October

Kali was very energetic during her playtime tonight. I was playing with her by rolling her furry ball at her. She chased it, pounched on it, rolled over with it and tried to ‘kill’ it by biting into it. She was getting more and more excited as the game went on and she became very aggressive – firstly with the ball and then with me! Twice when she pounced at the ball she missed it and went crashing into me. The first time she collided with my knee and gave me a very powerful bite, luckily my jeans saved me any real damage. The second time she bit my arm, again my clothes saved me. I distracted her with some food after that to calm her down. She remained active all the time she was out and, although she was still working hard with her breathing, she seemed much better in herself.

Despite the bites I was very pleased to see her so active. She was obviously having a very good time and it was a shame to stop her.

I went to see the vet today about Kali’s test results. Unfortunatly the vet had problems with both the x-rays and the blood tests. They took the x-rays with a different exposure to the one which were used last year. This means that it is diffult to see if there have been any changes between this years x-ray and last years. The x-ray didn’t show anything serious such as any lumps or growths but the vet thought that, even allowing for the different exposures, the lungs looked more opaque than they did last year. The vet wasn’t able to do a full analysis on the blood because it congealed before they could be done. There was nothing conclusive in the results that they were able to get. So we still don’t know what’s causing Kali symptoms.

There isn’t much else to do except wait and see how she gets on. The vet suggested that she continues to be given the anti-biotic and the steriod and he wants to see her again in a month to check on her progress.

Kali’s been into the vets today for x-rays and a blood test. She hasn’t responded to her latest course of treatments and her breathing wasn’t improving. She had to be put out to have the x-rays and blood samples taken so I had a very anxious few hours this morning waiting for the vets to call. She went in at nine and I picked her up at about one this afternoon. She’s still a bit dopy and rather disorientated but she is back in her house now. We’re going back to the vets tomorrow evening to see what the x-rays and blood tests can tell us about what is wrong with her.

Kali came out for a run last night and was more active than she had been for a while. She was still having difficulty breathing but she seemed better in herself and was active for much of the time she was out. She even did a few little jumps and runs up and down the landing which she does when she’s having a good time. She also had a brief playfight with the tassles of a rug while she was exploring. Her poos have been OK for the last couple of days. She’s only going once a day rather than her more usual habit of twice a day but she’s also eating less so that may account for it.

Kali has bitten me! It was while I was trying to get her to take her medicines this morning. I had mixed them with a number of different foods to see if I could temp her to take some but she turned her nose up at them all. As I was holding her bowl up for her and encouraging her to eat something she started sniffing around inside the bowl. When she got near the edge of the bowl she suddenly noticed my finger and bit at it. The bite isn’t very deep but her teeth cut right though my nail and into my finger.

We are now concerned about Kali’s breathing. She is still suffering from abdominal pain and soft poos but her breathing is now quite laboured. The vet gave her the all clear on the second poo sample so at least she’s free of worms.

Kali’s on a new range of medications to help her breathing including a different anti-biotic. The vet listened to her chest and said that her lungs were quite noisy. He suggested putting her out so she could be x-rayed and have a blood sample taken but I decided to give the new medication a chance before subjecting her to more drastic treatment.

Kali hates the new medicines. She refuses to eat any food which has them mixed in. I’m having to be very strict with her. I do not give her any alternative food until she’s eaten the food with the medicine in. This means that she’s eating less than normal and she is hungry most of the time. She was so hungry this morning that she was fighting to get out of her cage before breakfast.

Her breathing hasn’t got any worse but it hasn’t got any better either. One positive sign is that Kali is more active and seem to feel better in herself but I don’t know if this is because she’s improving or because she hungry most of the time.

Kali’s having a particularly rough time at the moment because the vet has asked me to starve her for 24 hours to give her digestion a rest. Last night I cleaned her house out and removed the stash of food she keeps under her nest. This morning she wasn’t allowed any breakfast. She made quite a fuss about it and ‘shouted’ at me with very angry squeaks. I dread to think what she’ll be like tonight when she realises that she isn’t allowed any supper.

Kali’s been back to the vets twice recently and she isn’t getting any better. The poo analysis showed worms so she’s been on a course of worming medicine as well as the steroid and the antibiotic. Kali finished the course at the weekend but it doesn’t seem to have helped at all. The vet is analysing another poo sample to check that the medicine has worked.

Kali’s symptoms suggest that she is suffering from a digestive problem. She has a very uncomfortable abdomen and she’s passing soft (and smelly poos) which could be caused by worms. Over the last couple of days I’ve started to wonder if these are stress reactions caused by some another problem. Last year when she was suffering from zinc poisoning she also developed stomach pains and soft poos. I’ve been checking her very carefully to see if she is displaying any other symptoms and I’m beginning to get worried about her breathing. It is more pronounced than usual seems to require more effort.