Ginger
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 by Amy
So, everyone already knows the drama (and expense) Ginger has caused us these past couple of days, but I record here because that's what blogs are for!
So, Rudi bought puffer fish about a week ago. We've had puffers before. They are adorable little fish, with their plump bodies, forward-facing eyes, smiley face mouths, and tiny little side fins. They are attentive when you walk into the room and watch your every move. These were the biggest puffers we've had before, though. The others were less than 1/2 inch long, about, and these were a good 2 inches long.
On Monday night, one of the puffers starts to look a little "off," so I moved both puffers into a 2-gallon isolation tank on the bottom the aquarium stand, and fashion a lid that I thought was cat-proof and weighed it down. Afterall, I was going to go to the aquarium store first thing in the morning after dropping Riley off at school and ask for advice on the not-so-good-looking puffer.
Well, Rudi fell asleep watching a movie and when he woke up, he noticed water all over the kitchen floor. he looked in the puffer tank and they were both gone. When he came to bed, he told me that the cat had eaten the puffers. We were both like, "darn," but no real biggie...
...When I got up in the morning I thought it was a little strange that Ginger wasn't dogging me for food as she normally does, but thought that perhaps she had a belly full of puffer, so didn't really think any more about it. I hear the kids playing in the kitchen and Riley starts saying "Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!" Turns out, Ginger didn't eat the fish, they are just dead on the floor. I walk past Ginger sleeping and though "that darn cat." Then I notice her trying to get up. She couldn't stand and was pulling herself along on her side with her front legs. For a minute I tried to convince myself that she was just stretching (like dogs when they stretch and drag along their back legs) but she wouldn't come when I called her. I then noticed that her mouth was open and she was breathing very heavily. At this point I tell Rudi that I think there is something wrong with the cat, to which he replied "Ah, she'll be fine," and I was like, no come look at her! Her pupils were totally dilated, she was trembling, and almost totally paralyzed. Ugh. I remember saying to Rudi "I wonder if those puffer fish are poisonous," and he brushed it off, saying that she probably swallowed a marble (???? LOL)
Riley was already dressed, as we were about to go to school, so I shoved Ginger into a crate and rushed to the vet, while calling Riley's school to tell them that she would be late. At the vet's office, I really can't think of anything strange that would have caused such a sudden illness in the cat, but my mind keeps going back to the puffers. I mean, what else could it be? The vet wasn't in yet, but I told the intake nurse that she got two of our fish in the wee hours of the night. At this point, I am pretty much panicking, because Ginger does not look good at all. I mean seriously, I thought she was just hours from death.
Anyway, I then take Riley in to school, and she is saying things like "I didn't like Ginger anyway" and "Ginger gave me the stink-eye today, so I don't really care about her." Finally, I get sick of her talking like that and in the hallway of her school I look her in the eye and say that it's okay to be upset and scared about Ginger, and that we don't have to pretend that we're not scared and upset. The flood-gates opened and she proceeded to cry her eyes out for 30 minutes outside her classroom before I finally decided to take her home.
As soon as I get home, I look up puffer fish on the internet and find that their skin and organs contain a very potent neurotoxin (tetrodotoxin, same as in the puffer fish that is a delicacy in Japan). I call up the vet's office right away, and the secretary says that they were looking on the internet too, but weren't sure what kind of puffer we had. She put me on hold for the vet. The vet comes on and says that this sort of thing is unheard of in the veterinary practice and that all he has to go on are the few anecdotal cases on the internet. He said that he though of the puffers too, because Ginger is showing the classic signs of a really potent neurotoxin. He said that there is no antidote and that all they can do it hook her up to IV fluids in the hopes of helping her body flush out the toxin. They also put her on a heating pad because her body temperature was really low. He said that he didn't really have a good feeling about it, but we should know within 24-48 hours if she was going to pull through.
