Gerber Chicken and Rice

It started Saturday morning, when Millie threw up on the guest bed at Mom and Dad's house. I didn't think much of it (other than the usual, "Ewww...Mil-lieeeeee..."). After all, Millie is known for her "delicate" stomach. I'm used to it.

That afternoon I drove back to Antioch. Thirty minutes out, somewhere near the junction of Highway 12 and Highway 160, I heard a pitiful moaning meow from Millie's carrier. It was not her typical, "Mooommmmm...I hate this thing!! Are we there yet??" I looked over and saw her hunched over.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

Pitiful meow.

"Uh-oh."

That's when I noticed the yellow liquid rolling around the floor of her carrier.

Millie has never been sick in her carrier, and she was not happy with sitting in her own mess. I pulled over as soon as I could, and took her out while on the side of a busy road. I wrapped her in an old blanket and hugged her to me. She rode the rest of the way to our apartment with free roam all over the car. She seemed okay, even though her paws were now stained yellow.

I gave her a quick bath when we got home, and set her in her Sweet Spot to get warm and dry. After that she seemed fine, so I didn't pay much attention to it.

On Sunday she ended up getting sick twice, both times throwing up yellow liquid. I noticed that she spent most of the day sleeping, not as playful as usual.

This morning, as I got ready for work, she threw up again. It was then I started to worry. She hadn't touched her food or water since we'd returned on Saturday. She is still affectionate and cuddly with me, but not as playful as usual. I talked to a couple of colleagues when I got to school and they gave me a great recommendation of a vet in town. I called and made an appointment for Millie to see them this afternoon. I left work early to take her.

She threw up on the way.

I was upset and worried, but it wasn't until the vet suggested an x-ray and a blood test that I really freaked out. He left the room for a moment and I just started bawling. I had to leave my little girl at the vet's office for a little while so they could try to figure out what was wrong. My over-active imagination immediately thought the worst.

I spent most of the afternoon crying until the vet called to let me know that they couldn't see anything obstructing her digestive system in the x-rays. The results of the blood test will come back tomorrow. In the meantime, he said, I could bring her home and syringe-feed her water and baby food. "Chicken or turkey will do."

"The canned food?"

"Yeah, like Gerber."

"Oh, you mean human baby food."

"Yeah--that should do it. This little kitty needs food and water."

I drove back to the vet's office to get my girl. When I got there one of the technicians was walking a small dog outside. She smiled at me and said, "Are you here for Millie?"

"Yeah."

"She's so sweet--she did a great job with all the stuff we had to do."

"Awww...yeah, she's my sweetie."

A few minutes later, Millie and I were happily on our way home. She did not get sick in the car (the kind people at the vet's office cleaned out her carrier for me). She's been happy to be home, and cuddly as usual. I've given her a couple of syringes of water and one of Gerber chicken and rice. She does NOT like being forced to eat, but we do what we have to do.

So yeah, it's been quite a day. I'm exhausted, and so is Millie. She's been under the bed a lot, because she knows I'll stick that syringe in her mouth. But when I go to get her, she purrs and lets me pick her up.

It's going to be a long night. The vet's office recommended I feed and water Millie as much as possible, so I will probably get up once or twice to feed her in the night.

What a day.