Update on my Captain
So, last night at a little before eight, I went into the dining room and saw two little puddles on bloody froth on the floor. I knew it was from Captain, since I'd separated him and Islay, so I immediately began freaking out, as you do when you see pools of blood on the floor. Quish was awesome, by the way, so props to her.
Anyway, I had shogunhb on the phone so I told him to get home ten minutes ago, then hung up so I could tell Tufts that my cat was vomiting blood. Turns out the receptionist at the vet had given me Tufts' fax number instead of their line, which was loads of fun. I called once and got the fax noise, again just to make sure I hadn't fucked up dialing the first time, and then had to google the right number, all while I'm freaking out over my kitten throwing up bloody froth. Unfun. Of course, Tufts' number connected me to a phone tree, where you press "9" if it's an emergency, and then "1" if it's an emergency for a large animal. If it's not a large animal, you just show up. So that's when I dialed Quish, trying to see if there was another number or something I should call. She was awesome, asking if I wanted her to come over, or meet me at Tufts, or call Tufts and keep clicking through till she got to someone to let them know we were coming. I was hasty and short with her (sorry!) but she was cool and made sure to alert Tufts to our impending arrival. Thanks, hon. For serious.
I got Captain in the carrier (with little struggle and no crying which made me panic more), got the address for Tufts into the GPS (a new one after our old one got stolen), and then shogunhb got home, so we all bundled into the car and flew to North Grafton. I also brought along the paper towel I'd used to wipe up the floor, so they'd have that to see/use/examine/whatever.
They brought Captain in back before I was even done filling out paperwork ("The Bryant emergency is here!"), and spent some time triaging him to find out just how bad he was. It took awhile, because it was kind of a busy night in the ER, but he was neurologically okay, bones were good, heart and lungs sounded fine...but his abdomen was a little distended, sensitive, and filled with gas. That's when the vet tech called us in the first time so I could answer some questions: has he had contact with other cats, how long has he been like this, what exactly happened, did I see him actually throw up the blood, has he eaten or drunk today, etc etc. We were able to say that as of the night before, Captain had been fine; he'd been playful, eaten treats, eaten food, seemed fine. I couldn't answer whether he'd eaten or drunk anything that day; the food & water bowls stay out all day, one set is in the bedroom, the other in the study, and both cats eat and drink indiscriminately from both. So unless I'm specifically watching them eat, it's impossible to say who is eating or drinking and how much.
We answered all the questions, gave permission for them to do some bloodwork, X-rays, and give him fluids via catheter, and then went out to wait some more. About 20 minutes later, we got called back in again to talk to the attending vet, who wanted to make sure that he understood everything I'd said before and to let us know what the plan was. Unlike when I first got sick, they laid out all the details and the plan, "It could be X, Y, or Z. We'll be doing A, B, and C, to see if we can narrow it down a little. If it's X, we'll do this, Y, we'll do that, and Z, we'll do something all together different." It was nice, having everything all laid out like that. The vet also said it seemed unlikely that Captain had vomited up the blood; that signs pointed to it coming out the other end, but since they couldn't be sure, they outlined the probable causes of why he might have thrown up the blood and the steps they'd take to test and treat those reasons, and then outlined the probable causes of why the blood might have come from the other side, and the steps to test and treat for those causes. In all, very thorough. Then it was back out for more waiting (fortunately, with my extensive experience with ERs and hospitals, I'd managed to grab books for both of us), only broken up by having the tech come out and tell me Captain was being feisty and ask permission to sedate him.
I was happy he was being feisty--much better than his lethargy in the car!--and gave permission, of course. Later, they came back to tell us that the X-rays hadn't shown signs of any kind of blockage, which was disappointing. In cases like this, you usually hope that the cause is something easy to spot and understand. Even something bad, like the possibility that Captain had swallowed a tack or some string or something, is at least known. If it's known, they can institute a plan to fix it. They did tell us that they'd ruled out some of the scarier options as well: Captain's kidney's looked fine, as did his platelet numbers, so it was doubtful he was suffering from kidney failure or major internal bleeding. They gave us the option of keeping him at Tufts for observation or sending him home with us for the same. We chose to bring him home.
They gave us two meds for him, Omeprazole (or Prilosec, which I have been on in the past) and sucralfate, a stomach soother. He gets 2mL of the Omeprazole every 24 hours and 2mL of the sucralfate every eight. This does not make for a happy Captain, to say the least. Right now, since there's nothing specific they can point to to say, "That needs fixin'," we just need to watch him, make sure he eats and drinks, keep an eye out for blood, vomit, or diarrhea, and generally 'observe' him. They sent his blood out for a full-spectrum analysis and we might get him a sonogram on Monday to see if there's something the Xray just didn't pick up. Right now, our best guess is that he still ate something he shouldn't have, but rather than it getting lodged in his large intestine, it just irritated the hell out of his stomach and/or bowels.
