Grapes, tomatoes & medicine

As previously reported (click here) Cagney was taken into hospital on the afternoon of Saturday 22nd August, specifically for a barium x-ray.  This would entail an overnight stay.

I returned home from the vets, without Cagney, feeling wretched.  I could not have felt worse.  Actually, I did feel worse, when Bezukhov looked at me & saw that I had not brought home his best buddy.  His expression was a mixture of confusion, betrayal & sadness.

Bezukhov visiting Phineas

I was undecided whether to let Bezukhov & Phineas out for a fly as I did not want to confuse things further.  Plus, I was expecting to go out again later.  In the end, Bezukhov was flying madly about the Manor so I relented & let him out.  He immediately went over to Phinny’s cage to chat to him.  In the meantime I waited for the phone call from Ms Exotic Hospital Vet (EHV).

She rang around 7pm that evening to say Cagney had had the first stage of the barium x-ray & the next part would not happen for another 4 hours so I could visit him anytime before then.  I packed an overnight bag for him with his brand of seed, pellets, sugar snap peas & grated carrot.  I also packed a water bottle & seed pot that fitted the travel cage.  We (myself & my mother) arrived at the hospital around 20:30.  We were shown into a visitors room whilst the nurse went to get Cagney.  He looked very much the same but very, very sleepy.  We talked to him & told him what Bezukhov & Phineas had been up to.  He started to preen a little & then, much to our delight, ate some millet.  I like to think that our visit was welcome.  We had to leave eventually but as he was having treatment during the night I knew he was being looked after.

The next thing was to wait until the morning to hear how the tests went.

In the morning, I let Bezukhov out early.  He seemed troubled to be in the Manor on his own & needed to be out.  I also let Phineas out as he had spent the previous day locked up.  Occasionally they have a little flirt (initiated by Bezukhov) but under normal circumstances it does not go far as Cagney investigates & interrupts proceedings (vice versa – if Cagney flirts with Phineas, Bezukhov interrupts).  Without Cagney’s presence, the flirting was continued unhindered to the point that Bezukhov regurgitated to Phineas!  Evidence shown in this video:

A vet rang later that morning to say that Cagney was doing well.  The barium x-ray did not show up any obstruction.  However, Cagney was now passing faeces.  He had eaten a little & was preening.  She suggested he have antibiotics & metacam (anti-inflammatory) to help bring his temperature down.  I could pick him up that afternoon after a consultation with another vet.

It was a relief to see Cagney again.  He looked well considering all he had been through.  There were halved grapes pushed through the cage bars which was possibly another ordeal as grapes are scary.  At the bottom of his cage was half a cherry tomato.  That would have been the first time he has seen a tomato.  There was a curly green leaf, possibly kale, too.

The vet confirmed that he is to take antibiotics daily & metacam orally once a day.  They gave Cagney metacam when I was there which meant his next dose would be 24 hours later at 5pm.  I said I prefer to give the medicine in the morning so they said it would be better to wait until the morning after.  They suggested I book a follow-up visit with Ms EHV for the Tuesday.

Finally, after a very long 24 hours, I could take my lovely toyboy home.

To be continued…