We went to visit Ginger than afternoon. Honestly, we visited her because I wasn't sure she was going to make it through the night and I wanted the kids to see her one more time. When we got there, they said that she was slightly improved. When we got to her cage, she responded immediately to our voices and came to the door. She was trying to get the IV out of her arm. I don't think she could see us, with her pupils totally dilated, but she sure was glad to hear us! We thought she looked a lot better, definitely on the other side of the woods :)
The next morning the vet called us and told us that she was much better. He said that she is 100 times better than she was when we visited. She got a final blood-draw and we got the greenlight to take her home that afternoon. We were advised to keep her segregated from the general hubbub of the house, since if she gets over excited, her nervous system will act up again and she'll start shaking. We knew Lola was eager to see her, so we decided on putting her up in our bedroom. At first she protested, but then finally gave in and slept all evening and night in there. We let her out in the morning and Lola was thrilled.
But...she is pooping on the carpet now, and sleeping a whole whole whole lot. She's also sleeping in her privacy spots (as opposed to her "I want to nap, but I also want to be near you spots"). Her favorite private spot is on the dining room chair hidden by the tablecloth. This makes me wonder if she is still recovering, or if she caught something from the animal hospital.
THEN...Yesterday evening we cannot find Ginger at all. Rudi said that he had left the door open while breaking down a large box for recycling. He was kicking himself and the girls were beside themselves. We looked everywhere in the house and determined that she either wasn't in here, or had curled up somewhere and is too ill to respond. Rudi and the girls go walking all over the neighborhood with flashlights, calling her name and looking in trees and under cars. They come in and the girls are too upset to eat dinner, and fall asleep on the couch crying :( I took the car out and drove around looking for her. Nothing. Rudi then sat outside to read, thinking that Ginger knows his cigar smell and he'll keep an eye out for her as he's out there. I sit down at the computer and start crafting a lost cat poster, when I hear meowing. I open the front door, and Ginger happens by with another cat and just runs in like there's nothing amiss at all. Turd.
Oh, and the day after she comes home from the vet's office, Ginger was trying to get back into the isolation tank. In my worry, I hadn't dumped the water and she was really looking to see if perhaps we got more puffers for her to play with! This cat will be the death of us, emotionally and financially!
So, Rudi bought puffer fish about a week ago. We've had puffers before. They are adorable little fish, with their plump bodies, forward-facing eyes, smiley face mouths, and tiny little side fins. They are attentive when you walk into the room and watch your every move. These were the biggest puffers we've had before, though. The others were less than 1/2 inch long, about, and these were a good 2 inches long.
On Monday night, one of the puffers starts to look a little "off," so I moved both puffers into a 2-gallon isolation tank on the bottom the aquarium stand, and fashion a lid that I thought was cat-proof and weighed it down. Afterall, I was going to go to the aquarium store first thing in the morning after dropping Riley off at school and ask for advice on the not-so-good-looking puffer.
Well, Rudi fell asleep watching a movie and when he woke up, he noticed water all over the kitchen floor. he looked in the puffer tank and they were both gone. When he came to bed, he told me that the cat had eaten the puffers. We were both like, "darn," but no real biggie...
...When I got up in the morning I thought it was a little strange that Ginger wasn't dogging me for food as she normally does, but thought that perhaps she had a belly full of puffer, so didn't really think any more about it. I hear the kids playing in the kitchen and Riley starts saying "Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!" Turns out, Ginger didn't eat the fish, they are just dead on the floor. I walk past Ginger sleeping and though "that darn cat." Then I notice her trying to get up. She couldn't stand and was pulling herself along on her side with her front legs. For a minute I tried to convince myself that she was just stretching (like dogs when they stretch and drag along their back legs) but she wouldn't come when I called her. I then noticed that her mouth was open and she was breathing very heavily. At this point I tell Rudi that I think there is something wrong with the cat, to which he replied "Ah, she'll be fine," and I was like, no come look at her! Her pupils were totally dilated, she was trembling, and almost totally paralyzed. Ugh. I remember saying to Rudi "I wonder if those puffer fish are poisonous," and he brushed it off, saying that she probably swallowed a marble (???? LOL)
Riley was already dressed, as we were about to go to school, so I shoved Ginger into a crate and rushed to the vet, while calling Riley's school to tell them that she would be late. At the vet's office, I really can't think of anything strange that would have caused such a sudden illness in the cat, but my mind keeps going back to the puffers. I mean, what else could it be? The vet wasn't in yet, but I told the intake nurse that she got two of our fish in the wee hours of the night. At this point, I am pretty much panicking, because Ginger does not look good at all. I mean seriously, I thought she was just hours from death.
