Dante's Meal

While we have been in the Caledonian Canal, the cats have been having a ball.  Everywhere we stop they get the chance to get off and eat grass, hunt a bit, and contemplate great feline ideas.  They don’t have to worry about whether the seas will be slight, moderate, rough, agitee, or tres agitee.  Calypso has actually stopped drooling(!).  The last morning at the top of Neptune’s Staircase, however, may have been the last time they are allowed to do this.  We were delayed entering the Staircase because of diving work, so Dante got the morning off to go ashore.  Which he did.

Then, later in the morning, he started to throw up.  Food at first, then later in the afternoon, once his stomach had been emptied, clear liquid and grass residuals.  At first we thought it was just a bad hairball, but he also became lethargic.  We seriously thought about staying on the boat the last night and giving the restaurant a pass.  As a result, the meal was not as pleasant as it could have been.  When we got back, about 10:00, he seemed to be in even more distress, so it was time to find a vet.

Luckily, we had an internet connection, and our server from the restaurant had seen him that day as she walked her dog on the canal, so we got a recommendation, and a phone number.  It was also lucky that they have a duty vet in Ft. William,  she was able to see us right away, at 10:30 PM, and we were able to find a taxi!  She could find nothing wrong with him, but thought that we were right that it was probably something he ate along the canal.  She also mentioned that she had seen cats that had grass lodged in their throats behind the soft palate.  She gave us some meds to settle his stomach, re-hydrated him, and advised us to see a vet in Oban if he did not get better.

He did not eat or drink during the night, and threw up one more time, so it appeared that further consultation was necessary.  Once we got to Oban, Robin went ashore to check out the vet situation, and reported that they were easy to get to, and willing to stay open till we could get him into them.  We rushed him into town on the ferry from the marina, and the vet found out that he now had an elevated temperature.  He suggested that he sedate Dante and check out his throat for obstructions.  He also kept him overnight .

Next day we went back and the vet reported that when he had sedated Dante, one last bit of grass and mucus had come up.  The vet had looked closely at his throat, and found it to be irritated and inflamed, and he thought that this was likely the cause of the problems.  He treated him with an antibiotic and re-hydrated him, and Dante had eaten  some soft food, so back to the boat he went, looking like his normal self.

We have never heard about this situation where the cat eats grass that lodges in the throat, so it was quite an informative episode.  Also a bit cher… 

But he is worth it.