wise at all. This was the vet who correctly diagnosed Tabs' previous illness (which became so serious because one of the earlier vets told me he saw hair in the X-Ray when hair could not even be seen in an X-Ray). So, no, traffic jam or not, long waiting period or not, we are going to the vet who attended to Tabs previously.

So, we made our journey there. The traffic wasn't as bad and I'm glad I could remember the road there.

We waited for two and a half hours. That's when the canvas bag bids came in and I updated them with my phone.

Tabs has a fever of 39.78 degrees, which is low-grade fever. The vet palpated her and thought he sensed her showing some discomfort in the kidney area so he wanted to check her urea (from an ear-prick blood test). Tabs' blood smear also showed the presence of band cells.

Again??

Oh no, it sounds like the same symptoms as before. Those band cells indicate an acute infection. Band cells are immature white blood cells, produced to fight off infection because the body's white blood cells aren't sufficient.

The vet said that if Tabs had a fever above 40 degrees coupled with the presence of these band cells, he would recommend that she be put on drips, but since her fever was low-grade, he would instead give her an antibiotic jab (Clavomox) and an anti-vomiting jab and we could go home for now. But we would have to go back tomorrow for a check-up. A full blood profile or an X-Ray aren't necessary yet. It could be pancreatitis (again?) or an infection like before. I asked why Tabs had not developed immunity from this pathogen if she had it the last time. The vet said if it's a virus, she would have, but if it's a bacteria, she might not.

Dratted bacteria!!

Tabs' urea reading came up normal, so that's a relief. It's not her kidneys. Phew...!

Tabs would have to be on an ID diet (no-fat diet).

So we made the long journey home. "Long" only because it was pitch-dark by then and I had forgotten how to get home. Sobs... You'd only understand this problem if you are a dyslexic mathematician. It happens, folks. You can't have everything in life.

We got a little lost... Puchong roads are tricky, you know.

But we found our way home...eventually.

Here's Tabs back home.

Hey, she's got appetite!

Oh yay! Tabs is eating on her own.

Yay!!

Heidi watched from her stove area.

Heidi has got what she had wanted right from the start when she first came - she just wanted to be a kitchen-cat.

That's Mr Zurik asking why he doesn't get any ID.

He stays in the house these days. He kind of just made himself at home...

Tabs' friends were all very concerned too.

That's Indy and Tiger watching her.

Down, Mr Zurik, down!!

Here's the difference between a Dame and a.... солдат.

Tabs ate almost a third of the can.

I was supposed to force-feed her small amounts at 2-hour intervals, but looks like she had eaten more than that, in fact, enough for the whole night, I would say.

I suppose this is really a good sign.

I did ask the vet if the stress at the clinic could have caused the elevated temperature. The vet said that was unlikely and moreover, she had those band cells which indicated an infection had set in. She definitely has something. We can only hope that early detection and antibiotics can arrest it before it gets severe (like the last time). It's also not that I did not send her to the vet early enough the last time. It was because she was incorrectly diagnosed as just having hairball and nothing else. The last time there was just vomiting, but no hairball.

Isn't it strange that this time, she started by vomiting hairball, yet she actually has an infection?

Tabs has her editor's chair again.

But Cow attacked her. Poor girl.

Cow seems bent on monopolising the editor's chair.

Luckily Tabs can still sleep in this basket and none of the Cow Family members will wrestle it from her.

So far, Tabs has not vomited so that's good. I hope her fever clears tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

And oh, another good sign is, she's got a ravenous appetite. Even after eating a third of the can of ID, she wanted to eat with the rest of the gang at the patio, so I just gave her a wee bit of food.

Being able to eat is a sign of prosperity - that's a Chinese saying.