I have a headache
Leon's been intermittently not eating for a while, he wouldn't normally go more than 24 hours or would start sneaking Sephie's food (when she was here) He had been losing a little weight because of this, and I've been contemplating starting him on wet food, but he's a picky ass. There had also been a bit of vomiting, only water/saliva that seemed to go away when I gave him some hairball cream. I had a hard time pinpointing what was upsetting his stomach because he would sneak Sephie's food and I was traveling a lot. When we got back from Traverse City on Sunday I realized he should probably go see the vet, he had been barely eating, drinking more than normal and his slightly stinky breath turned into death breath. Blood work on Monday revealed he has kidney disease, prescription food is supposed to help with it, so I brought some more and started mixing the foods to switch him. I also have some cream that's an appetite stimulant. The problem is, he's still not eating, and I'm unsure how much he's drinking at this point. I brought him in again yesterday for an anti-nausea shot and an IV. He laid in the cat tree in my office where the heated pad is most of the day, dozing or just laying there, alert. He used his litter box for the first time that day before bed, after I went and plucked him out of the cat tree to physically bring him to bed with us, since he always sleeps with us. He seemed to have used it again last night/this morning, but still, no eating. Waiting for the vet to open at 9 to see what else can be done, she had mentioned showing me how to IV him on Monday, but since at that time he was eating/drinking some, we didn't feel that was necessary. But maybe that's where we go from here. He gets around well enough, but he's a bit wobbly. I'm not sure he can get up on the bed anymore, or in the cat tree, but I've been picking him up and putting him places he normally would be. I have a headache from the amount of crying I've been doing lately. He's not even 12 yet, he's supposed to outlive Bishop, I'm not ready to say goodbye.
I've been incredibly distant on Twitter/Telegram, some of that due to this, but some it just not feeling like I want to talk, about anything. This, life, work, the house, nothing. I've been low key irritable lately, maybe because I keep forgetting to take my vitamins...
Not sure when or if I'll talk about this publicaly. This (LiveJournal) isn't public to me anymore, no one's here
Update: Dropping him off for IV fluids for the next 24 hours. Hopefully flush his kidneys and get him eating
Update (2.15): Leon didn't get as many fluids as the vet would've liked because his line got kinked sometime in the night, which happens when not at an emergency hospital. His kidney levels have improved some and he was more alert this morning, so I had him transferred to an emergency vet (which is much closer to the house) and he'll be there for the next 48 hours continuing with fluids, anti-nausea, pain meds for the ulcer under his tongue they found yesterday (also part of kidney disease) and some antibiotics (just in case). He will be getting a feeding tube through his nose this evening if they can't get him to eat. Usually they'll start eating on their own after the tube, you just have to get them started. I'll call about bloodwork in the morning. I'm basically going to continue to do everything I can as long as he's showing improvement with his bloodwork, eVet wants to get him to a point his kidney levels plateau and we can discuss next steps at home with meds, the diet change and fluids
Update (2.16): Bloodwork was much much better this morning, though he's still not eating on his own, he's got a feeding tube in his nose now and they've been able to get him some food that way. We went and saw him today and he was very affectionate and able to get around really well despite the amount of drugs he's on. He laid in my lap a bit and really enjoyed looking out the window of the room we were in and laying in the sun beam. Doc is aggressively trying to treat his mouth ulcers, since she feels that's what's keeping him from eating by himself, he seems interested in food when offered at least. Everyone there says they love him and that makes me so happy :) They told me what a sweet affectionate cat he is and how they love to pet him. Hoping for more good news tomorrow, and maybe I'll get to bring him home, I really want him eating on his own first though
Update (2.17): Called this morning and they hadn't done his bloodwork, but said he was perky and ate on his own a little very early in the morning. I called later about his bloodwork and his kidneys are continuing to get better, still not in high-normal range but a lot closer. I opted to keep him another night on fluids, since he's still improving I don't want to stop what is working. She did say he hadn't eaten on his own again, but when I went in to visit this afternoon the nurse said he did eat when she went to do his 1p medication. Excellent! They brought him and his fluids in to the same room we were in yesterday, he looked out the window some but really just wanted to lay on me and nap, so he did. When he woke up he was very interested in his food but didn't quite seem to get there, I think he's still worried about the tube in the way, so I put some on my fingers and gave it to him, he actually opened his mouth around my fingers and licked. I grabbed more of the wet food and basically hand fed him almost all of it until he wanted to get up and run around, which is difficult when you're still attached to the IV and wobbly. Super glad he's eating finally, I have more hope I'll get to bring him home tomorrow
Update (2.19): I didn't get a chance to update last night, I was a bit more focused on getting Leon to eat (he still hasn't, but was very interested in his food pre-medication this morning). I brought him home yesterday afternoon, unfortunately his bloodwork didn't show any improvements and his kidney values were a little worse, he also has high blood pressure, so he's on a medication for that too. We're currently at anti-nausea, appetite stimulant, high blood pressure and 'magic mouthwash', which is what they give cancer patients that get mouth ulcers from chemo. He slept well last night and is getting around the house well enough, I've moved to the couch today so he can sleep on me while I work. Hoping to get him to eat today/more consistently, I went to Walmart and got a few different things for him to try and eat based on what they told me at the eVet, I got 3 different kinds of wet cat food, canned meat (spam, tuna, chicken, vienna sausages) and looked for baby food with meat but everything was fruit/veggie based, I may check Meijer later. The doctor just wants me to get him eating consistently before he switches over to the k/d food, though when we ate for me on Monday it was just the k/d. Bloodwork recheck with the normal vet at 4p today
Update (2.20): I wanted to update again last night but was exhausted. Bloodwork still wasn't good yesterday, kidney levels are on the rise. He ate around 2.30-3p yesterday, but only a bit, his mouthwash was knocking him out pretty good so we decreased that. I got shown how to give IV fluids at home, every other day, but at this point I'm just buying time. I was supposed to be out of town (again, no rest for the wicked) this weekend as it's my aunt's celebration of life in Buffalo, but I don't want to leave Leon on this point, I want to be around him as much as I can. He has another appointment next Thursday for bloodwork check, but...