Saturday, April 2, 2016

So many barfs...

With all the cats I've been bringing through the barn foster area, it's no surprise I finally dragged in something the cats could catch.

I came in one morning and discovered reddish (blood?) watery vomit...no food...in several places on the floor. Everyone seemed perky and fine. Everyone ate their wet food. I worried that someone had chewed a wood sliver. I cleaned things up and came up later to check.

More barf. Less red, and more bile-like. Hmmm. I still couldn't tell who the culprit was.

In the house, Nellie the 16-year-old had been tossing her cookies as well, but she was prone to do that now and then and I hadn't thought much about it. But then Jessie Fuzz-Bucket joined in, and Bear as well, in the house. This was--of course--on a weekend. Again, everyone was perky, eating, and drinking.

When I let Fern and Grayson out for the evening in the barn foster area, the next morning showed that one of them had the barfs as well. Damn! Since they were always separate from the other cats, more than one cat in the barn foster area was sick. Clearly it was something I had dragged on my hands, clothes or feet from one location to the other. I bleached all the cat bowls in both areas in case there was a bacterial issue (cat water bowls can develop a slime that is a breeding place for illness if not kept clean), wormed everyone for good measure, and watched everyone like a hawk.

Within 48 hours there were no more barf marks in the cat facility. Nellie and Jessie were better in the house. Ethan decided he would join the crowd but only threw up twice. Coraline also weighed in, just to be companionable. But poor Bear was clearly unhappy and finally lost his appetite. I syringed water into him regularly to prevent him from getting dehydrated to the point of needing sub-cutaneous fluids and offered up baby food. Of all the cats, he was the only one to show any other signs of illness. Three days later he was back begging for morning wet food, but had lost a pound. He narrowly escaped a trip to the veterinarian since he was on the fast road to recovery.

Throughout all of this I was sick as well with a head cold, but no stomach issues. I assure you that running around every half-hour mopping up cat barf did not assist in my road to rest and recovery. I'm feeling better, and so are the cats.

I almost posted a barf photo, but I figured that if I didn't enjoy it, neither would you!

So instead here's a shot of a recovered Bear and Coraline wondering why the heck I woke them up from their slumber.


3 comments:

  1. Must admit, we purrfer the pics of Bear and Coraline too :)
    Hope that is the end of the barfs too.
    Purrs Georgia and Julie,
    Treasure and JJ

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  2. I suppose they get all sort of viruses and things just like we do, or drink or eat something that makes them sick.

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  3. 1/4 of a pepcid may be a good idea for your older kitty that barfs a lot.

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