Worrying News

I’ve just returned from taking the cats en masse to the vets. It is an interesting experience trying to get all five cats in one place at the same time and into the cat baskets and loaded into the car. My original 4 were all due their booster vaccinations and the idea was to get Mr Tibbs done too all on the same date.

Unfortunately things, as ever, did not go entirely to plan – do not read further if eating!

I noticed that Mr Tibbs had started passing a little blood in his faeces; he’d also started defecating indoors too. The indoor bit I put down to just getting used to being a house cat. I put down a litter tray and the plan was to gradually move it closer and closer to the cat flap and then get him going outside. At first I though the blood was due to a mouse he’d eaten, then as he was passing the blood more frequently and there was some mucus I though it was colitis and I was going to get it checked out today. Last night when I returned from my meal it was clear that Mr Tibbs was feeling a lot worse.

I ended up waking at around 3:30 this morning worrying about him; he followed me towards the kitchen and was sick. He headed for the door to the barn and was promptly sick again and just sat there while I cleaned up round him. He then took himself off to the barn and didn’t come back inside and that is where I found him when I needed to get him for his trip to the vet.

The vet doesn’t think it’s colitis but that Mr Tibbs has eaten rat poison. Unless it is very old, put down prior to my arrival, there shouldn’t be any on my land but I don’t know if he wandered off onto the adjoining land or barns. The vet pointed out that Mr Tibbs is also bleeding from the gums and that is why he suspects rat poison – my guess is that he sees quite a few poisoning cases so I trust his word, the supermarket shelves here are stocked with poisons to kill everything.

So Mr Tibbs hasn’t had his vaccinations but has had various vitamin injections and other things to help. I have to take him back if the bleeding hasn’t stopped by Thursday to try something else.

As I thought he had colitis I was going to make him some chicken and rice and I’ve decided that I will anyway as it should be better on his system and might encourage him to eat. It will be soft – my cats get dry food only – and the dry food might be hurting his gums.

So keep your fingers crossed that he pulls through, he’s such a soft cat and is currently under the bench in the kitchen where I can keep an eye on him and he is close to food, water and litter tray.