After losing Snuffie three weeks ago, I have become super sensitive to our other animals needs.
Last week Maxie the cat stopped eating, and began vomiting. After a sleepless night listening to the cat throwing up every few hours, I got her to the vets straight away.
It was the same vet who saw Snuffie, so I felt relief when he seemed very upbeat, and diagnosed her with a sensitive stomach lining, due too hair balls made worse by her shedding hair more in the hot weather. He gave her an injection, special diet food, and a paste which should work as a calming agent in her stomach and help her pass hair easily without it forming balls.
Within 24 hours she was up and hungry, and found no problem eating the diet food, which is designed to be easily digestible. She does not really like the paste, however, so we have to put it on her paws for her to lick off.
Today she had finished the diet food, and I had to give her the normal cat food. She ate some of it, but was sick later, so it looks like she will have to go back to the special diet food for a little while yet. She goes back to the vet wednesday, so we will see how she is by then.
We felt we had "fixed" Maxie, and what else could go wrong, but on thursday we went to get Ulo out of the field to find she was bleeding from a wound on her shoulder. She could hardly take a step forward, but we got her to the stall, and Jolanda put her under the shower to clean the cut and cool her off. There was no question that she was lame, so we put her in the stable with plenty of betadine on the cut, and left her overnight.
Next morning we repeated the treatment, and stepped her around; the stall owner felt that it was not so bad, and to give her a few hours more rest then try riding her. That evening we saddled up, and Jolanda began riding, but once in trot you could see she was still lame, so it was back to the shower, and the betadine, and we tucked her up in the stable again.
48 hours later, and we have had to cancel the competition Jolanda was due to ride in today. When I rang to explain the reason, they asked if a vet had seen her, as then we would not have to pay the entry fee.
It never occured to me to call a vet for a cut shoulder, especially with the experienced people we have around us at the stables, but maybe next time I will.
