Monday, November 8:
Wendi phoned the vet again; things did get more alarming with
Stormy. By now she could barely walk or stand; I saw her struggle
to get on her feet, falling over at least twice, before she
could get to her food bowl. She wasn’t drinking any water, so
Wendi tried to feed her water with a baby bottle; she wouldn’t
take anything. At first, the earliest appointment they could
get her was for this coming Thursday at 8:45 am; we feared she
would not last that long. Finally, they were able to get her
an emergency appointment for 3:45 pm today.
Wendi had me wrap Stormy into the kitty blanket that a friend gave her years ago; Wendi often covers up with this blanket in her chair. We arrived at the vet clinic at 3:39; I phoned them, and they told us that given the circumstances, they could allow both of us to go in with Stormy, as long as we both wore masks (they normally allow only one visitor with a pet). They phoned us back to check in (3:47), asking some questions to get a good history; then we were allowed to bring her into the clinic.
Amanda brought us to the only room available, which was tiny, but then an adjacent room with a smaller table opened up, so she moved us there. Dr. Mike Hotchkiss had another emergency, so we waited patiently.
The wait afforded us time to hold Stormy and try to comfort her—and each other. A worker weighed Stormy; she was now at 3 lbs. 15-1/2 oz. (1.8 kg), which was alarming in itself, as she was 5 lbs. 2 oz. (2.325 kg) only five days ago.
Stormy was mainly calm, only letting out weak squawks or “mmms,” occasionally purring weakly… though at one point she managed to scratch Wendi’s arm.