My husband took our cat to the vet last week, for only the second time in 14 years.
Seems he’d found her meowing loudly on the floor of the family room, weak and not fully in control of her limbs. He carried her out to the living room and set her on the couch, and watched her as she returned to normal.
The next day, we arranged for a vet visit.
I’d noticed about a year ago, I think, that she’d lost some weight in her hindquarters. Then, this January, there was the incident where she went missing in the house for several hours before she emerged from her secret hiding place. That time, she didn’t eat or drink, she was clearly lethargic, and she just laid on the stairs for half a day. It was such a relief when I finally coaxed her down to get a drink of water.
I bought a cat carrier after that, just in case.
Fast-forward to last week, when Aaron called me at work to let me know about the weird meowing incident with Mei during the night. We discussed and decided that it was worth taking her to the vet to get checked out. As it happened, the vet that we’d previously selected as our just-in-case vet had an opening that afternoon.
The vet took Mei’s temperature and blood pressure, and drew some blood for lab tests — including thyroid levels, which was an additional charge on top of the normal lab work, but can diagnose a common thyroid issue in older cats. We got word two days later that Mei does indeed have an overactive thyroid, and we picked up her twice-a-day pills from the vet the day after that (plus pill pocket treats for easier dosing).
Next up is taking Mei back to the vet in a couple weeks to see how her thyroid levels have responded, and to determine whether there’s been any kidney disease that may have been masked by the thyroid problems.
Our old lady is finally showing her age… although she still knows how to play, and she still tears around the house like her ass is on fire sometimes.
Here’s to enjoying some more quality time with Mei Kitty.
