I went into action. Remember the baby gates we installed a few years ago during the ringworm episode? The Five can jump over them when they are closed, but Belle cannot. So I moved Belle into the sunny, cheerful Blue Bedroom. She spends a lot of time in there anyway, but now the gate is closed.
I overnighted two of those Palm-in-a-Planter litter boxes (one for Sissy Emma's Bathroom) and installed one in Belle's new "continuous care" facility. I provided bowls for food and water. This afternoon, her water bowl will be replaced by a new fountain.
I expected to find her dead that first morning. I had taken away her Rx meds. What good is prednisone that was prescribed for throwing up if you're throwing up constantly? I took the Dr. Hill's Urinary Tract hard food away from her because kibbles have a history of being nearly impossible for her to digest. I found her sitting up in the worst smelling bedroom I have ever seen.
Day two found her diarrhea gone. Now she was constipated, and I began letting her have coconut oil for that. She liked it. She hadn't really eaten enough to make poop and was not drinking enough water. She still couldn't stay awake; rather, she slept almost 24 hours.
Day three found Belle drinking her water, eating some, using her litter box a little, and sunning on the small couch she has always loved. I put her bed in the closet, the door ajar, for privacy, and installed her scratcher lounge, another of her favorites, and brought in Lamb Chops. Mr. Hyde brought her the little Scottish tartan mouse he loves so much and put it in her bed. She ate her dinner which consists of the canned food she has always eaten – except that the ingredients have been modified and upgraded to grain free.
This morning, Belle was waiting for her breakfast. She has not thrown up again. She has used her box. The foul odor is gone from the room. The Five jumped the fence and we all watched Le Tour de France up on the bed (the spread of which is changed every morning after the vacuuming and the box cleaning). Everyone got brushed during commercials. She hasn't tried to bite me again or to attack the kittens.
We've (the Fab Five and me) watched television in the Blue Bedroom every night with Belle whether or not she was asleep. We stay a couple of hours before the others get restless and head for the porch.
Then I talk to her. I tell her that I suspect that she's in pain and that it's okay to give up and give in to the call of the Rainbow Bridge. I tell her that I know she's very old and how much I've enjoyed her living with me. Because I don't think I'm taking her back to the Vet. She needs to be tranquil and happy. She doesn't have a terminal illness, she has arthritis and the other, worsening problems of old age.
For now, she's had lunch and is sleeping in the sunshine. I hope that tomorrow she will look happier and healthier than this.
