There and back again

Treacle

I took Treacle to the vet yesterday, his second trip within two weeks. He was failing to make adequate progress and had also some kind of episode on Tuesday evening that caused him great pain or distress. We rang the vet surgery, ten minutes into after hours, and they agreed to see him as soon as we arrived from the boat on Wednesday.

Waiting for our taxi to the vet
Waiting for our taxi to the vet

The vet advised that x-rays and blood tests were needed and was worried about the short period of time until the boat home, so I suggested that we leave him overnight so that they could take all the time that they needed. Overall the vet was not happy with the state of Treacle’s lungs, given that he has been on antibiotics and steroids for two weeks. She also suspected arthritis in his rear legs, so chest and skeletal x-rays indicated. He had, as I had suspected, lost more weight in the past two weeks.

I suspected bad news coming after she said “Do you have insurance?

Although I felt a bit like I had a part missing on leaving the vet without cat or cat carrier I managed to enjoy the day, its weather and my walk across the Peerie Sea to Tesco, where I bought some shopping bags and made use of the unexpected opportunity.

A call last night told us that the x-rays had not been conclusive: Treacle had so much fluid on his lungs that the heart was not visible. They would treat him for the fluid overnight and try again with the heart x-ray today.

A different vet called this morning and her opinion was that an x-ray today would be pointless, so he’s stopping another night to see if the fluid can be reduced and they’ll have a go with the x-ray on Friday morning. We should most likely collect him on Friday.

Unfortunately the vet is of the opinion that either Treacle’s heart is enlarged or has a tumour – his heart is pressing on his windpipe. Either way, his long term prognosis is not good but after a change of medication he has made upward progress overnight.

My poor wee man!

Collecting him tomorrow may be problematic – we tried booking the car on the ferry but would be 7th Reserve coming home. That said, the weather forecast shows strong winds from the South tomorrow afternoon – the kind of conditions that result in ferry cancellation.

Seabirds on the Peerie Sea
Seabirds on the Peerie Sea – all up in the air

Fair to say that it’s all up in the air at the moment.

In the mail yesterday, just before I had to dash off for the bus – my 2x lens extender. Obviously I have yet to try it out. I thought perhaps today but the wind is a bit strong for camera play.

2x extender - I had a great deal on this from Amazon and it was a pound cheaper than a grey import would have been.
2x extender – I had a great deal on this from Amazon and it was a pound cheaper than a grey import would have been.

In the mail today – a begging letter from the Cats Protection League featuring a sad-looking little black cat and a flyer for pet insurance from Tesco. Eerie.

Teddy is wandering the house, shouting. He is very disconcerted with no Treacle to curl up to. I know how he feels.

I can’t Fast today. I’m making soup for lunch but don’t feel like focusing on calorie counts and certainly did not feel up to skipping breakfast. I will however try hard not to comfort feed all day long.

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