Monday, January 15, 2018

Weekend Wrap Up and PSA

We hope you had a good weekend! We had a recuperation weekend around here where we all took it easy and napped a lot. Isabella napped because she looked after me last week so was up more hours than normal. Daddy napped because he was sick. Mommy napped because she didn't sleep last week, she had to take care of Daddy and she was sick too. We were all so tired that I even watched birdies from bed...
Thankfully both Mommy and Daddy are on the mend. I continue to improve and am feeling like myself today. Last week I was sluggish in the mornings and clumsy when I jumped. As of yesterday I'm my perky morning self and can jump gracefully and effortlessly again. This is a good thing because I'm slow at eating my meals so Isabella cleans her bowl and then mine. Because of this my meals are served on a closet shelf since someTortie can't jump up there. One thing she can do well is keep me warm so I've been snuggling with her a lot...
Anyway, I know I'm very lucky to be here and also that what happened to me was very rare. On the radiograph taken when I first arrived at the emergency vet, it showed a mass in my stomach that was blocking my esophagus which is why I could hardly breathe. Later a radiograph showed the mass had moved farther into my stomach near where it goes through the process to exit out the other way. It was believed this was a hairball until Mommy discovered this Saturday:
Of course we're not telling which one of us licked off Rosie Rat's fur but it is something that has never happened before so Mommy thinks this may be what was in my tummy. It's now in the trash. Anyway, because of all this, Mommy has a few tips in case anything like this ever happens to you - which we truly hope never ever does:

  • Check your pet's toys! Angel loves Rosie Rat and has at least five throughout the house at any time. Never has the fur been licked off. I doubt that happened at one time so I need to be more vigilant about noticing any changes in their toys. They never get any toy that has parts that can come off or be pulled off. I've been known to perform amputations on toys that have loose pieces as long as the rest is secure. Otherwise the toys go straight into the trash.
  • Trust your gut! Angel sounded different when she started choking and I immediately checked on her and noticed something wrong. As soon as I saw whatever was causing the distress wasn't coming out, I didn't think twice about taking her for help. Seconds count so it's far better to err on the side of caution.
  • Have a carrier ready to go. We have two carriers in a closet ready to grab and go but only one was unzipped and open so I could put her in and go quickly. The other one hadn't even been taken out of the packaging but that has now changed.
  • Make sure your car keys are in a spot you can find easily. I had no spare moments to find my keys so thankfully I keep mine in a spot where I didn't have to search for them.
  • Be sure you know how to drive your cars. Okay, I know this sounds like a weird tip but we have a 2017 Toyota Prius that only J drives. It has a weird gear shift and I've only driven it once for a short distance and he put it in gear for me. On January 4th, he went to a meeting on the coast so he parked the Prius behind my car so he could take his other car. If this incident had happened on that day, I would've lost precious moments trying to figure out how to drive that Prius. So now I need to learn how that gear shift works (he says it's easy) or he'll need to put the Prius in the garage after pulling his other car out so mine isn't blocked. This whole theory goes for not only hybrid cars but stick shifts or any car that you're not familiar with but may need to drive in an emergency.
  • Have your vet's contact information with you. We have a home vet so she's not easy to get ahold of nor is she equipped to handle emergencies which is why I took Angel to the emergency vet. I didn't have the emergency vet's info in my phone so was unable to call ahead so they were prepared for us. They are in my phone now though!
If you can think of other tips that could help save a pet's life, please be sure to share! The whole incident is a blur but thankfully everything worked out just fine. Thanks so much for all the purrs and prayers too. We do believe they helped us have this outcome and for that we're so grateful.

Hope you have a great start to the week!
Angel & Mommy

25 comments:

Summer at sparklecat.com said...

That is all really good advice! My human would have a problem driving her boyfriend's car, mainly because it is bigger than what she is used to, and has a lot of blind spots because it is a panel SUV. (It's an HHR.) Maybe she should practice... she has always wondered what would happen if there was an emergency and she needed to drive it!

bichonpawz said...

We are so very glad that you are ok!! These are all very important tips! I cannot drive a stick shift so that would be a problem for me!

Ann said...

I think another one to add to that list might be know where the emergency vet is located. Now that I think of it, I don't really know where the one we have is. I would have to look it up to get an address

Marg said...

Oh gosh, so glad that Angel is doing so well. And those are all such good suggestions for emergencies. We are all doing a happy dance for you Angel.

Kea said...

Excellent tips. Getting to the emerg vet, which is way out in the west end of our city, would be an issue for me because of having to call a taxi and then wait...and wait...and wait. In a choking emerg, my cat would be dead before I could get him to the vet. Seriously. Very scary. I don't want to have any more animal companions again as long as I'm without my own transportation and/or are so far from the emerg clinic.

