Pumpkin Update!
As of 8/24/11: Pumpkin is doing very very well. Dr. V toyed with the idea of taking the bandage off this week. However, after observing Mr. Pumpkin wandering around a bit decided that it was best to leave the splint & bandage on just a little bit longer. So we are not quite cone-of-shame free, but we predict that we will be around October! Theoretically we could leave them off and be fine, but after all we've been through Dr. V feels that it is best to go with caution. The xrays show that the joint is healing slowly, but the way that we want it to. There is no infection.
Other Kitty News:
Penny is adjusting well. She is still a scared kitty that doesn't really like to cuddle much. She will occasionally come & sit in my lap (though my belly is getting in the way. I am 31 weeks as of 8/23/11). Health-wise she is doing great. We just don't want her to be TOO fat. She has a healthy appetite and we want to watch it. She will even eat the dog food if we don't watch her. The vet said its like potato chips to her, and while it won't hurt her, its not terribly good for her either. So we try to curb her eating out of the dog dish when we are home to witness it. She's been cuddling me more and more since we got the last bit of bad news about one of the our other kitties which I will detail here.
There is a bit of bad news to report (hence the title of this post). We have another kitty that has been with us for 11 years named Kinky. Up until now he has been very robust & healthy save for an alarming weight problem. He got very fat a couple years ago, and I will admit that I am partially to blame for spoiling him (and Oscar, his buddy cat) rotten. However, he's always been a BIG cat. Well, we just found out that he is about 20 lbs! That is obese!
So we've been working to get his weight down over the last year, and nothing has been working. Last night we noticed that he was having a really hard time getting comfortable, was not vocal like he normally is, and could not use the box no matter how hard he tried. He was doing #2 just fine, but he could not urinate. When he wouldn't drink water or eat his dinner we decided to take him to the vet hospital that knows us very well with Pumpkin.
Turns out he has a urinary blockage due to crystal & sentiment formation. This is not uncommon in older, male cats. Their urethra is shaped like an S. At the curve of the S the sentiment, & can form. It can be acidic or bacterial etc. and the only way to find out is to clear the blockage to take the cultures. The downside to this diagnosis is that it has a possibility of reoccurring.
At first it was a question about money. Kinky is J's cat (our housemate). J has been going through some hard times financially so this is kind of a kick while he is down. At the time last night (3am in the morning by the time the xrays and the diagnosis came down) he couldn't even afford to have poor Kinky cremated to get his ashes back. So we decided that we have a clear Care Credit card (we paid off all of Pumpkin's expenses already). We could float him the loan for the hospital stay to give Kinky a chance. We already worked out a payment plan. So Kinky has been admitted to the hospital to get catheter, cleared out his tract & bladder etc.
They will hold him until Friday. At that point we had to figure out what to do if he blocks again. Originally our plan was to call it if he blocked again. It could happen immediately or within the first two weeks that the catheter was out due to irritation. Basically if this happened neither J nor we could afford to continue much further. We are tapped out for the most part, and with a baby on the way we can only afford so much kindness for an animal that is not ours. We love Kinky & would love to do more, but we simply cannot rationally justify the costs if he blocks again. Each hospital stay is over 1K. J is not in a position financially to be able to do it without help.
This evening he had a discussion with his parents (who really love his cats too. He would stay with them during the summers in college & they became quite attached to the two rascals) and basically explained the situation. J's sister had the exact (small world!) problem with her cat and had to have the surgery done on him. The hope is that his parents are able to help him with the costs of the health bills for Kinky. Otherwise, we are going to have to say goodbye & euthanize Kinky. If he blocks again it would be a slow decent into renal failure, dehydration, and not to mention the possible explosion of his bladder. So it would be a horrible end. We would rather put him out with dignity, not in pain or suffering, surrounded by the people that love him & snuggle him.
