Exciting cat updates.
Well, I'm sure everyone has been on edge waiting for further news on my suddenly-very-expensive cat. As usually seems to happen with these things, last night's good news is followed by today's even worse news. He's more comfortable now that all that fluid is out of his lungs, but he's still got terrible renal function plus congestive heart failure. The evidence is growing that he has an abdominal mass; we're waiting for ultrasound and needle aspiration on that one. However, unless something unexpectedly good happens on the kidney-vs-heart front he probably won't live long enough for the mass to do him in.
The standard treatment for renal failure is fluids, and the standard treatment for congestive heart failure is diuretics, so the two problems require opposite treatment plans. A very nice kitty internist is trying to find a drug combination with will improve the current balance. Eek has probably been getting nauseous from the renal problems, and that is believed to be the cause of his loss of appetite over the past couple of weeks.
So that's the balance of things. The goal is to tweak his meds and get him home, possibly this evening but more likely tomorrow. He won't last terribly long once he's back, but I think he and I would both prefer that he spend what time he has in familiar surroundings.
Update: I just got a call from the vet saying that it looks more like liver inflammation than an abdominal mass, and saying that there is some evidence he has an infection in one of his kidneys. That could be treated with antibiotics, possibly getting us out of this heart-vs-kidneys bind. So, we end the day on good news. He'll be in another day at least; you may be able to hear the giant sucking sound of my wallet being vacuumed out.
The standard treatment for renal failure is fluids, and the standard treatment for congestive heart failure is diuretics, so the two problems require opposite treatment plans. A very nice kitty internist is trying to find a drug combination with will improve the current balance. Eek has probably been getting nauseous from the renal problems, and that is believed to be the cause of his loss of appetite over the past couple of weeks.
So that's the balance of things. The goal is to tweak his meds and get him home, possibly this evening but more likely tomorrow. He won't last terribly long once he's back, but I think he and I would both prefer that he spend what time he has in familiar surroundings.
Update: I just got a call from the vet saying that it looks more like liver inflammation than an abdominal mass, and saying that there is some evidence he has an infection in one of his kidneys. That could be treated with antibiotics, possibly getting us out of this heart-vs-kidneys bind. So, we end the day on good news. He'll be in another day at least; you may be able to hear the giant sucking sound of my wallet being vacuumed out.