Allergy Cat

Today Alex’s vet gave him a new nickname: Allergy Cat. She (the vet) has now confirmed that what has been causing the health problems of the cat whom I serve (more than ever now) is allergies.

It wasn’t that diagnosis that took Alex and me to the animal hospital this morning. We had received that by telephone a few days ago. What motivated me to con Alex into jumping into my arms and then stuffing the little clawing tiger into his cat carrier was a black discharge coming from his ear. When I first observed the discharge, I thought that an insect had lodged itself in my kitten’s ear. It wasn’t an insect. I was able to remove some of the dried, crinkly, yucky stuff from his outer ear. However, I noted that it was also deep in his ear—too deep for amateur cat physician me to attempt removal. Thus, our trip to see Alex's veterinarian at the Animal Hospital.

The black stuff, when removed and analyzed, was identified as a discharge from a combination bacterial/fungus infection that had developed in Allergy Cat’s ear. The vet pointed out that animals, like human kids, who have a lot of allergies also develop a lot of infections. And Alex seems to have a lot of allergies! These allergies account for his itching and scratching his fur down to bare skin. That condition has improved greatly since he was been on a regular cortisone treatment. Alex is also no longer "off" his food: he as gained a whopping 0.4 lb. since his last visit to the vet and now weights a staggering 10.6 pounds.

After his ear was cleaned as well as possible and he received yet another injection, Alex gladly if not happily crawled into his cat carrier and fell asleep for the duration of the trip home. I paid the vet’s accountant (enough money to feed Alex and me for three weeks) and, with the carrier of the cat who owns me and a “goody bag” containing five new medications for Alex (who now has more prescription meds than I do), drove home.

Alex, of course, slept. And, after staggering out of the carrier when I unzipped it in our living room, demanding to be fed, and exploring the house to be sure it wasn’t the Animal Hospital, Alex took a long, medicine induced nap. I did, too.