It's Not A Toomah!
George has not perked up as I had hoped. She still wasn't eating or drinking by Saturday so it was back to the Vet. She was running the same fever and a physical examination showed she was sensitive in the kidney area. Very sensitive. The Vet said he suspected it could be pancreatitis and he wanted to do a blood test to verify it. They drew blood and gave her more fluids and we went home.
As far as I could tell, she didn't eat or drink anything from that point on except I got her to take about four licks of yogurt. Which may have made her throw up a little while later.
The blood test results were supposed to be back today and one of the Techs called me with bad news. The bad news being that the lab lost her sample. So, I bailed out of a meeting and broke many speeding laws to pick her up and get her back to the Vet before the current day's lab tests got picked up. I literally handed her off to the Tech in the parking lot and drove away. (BTW, the lab found her test later. It had been marked as coming from an office in California.)
They rushed the new test and the Vet called me at noon. It is pancreatitis for sure but there could be something else as she was also pretty anemic. They suggested doing an ultrasound to eliminate any other issues like tumors or who knows what else that would be terrifying. The option was left up to me - we could treat it like it was pancreatitis or I could pony up $475 for an ultrasound to make sure it was pancreatitis.
Good thing I got my Federal tax refund back.
I opted for the ultrasound because I didn't want to go down a treatment path only to find in a few weeks that it was something else. Also, I wanted to make sure she wasn't dying. I was seriously worried. They told me I could be there when they did it so I left work early.
Man, I'm lucky to have a job and an employer that lets me be flexible for life events. Of course, I'll be paying for it when I'm working tonight but it's all good.
George was pretty subdued during the process until the Vet hit some sore spots. She tried to swipe at him, did the crazy rolling eye thing and even hissed once. She was not happy.
The results showed it is the pancreas and not anything else but that it is affecting her gall bladder and spleen. Words can't express how relieved I was that it wasn't something more serious.
So, here's what they did to her today to start her treatment. She got a shot of a steroid, an anti-nausea shot, a painkiller shot and another fluid treatment. And, they trimmed her nails because I'm going to have the delightful task of shoving a steroid pill down her gullet twice a day for the next nine weeks.
They also gave me a liquid painkiller to give her every eight hours. That was optional but it's been killing me to see her so out of sorts. Hey, maybe it will make her high and I can laugh at her drunk walking.
A promising note was that I put a bowl of water down by her head as she was crashed in the living room and she actually drank a lot. However, I just gave her some tuna and she turned her nose up at it. The hope is that the steroid and the anti-nausea shot will help stimulate her appetite. I'll try something later. If she's not eating by tomorrow, it's back to the Vet.
Man, I hope she's eating by tomorrow.
Long term care is just keeping her on her special cat food and keeping an eye out for any changes for the worse. I hope we get to that point soon.
As far as I could tell, she didn't eat or drink anything from that point on except I got her to take about four licks of yogurt. Which may have made her throw up a little while later.
The blood test results were supposed to be back today and one of the Techs called me with bad news. The bad news being that the lab lost her sample. So, I bailed out of a meeting and broke many speeding laws to pick her up and get her back to the Vet before the current day's lab tests got picked up. I literally handed her off to the Tech in the parking lot and drove away. (BTW, the lab found her test later. It had been marked as coming from an office in California.)
They rushed the new test and the Vet called me at noon. It is pancreatitis for sure but there could be something else as she was also pretty anemic. They suggested doing an ultrasound to eliminate any other issues like tumors or who knows what else that would be terrifying. The option was left up to me - we could treat it like it was pancreatitis or I could pony up $475 for an ultrasound to make sure it was pancreatitis.
Good thing I got my Federal tax refund back.
I opted for the ultrasound because I didn't want to go down a treatment path only to find in a few weeks that it was something else. Also, I wanted to make sure she wasn't dying. I was seriously worried. They told me I could be there when they did it so I left work early.
Man, I'm lucky to have a job and an employer that lets me be flexible for life events. Of course, I'll be paying for it when I'm working tonight but it's all good.
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| I am not pleased at the loss of belly hair. |
The results showed it is the pancreas and not anything else but that it is affecting her gall bladder and spleen. Words can't express how relieved I was that it wasn't something more serious.
So, here's what they did to her today to start her treatment. She got a shot of a steroid, an anti-nausea shot, a painkiller shot and another fluid treatment. And, they trimmed her nails because I'm going to have the delightful task of shoving a steroid pill down her gullet twice a day for the next nine weeks.
They also gave me a liquid painkiller to give her every eight hours. That was optional but it's been killing me to see her so out of sorts. Hey, maybe it will make her high and I can laugh at her drunk walking.
A promising note was that I put a bowl of water down by her head as she was crashed in the living room and she actually drank a lot. However, I just gave her some tuna and she turned her nose up at it. The hope is that the steroid and the anti-nausea shot will help stimulate her appetite. I'll try something later. If she's not eating by tomorrow, it's back to the Vet.
Man, I hope she's eating by tomorrow.
Long term care is just keeping her on her special cat food and keeping an eye out for any changes for the worse. I hope we get to that point soon.
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