So far, he's gotten three doses of the sucralfate and 1 dose of the omeprazole. He's drunk a little bit of water (all right after we dose him, probably to get the taste out of his mouth), and eaten just the tiiiiiiniest bit of food. We're actually weighing the food bowl to keep an accurate record of how much he's eaten. We're keeping him and Islay separated, so we can keep track of his intake of food and water, keep an eye on what happens in the litterbox, and also because she's been hissing and growling at him through the door. We're pretty sure he smells like the vet and that's what she's reacting to, so we washed him down with a damp cloth and a bit of kitty shampoo, especially at the shaved spot where the catheter went, so hopefully she'll chill out soon.
As for Captain, he's...okay. He's still not eating or drinking much, but there's been at least a little intake. He's been quiet and spent most of today sleeping or laying down, but he's still alert and responsive. We've been rolling jingly balls and skittering bits of food past him--he'll watched them go, maybe even put his paw out a bit, but he won't play, chase, or eat it. He's just as affectionate as ever though; he lets us pet him and give him scritches and he purrs for us, so we're taking these as good signs. Right now, he's curled up on the bottom of the bed, napping. Tufts should be calling us soon with information about his bloodtest, so we'll see what that tells us.
As for shogunhb and I, well, we're stressed, worried, and tired. We appreciate all the good thoughts folks have been sending the Captain's way. He's outside with Islay right now (she did not take well to being exiled from the bedroom all night), while I'm in here with the Captain. Right now we're just waiting for news and hoping everything's gonna be all right.
Money-wise, this isn't as bad as it could be. So far, the vet bill has run us over $400. I'm so grateful and relieved that we got Petplan insurance. The way our insurance is set up is that we have a $200 deductible per injury illness and then they pay 100% of the remainder, up to a yearly max of $8000. Basically, now that we've paid our $200, however much else it costs to figure out what's up with the Captain and treat it, the insurance will cover it all. Well, there's also a 20% coinsurance, because Tufts is a teaching hospital, but whatevs. If we were really all that concerned about that, we could bring him to a different animal hospital. We've agreed that the 20% is worth having our preferred hospital so close to us, especially since know the quality of care that we can expect from them. Plus, they coordinate with our regular vet, so anything that can be done there, will be, and we won't have to worry about the 20% coinsurance for stuff handled by our regular vet.
I highly recommend pet insurance to anyone who has pets. Our annual fee is $124 per cat, and we've already pretty much made that up for both cats this year. Knowing that we wouldn't have to choose between Captain's care and our bank accounts is just a huge, huge relief.
Anyway, I had shogunhb on the phone so I told him to get home ten minutes ago, then hung up so I could tell Tufts that my cat was vomiting blood. Turns out the receptionist at the vet had given me Tufts' fax number instead of their line, which was loads of fun. I called once and got the fax noise, again just to make sure I hadn't fucked up dialing the first time, and then had to google the right number, all while I'm freaking out over my kitten throwing up bloody froth. Unfun. Of course, Tufts' number connected me to a phone tree, where you press "9" if it's an emergency, and then "1" if it's an emergency for a large animal. If it's not a large animal, you just show up. So that's when I dialed Quish, trying to see if there was another number or something I should call. She was awesome, asking if I wanted her to come over, or meet me at Tufts, or call Tufts and keep clicking through till she got to someone to let them know we were coming. I was hasty and short with her (sorry!) but she was cool and made sure to alert Tufts to our impending arrival. Thanks, hon. For serious.
I got Captain in the carrier (with little struggle and no crying which made me panic more), got the address for Tufts into the GPS (a new one after our old one got stolen), and then shogunhb got home, so we all bundled into the car and flew to North Grafton. I also brought along the paper towel I'd used to wipe up the floor, so they'd have that to see/use/examine/whatever.
They brought Captain in back before I was even done filling out paperwork ("The Bryant emergency is here!"), and spent some time triaging him to find out just how bad he was. It took awhile, because it was kind of a busy night in the ER, but he was neurologically okay, bones were good, heart and lungs sounded fine...but his abdomen was a little distended, sensitive, and filled with gas. That's when the vet tech called us in the first time so I could answer some questions: has he had contact with other cats, how long has he been like this, what exactly happened, did I see him actually throw up the blood, has he eaten or drunk today, etc etc. We were able to say that as of the night before, Captain had been fine; he'd been playful, eaten treats, eaten food, seemed fine. I couldn't answer whether he'd eaten or drunk anything that day; the food & water bowls stay out all day, one set is in the bedroom, the other in the study, and both cats eat and drink indiscriminately from both. So unless I'm specifically watching them eat, it's impossible to say who is eating or drinking and how much.
