My poor Duncan has become very ill. I rushed him to the vet this afternoon, and it turned out to be congestive heart failure. Luckily I was home today and able to get him to the doctor as soon as possible, and he nearly died there but then stabilized some. This afternoon at 6 he still needed to be near the doctors so he is in the all-night emergency pet hospital. They are trying to get the fluid out of his lungs and keep enough oxygen in him. I don't even know if he can come home tomorrow either, but I just want him to get better. If he survives this he will always be on medication (just like all our cats, we are an aging population here).Sorry about the such a distressing post. The absolutely weird part is that Duncan had been acting very frisky and had even lost a pound (he needed that, plus a couple more). He already had a vet appointment for his annual vaccinations 2 hours after I had to rush him in there.
Biting our nails down. See what tomorrow brings.
(((((((hugs for Duncan)))))))
EDIT and UPDATE Friday morning: I picked him up at the emergency vet this morning and delivered him to the regular vet where he will spend the day being treated there. He looks much better! As you probably know, this is a chronic condition, he will always have it. It just needs to be managed. My poor little sweetie. Lots of meds from now on.
EDIT and UPDATE Friday evening: Duncan is home! He looks and feels much better, but he is our little heart patient now so he will need lots of monitoring from now on. We are so happy to have our kitty back today. It has really been touch and go for the past day.tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at Mind of Mog - Cats - Catblogging
15 comments:
I am SO sorry to hear about poor Duncan - I will be thinking positive & healing thoughts for him! Hope the big fellow pulls through and you end up with another set of cat meds to dispense (?!?) My Wiskerz is a 'medicated geriatric' and even though it is a pain in the neck, it is totally worth the inconvenience.
Big hug for Duncan. And for you, too, Blueberry.
Lots of purrs and headbutts for Duncan. Glad you were able to get him the medical attention he needed...sounds like he is going to be doing good now!
So glad to hear he's doing better. About elderly pets ... Around ten years ago my parents were at my house and my father looked at my sleeping ten-year-old rabbit and asked me how old he was in people years. I said I didn't know exactly, but if dog years are 7 to 1, then he must be at least seventy years old. My father said, "oh, so he's about the same age as me?" I sure never thought of it that way before!
We are currently goping through the same thing with one of our cats, so I understand perfectly. Smudge doesn't have a problem with his heart, but with his kidneys.
Blueberry, so glad Duncan is better. And as long as he's not in pain, I say better living through chemistry. For humans and for pets.
I miss your witty comments.
Give Duncan a loving scratch for me, maybe he'll even do that funny mouth chattering thing you once showed me.
Blueberry, is Duncan on a restricted diet now?
(((hugs for all)))
Thanks to all for the well-wishes and hugs. HCG, his diet does need to be different. They sent us home with k-d, and he ate it the first night not not anymore. I was hoping to be able to hide his pills in the food, but we have lost a round of pills this morning by him refusing the food. The vet is supposed to recommend something else, but we're waiting on the call. Salt is something he's supposed to avoid.
My Wiskerz has to take 3 small pills per day. Our routine is: a TBSP of gravy obtained from the varieties of canned food that specify gravy in the name mixed with 1-1/2 pills thoroughly crushed. This works because Wiskerz LOVES that gravy. He licks up his gravy with meds and then I feed him some of the rest of the can. I can tell for sure that he is getting his meds. He does have a few off days when he turns up his nose at it - but he gets it >95% of the time. He will not eat the gravy from those bottles of pet gravy - it has to be extracted from the canned food! Needless to say, I buy a lot of canned food. If I mix the crushed pills in the food, he never eats it - it HAS to be in the gravy. These may have too much salt but the better quality canned food is starting to have these same meat with gravy varieties. Do you think this might work with Duncan?
I do hope he is doing well and that you are too!
Lots of purrs and purr-rayers and prayers for little Duncan, added him to the Pet Prayer and Praise blog.
...ML (Mary Lynn)
We have tried him on a couple of the prescription diets, and mushed it down with low-sodium chicken broth to make it more palatable. He's not really eating more than a couple of bites at a time yet, so he's worrying us. We try to avoid stuff with onions in it, which is not supposed to be good for cats. Seems like some cat food has onions in it, so it's confusing. Maybe baby food...
I have to feed one of my girls baby food during the winter. For some reason, the heating system (gas) doesn't agree with her and her throat gets badly irritated. My vet suggested baby food and she loves it! Good luck, sweet Duncan....feel better soon!
(Thanx for the tip about onions...I didn't know)
Duncan is such a beautiful boy. I am sorry to hear about his condition. I lost one of mine to a health problem recently and I know how horrible it is to just watch and not be able to make them "well". At least you didn't lose him and thanks to modern med's and lots of money you lil guy will be around for awhile :)
HillCountryGal sent me by..I am glad she did..take care!
Post a Comment