Anyway, I then take Riley in to school, and she is saying things like "I didn't like Ginger anyway" and "Ginger gave me the stink-eye today, so I don't really care about her." Finally, I get sick of her talking like that and in the hallway of her school I look her in the eye and say that it's okay to be upset and scared about Ginger, and that we don't have to pretend that we're not scared and upset. The flood-gates opened and she proceeded to cry her eyes out for 30 minutes outside her classroom before I finally decided to take her home.
As soon as I get home, I look up puffer fish on the internet and find that their skin and organs contain a very potent neurotoxin (tetrodotoxin, same as in the puffer fish that is a delicacy in Japan). I call up the vet's office right away, and the secretary says that they were looking on the internet too, but weren't sure what kind of puffer we had. She put me on hold for the vet. The vet comes on and says that this sort of thing is unheard of in the veterinary practice and that all he has to go on are the few anecdotal cases on the internet. He said that he though of the puffers too, because Ginger is showing the classic signs of a really potent neurotoxin. He said that there is no antidote and that all they can do it hook her up to IV fluids in the hopes of helping her body flush out the toxin. They also put her on a heating pad because her body temperature was really low. He said that he didn't really have a good feeling about it, but we should know within 24-48 hours if she was going to pull through.
We went to visit Ginger than afternoon. Honestly, we visited her because I wasn't sure she was going to make it through the night and I wanted the kids to see her one more time. When we got there, they said that she was slightly improved. When we got to her cage, she responded immediately to our voices and came to the door. She was trying to get the IV out of her arm. I don't think she could see us, with her pupils totally dilated, but she sure was glad to hear us! We thought she looked a lot better, definitely on the other side of the woods :)
The next morning the vet called us and told us that she was much better. He said that she is 100 times better than she was when we visited. She got a final blood-draw and we got the greenlight to take her home that afternoon. We were advised to keep her segregated from the general hubbub of the house, since if she gets over excited, her nervous system will act up again and she'll start shaking. We knew Lola was eager to see her, so we decided on putting her up in our bedroom. At first she protested, but then finally gave in and slept all evening and night in there. We let her out in the morning and Lola was thrilled.
But...she is pooping on the carpet now, and sleeping a whole whole whole lot. She's also sleeping in her privacy spots (as opposed to her "I want to nap, but I also want to be near you spots"). Her favorite private spot is on the dining room chair hidden by the tablecloth. This makes me wonder if she is still recovering, or if she caught something from the animal hospital.
THEN...Yesterday evening we cannot find Ginger at all. Rudi said that he had left the door open while breaking down a large box for recycling. He was kicking himself and the girls were beside themselves. We looked everywhere in the house and determined that she either wasn't in here, or had curled up somewhere and is too ill to respond. Rudi and the girls go walking all over the neighborhood with flashlights, calling her name and looking in trees and under cars. They come in and the girls are too upset to eat dinner, and fall asleep on the couch crying :( I took the car out and drove around looking for her. Nothing. Rudi then sat outside to read, thinking that Ginger knows his cigar smell and he'll keep an eye out for her as he's out there. I sit down at the computer and start crafting a lost cat poster, when I hear meowing. I open the front door, and Ginger happens by with another cat and just runs in like there's nothing amiss at all. Turd.
Oh, and the day after she comes home from the vet's office, Ginger was trying to get back into the isolation tank. In my worry, I hadn't dumped the water and she was really looking to see if perhaps we got more puffers for her to play with! This cat will be the death of us, emotionally and financially!
