rickvs

Well, we're down to two cats, now.

Dante [1] had always been hypersensitive to fleas, and had lost a lot of weight recently during this year's battle with them. I took him to the vet yesterday afternoon [2], and after examining Dante and doing some blood work, the doctor seemed concerned, but not alarmed. He figured Dante was dehydrated, but his kidneys were functioning well enough that the vet gave him some subcutaneous fluids, plus an enema against his constipation and a pill to kill every flea that bit him for the next 36 hours. When I came back later to pick Dante up, he was much plumper and appeared to be resting comfortably. I was told he'd had a hard afternoon, so we should let him rest that evening while I vacuumed and cleaned, in preparation for a full-court press against the fleas in our apartment [3].

Dante never changed his position in the cat carrier from the time I brought him home. I removed the top half of the box, and combed off all the flea dirt on the side he wasn't laying on. At one point, he was purring as I scratched his chin -- then later, he appeared to be trying to move his bowels, more comfortably than with his previous attempts. I left him be, intending to clean up after him later, and perhaps flip him over to comb the other side.

When I checked up later, he wasn't breathing, and the eyeball I could see was drying -- it appeared coated with vaseline rather than saline. He wasn't room temperature yet, but was cooler than me; I guessed he'd died sometime in the previous twenty minutes.

I'm still proceeding with the flea genocide, and we'll be getting Dante's urn back tomorrow or the next day. We're starting a collection on the mantle, I think. At least the dim little guy was comfortable during his last few hours.

[1] Our oldest cat, a gray ragdoll.

[2] ...on the dime of our generous neighbor/patroness. My working hours have dried up almost completely, which is a topic for another post.

[3] I'd been combing Dante a couple of times daily for the last few weeks, getting fewer fleas each time than the day before ...but still lots more fleas than I'd want crawling on *me*. I'd also administered one of those treatments that goes on a cat's neck, which apparently make its blood poisonous to fleas. My procrastination regarding rug treatments had a financial component, but more to do with our recently departed houseguest, whose allergies meant he could not abide the dust kicked up by a vacuum cleaner. And yeah, that last decision is one I'd like to have back.