Poor Rocksteady...

What a day this turned out to be! I'd say at about 1pm, I came into the house from the garage sale - probably to go to the bathroom or something - and walked over to Rocksteady (the cat) who was laying on her perch in the living room! I went to go pet her, and she kinda rolled onto her side - like she normally does - to get a good behind the ear scratch... but then her front paw came up over her head, sticking straight out, stiff as a board!

I got a bit concerned, and didn't know what was going on! I helped her up from her side, and sat her up a bit. Then both front paws came out from under her, sticking straight out - in the air - and stiff! She was looking at me, and didn't seem to know what was going on either. it kind of sounded like she was purring, and lightly sneezing or something, but not like any purr I've ever heard from her before, and she was also vibrating or shaking....

I freaked out and ran outside to get Mikey. By the time he had come in, she seemed ok, repositioned herself, and went back to sleep. I said "I think Rocksteady just had a seizure!" and explained what I had saw. I was so distraught about what had just happened that I started to cry, so Mikey started looking up Veterinarian's in the phone book. He called around until he found one that was open in Stony Plain, (or was it Spruce Grove..) that had an opening for 2:15pm.

We don't have Rocksteady's cat carrier anymore because we've never needed to bring her anywhere, so instead I put Rocksteady's bed in a laundry basket. When I picked her up off of her perch, she was as limp as a noodle, didn't struggle or even "hold on" to me like she normally does. I put her in the truck, and Mikey drove off to the vet. I stayed behind to run the garage sale and watch the dog. Mikey said that while he was driving, halfway through the ride it seemed as if something clicked, and she realized where she was. She started getting all mobile, trying to jump out of the basket, and was crying...

I thought about it for a bit after they left, and tried hard not to cry in front of the garage sale customers. (reminds me of that scene from "Night at the Roxbury" when all the customers at the silk plant store are depressed...) I remember on Monday or Tuesday, Rocksteady had barfed at least 4 times, mostly downstairs, and then once upstairs. All throughout the week she had looked pretty haggard, she ate hardly anything, she wasn't cleaning herself, she walked around all slowly, and just kinda hid all day! So maybe she had previously had one of these Seizure episodes during the week, that I had not known about?

Because of all these behaviors over the last week, I just figured she had a "cold"... Maybe it was more than that! I called up a girlfriend that works in the medical field, and described the symptoms and what had happened to make me think she had a seizure. She agreed that it seemed pretty possible, and listed a few things that could cause it - such as clotting or bleeding in the brain (Scary!). Mikey called me back shortly after, and let me know that the Vet said the worst possible cause could be rabies... RABIES!? like... foaming at the mouth rabid crazy dog rabies? Yeah... Rabies.

Of course that is the worst case scenario, there are a multitude of others that could be a factor, yet they all still sound like they will have a bad/sad conclusion. Mikey told me that the Vet took a blood sample, and that Rocksteady will have to be watched all week, is not allowed outside for the next 2 weeks (pet quarantine), and that we'll have to get a peepee sample... that will prove to be interesting!

Once Mikey was back home, I brought Rocksteady in from the truck, and put her basket down on the floor. She hopped out, but didn't exactly land right and kinda fell. I noticed the front of her neck was shaved from the blood sample that was taken. She wandered into the kitchen kinda aimlessly,and once there, she flopped on the floor and laid flat out on her side. Then, she got up, walked into the hallway, and flopped down on the ground again. I went to go pet her, but she seemed "out of it" and didn't really have any response. Then she got up again and crawled under the bed in the guest room, which is her usual hiding spot.

Again, I got so upset! She seemed so different, so... unusually "blank". I just sat there and cried. My cat, full of personality, could chat up a storm, and was always so cuddly, didn't want to have anything to do with it. I eventually got myself back together, and went back outside to help Mikey with the garage sale, as well as re-pot my tomato plants into my coir pots. It helped take my mind off of it, and Mikey and I ended up making quite a few good sales so far. I also got some crocheting in between customers - I'm working on an over sized beach bag/tote, I'll put up pics when I'm done.

I came inside to bring in some stuff, and start dinner, and decided to go check on the cat. Rocksteady was sleeping downstairs on the bed in the man den. I went in to pet her, and she seemed very well. She was very responsive, meowed, cuddled, and purred. *sigh* What a relief! For now she seems ok! I kept an eye on her when she got up and left, and followed her over to her food. Seemed like her balance is off a bit. She ate a bit of food and drank some water, also very relieving. Then she tried to run up the stairs,but slipped a few times, so I helped her. Now she's just sleeping, and hopefully she stays well until we get the blood and pee results back.

Lets hope for the best!

I love you Rocksteady!