Update on Micawber

He's still quite ill, and spends most of his time lying in various areas of the apartment -- always on the floor, against the baseboards or in doorways (don't ask me why, and if you think you might know, enlighten me!). He moves around quite a bit, so we know he's up to walking, albeit on shakey legs... we're keeping one end of the apartment cool (the studio with the computers) and the other end (the living room) warm as a sauna, so part of it might be him regulating the temperature of his surroundings.

It's distressing in the extreme to see such a cat, who was once a big, strong, confident fellow, reduced to an invalid. I wish there was something I could do to relieve his discomfort.

We're giving him supportive care, as instructed by our vet, and yesterday he was drinking a little on his own and managed to keep each force-feeding down. Our first feeding today got thrown back up within five minutes, but that was before we gave him the Ringer's drip -- hopefully the next feeding will be kept down. He's managed to keep down his dose of Felaxin so far, which should help grease up his intestinal tract.

Various people are offering prayers/spells for his recovery, including the devotional Wiccan group I belong to, which is holding a religious mini-retreat this weekend and will try to send some energy Micawber's way. Thank you all so much for your kind wishes and petitions to St. Francis, Bastet, and any other deities you see fit to address on Micawber's behalf. I'm praying to Our Lady of Cats that he recovers -- and if this is his time to leave us, that his death is as free of suffering as possible. All we can do now is give him a fighting chance, watch... and wait.

*sigh*

Well, Micawber has kept down every feeding so far today, and is looking a little more alert. He's moving around a lot (still on the floor and a little on the bed, which is low -- thanks, Jill, for the behavioral tip), a good sign. On the other hand, he lay in the bathtub, where we keep the cold water tap running a little, with his forearms in the wet spot, head down, as if he wanted to drink -- a sight that I'll admit broke my heart. I've cried more today than I've cried in the last year.

He hasn't had a bowel movement yet. Bad. If he hasn't had one tomorrow by noon, we take him back to the vet. My mother has offered the use of her Mastercard up to a certain limit, which I hope to whatever Gods may be we don't have to take her up on. The vet might recommend putting Micawber under general anaesthetic and going in to clear out his intestines manually, as it were. Oh, I don't even want to think about how much that may cost...

Plus, Girl Genius is behind schedule. We need the money from it to pay rent on our new apartment.

Plus a shift at Ipsos-Reid tomorrow, possibly while Micawber is in the clinic... my husband keeps reminding me to be optimistic, and not to borrow trouble, but somehow the worst case scenario is what has the most reality for me at the moment.

I'm so tired, I could lie down and sleep for a week.