Updates on Mikan

Mikan is now on his third round of anti-biotics. This time, for his fever.

Last Saturday morning, I noticed that Mikan's ears felt really cold to the touch, was looking rather listless and had no appetite for the usual fare. Even the new batch of wheatgrass I bought could not interest him one bit. I tried canfood - still not interested. Surrendering, I opened up a bottle of Gerber chicken which he slowly lapped up about two-thirds. I gave him his tablet then left him to rest, thinking that having to take antibiotics for the past 2 weeks must have upset his system a little.

Come Sunday night, Mikan was still disinterested in food and play, choosing a quiet corner to sleep while the rest went on about their usual business. I dished out half a bottle of Gerber and water and brought it to Mikan. He finished the food but refused to touch the water, getting up to walk away whenever I went near with the water dish. And while I was pestering Mikan to eat and drink, I was in turn chased after by a horde of meowing kitties, fully convinced they were starving and wondering out loud why they were being left out of being fed. Eventually, I gave the other half of the can to the others to share and left Mikan to rest, hoping that he'd get better.

Before I left for work on Monday, Mikan was still languid. I carried him up to the bed to rest and thought he felt feverish. Worried, I quickly brought in a trough of cold water, dampened a towel and draped it over his back. Poor boy did not resist, the wet towel must have made him feel slightly better. The other naughties took turns to come up to investigate and lovingly gave Mikan a lick or two on the forehead before walking away. They must have known that their big brother was not feeling well and were trying to comfort him.

I couldn't concentrate on work that day and went back early to check on my sick boy. Mikan's doctor is usually fully booked so I didn't bother to call and went to the clinic straight away. It started raining buckets just as we were leaving the house, which was just as well for no one was there when we reached and Mikan got to go in first. The doctor took his temperature and indeed, Mikan was having fever, 1 degree higher than normal. The doctor felt that the bladder infection probably had nothing to do with fever and honestly told me that he was not sure what was causing it. We could run tests but the procedure would be long and tedious. All he could do was to give Mikan symptomatic treatment for the fever and observe his condition. Though I remained worried about the underlying cause of Mikan's fever, I understood where the doctor was coming from.

So, Mikan was given a jab and sent home to rest with more anti-biotics to take. He was feeling much better the next day, with the fever gone and appetite and curiosity returned.

Anyhow, naughty Mikan is now perching atop the cabinets watching as I type away on the computer, happily unawares of the worriment he had caused in the past month.