Gordon's Story as told by Dr Gowan

My cat Gordon fell gravely ill not so long ago, but after 12 days in hospital, lots of tears and heartache, he is finally home and on the mend. He hadn't eaten for 2 days and vomited every time he went near food. He had an extremely sore belly, so I took him in to work for some routine blood tests and X-rays.

I put him on an intravenous drip and gave him a pain relief patch. He continued to deteriorate despite supportive care, so I took him to see Carolyn O'Brien, a friend and Melbourne's only Feline Specialist.

After examining him, exhaustive ultrasounds and further X-rays, still no obvious reason for such a sick and miserable cat. He continued to deteriorate, so he had exploratory surgery, where we placed a feeding tube to aid his recovery.

After all this and exhaustive tests, he was diagnosed with a severe case of infectious gastroenteritis. We fed and medicated him through his feeding tube for days until his appetite returned. Finally, as you can see from his after picture, his appetite and sparkle is back. This is the first time one of my cats has been ill and its a terribly helpless feeling.

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