Beethoven's under the weather

[Ruth & Beethoven (GA)]

I haven’t posted in a while, but we’ve been very busy packing, moving, unpacking, etc. We’ve just relocated to Eugene, Oregon. Beethoven has been doing well until just recently. And now I’m worried. First, a brief history:

Beethoven was diagnosed with FD in November 2008. He was on Lantus for almost a year. We found FDMB and Lantus Land in early summer 2009. Once we changed his food and got him well regulated, he went OTJ in October 2009. I’ve been checking his BG every month or so, and it’s always been under 100. (We use AlphaTrak for testing.)

Over the past couple of days he has started to look a bit scruffy—not his usual fastidious white fur. And his fur was sort of separated. But as we’re unpacking, he’s been exploring the garage and the patio quite a bit, so he’s in the dirt more than usual. Then yesterday he didn’t eat much. That was a noticeable change. He also seemed droopy and not very energetic. This morning I noticed he hadn’t eaten anything overnight. That is very unusual. I checked his BG and it was 143—not alarmingly high but certainly higher than it should be and higher than he’s been since he went OTJ. Litterbox activity has been normal, except that today there were no morning prezzies—probably because he hasn’t eaten much.

Another thing I noticed when I was checking his BG was that he was breathing short, shallow, quick breaths. Not panting, as his mouth wasn’t open, but not normal breathing either. Also, it seemed he was breathing with some effort. I could see his ribs pushing in and out to breathe.

Back in Puyallup, I would have just called the vet clinic and taken him in, since they’re open on Sunday. But the place we’ll be taking him here is not open on Sundays. There is a 24/7 emergency clinic, but I don’t think this is that sort of emergency.

I think I’ll call the vet clinic first thing in the morning and take him in as early as possible. In the meantime, I’ll check on him to be sure he’s not getting worse, and also get him to eat, since I know how important that is.

Any thoughts as to what might be going on? Am I ok in waiting till tomorrow? Why do these things always happen when the clinic is closed?

Ruth

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Could be many things. Can you measure his temperature?
Do you have a stethoscope? The breathing could indicate a heart problem.

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

Your note about his fur... can you tell if he is dehydrated at all. Is there anyway he might have come across anything toxic while exploring the garage or patio?
Carl

 

[Ruth & Beethoven (GA)]

Your note about his fur... can you tell if he is dehydrated at all. Is there anyway he might have come across anything toxic while exploring the garage or patio?
Carl

Thanks for your ideas. I thought the same thing about the fur. He's been drinking water but not excessively. Maybe because he's been eating less, he hasn't taken in as much total water. I also wondered about coming across something toxic. He likes to lick things like windows and cabinet doors. I have no idea why. But maybe he ingested dust or something else in doing so.

I probably won't have answers until tomorrow. For now, I'll just keep an eye on him.

Ruth

 

[Ruth & Beethoven (GA)]

Could be many things. Can you measure his temperature?
Do you have a stethoscope? The breathing could indicate a heart problem.

I do have a stethoscope, but I've never been able to hear anything but purring when I tried using it on Beethoven. I'll try that in a little while, since he's eating right now (yay!) and I don't want to interrupt.

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

Ruth,
the reason I asked about him getting into something....
My sugarcat, Bob had a sister named Lillian. Early this year, I noticed her breathing odd a little bit, I think it was on a Thursday. She had never been sick at all in her 10 years, but her breathing that day was quick and shallow. She had very little appetite that day. Friday, she looked worse. No appetite, breathing more rapid, but I also noticed she was having a hard time breathing, and like you mentioned, I could see her ribs when she breathed. She became reclusive, hanging out all day under the bed, and wouldn't eat more than a bite or two. I could tell she was hungry but she wouldn't eat anything I gave her. I called the vet and made an appt for Monday morning. Over the weekend she got worse, but I figured that on Monday she'd be "fixed". Sunday night she was miserable and moaned a lot. Monday morning I had to pull her out from under the bed, and I picked her up to put her in the carrier (which she always hated!) and she yelped once really loud, then her body went stiff. I closed the carrier door, rushed out to the car, and backed out of the driveway. Once I started off, I talked to her and she didn't respond. She was always always very vocal in the car. I opened the door and petted her, and found that she was "gone". We never made it to the vet, and to this day, I have no clue what happened. She went from perfectly fine to gone in four days. But I do have a theory...
She was one who was always trying to get into stuff that she shouldn't get into. If we tracked pine straw into the house, she'd try to eat it, then gagged and threw it up. I'd always find her trying to chew on stuff that she shouldn't be trying to chew on. It was like having to baby-proof the house. We live at the beach, and one of the obligatory home decor items is a big bowl full of seashells. She was forever trying to get shells out of the bowl, and then stash them somewhere. Well, this was right around the holidays and we had redecorated for the season, and the bowl of shells was replaced by a bowl of Xmas-y stuff. The big bowl of shells was shoved under the bed (no storage space at all in our little beach cabin) - and "under the bed" was Lily's domain. I have come to believe that she found the bowl and maybe bit off some sharp part of a sea star or something that she ended up swallowing. My guess is that it perforated something - her stomach, bowels, something that then caused something toxic to leak and get into her bloodstream perhaps. Or maybe she just had an aneurism or soemething. I will never know, but that awful last sound she made, a sound I had never before heard her make, will stick in my head forever.
Sorry for going way off track here. My concern for you and Beethoven is that maybe he swallowed something he shouldn't have, and it upset his tummy for starters. It is good that he is eating right now. But please keep an eye on him for vomiting, a worse appetite, or signs that he is in some sort of pain when you touch his belly or hind end. If you do bring him to the vet, maybe suggest an x-ray in case he did eat something that is causing a blockage or presents a perfortation danger. Keep an eye on the litter box as well, because if food is going in, it should be coming out too. If he suddenly goes downhill, please get him to an ER as soon as you can.

I am not trying to alarm you. I just wanted you to know how fast it can go from good to really bad.

Carl in SC (and Bob, who is still convinced we are hiding Lily somewhere)