We answered all the questions, gave permission for them to do some bloodwork, X-rays, and give him fluids via catheter, and then went out to wait some more. About 20 minutes later, we got called back in again to talk to the attending vet, who wanted to make sure that he understood everything I'd said before and to let us know what the plan was. Unlike when I first got sick, they laid out all the details and the plan, "It could be X, Y, or Z. We'll be doing A, B, and C, to see if we can narrow it down a little. If it's X, we'll do this, Y, we'll do that, and Z, we'll do something all together different." It was nice, having everything all laid out like that. The vet also said it seemed unlikely that Captain had vomited up the blood; that signs pointed to it coming out the other end, but since they couldn't be sure, they outlined the probable causes of why he might have thrown up the blood and the steps they'd take to test and treat those reasons, and then outlined the probable causes of why the blood might have come from the other side, and the steps to test and treat for those causes. In all, very thorough. Then it was back out for more waiting (fortunately, with my extensive experience with ERs and hospitals, I'd managed to grab books for both of us), only broken up by having the tech come out and tell me Captain was being feisty and ask permission to sedate him.
I was happy he was being feisty--much better than his lethargy in the car!--and gave permission, of course. Later, they came back to tell us that the X-rays hadn't shown signs of any kind of blockage, which was disappointing. In cases like this, you usually hope that the cause is something easy to spot and understand. Even something bad, like the possibility that Captain had swallowed a tack or some string or something, is at least known. If it's known, they can institute a plan to fix it. They did tell us that they'd ruled out some of the scarier options as well: Captain's kidney's looked fine, as did his platelet numbers, so it was doubtful he was suffering from kidney failure or major internal bleeding. They gave us the option of keeping him at Tufts for observation or sending him home with us for the same. We chose to bring him home.
They gave us two meds for him, Omeprazole (or Prilosec, which I have been on in the past) and sucralfate, a stomach soother. He gets 2mL of the Omeprazole every 24 hours and 2mL of the sucralfate every eight. This does not make for a happy Captain, to say the least. Right now, since there's nothing specific they can point to to say, "That needs fixin'," we just need to watch him, make sure he eats and drinks, keep an eye out for blood, vomit, or diarrhea, and generally 'observe' him. They sent his blood out for a full-spectrum analysis and we might get him a sonogram on Monday to see if there's something the Xray just didn't pick up. Right now, our best guess is that he still ate something he shouldn't have, but rather than it getting lodged in his large intestine, it just irritated the hell out of his stomach and/or bowels.
So far, he's gotten three doses of the sucralfate and 1 dose of the omeprazole. He's drunk a little bit of water (all right after we dose him, probably to get the taste out of his mouth), and eaten just the tiiiiiiniest bit of food. We're actually weighing the food bowl to keep an accurate record of how much he's eaten. We're keeping him and Islay separated, so we can keep track of his intake of food and water, keep an eye on what happens in the litterbox, and also because she's been hissing and growling at him through the door. We're pretty sure he smells like the vet and that's what she's reacting to, so we washed him down with a damp cloth and a bit of kitty shampoo, especially at the shaved spot where the catheter went, so hopefully she'll chill out soon.
As for Captain, he's...okay. He's still not eating or drinking much, but there's been at least a little intake. He's been quiet and spent most of today sleeping or laying down, but he's still alert and responsive. We've been rolling jingly balls and skittering bits of food past him--he'll watched them go, maybe even put his paw out a bit, but he won't play, chase, or eat it. He's just as affectionate as ever though; he lets us pet him and give him scritches and he purrs for us, so we're taking these as good signs. Right now, he's curled up on the bottom of the bed, napping. Tufts should be calling us soon with information about his bloodtest, so we'll see what that tells us.
As for shogunhb and I, well, we're stressed, worried, and tired. We appreciate all the good thoughts folks have been sending the Captain's way. He's outside with Islay right now (she did not take well to being exiled from the bedroom all night), while I'm in here with the Captain. Right now we're just waiting for news and hoping everything's gonna be all right.
Money-wise, this isn't as bad as it could be. So far, the vet bill has run us over $400. I'm so grateful and relieved that we got Petplan insurance. The way our insurance is set up is that we have a $200 deductible per injury illness and then they pay 100% of the remainder, up to a yearly max of $8000. Basically, now that we've paid our $200, however much else it costs to figure out what's up with the Captain and treat it, the insurance will cover it all. Well, there's also a 20% coinsurance, because Tufts is a teaching hospital, but whatevs. If we were really all that concerned about that, we could bring him to a different animal hospital. We've agreed that the 20% is worth having our preferred hospital so close to us, especially since know the quality of care that we can expect from them. Plus, they coordinate with our regular vet, so anything that can be done there, will be, and we won't have to worry about the 20% coinsurance for stuff handled by our regular vet.
I highly recommend pet insurance to anyone who has pets. Our annual fee is $124 per cat, and we've already pretty much made that up for both cats this year. Knowing that we wouldn't have to choose between Captain's care and our bank accounts is just a huge, huge relief.