little shaved mimo. we were surprised to see that where his fur is a different color, his skin is a different color.
mimo is home from the vet school. he was there for less than 24 hours, but racked up quite an impressive hospital bill. over $800 so far. two ultrasounds (with inconclusive results), a second set of x-rays (ditto), a lot of bloodwork (all results within normal ranges) and some sedation (he didn't like being there and didn't hesitate to let the doctors know it). he wasn't in pain, though... the doctors palpated his abdomen frequently and he didn't really complain.
if he hadn't vomited last night and if we didn't suspect he'd eaten that fucking string, you'd never guess that anything could possibly be wrong with him.
so we're left in a quandry... ray and i really think that mimo swallowed that fucking string, but there's no concrete evidence of it. the strongest proof is this mysterious "shadow" that consistently shows up in his ultrasounds. but the shadow could be food, liquid or even a hairball; there's no way of ensuring it is actually the fucking string.
so what do we do next? the doctors gave us a number of options. the most severe is to take him right into surgery and see if the string can be located. that seemed too extreme to us.
another choice is to bring him back on thursday for an endoscopy... he would be sedated and a camera sent down his throat and into his stomach. if the doctor finds the fucking string it could likely be brought back up his esophagus. i like this option. it gives us peace of mind --we'll know for sure whether that fucking string is in his stomach-- but it significantly lightens our wallet, with the potential revealing only more inconclusiveness. another overwhelming down side to this option is the sedation. dr. mazzei is concerned about putting mimo under before a full cardiac workup can be done on him. mimo's murmur is moderately severe, and while it's something they can work around, they would like to know the cause of the murmur before they do anything where they have to anesthetize him.
the final option is to do nothing but monitor him closely and hope that he passes the fucking string in his stool. a number of doctors told us that this was a potentially dangerous choice, as you can't ensure the fucking string will travel down mimo's GI tract in an easy-to-pass, wadded-up ball. if it happens to wind its length through his intestines he will have to have surgery to prevent the fucking string from bunching his insides up like an accordion.
but dr. mazzei says if mimo were his cat, he'd likely just wait and see if he could shit out that fucking string all by himself. ray likes this option. it's the easiest on mimo (we wouldn't have to take him back to a place he hates) and on us (again, the wallet).
we have all of these options, and ray and i haven't decided exactly what we'll do yet. an appointment has been scheduled for the endoscopy on thursday, which we can cancel if we opt to. until then, we're under orders to watch him like a hawk (i'm considering staying home from work to keep an eye on him). if mimo vomits again, that's a pretty clear indicator that the fucking string is down there and is upsetting his system. in that case we need to bring him back to the vet school pretty immediately for the endoscopy and/or surgery.
so that's the full update. things are still a little up in the air, but what's certain is that mimo is happy to be home. he's still acting a bit reserved --he's probably in shock from the whole ordeal-- and sherpa for some reason is hissing at him a lot, but otherwise he seems to be behaving pretty normally. he has eaten dry food tonight (which he didn't do the whole time he was at the vet school) and ray is is currently running him around the house as he chases the laser pointer. mimo seems alert and as curious as ever.
cross your fingers for him, will you? and thank you so much for your well-wishes. (if you're praying for him, please be sure to say a special curse for that fucking string.)
Posted by xta at January 18, 2005 11:22 PM | TrackBackDear God, please let Mimo shit out that fucking string on his own, with no complications. Amen.
Really, Xta and Ray, my thoughts are with you and your furry guy. As for the hissing, in my house any cat who has been to the vet gets hissed at and treated like a stranger by the one who has stayed at home for at least a couple of hours. I think it's the odor(s) of veterinary visits that does it.
When XLCat was shaved for similar purposes, not only was I surprised about the skin color thing, but about how very big her blobby stomach fat really is when it's all naked like that.
Posted by: minty at January 19, 2005 08:50 AMI am so sorry about Mimo! Here's hoping he dumps that string like a bad date!
My cats have the same reaction to one another after the vet; I think it's the smells, too.
One of my cats also LOVES the strings. He treats them like his babies and tries to feed and water them and stuff. I always have to watch him with them, though, because he ate one once (not nearly as long as what you are talking about). Before I even knew what was going on, nature took its course but we had to take him to get his anal gland expressed because of the constipation he had been experiencing before he pooped out the string. So it's good that you caught it early...
Posted by: she-dork at January 19, 2005 10:04 AMpoor mimo! it must be so awful to have to watch and wait and hope the fucking string comes out on its own. did you stay home today?
Posted by: Sarah at January 19, 2005 10:17 AMHere's hoping you find the fucking string - either coming out of Mimo in as painless a way as possible, or elsewhere.
Posted by: pinky at January 19, 2005 10:53 AMShe-Dork's cat--a male cat, no less--tries to mother pieces of string? Well that is completely fascinating. I had a cat who taught me to play fetch with her once, but never anything like that.
Posted by: minty at January 19, 2005 11:29 AMFound Sherpa blessedly sleeping right next to Mimo in the living when I woke up. Then later when I gave her her morning brushing, she growled and HISSED at ME. I explained to her about how she'd have a lot more to complain about if it weren't for our tender loving care, and that seemed to resonate with her, especially after I let her go.
No sign of abnormality that I could see before I left for work. Am somewhat concerned that I haven't been able to catch Mimo using the litterbox at all yet since Monday night. (We know from the vets that he didn't poop or pee while under their care.) He was eating, drinking and being leg-rubby, so I didn't bother waking Christa to hand off the changing of the guard on my way out the door.
Posted by: Ray at January 19, 2005 11:52 AMWhy do cats do stuff like this? That string couldn't have been that tasty.
Good luck.
Posted by: lainey at January 19, 2005 02:18 PMyes, i stayed home today. seems kind of foolish... mimo hasn't done anything besides sleep. he recently ate, but hasn't visited the litter box at all.
i share ray's concern... mimo's gotta poop & pee before i'm convinced that the string isn't there.
Posted by: christa at January 19, 2005 05:51 PMMimo peed tonight. Yay for urine! Now remember how to do the other thing, little boy.
Posted by: Ray Litterbox Ubinger at January 19, 2005 11:06 PMmy dog swallowed an acorn and didn't eat for 3 days before i took him to the hospital. We didn't know it was an acorn until they performed an emergency operation that costed me $1500.00 that I didn't have. Now he has been dragging his hind leg which he has been dragging his legs for every few mths or so for the last 2yrs. The vet usually feel his hind legs and sends me home with Rimadyl and Robaxin. I don't know what to do...
Posted by: liz at January 25, 2006 09:31 AM