Making Hard Decisions

Sweet Pea is still here, and there has been no bleeding since Wednesday (or as I now call it, the Wednesday night massacre). I was supposed to bring him to the vet this morning for a procedure to try and find out where the bleeding is taking place. I decided for now to not do the procedure. It was a very uncomfortable situation to be in all weekend. On one hand it seemed to me that when he didn't bleed for a few days, the amount that eventually came out was copious. So, there I was on Friday night, then Saturday morning, actually hoping he would bleed! When he didn't bleed yesterday I vacillated between being really nervous waiting for an eruption and then somewhat optimistic as the hours ticked by.

By last night I was really questioning if I should bring him in at all. Not only was Sweet Pea not bleeding, every day he was getting stronger, eating more and acting more and more like his old self. Could the antibiotics be working? Could the massive bleeding last Wednesday have purged him of whatever was making him bleed in the first place? Who knows? I also started having worries about the procedure itself. I have a friend who had a cat that was in a weakened stage that had to have a basic procedure done, but had to be sedated. Because of her weakened state, she never woke from the sedation and had to be put down. I have no question in my mind that even though Sweet Pea is feeling better, he is not up to his full strength. Could that happen to him? Then I started thinking what if he got through the procedure fine, but when he was in a recovery cage waking from the sedation, starts to bleed and aspirates on the blood while he is still under. I know they don't have people there to watch them every second.

Late last night, I picked up all the water and food bowls (my house is too small to fast just one cat, so unfortunately, both Woody and Apu had to fast too) and decided if I woke up and Sweet Pea had bled during the night, I would bring him in. When I woke up this morning all the cats including Sweet Pea were meowing VERY loudly wondering where the heck their food and water bowls were. After inspecting the house and finding no blood, I made the decision then and there to not bring him in and called the vet's office as soon as it opened to let them know.

Do I have a knot in my stomach now here at work? Yes. I also realize that I could come home tonight from work to a scene like I did last Wednesday. If that happens, I'll feel more confident of bringing him in, realizing the antibiotics were not helpful and let nature take its course.

Whatever happens I know that Sweet Pea had a wonderful purr-filled weekend filled with lots of brushings, head scritches, TONS of cat treats, and most importantly, lots of lap time and loving from his mom.