Some details in this post may be a little gross for the squeamish, just to warn you.
Shark was going along seemingly fine on the medications prescribed to him, until a few days ago. He threw up a little after being in the litter box (and not doing anything there), and this raised red flags for us. We figured there was some sort of intestinal blockage, so I took him to the vet on Thursday morning. He was impacted, so they gave him an enema and kept him the rest of the day. He got the stuff out, but was quite unhappy that night and the next couple of days (moping and hiding a lot, and not eating anything). Part of the unhappiness is that we had to discontinue his painkiller, because the vet thought it might have caused intestinal ulcers (a possible side effect of some NSAIDs).
On Friday he was prescribed 2 new painkillers, though, and a drug to help protect his GI tract (it helps produce more mucus). As of Saturday night he started to act more like himself, being a little more active, more cheerful, and much more responsive to us. He’s also been hiding much less since then, and spending more time with us.
The one thing that hasn’t recovered is his appetite. I put food into his mouth from my finger on Friday and Saturday to get some nutrition in him, and since then he has licked up a little food on his own, though he still is not really eating enough. We’ll keep trying to get food in him, though.
We thought he might be about to go, but it seems like his decline has slowed for now. If he doesn’t eat more, that could change, but of course it could change for any number of other reasons, too. So we go on, taking it a day at a time.
For now he is still happy, so we persist in treatment. He’s getting 5 different medications right now – a total of 8 doses per day – and he’s due for some of those right now. Thanks to everyone for their sympathy and good wishes.