Dodged That One ... I Think

We had a scare with yet another cat the last few days. Lucky, our longhair black little 13 year old, who I rescued from my car engine at five weeks old and promptly bit me, suddenly stopped eating. She was wild and feral when I found her, and reverts quickly when scared. It wasn't until about six months ago that she began jumping on me, wanting to snuggle. She's never been a fussy eater.

We spent half the day at the vet yesterday. Every previous vet visit required sedation just to examine her -- on top of the trauma of trying to catch her in the first place. But either she is so far into the socialization process now -- finally -- or not eating for three days really weakened her. I had no problem catching her, and she was calm and docile for everything the vet did. The dilemma was, is this neat that she's become like a "normal" cat, or is it tragic because she's so sick she can't put up a fight?

Tests were inconclusive. Vet thinks she has some kind of infection and hurt her side somehow, which would explain her lethargy. We've got antibiotics and appetite stimulants -- and wow, she started eating when we got home. And she didn't go hide for a week like in days past. She was right there with me.

All of this was a tremendous relief, but this morning she did not voluntarily eat prior to the appetite pill. (Still waiting for that to kick in now.) I was able to catch her, but with more effort, because she has more energy today than yesterday. The better she gets, the harder it will be to give her the antibiotic for 10 days. I'm focusing on the "better she gets" part now. One step at a time.