
Getting Cato … captured on January 8, 2005 - 20DWell, I spent a couple of hours at an emergency vet clinic last night, not getting to bed until 2-ish. The problem? Well, we're still not sure. Cato came downstairs around 10:00, growling, hissing and grumbling. We couldn't figure out what was bugging him and were preparing to wait it out when he just kept making noises so I drove out to the closest 24-hour veterinary clinic which is just off Yonge Street.
The action was pretty quick with a triage nurse checking him out and concluding that we'd need to see the doctor. This took a couple of hours but when we did enter exam room #2, Cato underwent a thorough examination (which, not surprisingly, he did not enjoy as attested to by the bite and scratch on my hand).
The doctor pointed out a low-grade heart murmur, swollen ankles due to his age and weight plus a couple of teeth which need to come out. But none of these were thought to be a contributing factor to Cato's current condition. The doctor suggested a whole slew of tests to check his pancreas, liver and stomach. I asked that he forward this information to our vet, Dr Fraser, and that we'd have him follow through. The Doctor agreed and gave Cato a shot to make him feel comfortable for the night.
This morning, Jennifer took the cat to our Doctor to follow up. He acknowledged that he was keeping an eye on the heart murmur and that yes, those teeth will have to come out. As for the discomfort in Cato's belly, Dr Fraser suggested we wait it out for a few days in case it's something he ate. So now, it's a waiting game. So far this evening, Cato has seemed fine although, just now, he came down complaining. It's less than it was last night, but it's still unnerving. If, by Friday, this hasn't cleared up, I guess it'll be another trip to the vet.