Animal Woes - Part 2

Animal Woes - Part 2

All the while that Fall was using up one of her 9 lives, other things were going on.  When she came home from the vet after her long stay, Arbez, Kevin's other cat threw up a lot and decided she was done eating forever.  This is a worry for a cat that is 15.

We weren't too worried, at first.  It has happened before, and then she eats in a few hours.  It was different, this time.  We ended up at the store--trying to find something, anything that she would eat.  We brought home chicken and cheese.

She ate a lot of chicken and a little cheese.  The next day, she didn't want either.  Kevin tried different types of cat foods.  Nothing appealed to her.  Sometimes she would eat a little; getting our hopes up, and then refuse the same food next time.

We suspected her urinary tract infection from December might have returned, so he was able to get a sample and got it to the vet.  She did have an infection.  They gave her a pill he could give her to calm her down so he could bring her in, in couple of days.  Before that happened, she did start eating again--this time voraciously.  She wanted to eat constantly.  In the meantime, we were trying to get Fall to eat her special food.  Fall preferred the food Arbez was eating.  It was chaos, and Kevin was losing his mind.

When he did get Arbez to the vet, her lab work was showing that she not only had the infection, but her kidneys weren't doing so well, either.  The first step was to get her on antibiotics.

Somewhere in there, I noticed my dog, Maggie, was drinking more.  I started to pay attention to her water consumption.  Each day, it went up.  Then, the accidents began.  I brought her to the vet.  The preliminary urinalysis at their lab showed no urinary tract infection.  It was looking more serious.  They sent her urine off to the lab with blood work.  Everything was leaning towards kidney disease or Cushings.  Ugh.  She was drinking 11 cups of water a day, and she is only a 36 pound dog.

While I was there, I made an appointment for my cat, Thunder.  It was time for his geriatric check up.

The next day, Ellen called in a panic.  Her older horse, Ranger, was colicking!  She called the vet who said she would be there in a couple of hours.  An hour later, Ellen called to tell me he seemed better.  By the time the vet got there, he was normal.  Our vet decided to treat him, just the same.  She found that way inside, he had hard stool.  In his stool, there was a lot of undigested hay.  Ranger's age, which we don't know, caught up with him.  His teeth weren't chewing his hay well enough.  Ellen caught a minor colic, but she may have been able to prevent a major one.  He is now getting a change in diet with less hay, more hay cubes and an increase in grain.  He seems much perkier since the change.

Two days later, I brought Thunder in for his appointment.  Everything looked good, but he had lost a little weight.  They took blood to send to the lab.  They did have Maggie's labwork back.  She had an infection after all!!!  Her urine was just too diluted for the vet's equipment.  She is now on antibiotics and I get up every 2 hourse to let her out at night.  She is learning to use a litter box.

A couple days later, Thunder's blood work came in.  He is doing great for a 12-year-old cat.  Now, we are waiting for Maggie's and Arbez's anitbiotics to take affect.  Everyone is eating.

What a month it has been.

Animal Woes - Part 1

Animal Woes - Part 1

Oh what a trying month it has been for our animals!

It all started on Labor Day.  (It always seems like the emergencies fall on the holidays.)  Kevin called me first thing in the morning to tell me that something was wrong with his cat, Fall.  (Fall as in an October colored calico that he got in October, 12 years ago.)  She was throwing up and could only walk by balancing herself along the wall.

I told him to get her to the emergency clinic right away.  This was serious.

A few hours later, he called me to tell me she had kidney disease and heart failure.  He put the vet on the line to explain it.  I had a cat with kidney disease, and I know it can be managed.  The vet explained that kidney disease is treated by adding fluids and heart disease is treated by removing them.  Because of this and the fact that her blood work was so bad, the prognosis was terrible.  Kevin asked for their honesty, and they said it would be best to put her to sleep.

This was devastating to both of us.  Fall is the nicest cat I have ever met.  I love her like my own.

Kevin called me back a few minutes later.  The vet tech said he didn't have to do it right away.  She would still be all right for a few days if he wanted to take her home.  That way, we could spend a little more time with her and I could say goodbye.  She wouldn't eat or drink, but she wouldn't be suffering.

They pumped her up with some Sub-Q fluids and sent her home.  We spent a very sad evening with her.  She mostly just laid there.  She did use the litter box a few times, but we could see she could still barely walk.  She did seem comfortable, so we just talked to her and told her how much we loved her.  I told her that I loved her so much that if love alone could save her, she would be just fine.

The next day, Kevin was going to take her to the vet for her final visit.  I went to the barn.  Ellen and I were riding down the hill when Kevin called me on my phone.  I braced myself for the bad news.  He told me he didn't take her.  She was walking normal and drinking water.  He came out to ride, and then I went to his house to see her.  She was so much better!

We decided on a new plan.  He made an appointment with his regular vet.  The earliest he could get her there was in 2 days.  Instead of saying goodbye, he would have an examination to see how she is, first.

