This is going to be a long night.  Meltdown was pushing herself too hard
today, and in the evening she blew-up with ascites again (first time in a
long time, and not even an hour after I told Katie Fritz how well she is
doing), this time with some gagging and forced attempts to vomit.  Since the
gagging came first we gave some laxative, then when she got water-balloon
belly we added the permitted extra bit of furosemide she can have.  About a
half hour later she was much more comfy and was relaxed so we put her back
in to piddle, which she of course did in generous amounts.  Then we let her
rest.  The next time we looked in (something which is done VERY often) her
paper was covered with a bit of vomit (How did I know what it was?  I
smelled it.) and mucus and a lot of very fresh, very red blood (arterial
sort of color).  Fortunately, she was not terribly pale, not still bringing
up blood, not bloated any longer, not having any difficulty breathing, and
otherwise looking and acting quite reasonable.  We think she probably broke
blood vessels vomiting, but an ulcer is possible.  If so, it's open because
this was very fresh blood so we'll be watching for black, tarry turds.  Yes,
we of course immmediately called the vet on duty (a really sweet guy) and he
agrees so tonight we watch her carefully and if she does it again she goes
in.  We forgot to ask about her one non-essential med, but I recalled a case
earlier this year of a world class body builder who bled out gastrically so
we removed the steroid which has made her comfortable till Hanan decides.
We've also pulled her hard food in case that mechanically opens anything.
Her litter pot is out, too, mostly to reduce any strain but also for better
monitoring and sampling.  We're back on shifts, and cage next to the bed if
we absolutely have to crash.
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 1798]