The vet assistant called at 3.30pm saying the endoscopy had been completed and the vet would like to see me. I asked if Indra can be discharged and she did not know.
Hmm….that sounded a little worrisome, but we quickly made our way to the clinic.
At the clinic, I asked whoever was there if the endoscopy had been successful and everyone said “yes!”
Phew….
YES!!
I went to see Indra and she was still groggy from the sedation (general anaesthesia). She was bumping around the cage and aggressive. I know we would just have to wait for the sedation to wear out. She’s not aware of what she is doing now and almost bit me too.
Finally, I got to speak with the vet. She showed me videos of the procedure and how the entire string was removed (pulled out) with the endoscope. We are really lucky that our vet has the expertise and equipment to do this, so there was no need to cut her open. Endoscopy is a non-invasive procedure as the probe with the camera at the end is inserted down the throat, through the esophagus into the stomach. For cats, it can even reach the duodenum.
Here’s the dastardly string, in the bottle. The vet compared the length with the sample I brought and it’s about the same length so they got the entire thing out.
A photo and videos of the procedure: https://animalcare.my/2024/09/16/indras-endoscopy-photos/
While the vet was talking with me, Indra was busy yanking thread out of the blanket in her cage. Luckily the vet saw her and quickly stopped her. Not again…eating the blanket now? The vet removed the blanket from the cage and also removed the cloth from her carrier since I’d be taking her home.
The vet said she must be very hungry but she cannot be fed until her grogginess is over and she can walk straight.
Being groggy, she might just try to eat the cloth in the carrier as well. So the vet placed her into the carrier with newspapers instead but on second thought, what if she eats the newspaper as well? So we quickly took out the newspapers too. All this had to be done very quickly because Indra was still crazily groggy and was aggressive.
We drove home with Indra and she pooped in the carrier on the way home!
Back home, I quickly cleaned her up as much as I could, but she was aggressive.
In you go into the cage, Indra, until you recover from the after-effects of the sedation.
Indra was yowling (but that’s because she was still groggy) and of course, as usual, so was Gerald (for no reason). So, we had two yowling cats.
Samantha came to see her.
I compared the retrieved string and the sample I brought. Yes, that’s about the right length. Cotton strings cannot be digested in the cat’s stomach and will wreak havoc inside. Hence, string-swallowing is a medical emergency.
I’m still puzzled as to how Akira (at 7 months old) managed to pass out two pieces of strings last year.
I finally offered some Cubgrub, but she was not ready to eat much yet.
She just wanted desperately to come out and walk around.
So I let her out and yes, she could walk straight already. No more yowling. She just wanted to come out of the cage.
I offered her favourite Coco&Joe’s and she ate a considerable amount.
The vet did say to give her probiotics, so I’ve already given her Adored Beast’s Healthy Gut.
From the clinic, Indra was prescribed transdermal Gabapentin and an anti-gastric medicine for a few days. No antibiotics required.
She ate another small meal of canned food.
When Indra was hospitalised yesterday, I was really worried in case the endoscopy did not work and she had to be opened up. As with all procedures, there are risks involved. It made me more determined to be thankful for everything that goes right every day, every moment, whatever it may be.
So, as for retraining the Blondies to eat more raw food, I’m going easy on them now.
As long as they eat, as long as they are healthy, I ought be very, very thankful. There is no need to aim for the sky or near-perfection. That is not necessary.
I’m so glad Indra is home now and the dastardly string is out from her system. So thankful to our amazing vet and her team!!