Appetite

Alas, Julie’s birthday was not the best of days for her. 

On Sunday, June 13, she didn’t eat. It’s the first day I can recall her not eating a bite. 


In the morning, she came downstairs, but every time I went to the kitchen to get food for her, she scurried off, as has become her wont. 


She slept in the bedroom the rest of the day, never coming back downstairs. I know cats sleep a lot, but damn. As far as I know, this has never happened before.


I left a bowl of food for her at bedtime, hoping she would come down to snack during the night. In the morning on June 14, I checked the dish. She did indeed come down and nibble, but she didn’t eat much. And what little she ate appeared to have been vomited out a few feet away.


I call the oncologist to ask what this means. At this point, I am wondering if I should even proceed with the radiation. If her life quality is decreasing so quickly, it might not be in her best interest to go through all of that, just to stay at this level. 


“If she didn’t keep her food town, it could be the Palladia causing an upset stomach,” the oncologist says. “Hold off on the Palladia for now. Just continue with the Gabapetin. That should address her pain. She might not be eating because it hurts to use her jaw.” 


I confess that she is behind on Gabapentin because I’ve barely seen her in recent days. I vow to dose her minute I get home. And I do — a sneak attack while she sleeps on the bed. I pry her mouth open and shoot the Gabapentin inside. She’s cranky about this, of course. But not long later, she comes downstairs and eats. 


Sigh of relief. 

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