Friday evening, Josie got sick in the food bowl. This wasn’t all too surprising. When I first adopted her, she’d always overeat and then get sick. I think that either she was withheld food from her previous owner, or due to her size was otherwise unable to get her fill. She’s gotten much better over the years, but still overeats from time to time, resulting in puking.
Saturday, all day, she was just fine and dandy.
Yesterday, she woke up and seemed to have no strength, and pretty much didn’t get out of bed all day. She didn’t seem to be eating or drinking anything, and didn’t look too good at all. We tried to sit her by her food, and she still wouldn’t eat or drink. She ended up wandering into the pet carrier, and we thought maybe she was trying to tell us to take her to the vet. When I tried to crawl into bed, I realized she’d wet the bed. I was really worried then. We changed the sheets and went to bed, and when I woke up, Dave was holding her. I knew, just somehow knew, it was time to take her to the vet.
I called my work and tried to arrange to come in late, but they were rather nasty about it and said I had to be there. I’d rather not go further into that. Dave said he’d take her, and we made an appointment. I went to work, and left my phone on vibrate so I’d be able to easily check for new texts. He said he’d text me when he found out what was going on.
Well, it turns out, she has gone blind. She still responds to light a little, but otherwise is blind. And, other than her new affliction, she’s completely healthy. They want us to come back in for a blood pressure check, as high blood pressure can cause feline retinal detachment, which is what she has. If she has hypertension, then we can give her medication and her vision may or may not return.
She hasn’t been eating because she can’t smell her food as well yet. She’s not drinking water because she keeps getting her nose wet when she tries. She’s not using the litterbox because she can’t smell it from a distance to find it. And she’s sleeping all the time because she’s so stressed out over this.
I feel so bad for her, and am already researching how we can help her to adapt more easily.
With four days to close, and everything going on track despite the $200 Vet bill, my biggest concern is her adapting to an entirely new environment with no vision.
