Miss Mindy Is Sick Options

[DannysMom]

My sweet Miss Mindy is sick. She hasn't been herself these past few days. I noticed her eating less and starting to hide under my bed a lot. Then when she does come out she acts restless and wags her tail a lot and can't sit still much. She spent the whole afternoon yesterday hiding under my bed and only came out late last night. Tonight when I came home she ate just a bit and then went to hide again. So, I took her to the emergency vet. They did x-rays, blood work, and a pancreatitis test. Everything is normal. CBC count is normal, test for pancreatitis is negative, x-rays are fine, no tumors, no masses. Her stomach was empty on the x-ray and she showed a lot of gas in her small intestines, but evenly distributed. She was slightly dehydrated. She has also gained almost another half pound and is up to 12.94 pounds. Sigh!

The vet said it looks like Mindy is having some gastroenteritis. They gave her some fluids, anti-nausea meds and an antacid and meds for me to take home. She's had an episode a few months ago when she had some tummy troubles and got put on antacid and got better. But back then she wasn't hiding like she is now. Even though everything came back normal I still worry about her and I have no idea what is causing this. Maybe she just has a sensitive tummy. Mindy definitely needs to lose weight and I'm at a loss as to what else to do. I'm already feeding her lo-cal canned food and lo-carb dry food and I do watch her portions. If anyone knows of any good weight loss foods by all means share it with me. Mindy is not very active to begin with so it's kinda hard to get her to lose the extra weight, but she is at the point where she HAS to lose it. I'm just so worried about my little girl. When she started hiding and acting strange and eating less I feared the worst and was prepared for the worst kind of news at the vet. Does anyone know what good be causing her to have this excess gas in her intestines?

[DannysMom]

Tom's Dad, I did some research on the Gas-X and it is safe to give them, in the infant formula that has no dyes. So I picked some up at the drugstore today. Late last night I saw Mindy out on the stairs with Shelley and she seemed comfortable. During the night Mindy snuggled on the bed with me again. This morning things were looking up a bit more. Mindy was up and about and she did sit by the window for a while, watching the birds. Only when I left for work did she go hide under the bed again. Tonight when I came home she greeted me at the top of the stairs and nibbled on some food. I gave her the antacid and 1/2 a probiotic tablet. She didn't eat much though and soon went under the bed again. So, a bit later I gave her an appetite stimulant from the ER vet. I'm hoping she comes out later so I can give her some more Gas-X. They can get 0.1 ml which is safe for them.

Moon_beam, thank you for suggesting that something might have frightened her. You could very well be right. Although this morning she did look outside and seemed to enjoy it. But she doesn't sit with me and Shelley in the living room like she used to. She'd always be close by, and now she stays away and hides. I don't know if something disturbed her or she witnessed something very upsetting. The only thing that's changed is that my neighbor below seems to be away and it's quieter with the dog not barking (which I don't mind). That's really the only thing I can think of. Mindy seems happy enough when I come visit her in her hideout and she enjoys being petted. She even crawled out from under the bed and looked out through the balcony door, but then when I opened the door she was unsure and went back into hiding. I'm wondering if my other neighbor's obnoxious teenage son maybe tried to climb up on my balcony. School is out and he is home during the day. I don't know that he would really try that, but then again...

I just feel so sad when Mindy is not out here with us. I really do miss her presence and her sweet little face.