Indra was already as normal as can be yesterday evening. She ate a lot of small meals yesterday, from evening until night time.
So far, she seems okay and completely back to herself, zooming around the garden and actively playing.
There’s so much to be thankful for, most of all, to our amazingly knowledgeable and skilful vet who knew exactly what to do to remove that string as safely as possible from Indra. The vet had said that if the endoscopy failed, she would have to cut. I’m so thankful she didn’t have to.
I’m also thankful that I had CCTV cameras installed a few months ago, to cover as much ground as possible. I got this done when I had to monitoring the pooping of the cats, needing to figure out who had loose stools. Without the CCTV footage, we wouldn’t have been able to figure out who ate the string. Imagine what a nightmare that would have been! I’d probably have to cart all three of the Blondies (plus Samantha?) to the vet’s for X-rays.
By scanning the CCTV footage, we were able to identify without a doubt that it was Indra who did it. Not Akira (she was my first suspect!).
I am also thankful that I did not rely on my previous experience with Akira where she was able to pass out the two pieces of string, in dealing with Indra. Akira was just plain lucky. Very, very lucky. String-swallowing IS a medical emergency. I remember many years ago, our senior vet told me that his friend, also a vet, lost her cat due to string obstruction in the intestines. His friend was a vet too, and yet, her cat died from this issue.
So, no matter how many times we have encountered a similar incident, never ever assume “oh, it’s going to be the same as before”. Never. We sometimes tend to forget what we read and rely on experience because experiential hands-on knowledge is lodged in our long-term memory. So I quickly read up on string swallowing yesterday and decided to treat it as an emergency.
I am thankful that Indra recovered so quickly too. She was already back to normal yesterday, after we brought her home.
Indra only has to be on anti-gastric medication and Gabapentin for a few days, and I will give all of them probiotics regularly.
That’s her poo spot.
For cage doors that are permanently open, no more using strings. We are using cable ties now. For other doors, I’ve tied strong knots that cannot be easily untied or pulled loose.
Staying close to mummy.
Being at the vet’s must have been so traumatic for poor Indra. When I visited her, she was desperately trying to get out, like she was asking me to rescue her and take her home. I’m glad she only had to stay for one day.