A couple of months ago, in late August, we noticed that Dutchy sometimes hesitated when jumping up onto the arm of Art's recliner or onto her own multilevel cat perch. She'd pull herself up onto the recliner and sleep in the second tier of the perch rather than one on top. And one day, I watched as she ran around a corner and noticed that her left hind leg was a little draggy.
We took Dutchy to our vet on September 10 for a physical exam. The vet noticed the gait issue and ordered x-rays, lab work and urinalysis, and provided five syringes of meloxicam, an anti-inflammatory medication. After $900 and a wait of several days, we got the results: everything was normal. The vet suggested we make an appointment with a feline neurologist (!). There was such a place near Brier, the Seattle suburb where we live. The place was also a 24-hour emergency clinic, so we knew it would be expensive. We made an appointment for the following week. As it turned out, the meloxicam worked and Dutchy returned to her higher jumps.
This was just two weeks before we were scheduled to leave for Tucson for our annual six-month winter stay. It occurred to me that if Dutchy needed follow-up care, it might be complicated and inefficient to transfer her records for a Tucson neurologist to pick up her case. So I did some research and found a Tucson vet with an excellent reputation. I made an appointment there and canceled the one in Washington.
Last week, four days after stopping the meloxicam, we made the 45-minute trek to the other side of Tucson to visit the feline neurologist. Dutchy's medical records had been transferred, so he could see all the results. He did some testing that the Washington vet hadn't done - tested her hind legs, probed and poked. Then he said, "This cat is fine today." He showed us what he saw on the x-rays and said that what he was looking for in part of her spine wasn't present. He told us that if the hesitation started again, to bring her in the same day and he would check her again.
We'd expected a CAT scan or an MRI or maybe even surgery would be necessary. We were very relieved and gladly paid his $180 bill. We wondered if Dutchy could have early arthritis that showed up in the more humid Washington climate than in the Arizona desert. Or if a flea infestation in August of the cat and the resident dog, Augi, could have been the source of her problem.
Here in Tucson, Art has a recliner with narrow arms. His recliner in Brier has wider arms. That means Dutchy can't sit on the recliner arm here while Art brushes her. It's thrown her off in her routine. So last week we spent an hour in the Ashley furniture showroom, and then in their outlet, looking for a recliner. I told the salesman at the beginning, "We want a rocking recliner, no heater, no massage, no power lift, no cup holder, no USB port. It just has to have wide arms." Art sat in eight chairs and we decided on one that is normally $799 but on sale for $399. A good price! It will be delivered the day after tomorrow.
I know Dutchy - and Art - will be happy to renew the ritual brushing on the wide arms of the new recliner.
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