Trauma

This is my girl.

My girl's been sick.

Her kidneys are not doing so well. Not well at all.

When I got home from Myrtle Beach last Thursday evening, I could tell she wasn't feeling herself. She'd been sick the previous week throwing up a lot, but I assumed it was a hairball issue, gave her some hairball medicine and she seemed to have perked up a bit before I left. But Friday morning she looked miserable. And so off we went to the vet.

Her temperature was normal, she looked a little dehydrated and she had lost some weight. The vet thought it was most probably a worm issue in her small intestine. But he wanted to do bloodwork just to be sure. Lo and behold, when my girl's lab report came back, it indicated that she was going into serious kidney failure.

They admitted her into the hospital right then and there, hooked her up to an IV, put her on antibiotics, and there she stayed until Monday late afternoon. Daniel and I did get to visit her early Saturday morning and she looked better, hydrated, and even ate a little while we were there. It was hard to leave her in that strange place, in that little cage, hooked up to an IV not knowing how she was doing or even what our options might be.

Monday afternoon they did another blood test and her white blood cell count was down. The levels for her one kidney were closer to normal, but the other kidney, even though the levels had been brought down some, were still way out of the normal range. The doctor said she probably has some permanent kidney damage but that felines can live for many years with damaged kidneys.

Not the best news...but certainly not the worst news.

We got to take her home with us Monday afternoon with a 1000cc bag of fluid, IV tube, needle, antibiotic, and an anti-diarrhea medication. We were told to give her 50cc per day, plus the two medications twice a day for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and then they would do another blood test late Thursday afternoon to see where she is and what our options are.

My girl does not like IVs or medication. I do not like needles or causing my girl distress. Daniel does not like causing me distress. Not an ideal set of circumstances, to say the least.

We tried yesterday morning to get the IV in her. But she was adamant in her refusal. We did get her meds in her and thought we'd go home during lunch and try the IV thing again.

Again, we did not succeed.

We decided to take her back to the vet to get one of the techs to help us with the IV - which they did, graciously and efficiently.

Today I just drove her to the vet first thing in the morning to get her IV for the day done and over with. My girl is much better behaved at the vet's office (probably because she's terrified).

So, tomorrow I will take her in again at 7:30 am for her 50cc's and then at 3:00 pm for her blood test and we'll see what happens next. The doctor said she may need an IV 3 times a week or once a week or maybe not even at all.

Cross your fingers for my girl.