Onyx update
Onyx got a good prognosis last night. I am hella relieved.
Because our normal vet only works Sundays while she has a new baby at home, we saw a different vet. He was really cool. He really familiarized himself with Onyx's history, he explained all the stages of renal failure to me, and explained things to me like I was intelligent (instead of being vague like doctors can tend to be). He's pretty young, so I hope he is able to keep up with that throughout his career. I very much appreciated it. Also he has curly hair and freckles so I want to have babies with him. He says kittycats and absentmindedly lifted his hand for petting in response to Onyx headbutting his arm from behind. His handwriting is terrible and he claims he wrote "kidneys" but it looks like "turkeys." He looks like Corey Feldman.
We got sent home with some metronidazole for the high white cell count which will also help with the colitis. I don't know why our normal vet didn't do that before. He gave me some more information about what I could expect from getting a biopsy of Onyx's liver (which is also having problems), so I think I'm going to go ahead with that soon. We were also instructed to get some Pepcid AC for Onyx's tummy and the vet explained why Onyx's tummy is unhappy at this stage.
I learned that kittycats can live with kidney failure for 2 years or more. Dogs, I guess, only get 6 months or so. I'm really glad to know I have more than a few months left with Onyx.
I feel kind of guilty for liking this vet way more than I like our normal vet. We've been with her for 11 years. She's really nice, she knows all the cats and remembers their special traits. She parades all the vet techs in to show off Onyx's tricks. But she usually leaves me with more questions that I don't know how to formulate after we talk. This new vet is so thorough and explains things to me and communicates much better. So I think we're going to start seeing him more often. If only for the reason that he's not only working 1 day a week on maternity leave.
I don't know how Onyx will adjust to not having a cute girl vet. He definitely was not as excited as usual to be at the vet. He looooves all the attention he gets from all the pretty girls. He's usually purring so loudly they can't listen to his lungs. But not this time. He was all, "Um, Mom? This is a guy. Not a pretty girl," and was not purring so much. His lungs sound fine. :)
Onyx definitely has a lot of admirers. I got home and texted a bunch of people that he's okay. Then I had to forward that text to a bunch of other people. Then I remembered even more people I needed to update. Then a couple more. He's a charmer!
Oh, and Onyx likes to let everyone know how unhappy he is in his carrier and he just wants to get out of there already so the vet techs can fawn over him. So this boy came over while we were in the waiting room. "Is your cat deaf?" he asks. Apparently his cat is deaf and didn't start being loud until the deafness took over. We had a good converstion. He was a cute kid and his mom was really sincere and nice. :)
Also, when Thor's Mom went over to check on Onyx for me yesterday while I was at work, Onyx was so excited to see her that he ignored the water for a bit. He missed her. That's sweet.
Because our normal vet only works Sundays while she has a new baby at home, we saw a different vet. He was really cool. He really familiarized himself with Onyx's history, he explained all the stages of renal failure to me, and explained things to me like I was intelligent (instead of being vague like doctors can tend to be). He's pretty young, so I hope he is able to keep up with that throughout his career. I very much appreciated it. Also he has curly hair and freckles so I want to have babies with him. He says kittycats and absentmindedly lifted his hand for petting in response to Onyx headbutting his arm from behind. His handwriting is terrible and he claims he wrote "kidneys" but it looks like "turkeys." He looks like Corey Feldman.
We got sent home with some metronidazole for the high white cell count which will also help with the colitis. I don't know why our normal vet didn't do that before. He gave me some more information about what I could expect from getting a biopsy of Onyx's liver (which is also having problems), so I think I'm going to go ahead with that soon. We were also instructed to get some Pepcid AC for Onyx's tummy and the vet explained why Onyx's tummy is unhappy at this stage.
I learned that kittycats can live with kidney failure for 2 years or more. Dogs, I guess, only get 6 months or so. I'm really glad to know I have more than a few months left with Onyx.
I feel kind of guilty for liking this vet way more than I like our normal vet. We've been with her for 11 years. She's really nice, she knows all the cats and remembers their special traits. She parades all the vet techs in to show off Onyx's tricks. But she usually leaves me with more questions that I don't know how to formulate after we talk. This new vet is so thorough and explains things to me and communicates much better. So I think we're going to start seeing him more often. If only for the reason that he's not only working 1 day a week on maternity leave.
I don't know how Onyx will adjust to not having a cute girl vet. He definitely was not as excited as usual to be at the vet. He looooves all the attention he gets from all the pretty girls. He's usually purring so loudly they can't listen to his lungs. But not this time. He was all, "Um, Mom? This is a guy. Not a pretty girl," and was not purring so much. His lungs sound fine. :)
Onyx definitely has a lot of admirers. I got home and texted a bunch of people that he's okay. Then I had to forward that text to a bunch of other people. Then I remembered even more people I needed to update. Then a couple more. He's a charmer!
Oh, and Onyx likes to let everyone know how unhappy he is in his carrier and he just wants to get out of there already so the vet techs can fawn over him. So this boy came over while we were in the waiting room. "Is your cat deaf?" he asks. Apparently his cat is deaf and didn't start being loud until the deafness took over. We had a good converstion. He was a cute kid and his mom was really sincere and nice. :)
Also, when Thor's Mom went over to check on Onyx for me yesterday while I was at work, Onyx was so excited to see her that he ignored the water for a bit. He missed her. That's sweet.