Vet Visit (Purr and Prayers Needed)

Mom Sierra here.  We made our way to the vet yesterday, and things are not good for Jewel or Carmine, which I did not anticipate at all.

As most of you know, Carmine has chronic anal gland issues, and he has to get them expressed every three months at the v-e-t to prevent some serious health problems.  I didn't anticipate another potential medical issue for my little orange baby.

The vet weighed him, and he's now down to 8 pounds 15 ounces.  That's 4 ounces down from three months ago.  That's not good. In my opinion, he was too thin as it was.  The vet said if he maintains this as his new "normal weight," it will be okay.  However, we don't know what's causing the weight loss, and that scares me.

The vet said she will weigh him again next time, and if he's lost any more weight, we'll have to do a special test to see if he's losing protein.  She said this can happen sometimes with chronic urinary tract or chronic anal gland issues - both of which he has.

The other possibility she mentioned was a food allergy.  If this is the case, it's going to be difficult to treat because we can't change his diet much; he must eat urinary tract food.  We might be able to try another prescription brand (Royal Canin versus Hill's, for instance) but beyond that, we don't have a lot of wiggle room with his diet due to his FLUTD.  I feel very bad for my orange baby!  He is already dealing with many more health issues than any cat should ever have to deal with.  I just hope that his weight stabilizes, and if something is wrong, it won't affect his quality of life.  He's such a lively, active, happy boy!

Then it was Jewel's turn.  I told her about how Jewel had diarrhea all of last week and that it seems to have improved.  I also mentioned that Jewel vomited all of her food for an entire day.  She thought maybe Jewel is allergic to whatever we fed her that day, which is possible.  We don't feed her that particular kind too often so we'll stay away from that kind in the future.

Then it was time for her to get weighed.  Her last weight was 8 pounds 11.5 ounces.  Her new weight is 8 pounds 4 ounces!! She lost eight ounces in the span of two months!! :(

The vet was also concerned about Jewel drinking more, laying by the fountain on the floor sometimes, and her not eating well lately.  Though finances are extremely tight for me right now, I was able to use the last of the funds you all so kindly gave me with some of my own green papers to get her kidney values tested today.  Thank you all so much, again, for your generosity!

The vet and I both felt it was important to see how her kidneys are doing in light of all the recent changes.  Unfortunately, we found out that her creatinine level went back up.  Her last level was 2.6.  Her new level is 3.1, indicating her kidneys are, in fact, worse. :(

I've been instructed to give Jewel her subcutaneous fluids every other day now.

I am very upset about this.  I know it's part of the journey of kidney disease, but she was doing SO WELL a mere two months ago!!  I am very sad and worried and upset about this decline.  I am NOT ready for her to go, and I feel like this is the beginning of the end.  I hope with everything I have that I'm wrong.

The vet also said it's time to put Jewel on Reglan - an anti-emetic.  She also wants me to get Jewel's electrolyte levels tested as soon as I can afford it, which probably won't be until January.

I'm just trying to hold it together for my babies' sake.  I know they know when I'm upset, and I want them to be happy.  I just want them to be okay.  I'm sure all of you can relate.

Purrs and prayers, hugs, love, good vibes, etc would be very much appreciated!

Ann from Zoolatry made us these beautiful purrs and prayers badges.  You can display them on your blog sidebars or posts if you would like.

Thank you, Ann, for the badges!  We appreciate all that you do so much.

First Vet Visit of 2013

On Tuesday, I took the babies to the vet.  Carmine had to go in for his quarterly "butt squeezing" (anal gland expression) and Lita went in for a regular check-up.  I feel bad for Carmine because he has to go to the vet so often.  He gets so scared. :(  We had to take the top off his box to get him out for the vet.  Then he kept trying to crawl back into it.  He would slink along the table, very low, hoping the vet wouldn't see him.  Poor baby.

The good news is that he now weighs 9 pounds 7 ounces!!  He's gained two ounces, yay!  I know that doesn't seem like much, but after more than a year at a measly 9.5, it is a good improvement.  It just supports what I've thought all along regarding him and stress.  He is much less stressed these days, which is why, I believe, he is finally gaining some of his weight back.  The vet was also very pleased by his weight gain.

After Carmine had his little "butt squeeze," he went and hid behind the mini-fridge in the exam room.

It was Lita's turn, and she was very happy to walk out of the carrier by herself.  Her happiness was short-lived, though.  She growled - a lot - at the vet.  She is always so friendly and loving.  The only time I see her act like that is at the vet or around people she really doesn't like (which is quite rare).

I did not know this as one of my friends had dropped her off for her dental work last Feb. and when I came to get her, the vet didn't tell me this, but apparently Lita had lost weight before her last visit.  Again, I think the stress had a lot to do with that...  She gained the weight back in the four months we've been at our new place, though, so I'm happy about that.

The vet said she has a red lesion (a really little one) on her head, and she's worried Lita might be allergic to her food.  We had to flip Lita over on her back (oh boy, was she not happy!) so the vet could look at her tummy to see if she was pulling out fur.  There was no missing fur on her tummy, so the vet and I concluded that maybe Carmine accidentally smacked her on the head or something.  She told me to keep an eye out for more red dots, missing fur, or itching.  We want to make sure it is not a food allergy since Lita has had allergies to other food (Evo) before.

Other than that, Lita is a healthy baby.

She wasn't very nice to her brother, though....when the vet was done and we were talking, Lita got down on the floor and found Carmine behind the fridge and started growling at him.  Poor baby, he was already scared enough!

We put the babies back in their carriers and took them home where they were happy again.

While at the vet, I made an appointment for Jewel.  She goes in on the 30th to get her T4 count rechecked.  I've sort of been appointed to oversee her medical care.  Is there such a thing as a cat medical power of attorney? ;)


All in all, I am glad that the babies seem to be doing well.  I hope Lita does not have another food allergy, but only time will tell.  Carmine goes back in April again.