That evening, she started to eat cat treats!  She was purring and moving about.

I went with him when he took her to the vet.  They did a urinalysis and compared it to the one at the emergency vet clinic.  It showed that she dramatically improved just from the fluids.  There was no longer any sign of heart trouble.  They suggested keeping her for a few days, pumping her up with IV fluids and seeing how she did.

It was a long 2 days, but we got back our Fall.  They gave her special food for kidneys and said to come back in a few weeks for more testing.  

She didn't really like the food, but she ate enough of it to keep going.  When Kevin took her back, her blood work came out even better than it was when she left them.  It really should have actually gotten worse, not better.  She was nearly normal!  She didn't need us to give her fluids.  She just needed a kidney diet--which she didn't really like.

A few days later, Kevin went to the vet with a package of cat treats--threatening to feed her them just to get her to eat.  They came back with a different type of food.  It was a dry food.  We took it home--and were so happy to see that both of his cats loved it!!!

We are going to have our Fall for a little while longer!!!

My love for her did save her.  It was because I love her so much that Kevin brought her home to spend one last evening for us.  Since then, we have had quite a few evenings with her, and we hope to have many more.

Princess, the Ultimate Barn Cat

Sweet Arbez

This is our sweet Arbez--aka The Queen of Mean.  She belongs to Kevin.  The two of us are the only people she likes.  Everyone else pets her at their own risk.  We have to be careful, too, but for the most part, she is nice to us. 

She is just a very sensitive cat.  If you touch her in the wrong spot--it scares her and she reacts.  She likes attention, but it has to be the right kind of attention.  She likes to sit on our laps--and she will stay for hours and hours.  She doesn't purr loud, but she will purr.

She is now 15 and has been having some health problems.  We worry so much about her.  Bez didn't want to eat for a few days--and then this morning--she decided  to eat!

I will keep you updated on her.

Small Fall

Monday morning, my boyfriend, Kevin's cat, Fall was ill.  She threw up a lot and could only walk with the wall to support her. He knew something was seriously wrong.  It was a holiday, so he had to rush her to the emergency vet.  

Fall is a 12-year-old calico--the color of fall foliage.  He got her in the fall---hence her name.  The vet ran various tests and told him her kidneys were failing, she had a heart murmer, too. They checked her heart and said she had heart disease, also.  She had never been sick up to this point.  He asked the vet to give him an accurate prognosis. She said Fall was so bad that there was little hope.  If they treated the kidneys by giving her fluids, it would put serious strain on her heart.  They suggested putting her to sleep.

He called me, and we were both upset.  The vet explained it all to me on the phone. I love Fall as if she was my own.  She is a precious cat without a mean bone in her body.  I was heartbroken.  Kevin felt bad about me not being able to see her, so they told him they could give her fluids and send her home.  She would be good for a couple days.  She wouldn't eat or drink, but she wouldn't be suffering.

Kevin always thinks of everyone else before himself. He brought her home so we could all spend one last evening together.  She was in very bad shape.  She still wobbled when she walked.  It was a struggle.  All she did was just lay on her side and breathe hard.  She did use the litterbox a few times.

When I left, I kissed her goodbye--never expecting to see her again.  The next morning, I went riding with my sister, and Kevin was going to take her to his vet.

He called me at the beginning of the ride and said she was drinking and walking better!  He wasn't going to take her to the vet just yet.  Instead, he came out to the barn to take care of his horse.

Afterwards, we went to see her.  I was amazed. She could walk well and she was drinking a lot.  She even ate a few treats!  We made an appointment at his vet.  They couldn't see her for a couple more days.  That evening, she ate more, drank more and clawed her yoga mat!  She even walked up to me so I could pet her a little.  The next day she was even better!  We couldn't believe it!  The following day, we took her to the vet and told them the whole story.

They ran some test on her.  She is only at the beginning stages of kidney disease and her heart is just fine.  Though her numbers were literally off the chart when she was at the emergency vet--and it wouldn't have been surprising if she would have died that very night, with only one round of sub-q fluids, she improved dramatically.  They would keep her a few days on IV fluids and then see how she does after that.  It is possible that she may be able to cope with only a diet change.  If she needs more, we can give her the sub-q's.

When my Siamese, Indi, was 12, she was diagnosed at early stage kidney disease, and she was able to go 5 years on just the diet change.  I don't think Fall will be that fortunate--Siamese are such strong, hardy cats.  Indi lived until she was 19.  Still, we are thrilled that we can have her a while longer.  She really is only alive because Kevin wanted me to have a little more time with her.

No one will commit to why she got as bad as she did.  She stays inside all the time.  It was extremely hot--into the 90s.  That may have had something to do with it.  The vet thinks the vomiting caused dehydration, but what caused her to vomit that much?  

Whatever the case, we have her for a little while longer.  She is such a wonderful cat.

So far, she is doing well.  She isn't eating the food they gave her with much enthusiasm, but she is eating it.  Next week, she goes back to the vet.