Oreo choked on a cat treat

Monday December 10th, 2018

Oreo is pretty much back to himself today and I am so glad. Yesterday I tried giving him hard kibble again. It scares me beyond belief now, but he did alright. He still tried to eat it too fast, but I stood right next to him and watched him like a hawk. I removed the automatic feeders I have that were set to go off various times a day. Oreo eats very small portions many times daily because he can't control how much he stuffs his face. I am too afraid to leave the feeders out after everything as sometimes Oreo will push them around and pieces will fall out. I don't want that to happen while I am sleeping or not home so I've removed them completely. 

I am not using a bowl yet either. I am using his NoBowl to feed him instead. This way he has no choice but to eat slowly. Oreo also eats a dental formula that is much larger in size than regular kibble. This forces him to chew the pieces rather than just swallow them. With his NoBowl, only 2 or three pieces come out at a time and he's got to kick the thing around to get them all out. This is the safest way to feed him dry food for now. Still, I am very scared and paranoid. Oreo was using the automatic feeders because he wakes me up in the middle of the night for food. Without the feeders going off, I will get less sleep... but I will worry less. I would rather have to wake up and feed him than worry about him choking in the middle of the night. Last night I got up at midnight and fed him a bowl of wet food with a bit of pumpkin mixed in. I won't be feeding him kibble during the night anymore either. I am too afraid something might happen and rushing him to a vet a that hour would not be easy.

So for now, I will be keeping an eye on him while he eats and rearranging his feeding schedule a bit so that it can accommodate all of us. I am looking into getting a couple of automatic feeders that can accommodate wet food also. It's a lot to have to do, but he is my life! I don't know what I would do without him and whatever needs to be done to ensure his safety, I will do.

I will also make an appointment for him at a new vet in the next couple of weeks. I will let his bruises heal up first. I'd like to go and check if he may have some form of swallowing disorder seeing as he chokes so often. I want to look at taking him to another vet to get a second opinion on the situation and also to see if Oreo might be more comfortable with someone else. I am very grateful at everything his current clinic has done for him in the past week, but I am wondering if Oreo might be less likely to freak out if we tried someone else. I hate seeing those bruises on him and I'd love for him to be comfortable enough that things like that won't happen next time around.

If you're still following the blog, this will be my last entry for this issue. If any other situations arise, I will definitely write a new blog post and keep you all informed!

Thanks!
​Tina & Oreo.

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Saturday December 8th, 2018

I was pretty concerned that Oreo had not pooped in a few days yesterday so I phoned the vet back and took an appointment for this morning. Luckily, Oreo passed stool during the night. The poor little dude got it stuck in his fluff and it was quite the conundrum to get it out! I had to chase him around with a comb in the middle of the night. I was finally able to use the comb to dislodge the piece of poop that was stuck to him. He was not happy, but once he realized what I had done, he gave me some love. Seeing as he pooped, I called the vet back this morning and cancelled the appointment. Oreo is still peeing a lot, that still concerns me too, but I think he needs a couple more days rest before he gets stressed out again. I will see how things improve over the weekend and make another appointment for him next week.

I have still been adding extra water to his food and yesterday he ate a little bowl of roasted pumpkin. The pumpkin also had quite a bit of water in it. Maybe he's just peeing more because his water intake is more than usual. I will wait until Monday to start feeding him kibble again. I am still petrified that he will choke. I tried starting him slow this morning by giving him a canned food that had chunks in it instead of a paté. He almost choked on it once again. I really don't know what to do about the velocity at which he constantly tries to shovel in his food. I've tried everything under the sun to get him to eat slower. He's tried a number of slow feeders, some that he's even been able to break. I've tried portioning his meals and I've also tried food puzzles. Oreo is just a food monster and I am forever going to be paranoid after this.

Oreo still has pretty bad bruising from the tests. I feel terribly to see the marks on him. I hope they heal up fast. I will give him another dose of Metacam today. He has 4 doses to take and this will be the third one. Regardless of his bruising, he was running around playing this morning so that is a good sign. 

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Friday December 7th, 2018

Oreo slept well last night, so did I! I went to bet at 7:30 pm and caught up on some lost sleep. I got up around 11:30 pm to feed him his snack. He's been eating normally but he is still not drinking. I am not extremely concerned about that seeing as I have still been adding water to his food. He is also still peeing a lot but it could be the wet food that is making him pee more. I've still not been able to get a urine sample. He just won't go in the litter with the beads. I noticed he has not pooped since this whole ordeal too. I am more concerned about that than anything else. He's been taking his daily dose of Laxatone and I gave him about a quarter of a teaspoon of Olive Oil this morning. I've also roasted off some pumpkin that I will puree and add to his food. I've used that before for bathroom trouble and it always seems to help. I hope I will see some poop by the end of the day.