Praise the Lord his parents were more than happy to help with the vet bills! They love Kinky and were absolutely horrified that this was happening to him. Normally, J does not ask for handouts from his parents and has been dealing with a lot of health setbacks (broken foot etc.) & a layoff from his job. So it was a big deal for him to reach out, but he felt that it was heartbreaking to put Kinky to sleep when he was in otherwise in perfect health. So we are able to go ahead with the surgery (per the vet's recommendation).
The hospital that he is at does not do the PU surgery, but strangely enough the home vet that he normally goes to does. We are going to check him into the boarding there at the regular vet so that they can watch for blockage on Friday. If he does reblock then they will prep him for surgery & take care of the shape issue of his urethra. Essentially they are making a vagina for him out of his existing tissue. This treatment has a very high success rate. He will have a Cone-of-shame, but he has good company.
We have to get the cultures back to determine what antibiotics to start him on & what exactly his diet is going to be. The key is to limit the crystal formation with a change in the what he is eating. We also have to make sure he drinks plenty of water and stays hydrated. That is why the vet is going to recommend a wet food I think. We will have to see. So that is the good & bad news about Kinky.
Doggie News:
Emmit is doing well. I feel kind of bad for him because he's not been getting as much attention as he is used to because we have been nursing cats! His potty problems have improved, and with his new diet he seems better able to control himself. He is also learning (thank you God) to alert me more when he has to go out. The only down side to that is that sometimes he likes to act like he has to go out just for attention. Not that he doesn't get plenty of cuddles up here on the couch, but he loves to fake me out by running to the door and then asking me to pick up him! The stinker.
So far no fistulas have formed in his nasal cavities after his tooth surgery. Back in November of 2010 what originally started out as a dental cleaning (the first of his entire life-- he was a rescue from a pom puppy mill) ended up being the removal of most of his teeth. The dental surgeon was worried about infection and fistula formation. So far we are in the clear about that. No swelling of the mussel etc.
Technically he needs to have the remaining canines out due to the risk of inflammation. However, the surgery can cause jaw fracture and I figure he's been through enough in his life. The risk of jaw fracture is high in a dog his size and if it was bad enough could cause him to have to be put down right there on the operation table. Just too big of a risk for me.
As long as the teeth do not get infected we can dodge that bullet. So, to prevent infection, we get the teeth that are left brushed regularly, and have eliminated any people food. After much searching we finally found a kibble that is small enough for him to gum after it is wet. He still gets his meat roll (lamb flavor) cut up in little bits & shredded so its easy for him to eat.
He still chokes on it occasionally (which can be really scary), but I scruff him and take a little syringe of water down his throat. At first he hated the water cannon (as I call it) but when he is truly choking he is grateful for it and does not fight it. It used to take me forever to get him to actually let me help out of the choking situation. Now its all of 20 seconds. So I am grateful for that & when Abby arrives I can head off any disaster quickly because I've grown used to it. My biggest fear is when he is by himself during the day if he chokes. That is why I make sure to give him a serving at a time so that he is done before I leave the house for work.
The biggest thing with Emmitt is his grooming phobia. He hates the vet and the groomer. Thrashing about and its sad when a toothless dog has to be muzzled, know what I mean? So we have to make sure that he is calm and whatnot before we get him groomed. I've tried clipping him myself at home, but I am not a professional. I am scared I'm going to hurt him and they have restraint devices that are more effective than anything I can come up with at home. So he gets his baths etc. at home, but when it comes time to get sheared (we keep him short because he is terrified of the brush) he has to go to the groomer. Last time he behaved so badly (thrashing & freaking out) that they said that he might have to go to the vet next time. They simply cannot handle the spazz out & don't want to seriously injure him or have him fall off the table. So that is where we are.
Other than that everyone seems to be happy & snuggly. More updates to come, but I figured it was about time for me to give you some meat & potatoes. Thank you so much for the well-wishes, and the prayers. It truly does help us remain positive when things seem so hopeless.
