Poor Lil Keekster
Posted Fri, 01/11/13
Kiki had a trip to the animal clinic yesterday, complete with a car ride in her "pet escort" (aka carrier).
A few months ago Kiki started sneezing intermittently, and then I noticed she was "snorting" a bit during the day. When she bent her head down or tried to twist into an otherwise odd-to-us-but-normal-to-cats position, little "piggy" sounds came from inside her chest. At night, she sounded like a drunken sailor with asthma as she slept so I knew something was up. I ran a humidifier and then an air cleaner for a few weeks, then took away the only relatively new food item in her diet (Creamy Dairy-flavored crunchies from Temptations) to eliminate the notion of an allergy. None of the above rectified her condition. It didn't get worse, but it didn't get any better, either. She was normal in all other aspects - her regular breathing was normal, her appetite was normal and her litter box rituals were also normal. She didn't act sick in any sense apart from the "piggy" sounds coming from her chest.
Yesterday morning, I finally took her to the animal clinic where the doctor diagnosed her with a respiratory/sinus infection. He said her lungs and throat were clear, but that I should give her a good dose of antibiotics over the next twenty days. Kiki behaved with atypical restraint during the examination, but when the doctor bent her head back to look down her throat she gave him a good hiss and threatening glare.
Giving Kiki the antibiotic medicine garnered much the same reaction. She gets one dose a day through a small plastic syringe. I held her on my lap and then sort of shot the dose down her throat. When I let her go, she went to the end of the bed and sat with her back on me. When I reached out to pet her on top of the head, she turned around and took a swipe at me. She also gave me a furious, gurgled-hiss.
Taking one's pet to the animal clinic these days is more expensive than carting yourself to the doctor. The office visit was a flat $47.50, while the liquid antibiotic (Orbax) came to $48.40. Nearly a hundred dollars in one swoop, and all before noon.
But my darling girl is worth it, as is her "sister" Rainee.
*POSTSCRIPT 01/15/13: Kiki is on her 6th day of meds; she is doing much better. No more little "piggy" snorts, but I still plan to give her the full 20-day dose.
Tags: Kiki; Photos & Other Images