I will call the vet again later today to let them know he is still peeing quite often and that I've not been able to collect a sample. We'll see what they'll want us to do. Ideally, if he can wait until Monday to go back so he can get a few more days rest, that would be great. I don't want to stress him out yet again by going back today or tomorrow. He seems alright physically, other than his bruises. I gave him his dose of Metacam this morning so that should help a little with the swelling. He also played with Onyx this morning while I had my classes. The two of them were chasing one another around like they often do. It was good to see Oreo run around. It means he's got his energy back.

We've yet to make some new videos. I will try and work with him a little today and see how he fairs. I don't want to force him or stress him, so if he's not in the mood I will hold off a bit longer. Hopefully by next week, we'll be back to normal and be able to get our work done!

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Thursday December 6th, 2018

Oreo had a good night last night. He ate his meals and he slept with me on my bed the whole night. I think he was still a little shaken up from the events and it comforted him to cuddle a little. He woke at 1:30 am and I fed him a snack which he gobbled up leaving not a crumb. This morning he ate all of his breakfast and he is now resting. He is still not as active as he normally would be, however he is still on medication so it may have some form of effect on him. He took his anti-inflammatory last evening in his food. I have yet to try giving him his other medication today. I fear that may be difficult. I am more concerned about his eating and drinking than anything else. So as long as he is actively doing both, I am happy. He was quite dehydrated yesterday so I've been adding extra water to his wet food and he has been consuming it willingly.

I've still not been able to get a urine sample. I have a feeling he will have to go back to the vet to get one. I will let him rest some more today and see how he is feeling tomorrow. So far so good though, I can see lots of improvement over the last few days. Hopefully he will be closer to himself by the weekend.

Thanking you all once again for all of your amazing love and support throughout this whole ordeal.

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Wednesday December 5th, 2018
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I had a HUGE scare with Oreo this week. He choked on a cat treat that he’s eaten many times before. The problem with Oreo is that he eats too fast sometimes. He kind of sucks his food up like a feline vacuum cleaner. This time the treat got stuck in his throat and he started wheezing and gagging. I thought he’d throw up, but after about a minute or so it was apparent that he was not going to, so I rushed him to the vet immediately. Luckily, he was still breathing but the treat was obviously making it very difficult for him to swallow. 

The staff at the clinic were amazing. I ran in asking for help and they dropped everything. They set aside other appointments to help us right away. They did 2 X-rays and put him under an anesthetic so that they could dislodge the treat. He has medication for 2 weeks to help with the irritation and he needs to eat only soft foods for the week. While I was waiting at the vet, I started to cry with worry. There was a woman there with her two dogs, a schnauzer and a terrier. The little terrier came and sat next to me and started licking my face when it saw me crying. Thank the Lord for animals. They are the most wonderful beings on this Earth. 

​Last evening Oreo was really not himself. He would not eat or drink anything. He just wandered around aimlessly and slept a lot. He was peeing a lot more than usual too which was strange seeing as he didn't drink anything. Oreo didn't want to sleep in my bed last night so I slept on the floor beside him to be able to monitor him throughout the night. I woke up a few times to try and feed him, but no dice. This morning he finally ate some watered down Friskies. He went back to the vet for additional testing. He had his Kidneys checked out and the numbers were a little abnormal. I have to try and get a pee sample withing the next couple of days so that a urine analysis can be done. If I am unable to get the sample, we will need to return to the vet to have it done there. They did not want to do it today seeing everything else they did. The poor critter got poked and prodded enough and he didn't have enough liquid in his bladder to give a large enough sample. 

Since posting about this on Monday, Oreo and I have received an unbelievable outpouring of generosity and affection from his followers. You cannot believe how thankful I am to have this wonderful community of people willing to help in our time of need. Between the purchases of his merchandise and donations that have come in to help with his bills, we've collected over $2000. His vet bills have been paid off in full and the rest will be put towards whatever else he needs coming up. I've included the current bills below. I am missing one for canned food that totaled around $30. 

I’ve never been so scared in my life. I don’t know what I’d do without him. I love him more than anything in this world. I will update this blog with current events as the situation progresses. For now, he is home and resting. He will need a few days to recover from everything he's gone through. He should hopefully be back to himself after a few days. I will keep an eye on the Kidney situation and post any updates here. A huge thank you to everyone for your support, kindness and generosity. We are very lucky to have all of you. God Bless each and every one of you.

​Tina & Oreo