Feline Drama

This week has been all about the kitties.

Valentino: Last Friday, he started sneezing and had watery eyes and generally didn't seem to feel well, although his appetite was fine. We monitored the situation over the weekend, and if he'd deteriorated or lost his appetite, we would have taken him to the emergency vet. However, we figured it was a cold or allergies and nothing to worry too much about. On Monday, he still wasn't better, so I called the vet's office and they wanted me to bring him in.

And... it's allergies! But the vet counted it as his annual exam so it was fine. The doctor examined him and found no sign of infection. They told me to give 2 mg of the active ingredient in Chlor-Trimeton (that's half of a pill) every 12 hours while symptoms present. I also brought up his clicking paws, and he's now on a joint supplement treat (two times a day for four to six weeks, then one a day).

Valentino was easy. Duncan's new issue probably isn't.

Early this morning, Aaron woke me up because Duncan was running around crazy, furiously biting and licking his arms and flank at times. His eyes were dilated; he seemed like he was on drugs. These are all signs of hyperesthesia.

He wasn't aggressive, didn't respond negatively to touch, wasn't vocal, didn't have rippling skin, wasn't twitchy, which are other, very common signs of hyperesthesia. So although he's not showing all of the signs, I think chances are good that he has it. It tends to affect younger cats, between 1 and 5 years of age, and it's unclear how it happens. Petting, especially along the spine, can cause an episode. It's a hypersensitivity thing, and he wasn't sensitive to my touch. I don't know if future episodes will get worse and include those sorts of symptoms.

After a couple of hours, it was kind of like Duncan crashed. He slept, became calmer, although it took quite a while for his eyes to go back to normal. And then he was normal again: Wanted to eat, wanted to play with Tino, etc.

Update to come later, after a vet appointment.