It hurts my heart to write that. In his liver and spleen. And the hypercalcemia is causing kidney failure.
I thought this post would be a report of the results of the second bloodwork, and the arrival of the results of the fPLI test. (He got a 14; normal is 1.0 to 3.5.) And to mention that I weighed him again this morning and he was down to 10 pounds, 5 ounces. And that there is a sort of odd, squishy quality to his abdomen when I pick him up.
To summarize the second bloodwork, AST and ALT were elevated more, although not horrifically. Amylase was high/higher. Glucose was 51. I wish I could laugh about that. Total calcium was significantly higher, and his creatinine and whatever the other kidney thing is were both abnormal this time, although they had been fine just a week ago. The vet sent a referral for an ultrasound. When I called them, they said two weeks. It was becoming apparent that we didn't HAVE two weeks. I flung everything I could think of into the conversation with the receptionist, including Dr. B, the ophthalmologist. And somehow, she discovered an appointment she hadn't seen before for this Friday, only two days away.
In the meantime, although Scruffy would turn up in the kitchen every time I put food down for the cats, he couldn't seem to bring himself to eat. I started putting a whole handful of kitten chow on his plate, and carrying it around to wherever he ended up sitting down. He also would still wander out to the living room where Milkshake eats, but instead of inching up closer and closer to sneak a bite of Milk's food, Scruffy would just meatloaf down a couple inches from Milk and watch him eat. I picked up a couple of cans of AD because even the ham baby food wasn't enticing him, and I was getting worried about taurine and all the other neutrients he wasn't getting enough of. The one thing he wanted and ate eagerly - and which was probably a terrible thing to give a cat with calcium in his blood that was killing him - was lactose-free milk. I never give any of the cats milk, although Black Kitty started every morning of his life inside with a nice dish of regular old milk and we never thought a thing about it.
I have the dates all confused in my head. I need to get a calendar, I guess. The Sunday after the second bloodwork was done - and there was an error that delayed the testing and the return of the results, so it was right after we got the report - Dr. G. said he thought that we should start doing fluids. It has been one of my fondest desires NEVER to have to do fluids with one of my cats. I have been needle phobic forever; it took me months to be even moderately comfortable with insulin needles, and they were 31 gauge. But - it had to be done. We took Scruffy down to the office and got a quick demonstration of how to do it. I thought Rege was intending to help, but the next day, he announced that he was NOT going to. I managed to do it myself, and my sweet cat never fussed at all. Not a move, not a peep out of him. I expected, though, that it would make him feel so much better. It didn't seem to. And he wasn't peeing any more than usual, which also surprised me. I discovered that Costco sells/will order Lactated Ringers - a case for $26.19 or there abouts. Dian gave me a website that sells the needles - Terumo's, too! - Dr. G. gave me disgusting Monojects that stuck to Scruffy's skin like glue; they were horrible to use. And I bought sets of tubing. All set to go. Scruffy and I got through five days of "giving fluids" without much trauma, and without his making the least protest. I took pictures, for no particular reason. I guess I wanted to prove that I was able to do it, no matter how I hated it, and what a good cat I had for tolerating it when he felt so lousy. As you can tell from his fur, he felt crummy, and he was still purring when I rubbed his ears at the end.
Another installment of this nightmare tomorrow.......I'm too weepy and exhausted to do any more tonight. And I miss my Puffer terribly already and it's only been 13 hours.
I thought this post would be a report of the results of the second bloodwork, and the arrival of the results of the fPLI test. (He got a 14; normal is 1.0 to 3.5.) And to mention that I weighed him again this morning and he was down to 10 pounds, 5 ounces. And that there is a sort of odd, squishy quality to his abdomen when I pick him up.
To summarize the second bloodwork, AST and ALT were elevated more, although not horrifically. Amylase was high/higher. Glucose was 51. I wish I could laugh about that. Total calcium was significantly higher, and his creatinine and whatever the other kidney thing is were both abnormal this time, although they had been fine just a week ago. The vet sent a referral for an ultrasound. When I called them, they said two weeks. It was becoming apparent that we didn't HAVE two weeks. I flung everything I could think of into the conversation with the receptionist, including Dr. B, the ophthalmologist. And somehow, she discovered an appointment she hadn't seen before for this Friday, only two days away.
In the meantime, although Scruffy would turn up in the kitchen every time I put food down for the cats, he couldn't seem to bring himself to eat. I started putting a whole handful of kitten chow on his plate, and carrying it around to wherever he ended up sitting down. He also would still wander out to the living room where Milkshake eats, but instead of inching up closer and closer to sneak a bite of Milk's food, Scruffy would just meatloaf down a couple inches from Milk and watch him eat. I picked up a couple of cans of AD because even the ham baby food wasn't enticing him, and I was getting worried about taurine and all the other neutrients he wasn't getting enough of. The one thing he wanted and ate eagerly - and which was probably a terrible thing to give a cat with calcium in his blood that was killing him - was lactose-free milk. I never give any of the cats milk, although Black Kitty started every morning of his life inside with a nice dish of regular old milk and we never thought a thing about it.
I have the dates all confused in my head. I need to get a calendar, I guess. The Sunday after the second bloodwork was done - and there was an error that delayed the testing and the return of the results, so it was right after we got the report - Dr. G. said he thought that we should start doing fluids. It has been one of my fondest desires NEVER to have to do fluids with one of my cats. I have been needle phobic forever; it took me months to be even moderately comfortable with insulin needles, and they were 31 gauge. But - it had to be done. We took Scruffy down to the office and got a quick demonstration of how to do it. I thought Rege was intending to help, but the next day, he announced that he was NOT going to. I managed to do it myself, and my sweet cat never fussed at all. Not a move, not a peep out of him. I expected, though, that it would make him feel so much better. It didn't seem to. And he wasn't peeing any more than usual, which also surprised me. I discovered that Costco sells/will order Lactated Ringers - a case for $26.19 or there abouts. Dian gave me a website that sells the needles - Terumo's, too! - Dr. G. gave me disgusting Monojects that stuck to Scruffy's skin like glue; they were horrible to use. And I bought sets of tubing. All set to go. Scruffy and I got through five days of "giving fluids" without much trauma, and without his making the least protest. I took pictures, for no particular reason. I guess I wanted to prove that I was able to do it, no matter how I hated it, and what a good cat I had for tolerating it when he felt so lousy. As you can tell from his fur, he felt crummy, and he was still purring when I rubbed his ears at the end.
Another installment of this nightmare tomorrow.......I'm too weepy and exhausted to do any more tonight. And I miss my Puffer terribly already and it's only been 13 hours.
1 comment:
Hello I have read some of your posts (not all of them, yet ! ha !)but I am deeply touched by the efforts you put into the well being of your cat Scuffy. I now so many people who at the mere impression of old age don't think twice to put their companion down, It's disgusting ! So reading you blog about all the things you do to make Scuffy's life better is so uplifting ! I have a 10 Year old cat who is passive aggressive and is the core and love of the household, I would too give everything in my power just to see him healthy and happy....
I am so very sorry to read Scuffy has lymphoma.... what are your plans?
Sincerely.
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