Aroara's saga continues...update #77(with graphic picture)

[Moesha]

So I had her in the bathroom with the vaporizer last night. I didn't let it run all night though. Just for a few hours. I was afraid the air would get too heavy for her to breathe. It is a small bathroom. The bottom of the bathroom door must have swelled a little because it sure didn't want to close. She didn't eat last night, and I can't get her to eat anything at all today. I've tried all kinds of tempting things. She won't have any of it. I can hear her breathing sometimes now when I am in there with her. I did mix up a dehydration mixture, and I'm going to syringe some into her when my mother gets here to help me hold her. Last night I just had the steam going, today I just turned it back on with a little of the medication stuff in the dish. Is that ok for cats? I'm at my wits end. I hate seeing her feeling so poorly! This was already going to be a horrific week. Now it just got busier. My SIL called earlier this afternoon asking if I was doing anything tomorrow that I absolutely couldn't change. So now I have to go with her to Nashville tomorrow. She has to take her two girls to the dentist. The 8 year old has to have 2 teeth pulled and the 6 year old is getting 3 cavities filled. They don't know it yet though. I am going to have to call the vet right at 8 in the morning and see if they want me to bring Aroara in or if they just want to try a different antibiotic. I hope they want to see her. She'll probably need some fluids if I can't get much into her tonight. I'll have to drop her off and let my mom take care of picking her up and getting her back home. Because after the all day trip to Nashville I have a house and a doctor's office to clean. Can I switch places with someone?

[Emeraldgreen]

Oh no, it sounds like she is only getting worse. If I were you, I'd just show up at the vet clinic as soon as you can and I'm sure they will take her in and get her started on fluids and stuff. The longer she goes without eating or drinking, the harder her recovery is going to be.
Is the clinic open today? If not, the 8:00 in the morning time sounds like the next best thing, unless you know of another vet that is open today.
Once she is in your vet's care, they will be able to take her temp and get her fluids and try different drugs etc.. and you won't have to worry as much if she was at home in your bathroom while you are helping your SIL. You have been trying so hard to help her but she may need some more serious attention that the vet and staff can administer.
Sounds like this is your plan anyway but I think you would be better off just showing up because that way they won't schedule you a time that won't work with your time to meet up with your SIL. It shouldn't be a problem for them to take her in and work on her (exam, tests etc..) when they have an opening later in the day. If she is in really rough shape by then, they'll treat asap!
Please keep us updated. I hope she will take a turn for the better very soon.

[Moesha]

They aren't open today. The only other option is an ER vet about an hour away. I live in a very small town and everyone at the vet knows me. I just have to call and say, "Hi, this is Moe...blah blah" and they know who I am. I have thought about getting there at 8. They'll let me leave her there all day. On Friday when I called they said I could bring her up and leave her and that they'd look at her when they could get to her. As it turned out, the vet was in at 9 and he was able to check her out then. But I couldn't bring her back home at that time, so they let me leave her there until I was able to get her home. My mom has gotten here now, so I'm going to try the rehydration mixture now.

[Moesha]

I keep updating this thread mostly for myself. So this way I will have a written record of things that I can tell the vet tomorrow.

In the last 3 hours, I've been able to get a little more than an ounce of rehydration water in her. I also smashed up half of a Lysine tablet and mixed part of that with some of the water also. She had a little runny nose. She showed a little more interest in her food after getting some fluids in her. She may have eaten a couple pieces of food. She at least licked them. LOL Her ears and paws don't feel warm to me, but I think she has enough of her grumpy attitude that I'm not going to attempt taking her temperature with a regular thermometer. We're under 12 hours until she'll be back at the vet's office now!

[jennielynn1970]

How is sweet Aroara today??

[Moesha]

I guess "hospitalized" isn't quite the right word, since we don't have an animal hospital but she's still at the vet's office. I took Aroara in to the vet at 8:15 and left her due to my crazy schedule for the day. My mom stopped in at 3 to check on her. Her temperature was elevated when I brought her in, so they changed the antibiotic. They decided to keep her overnight and see if her fever is down tomorrow. She got fluids, and they said she still wasn't eating. Today one side of her face, the right side, looked swollen. I mentioned that to them. They said that her eye was swollen. The found one very tiny spot near her eye but aren't sure what caused it. Maybe a swat from one of the others, or they mentioned a tick. She is on Frontline Plus because of the increase in ticks this year, so I don't know if that is what the spot is from or not. Basically we just don't know what's wrong. I hope that the new antibiotic will help.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Poor Aroara. Maybe she was allergic to the antibiotic that she was taking and this caused her face to become swollen. I sure hope that she'll recover quickly and that whatever she has can be easily treated. Lots of prayers and positive thoughts are being sent her way.

[Moesha]

Aroara got home about noon. They called me to say they were kicking her out because they thought she was "feeling pretty darned good". That was their way of telling me they got to see the "roar" part of her name. When she wants something she tells you. And she definitely didn't want to be in that cage. Now she doesn't want to be inside. She has to take 1/2 a orbax (I think it is) each day for a week. She ate as soon as she got home. I had to immediately leave again and just returned. She has reddness by her ear and the side of her face is swelling again. I don't know if he lanced it or not actually. He just said that if it puffed back up to let him know. So I don't know if the reddness is from something he did or not. I got there just before they were closing today and they just told me about the medicines and that she was feeling much better. Guess I'll have to be making a phone call tomorrow. She may have gotten bitten by something to have caused this whole thing. We just don't know. My mom may have to take her back for me. I have to be at a cleaning job at 7:30 in the morning, before the vet opens. At least she is feeling better. But I sure don't like the thought of her being alone this weekend. But she will be miserable if she has to be in a cage. And if it's a cage at the vet's office she will be all alone for the weekend. I'll have to see what happens with them tomorrow and if I should try to board her. She will squawk the entire time she is in that cage though. I'll come back and she will have larengitis on top of everything else! I was pleasantly surprised by the bill though. It was only $62.50 for her fluids, meds and 2 days of hospitalization.

[Emeraldgreen]

Wow, 62.50 is really reasonable! I'm glad she is back home and feeling better. It's strange that her face seems to be puffing up again though. Is it possible for your mom to either stay at your place or keep Aroara with her for the 3 days? That way she could take her in at any time if it's needed.
Good news that she has her appetite back and is roaring up a storm!

[Moesha]

We are all going to be gone for the weekend for a convention. The girl that I have coming to look after the furkids has a dog and a cat of her own. She was telling me that they are having some trouble dealing with fleas on her dog. I sure don't want to ask her to watch Aroara with that going on over there. Plus, if something happens and she gets worse, the vet's office is closed. The closest emergency vet is an hour away. The best option would be for her to stay inside here because she won't squawk the entire weekend. But for her to have someone to watch her would be to be boarded, but then she is caged and frustrated to no end and I couldn't get her until Monday morning and would have to drop her off tomorrow night.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm glad to hear that she's feeling better and is now home. I'm sorry to hear that her face is starting to swell up again. Hopefully you'll be able to have some one to keep an eye on her while you're away. I hope she'll recover quickly.