by jenblossom on November 8, 2009
7:30 a.m. I went from bleary-eyed to full-blown panic in a heartbeat as Mike started awake and asked “Where’s Kirby?” then raced to the window where the expanding flap on the air conditioner was gaping open. He pulled aside the curtain and there you were, sitting outside, on top of the air conditioner. The air conditioner in our second floor window. I threw on shoes and my bathrobe and ran downstairs and outside, as Mike first tried to get a firm grip on you and bring you inside, then decided you were squirming so much it was safer to try to talk you back indoors. By the time I got to the yard you were safely back inside, having climbed in on your own.
Our first year with you has been interesting, to say the least, and if your adventure this morning is any indication, you’ll be keeping us on our toes through year two. Happy Gotcha Day, buddy. We love you and are so happy you’re a part of our lives.
by jenblossom on October 23, 2009
We took Kali to the vet yesterday, after a week in which she had about 4 “peeing outside of the box” incidents. She wasn’t her usual sassy self, and we noticed that she had lost some weight, but we had no idea how scary things were going to get at the vet’s office.
Her abdomen was extremely firm on examination, and the vet noticed that she looked anemic. X-rays showed that the firm abdomen was caused by a pretty extreme case of constipation (which Kali has had off and on for years), and once that was dealt with everything looked pretty clear. But the cause of the anemia was still a mystery. She wasn’t running a fever, but her heart and spleen were slightly enlarged. And the weight loss was troublesome. The vet ran a full range of blood and urine tests, and we brought Kali home for the night with some medications. And we waited.
The news we got this morning was better than I think either of us was expecting. Her blood work came back with no signs of thyroid trouble, kidney problems or leukemia. Her urine was a little dilute but otherwise normal. The vet told us to up her dosage of the Prednisolone we started her on yesterday, and continue with the course of antibiotics and the Laxulone she was prescribed. She’ll go back for a recheck next week and we’ll see where we stand.
Those of you who remember Kali’s litter-mate/brother Dub may also recall that he suffered from Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia for most of his life – anemia which came on when he was just 11 months old, with no apparent trigger. It took a while but we got it under control, and as far as we know it wasn’t a contributing factor to his early death. So I’m hopeful, I guess, that if we can just get Kali’s blood count back up and get her eating, her prognosis is good. But what scares me is that we are in such a bad position financially. I can’t tell you how devastated we will be if we have to make a hard decision because we can’t afford more intensive or aggressive treatment, or if she takes a turn for the worse. She’s eight years old – middle-aged. She should – and hopefully does – have a lot of life left in her, but I’ve learned that things don’t always go as you expect or hope they will. We’ll just do the best we can.
