detritus-balls

So Idris, master of eating things, horked up a pair of detritus-balls on Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, actually. About 2 AM. I hear these things, having a finely tuned sense for cat-vomit sounds (and he's a sneaky, quiet horker). Anyway, the detritus-balls were their usual dubious composition of toy-stuffing, niblets of varying blankets (and a coin-sized bite of Louhi's pillowcase, because it is hers), and Idris's hair (in a quantity sufficient only to add black to the otherwise mixed bag of colors).

Anyway, this is not unusual. Once every 2-3 months, Idris produces a pair of detritus-balls approximately the size and shape of a fresh cat turd. I am forever impressed that he can keep them in the same belly into which he sucks as much food as he can manage. And he was cheerful on Wednesday AM, ate his breakfast, galloped around--and threw up. And continued to do so, every time he attempted to eat. Okay, this has happened before, too, and he rights himself within 24 hours, a steady improvement as his stomach settles down. He was perking up some by last night, and I was hopeful.

Then he threw up this morning, at 4AM, with nothing inside. This is his usual 'let me bury something in the box and scratch so loudly that Cin wakes up.' Instead, I woke up to cat vomit. And I knew that was a bad thing, which was only confirmed by a day of Sad Cat Loaf, with a lone trip to the water bowl. No more puking, but obvious discomfort. No purring. No interest, even in the cheeky birds hopping around on the deck.

Tonight, he is at the vet's being shot up with anti-nausea meds and plied with babyfood. The X-rays indicate 'something' in his small intestine, of sufficient mass to cause him pain, but not a total block. They will try and see if it moves along. If it does not, they will determine where and what it is through more exact means, and then they will unzip my cat and remove the problem.

I am trying to be cool about this. Really. I just keep checking that spot right behind my feet where he likes to lay, and where, if I don't look, I could step on him. And he's not there.

It's amazing how quiet a house is when a cat who never meows is absent. I may even sleep through the night without someone's wet nose under my chin at 4:15, shortly followed by someone's sharp little love bites on my chin. And that will suck.

On a slightly brighter note, the cat hospital has American Bobtail kittens up for adoption. They're kittens, so of course they are cute. The 5 month old is easily Idris's size. The 3.5 month olds are Louhi's size. These are gonna be big cats.