Anyway, I'm VERY glad Angel is on the mend. Lots of hugs to you all.

Lin said...

Those are good tips...and I like Anne's too. It is important to know where the emergency vet is located and the hours they are open. I know ours used to only be open when the regular vet hours were closed.

Also, have an alternative vet that you trust instead of just going to the emergency vet. We used to have a small one-vet practice and she didn't have much in the way of diagnostic equipment, so we switched to a practice with 7 vets and lots of current equipment to help animals. We made it a point to work with each of those vets in the last few years so that I had confidence in all of them and their abilities. This has prevented us from going to the expensive emergency vet.

Sandee said...

Great advice. We much be every watchful with our babies. I'm glad your mom is very watchful.

We are happy that everyone is feeling better and especially you, Angel.

We linked this post to Awww Mondays, because there is a lot of Aw here today.

Have a purrfect day you two. My best to your mom and J. ♥♥♥

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

All your napping has made us sleepy too. We are so glad you figured out what caused the problem for Angel. Great PSA with some very good tips that many might not think about. We hope this is a much better week for all.

Woos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber

Katie Isabella said...

A good and informative blog. All those are excellent tips. It would take me half an hour at the least to get to the emergency vet as it's in Knoxville and I'm not. That has always been a concern for me. I think perhaps Angel pulled out the fur instead of licking it off. In any case Angel, Isabella, it is NOT acceptable for you all to be ill...in danger or not well. You're gonna get extra purrs from me. And you all never ever ingest fur again like that. Scared the hair off your mom and dad's head and ours too. LOVE and more love .

Grace said...

What a fabulous photo of Angel! Glad to hear everyone, human and feline are feeling a bit better.

pilch92 said...

I am glad you are all feeling better. Good warning to all of us to check those toys.

The Florida Furkids said...

We're glad everybody is on the mend. Good tips too! We have Rosie rats but none of them are missing any fur.

The Florida Furkids

The Army of Four said...

That's great advice! We are so thankful everyone there is on the mend! Whew!
Cammie!

Memories for Life said...

I'm so glad to hear Angel is healed up and everyone is feeling much better this week. Sounds like quite a scare!!
I couldn't agree more about knowing how to drive a car in an emergency! You never know when you might have to drive someone else's car. I think driving a stick shift should be part of driver's ed. My mom doesn't know how to drive one and about 1/3 of our cars have a clutch.

The Island Cats said...

Angel, we're so glad you are feeling better. And that's great advice...though we hope we never have to use it.

catladymac said...

So glad everyone is on the mend .

Melissa, Mudpie and Angel Truffles (Mochas, Mysteries and Meows) said...

This is SUCH an important post!!! I'm so glad you're all on the mend...and now I'm off to inspect Mudpie's toys...

JB's Big and Small Worlds said...

Great advice! Even the weed! MOL!
Glad Angel is ok now, and hope you and daddy are well soon too!

messymimi said...

Excellent tips! Also make sure, for this or any other emergency that might come up, that you never let your gas tank get to less than 1/4 full. You can end up wasting precious time in an emergency if you are out of gas and have to stop!

Hope everyone at your place is healing and mending and feeling better every day.

Sweet Purrfections said...

So glad everything is okay. Our vet has extended hours, but isn't open late evenings or Sunday. We're lucky our emergency vet clinic is less than 10 miles from us. We keep our Sleepypod mobile pet beds open in the living room. This allows us a place to rest, be familiar with them, and are available if Mom Paula has to grab one of us quickly (like she had to do with Brulee a couple of months ago).

Cathy Keisha said...

Whoa! That was scary to rad on FB. Our Autumn couldn't have long-furred toys because she's eat all the fur and start choking. Great tips. Purrs to you all.

Karen and Gerard said...

So glad everything worked out well!

Lisa said...

I'm so glad everyone is feeling better. I'm sure you were a bit scared throughout that ordeal. Those are all great tips to keep fur babies safe.

da tabbies o trout towne said...

hole lee mackerull N fried clamz angel......we canna bee leeve what ya chewed on; ore tried ta chew on.....we iz buzzed happee that little bass terd came outta ya.....N thanx for de tipz; itz troo bout carz N even tryin ta catch mass tranz it iz ruff two......continmewed blessingz frum R pal st francis two ewe with hi'z ta isabella....we R knot on line two day but had ta stop N say bee well ~ ♥♥♥

AntiquityTravelers said...

I'm so glad you are better Angel! so scary! and glad your peeps are on the mend too ;)