The Cougar update...

Friday, 7/1/05
We are off to the Kitty ER at 7pm tonight (in an hour) - he's just not himself - he's refusing to eat, he even refused TUNA.

He just walks from area to area and gently lies down - I'm not sure if he's drinking either.

He peed on the futon last night, too, which is unusual for him.

OY. I'm a mess.

He just got a picture purrrrfect bill of health from his vet just a few weeks ago, so I PRAY oh PRAY it's a passing thing.

But I've never seen him this bad, NOR have I EVER seen him refuse tuna.

Thanks in advance for all of the meaows.


Friday night:
So we are back - all of his gastro-intestinal stuff is fine, well, for Cougar, anyway - he has fluids, which should be slowly absorbing over the next few hours, as he was dehydrated from not eating or drinking, and they did an abdominal x-ray, which showed typical Cougar stuff. His stomach had air in it, but that's probably from all of the huffing he did at the vet's.

She found a heart murmur, and wanted to keep him over night, and do an ekg, and blood work - for a grand total - are y'all sitting down - $2,500.00!

So I said what’s s option B? - Abdominal x-ray and fluids, take him home, watch him over the next 24 hours, and bring him back in if he doesn’t improve.

I PRAY he does. It was 250 bucks as it was...

He was all Meow-y at the vet, so that was good. Back here at home, however, he's back to the same lethargic actions. I'll check on him again after he's had some fluid absorption. He did go to his food bowl in the kitchen, but then changed his mind, and went into the bedroom and just laid down for a bit.

The vet is concerned about heart failure, and I'm hoping that's not it.

We have a stethoscope here, and I'll listen to his heart tomorrow, to see if I can hear a lub-dub or a woosh-woosh...

oy.

thanks for letting me share, and thanks for the meows...

And can I say how HORRIBLE it was to be there? There were injured animals all over the place, and this one woman came in with her husband, and their cocker spaniel in a blanket, and he (dog) was in distress and lethargic, and they rushed him in, and the "parents" were in the waiting room - so I let them rub sweet-pea's collar for good luck (I still carry it with me...) and then Cougs and I went in. We came back out, sat down for a bit, and they were there, then the vet came out to talk to them and said "your dog is dying, should we try to resuscitate him? " She didn't understand English very well, so her husband is translating to Spanish, and she nods yes, and starts crying. The vet comes back out about 15 minutes later, and tells them the bad news, and the woman loses it. It took about 10 seconds for everyone else in the waiting room to start crying, too. It's AWFUL I really don't know how they do it, and I said as much to our vet - I told her how much respect I had for her and all vets - Humans can talk to you and animals can't - and so we feel more pity for them when they are in distress - I can't even watch Lassie for that whole empathic reason, so I was a mess in the waiting room.... OK I have to go eat some dinner, and keep an eye on Cougie.

This sucks.


Saturday, 7/2
We went back this morning, as Cougie seemed to be in distress still, and had not eliminated, despite LOTS of fluids and an already overfull bladder.

I listened to his heart this am with a stethoscope, and his heart seemed fine - I think they heard "$$More$$" than they really did perhaps?

So my armchair diagnosis was a uti, and I told cougie that we'd go back, get them to express his urine, and give him some antibiotics, as he did look s a little better this am after the fluids last night.

So there we are in the cab, the threat of a needle into his bladder and the bumps of NYC potholes, and voila! Cougar decides on THAT moment to pee. All over me and his cat carrier. Well, he certainly felt better, and so did the cab driver after I gave him a HUGE tip...

He did MUCH better at the vet's and he even pooped, but he's still not eating. He did lick his chops after I smeared some food on his mouth, which he didn't do last night, so that's a good sign. And we only had to pay 12 bucks for the sub-q fluids.

He was dehydrated, and they are concerned about his heart and his thyroid - they think that the thyroid can contribute to his frequent puking, and the heart murmur, and the "flutd" (Feline urinary tract disease" - but he is much better, and he sends a hearty meow to all of you for your thoughts and well wishes.

I'll call his regular vet on Tuesday, and monitor him over the weekend - from all I've read, it seems that the flutd symptoms seem to clear themselves up in about 5 days, so we have about 2 more days to go - if he's still not doing so hot, I'll take him to his regular vet, and see what to do.

But I am hopeful, and tired, so I have to go take a catnap myself. I woke up a million times last night, just to check on him, and Quincy, bless his heart was ALL over me this morning, starving for attention, since all of it has gone to Cougs...

thanks for "listening" and for sending good thoughts his way - he's not out of the woods yet, but he is MUCH better, and my nightmarish fantasies have subsided...


Saturday afternoon
They gave us some new food, and some syringes, and told me to mix his food with water, and squirt it in. So he got about 12cc's of the stuff, and he has the sub-q fluids, so he should be Ok today.

I changed the litter boxes, and will just keep an eye on him.

His feistiness is coming back a bit, or perhaps that's because I just took his temperature! :)

Which is back down to 102.1, as it was 103.7 at the vet - but I take all of his fussing and meowing and stress to elevate his temp.


Sunday, 7/3
I can usually get about 5cc's of food/liquid into him at a time. He still won't eat or drink on his own, and he is a little dehydrated, and now his urine has a green tinge to it, which is bad news – usually associated with impending liver problems.

We just can't afford a huge vet bill right now, and admitting him to the hospital would be 2,500! So we're just going to keep doing what we're doing, and bring him to his vet on Tuesday morning, first thing.

He only goes to the bathroom when I hold him over the litter box and massage his bladder.

He does meow something awful at me when I do that and when I feed him, so THAT’s good - but I fear the worst - the Internet is a wonderful and horrible place, with too much information sometimes.

Please continue to pray for him.