Tough Tigger

Tigger cleaning up

Must get the human cooties off of me!

Early on during this past weekend, it really looked like we might lose our Tigger.  She has had issues with going off her food throughout her life.  She has been in to the vet at least once a year all of her ten years.  There has never been a clearly defined reason or cause found. 

What makes it really hard is how quickly it hits.  She will be eating everything in sight, running around and playing with no signs of feeling ill at all.  Then she will go in for the night or  lay down for an afternoon nap and it is like a switch has been thrown. 

The next morning or after her nap, Tigger doesn’t want to eat, drink or move.  It has seemed like a gassy tummy issue on many occasions.  Per the vets instructions, we would give her Simethecone, extra water, tummy rubs, get her to move around and switch to hay only.  The problem would usually clear up in a few hours or overnight and she would be back to normal.  We have watched for any common denominator in foods or activities, but there seems to be no identifiable pattern. 

This past year, the problem has been more severe and she gets quite ill and takes days or weeks to return to normal.  She has seen the vet a lot.  She has been checked out head to toe, had tests, and been put under anesthesia twice for tooth exams and had a couple filed down to be sure they weren’t the cause.  The anesthesia makes me so nervous since that is riskier at her age. 

This weekend she took her afternoon nap and when it came time to wake up and run around again, she seemed completely unresponsive to everything around her. Poor Shadow was licking her from head to tail without any reaction on her part.  Then he pawed at her trying to get her to respond to him.  She opened her eyes wider, but that was it.  We separated them and went to work giving the pain meds and Simethecone in the vet prescribed doses and then syringe feedings of water and Oxbow Critical Care.  In between we would offer Tigger  parsley, a favorite, and a variety of hays.  She seems to eat when we offer things to her and hand feed her.  We have also been giving her tummy rubs.   

Late yesterday, she started to show some temper over being medicated, fed and cleaned up.  Our Tigger is coming back again, at least for now.  We are winning battles to keep her with us, but realize that at ten years old, losing the war is closer than we would like it to be.