Binky's back at the vet :(
Last night when I was heading to the shower I noticed Binky was laying a little weird on the floor. Not a weird position for a cat to be laying in, it just wasn't a 'Binky position'. So I sat with her and checked her over. She was breathing a little fast and hard, then she started open-mouth breathing. Fuck. I put my ear up to her mouth to listen to her breathing and it sounded a little crackly (like when your sick and all congested). Panicked for a second then decided to call the vet, of course they said to bring her in. When I got the carrier out she just walked in and sat down, it's like she knew she didn't feel well and needed to see a doctor.
They put her in an oxygen tank right away, which basically looks like a big fish tank with a hole on top for the oxygen tube. They also took more xrays and there was definitely fluid in her lungs and abdomen. There were also "specks" on her lungs, which indicates some sort of bronchial issue (not pneumonia but some type of irritation like bronchitis). So the treatment will be the same as last time, gotta get that fluid out. The vet seemed surprised when we said we haven't noticed and increase in urination, so I'm hoping she just needs a higher dosage of the diuretic. Her current dosage is in the "low to moderate range". Binkys situation is basically this: we can't stop the fact that her lungs and abdomen will get fluid in them, but the diuretics will make her pee out all the fluids. If we can find the right dosage she'll continue to pee out all the fluids before they cause any discomfort or serious threats to her life. So ideally we want to see her peeing more and drinking more water.
I asked if there were any check-ups we can do at home, signs that she wasn't getting enough medicine so it doesn't get so bad that we have to rush her to the vet again. The tech gave me some good pointers so I think we'll start having nightly check-ups with Binky. The two signs of fluid build-up are increase in weight and enlarged belly, so I'll start weighing Binky every day and measuring her belly. If we notice a change early enough we can just call the vet and they can advise us to increase her dosage. Oh, and we should check her gums too, they should be bright pink. Grey, white or light pink is a bad sign. So I'll be Nurse Jen! I'll keep a chart of her weight and everything.
Hopefully she can come home in the next few hours. That little girl sure has been through a lot lately! I just really want us to get to the point where we can maintain her condition for an extended period of time. We can't keep taking her to the vet every couple weeks for this treatment, that's not a very good quality of life. But I still feel like we're in the trial-and-error part of this battle, there's hope that we can find a way to maintain her condition.
They put her in an oxygen tank right away, which basically looks like a big fish tank with a hole on top for the oxygen tube. They also took more xrays and there was definitely fluid in her lungs and abdomen. There were also "specks" on her lungs, which indicates some sort of bronchial issue (not pneumonia but some type of irritation like bronchitis). So the treatment will be the same as last time, gotta get that fluid out. The vet seemed surprised when we said we haven't noticed and increase in urination, so I'm hoping she just needs a higher dosage of the diuretic. Her current dosage is in the "low to moderate range". Binkys situation is basically this: we can't stop the fact that her lungs and abdomen will get fluid in them, but the diuretics will make her pee out all the fluids. If we can find the right dosage she'll continue to pee out all the fluids before they cause any discomfort or serious threats to her life. So ideally we want to see her peeing more and drinking more water.
I asked if there were any check-ups we can do at home, signs that she wasn't getting enough medicine so it doesn't get so bad that we have to rush her to the vet again. The tech gave me some good pointers so I think we'll start having nightly check-ups with Binky. The two signs of fluid build-up are increase in weight and enlarged belly, so I'll start weighing Binky every day and measuring her belly. If we notice a change early enough we can just call the vet and they can advise us to increase her dosage. Oh, and we should check her gums too, they should be bright pink. Grey, white or light pink is a bad sign. So I'll be Nurse Jen! I'll keep a chart of her weight and everything.
Hopefully she can come home in the next few hours. That little girl sure has been through a lot lately! I just really want us to get to the point where we can maintain her condition for an extended period of time. We can't keep taking her to the vet every couple weeks for this treatment, that's not a very good quality of life. But I still feel like we're in the trial-and-error part of this battle, there's hope that we can find a way to maintain her condition.