Bunny goes to the vet's

This morning, Bunny vomited twice. He did not look too happy after breakfast; and he vomited after half an hour. Then, he asked for food again, and vomited again. It was only after one hour that he felt well enough to ask for more food. He managed to retain his third and fourth meals for the morning.

This has gone on for too long already. It started as sporadic vomiting and it was under control. I thought it was just eating too fast or too much, or an intolerance to wet food, but in the last three days, Bunny has vomited a total of 5 times, so it's time to get a check-up.

I had been quite worried last night, reading up on pancreatitis. But one of the tell-tale symptoms of pancreatitis is the loss of appetite. Bunny still has good appetite. It's better to let a vet do the differential diagnoses.

Luckily I managed to get an appointment, so off we went to the vet's this afternoon.

Orchestra in the car.

But a real bunny at the vet's.

Bunny was so scared, he tucked his head under my arm.

But he "cooperated" fully with the vet, allowing the vet to check, take a substantial amount of blood from the leg and even had an X-Ray done.

Bunny has no fever, but a quick blood count showed he has low white blood cells. This is probably due to him being FIV+. Or he could be having an infection as well. FIV+ cats do not produce enough white blood cells to counteract infections. So the vet suggested Clavomox, an antibiotic to address possible infection. Sometimes, infections can cause inflammation which in turn cause vomiting too.

Bunny didn't seem to be in pain anywhere. He is not anaemic (red blood cells is normal) and he doesn't appear to be sickly. The vet was going to do a simple blood test on the kidneys and liver but decided it may be wiser to do a full blood profile. So blood was taken from Bunny's leg. Bunny totally cooperated and did not move or make a sound. What a good boy!

The vet then took Bunny upstairs for an X-Ray. The X-Ray did not show any obstruction in his system too. His kidneys, liver and pancreas appeared to be of normal size in the X-Ray. In other words, nothing "wrong" could be seen from the X-Ray. That's a relief, but it also did not shed any light on the vomiting. The vet thought he might see some obstruction somewhere, but there were none.

Bunny was dewormed and now, we have to wait for the blood test results tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Bunny was given an antibiotic and anti-gastric injection and this is to be followed with a course of antibiotics and anti-gastric tablets for a few days. The vet wanted to prescribe anti-vomiting medication too, but we discussed and thought it may be better to do without it and also to wait for the blood test results. The reading of the liver enzymes would be able to shed some light on whether it is pancreatitis or not. The treatment for pancreatitis is to give anti-vomiting medication and small meals throughout the day.

Since the root cause of his vomiting cannot be determined yet today, we would just go on symptomatic treatment for now with the antibiotics and anti-gastric medication.

By tomorrow afternoon, we should know more.

I really hope it's nothing serious.

Blood taken for the lab. Full blood profile will be ready tomorrow.

The vet says to give Bunny small meals throughout the day and monitor his condition.

All the procedures took some time at the clinic, but Bunny was really good through it all. He did not complain at all and allowed the vet to do whatever that was necessary. On the way back in the car, Bunny was quiet and only mewed softly. He was probably tired too.

Bunny's home, everyone!

I gave him a small secret meal of just 3 spoonfuls of wet food and waited.

In the past one week, the sound of Bunny vomiting has become a nightmare for me. My ears have somehow become sharp enough to hear that much-feared sound of a cat regurgitating food in the pantry (Bunny vomiting) from as far as the living room or the patio. It's become somewhat of a phobia, to wait for 1-2 hours for the vomiting to happen.

One hour passed...no vomiting. Phew...

Then it was meal time for everyone. Bunny had just two spoonfuls of wet food so that he wouldn't feel left out. His appetite is still good, which is a good sign.

Then, I waited....

Another hour passed...all still okay.

 Bunny sitting beside me and grooming himself.

 Two and a half hours - all okay.

It is at such times that we are reminded never to take good health for granted. Now all I'm praying for is for Bunny to stop vomiting and get back his health. And I'm thankful that the rest of the cats aren't ill. Good health (just not being sick) is really something to be thankful for.