Medical adventures
So, Kirjava and I both ended up taking pretty much the same medications last week...
In my case, on Friday the 15th, I got a screw put in for an dental implant. I found it kind of stressful and unpleasant; the dentist and his assistant couldn't figure out why I was acting upset and thought I was either in pain or cold, but actually I had just seen the drill and it was kind of scary. But it didn't hurt, and it was done fairly quickly.
I then found out how lucky I've been in the past to go to a dentist office that also is a general medical practice... because I had to stop at walgreens before work to pick up my antibiotic and painkiller prescriptions. By the time I did that and picked up a smoothie so I could take some ibuprofen, the novacaine was starting to wear off. But I was doing something important at work so I walked over there anyway. I did go and buy ice cream at the grocery store across the street for lunch though; the provided lunch wasn't so good for someone with a mostly numb mouth and an inability to chew on one side.
Anyway, it's mostly healed up now; it still kind of hurts, but only a little. I got back in in 5 weeks so they can check out how it looks, and assuming it looks good, then early next year I can get fitted with the fake tooth.
So the weekend after I had the surgery, I was planning on just taking things easy -- lounging around, maybe doing a little work (ugh, grad school follows me still...), and avoiding stress. But when I got home on Friday evening, Kirjava didn't want to see me and she wouldn't eat anything, not even a treat. This is very unusual behavior for that cat. Also, she seemed kind of off and in pain. So I called the emergency vet, but they said to just wait and take her to the normal vet on Saturday morning.
Saturday morning, Kirjava still seemed off, and she hadn't eaten or drunk anything all night. So we brought her to the normal vet, who found she had a fever and obviously was sick, but weren't sure why. Her bloodwork looked pretty normal. So they gave her an IV of fluids, and sent her home with antibiotics and instructions to bring her back in on Monday if she hadn't gotten better by then, or to bring her to the emergency vet if she got worse.
She still wouldn't eat, and looked worse, on Sunday morning. So we brought her in to the emergency vet. She still had a fever, they didn't know why. They were pretty sure her abdomen hurt a lot. So they admitted her so they could do an x-ray and an abdominal ultrasound and so they could keep her hydrated.
So I hadn't slept much that weekend up to then; I was waking up in the middle of the night to check on Kirjava, and then having trouble getting back to sleep. I also was too stressed to really do my work.
Kirjava ended up staying in the hospital until Wednesday evening. They're pretty sure she had a kidney infection, based on the ultrasound; once they switched to an antibiotic that penetrates the kidney well, she started to improve rapidly. They apparently normally avoid it because it can cause sudden irreversible blindness in cats, especially when administered as an injection, but the risk isn't super high and they needed to do something. She's on the oral version of it now for at least a couple weeks, and maybe a few months; we're bringing her back in next week for a follow-up appointment, so they can culture some bacteria.
The pill she's on is very bitter and it took a while to figure out how to get her to take it -- originally we were chopping it up and hiding it, but then she would refuse to eat whatever it was in once she'd found a bit of it. It turns out that just putting it in the back of her mouth and having her swallow it works better. Pretty surprising since it's a huge pill.
Anyway, I'm just glad that she's feeling better, even if she's being a little cranky around Xellos still.
Google photos decided to be very artistic with this picture from Thursday morning. I stayed home with Kirjava to keep an eye on her, since I had work I could do from home anyway.
They gave Kirjava a very stylish pink bandage where her IV was.
Mostly while I was working from home, Kirjava was sleeping. She was really loud and stressed at the hospital -- I feel bad for the vets and vet techs she snarled at. But she was extremely worn out when she got home.
And in other news, my four o'clocks are pretty. I've even collected a few seeds, though many of them are probably going to drop to the sidewalk in front of the building.
In my case, on Friday the 15th, I got a screw put in for an dental implant. I found it kind of stressful and unpleasant; the dentist and his assistant couldn't figure out why I was acting upset and thought I was either in pain or cold, but actually I had just seen the drill and it was kind of scary. But it didn't hurt, and it was done fairly quickly.
I then found out how lucky I've been in the past to go to a dentist office that also is a general medical practice... because I had to stop at walgreens before work to pick up my antibiotic and painkiller prescriptions. By the time I did that and picked up a smoothie so I could take some ibuprofen, the novacaine was starting to wear off. But I was doing something important at work so I walked over there anyway. I did go and buy ice cream at the grocery store across the street for lunch though; the provided lunch wasn't so good for someone with a mostly numb mouth and an inability to chew on one side.
Anyway, it's mostly healed up now; it still kind of hurts, but only a little. I got back in in 5 weeks so they can check out how it looks, and assuming it looks good, then early next year I can get fitted with the fake tooth.
So the weekend after I had the surgery, I was planning on just taking things easy -- lounging around, maybe doing a little work (ugh, grad school follows me still...), and avoiding stress. But when I got home on Friday evening, Kirjava didn't want to see me and she wouldn't eat anything, not even a treat. This is very unusual behavior for that cat. Also, she seemed kind of off and in pain. So I called the emergency vet, but they said to just wait and take her to the normal vet on Saturday morning.
Saturday morning, Kirjava still seemed off, and she hadn't eaten or drunk anything all night. So we brought her to the normal vet, who found she had a fever and obviously was sick, but weren't sure why. Her bloodwork looked pretty normal. So they gave her an IV of fluids, and sent her home with antibiotics and instructions to bring her back in on Monday if she hadn't gotten better by then, or to bring her to the emergency vet if she got worse.
She still wouldn't eat, and looked worse, on Sunday morning. So we brought her in to the emergency vet. She still had a fever, they didn't know why. They were pretty sure her abdomen hurt a lot. So they admitted her so they could do an x-ray and an abdominal ultrasound and so they could keep her hydrated.
So I hadn't slept much that weekend up to then; I was waking up in the middle of the night to check on Kirjava, and then having trouble getting back to sleep. I also was too stressed to really do my work.
Kirjava ended up staying in the hospital until Wednesday evening. They're pretty sure she had a kidney infection, based on the ultrasound; once they switched to an antibiotic that penetrates the kidney well, she started to improve rapidly. They apparently normally avoid it because it can cause sudden irreversible blindness in cats, especially when administered as an injection, but the risk isn't super high and they needed to do something. She's on the oral version of it now for at least a couple weeks, and maybe a few months; we're bringing her back in next week for a follow-up appointment, so they can culture some bacteria.
The pill she's on is very bitter and it took a while to figure out how to get her to take it -- originally we were chopping it up and hiding it, but then she would refuse to eat whatever it was in once she'd found a bit of it. It turns out that just putting it in the back of her mouth and having her swallow it works better. Pretty surprising since it's a huge pill.
Anyway, I'm just glad that she's feeling better, even if she's being a little cranky around Xellos still.
Google photos decided to be very artistic with this picture from Thursday morning. I stayed home with Kirjava to keep an eye on her, since I had work I could do from home anyway.
They gave Kirjava a very stylish pink bandage where her IV was.
Mostly while I was working from home, Kirjava was sleeping. She was really loud and stressed at the hospital -- I feel bad for the vets and vet techs she snarled at. But she was extremely worn out when she got home.
And in other news, my four o'clocks are pretty. I've even collected a few seeds, though many of them are probably going to drop to the sidewalk in front of the building.