amethyst73 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amethyst73) wrote2010-11-07 07:14 pm
amethyst73) wrote2010-11-07 07:14 pm
Entry tags:
Complicated cats
Complicated cats
find frenzied family fun
minding medicines.
Fall seems to be a favored time in our household for cats to have expensive and/or worrisome medical issues. Here's the list of who's been doing what.
1. Fluffy had his annual exam 10/5. His teeth needed cleaning.
2. Mouse had his annual exam 9/14. He needed a tooth to come out.
We tried to combine #1 and #2 by bringing them in the same day (10/28), but this didn't happen. Mouse got out of the house the Sunday before the scheduled appointment, while we were trying to leave the door open for Little Cat (about whom more presently) could exit the house. We... sort of forgot that there was a denizen of the house who wasn't supposed to get out. Oops. Mouse was recaptured a few days later, and a dental appointment was made for him for a week after Fluffy's (11/4). Like Fluffy's, it proceeded without incident; because his appointment was surgical, he needs to come back for a checkup in another couple of weeks.
Now we get to the more exciting cat:
3. Tazz had some sort of eye irritation that needed to be taken care of.
Our regular vet was away, so we took him to the (very good, as it happened) substitute (10/14). Who found nothing with a fluorescein stain (typically used to detect scratches, ulcers, and the like) and prescribed the typical antibiotic ointments. While Tazz was in the office, he got weighed, and found....
4. Tazz has lost ~1 lb in the last 6-7 months.
Substitute vet was understandably quite concerned, prescribed a course of anti-parasitical stuff, and did some bloodwork. The bloodwork turned up:
5. Tazz has anemia.
We took Tazz to our regular vet 11/3 for followup on all these issues.
3a. A dark spot was sighted in Tazz's cornea in the affected eye. Also, the whitish area that he's had the whole time we've owned him seemed to have spread. Our vet thought it might be a resurgent herpesvirus infection. This all led to Tazz's getting an appointment with a kitty ophthalmologist 11/5 to see what was up. She thought it might be herpes as well, and gave us some stuff to put in his eye. If it doesn't respond to the medication, surgery would be an option. (This is a 15-year-old cat we're talking about, just for the record.) Tazz has a recheck on 11/19.
4a. Tazz's weight had gone down another 0.1 lb.
5a. Another blood test showed continued anemia.
These plus the possible renewed herpes activity indicated to our regular vet that Tazz may have something going on elsewhere that's depressing his regular immune system activity... namely the big C. Given that his brother passed away of squamous cell carcinoma a few years ago, this is a real concern, so Tazz has an appointment for chest X-ray and abdominal ultrasound this week (11/10).
All this confusion meant three separate kitty appointments this past week. We'll have only one next week (I hope - I guess it depends on what the imaging shows!), and then two the following week. Cats are complicated!
Meantime, we are hoping to find a permanent home for our newest addition, Little Cat. Little Cat is a <1 yr old female who started coming to our yard back in June or so. She is now spayed and up on her shots. She's brave, pretty friendly, quite curious, playful, and a very sweet little cat - but six cats is really too much for us to handle long-term. PLEASE contact me if you're interested in adopting her!
find frenzied family fun
minding medicines.
Fall seems to be a favored time in our household for cats to have expensive and/or worrisome medical issues. Here's the list of who's been doing what.
1. Fluffy had his annual exam 10/5. His teeth needed cleaning.
2. Mouse had his annual exam 9/14. He needed a tooth to come out.
We tried to combine #1 and #2 by bringing them in the same day (10/28), but this didn't happen. Mouse got out of the house the Sunday before the scheduled appointment, while we were trying to leave the door open for Little Cat (about whom more presently) could exit the house. We... sort of forgot that there was a denizen of the house who wasn't supposed to get out. Oops. Mouse was recaptured a few days later, and a dental appointment was made for him for a week after Fluffy's (11/4). Like Fluffy's, it proceeded without incident; because his appointment was surgical, he needs to come back for a checkup in another couple of weeks.
Now we get to the more exciting cat:
3. Tazz had some sort of eye irritation that needed to be taken care of.
Our regular vet was away, so we took him to the (very good, as it happened) substitute (10/14). Who found nothing with a fluorescein stain (typically used to detect scratches, ulcers, and the like) and prescribed the typical antibiotic ointments. While Tazz was in the office, he got weighed, and found....
4. Tazz has lost ~1 lb in the last 6-7 months.
Substitute vet was understandably quite concerned, prescribed a course of anti-parasitical stuff, and did some bloodwork. The bloodwork turned up:
5. Tazz has anemia.
We took Tazz to our regular vet 11/3 for followup on all these issues.
3a. A dark spot was sighted in Tazz's cornea in the affected eye. Also, the whitish area that he's had the whole time we've owned him seemed to have spread. Our vet thought it might be a resurgent herpesvirus infection. This all led to Tazz's getting an appointment with a kitty ophthalmologist 11/5 to see what was up. She thought it might be herpes as well, and gave us some stuff to put in his eye. If it doesn't respond to the medication, surgery would be an option. (This is a 15-year-old cat we're talking about, just for the record.) Tazz has a recheck on 11/19.
4a. Tazz's weight had gone down another 0.1 lb.
5a. Another blood test showed continued anemia.
These plus the possible renewed herpes activity indicated to our regular vet that Tazz may have something going on elsewhere that's depressing his regular immune system activity... namely the big C. Given that his brother passed away of squamous cell carcinoma a few years ago, this is a real concern, so Tazz has an appointment for chest X-ray and abdominal ultrasound this week (11/10).
All this confusion meant three separate kitty appointments this past week. We'll have only one next week (I hope - I guess it depends on what the imaging shows!), and then two the following week. Cats are complicated!
Meantime, we are hoping to find a permanent home for our newest addition, Little Cat. Little Cat is a <1 yr old female who started coming to our yard back in June or so. She is now spayed and up on her shots. She's brave, pretty friendly, quite curious, playful, and a very sweet little cat - but six cats is really too much for us to handle long-term. PLEASE contact me if you're interested in adopting her!