Pachino's Vet Visit

Happy Caturday!

Pachino loves to play with the small rocks at the end of the driveway. (This photo was taken 2 months ago.)

Pachino's Vet Visit

A combination of things is what led to Pachino's vet visit on 6/14/2018. He has always been an affectionate cat but for the past 2 months he has been clinging to me, and just not acting like himself. I noticed that his spring shedding had recently become excessive and he had lost that silky sheen to his fur. When I combed him every night, he began to run away when I got to his lower back. He has polyps in his ears which have always bothered him, but now he was shaking his head, which he had never done before. Then I noticed that he was licking his fur excessively. Since he was not himself, whenever he wanted to go outside, I went with him; even though he only goes into my next door neighbor's yard. On 6/3, we were sitting on the porch in the early evening; it wasn't dark. Pachino fell asleep and out of nowhere, a big stray cat came around the corner and attacked Pachino from behind. It all happened so fast. I checked Pachino, and thankfully he didn't have any wounds. One week later, I noticed a bald spot on the back of his lower neck, and his fur was falling out so badly from all over his body that I had to vacuum twice a day. I also noticed that his back end was skinny even thought I knew he hadn't lost any weight. Also, he had no desire to play when I brought out his toys. Time to call the vet and 3 days later, we were there. There weren't any changes to his diet, water intake or bathroom habits.

Pachino does not play with his beloved rocks anymore.

One day before going to the vet, I heard some disturbing news. My next door neighbor has a huge back yard which she has made into a bird sanctuary. With all of the trees, bushes, plants, etc., it looks like something you would find in the country. To make matters worse, she didn't take care of it this year. In the early spring, I noticed an abundance of weeds that were about one foot high. It didn't take long before they became 7 feet high, and 8 feet deep and loaded with small white flowers. They look similar to Queen Ann's Lace. All of the neighbor's have been having a really bad time with allergies this year and they blamed it on those weeds. One day before Pachino's vet appointment, we found out that those weeds are Hemlock. My internet search revealed that Hemlock is extremely poisonous to animals and humans. You don't even have to ingest it. Touching and breathing it will make you sick, and Pachino has been going into that "forest" every day. Poison control said that you have to ingest it to become ill, but advised not to touch and to stay away from it.

To be continued...

Image Source: 100% own work.