Urgent purrs needed please

Nadia N. wrote:

We went to see the vet this afternoon, and he was alarmed at how much
air was accumulated under Kotyo's skin. He said that this indicated that
the hole was not closed. So even though he was not getting air into his
thorax because he has a tube in there to let the air escape, he has
actually not improved at all.

The vet sent us for an endoscopy, so that they can find out exactly
where the tear is and what can be done to fix it. So off we went to a
different clinic, and they did the endoscopy. The findings are not good.
He has a 1 cm vertical tear in his trachea, in a very bad place - not
high on the neck or inside the thoracic cavity, but right on the edge of
the thoracic cavity. The specialist said that it is a bad location -
very difficult to reach. He also said that all the air collected under
his skin was putting pressure on the torn edges of the trachea, and they
were blowing back inside the trachea itself, obstructing the airway. He
showed me the video from the camera they put down Kotyo's trachea. There
was something like a balloon at the location of the tear, which was
almost completely plugging the airway. He said that Kotyo must be a very
strong cat to have managed to live like this for 3 days.

They don't want to operate for now, because of the difficult location of
the tear. So they put in tubes to drain the air from under his skin -
one on each side of his chest. They also opened up a wound in his chest,
right across from where the tear is, so that air can escape from there
too. Basically they want to reduce the air pressure on the torn edges,
hoping that they will seal and start healing. We are supposed to massage
the back of his neck and his front legs every 15-30 minutes, in order to
push the newly entered air towards the tubes where it can escape.

We will wait until Monday or Tuesday to see if this will help and allow
the trachea to seal itself shut again. If it doesn't work, though, they
would have to operate, even though the chances are not good :-(

My poor little monster looks awful with all these tubes and stuff in him
:-( Sweety took one look at him when he got home, then she hissed and
ran away. And he is still not eating, but the surgeon said not to force
him because we should not stress him out. I am hoping that once the
anesthesia wears off a bit, he might get hungry, now that he doesn't
have a big cushion of air pressing on his throat...

Poor guy! I'm sorry to hear that he's not improving. But now his lack
of interest in food makes more sense - he probably doesn't want to do
anything if breathing itself is a struggle.

If you still have any spare purrs, we would all appreciate them.

With my two, purrs are an ever-renewable resource - they never run out.
Continued purrs for the monster!

--
Joyce

I want freedom, the right to self expression, everyone's right to
beautiful radiant things. -- Emma Goldman

On 05/10/2012 02:55 PM, Nadia N. wrote:
We went to see the vet this afternoon, and he was alarmed at how much
air was accumulated under Kotyo's skin. He said that this indicated that
the hole was not closed. So even though he was not getting air into his
thorax because he has a tube in there to let the air escape, he has
actually not improved at all.

The vet sent us for an endoscopy, so that they can find out exactly
where the tear is and what can be done to fix it. So off we went to a
different clinic, and they did the endoscopy. The findings are not good.
He has a 1 cm vertical tear in his trachea, in a very bad place - not
high on the neck or inside the thoracic cavity, but right on the edge of
the thoracic cavity. The specialist said that it is a bad location -
very difficult to reach. He also said that all the air collected under
his skin was putting pressure on the torn edges of the trachea, and they
were blowing back inside the trachea itself, obstructing the airway. He
showed me the video from the camera they put down Kotyo's trachea. There
was something like a balloon at the location of the tear, which was
almost completely plugging the airway. He said that Kotyo must be a very
strong cat to have managed to live like this for 3 days.

They don't want to operate for now, because of the difficult location of
the tear. So they put in tubes to drain the air from under his skin -
one on each side of his chest. They also opened up a wound in his chest,
right across from where the tear is, so that air can escape from there
too. Basically they want to reduce the air pressure on the torn edges,
hoping that they will seal and start healing. We are supposed to massage
the back of his neck and his front legs every 15-30 minutes, in order to
push the newly entered air towards the tubes where it can escape.

We will wait until Monday or Tuesday to see if this will help and allow
the trachea to seal itself shut again. If it doesn't work, though, they
would have to operate, even though the chances are not good :-(

My poor little monster looks awful with all these tubes and stuff in him
:-( Sweety took one look at him when he got home, then she hissed and
ran away. And he is still not eating, but the surgeon said not to force
him because we should not stress him out. I am hoping that once the
anesthesia wears off a bit, he might get hungry, now that he doesn't
have a big cushion of air pressing on his throat...

If you still have any spare purrs, we would all appreciate them.

Nadia, Kotyo and Sweety


We shall certainly purr and pray that your kitty will heal. Also that
he is not suffering pain. MLB

Adrian wrote:

Poor baby. :-( ramping up the purrs for him to get better.

Thanks Adrian.

Nadia, Kotyo and Sweety
--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

Arthur Shapiro wrote:
In article , "Nadia N." wrote:
We went to see the vet this afternoon, and he was alarmed at how much
air was accumulated under Kotyo's skin.

I'm cringing at reading your account, and obviously am hoping for the best in
what seems to be an increasingly-desperate situation.

Art

Sorry about all the gory details. I should have probably put some kind
of gore warning on my last update, but I wasn't really thinking straight.

I don't know, maybe I'm in denial, but I just don't feel that it is
desperate. Now that the anesthesia has worn off, Kotyo is so alert and
looking like his normal self, it just doesn't seem true that he is sick.
He managed to lick the gauze on his chest right off, and he spent some
10-20 minutes prowling his domain just now, before he lay down again to
rest. And he actually ate a tiny bit - just a couple of tiny pieces of
tuna, not nearly enough, but still something. His breathing seems
better. He is not making as many "burping sounds" as before - I am not
sure how to describe what he was doing before, but a kind of burp seems
to be closest to what it sounded like. He is not very happy about me
massaging his neck and front legs though - he growled at me a couple of
times. But that's progress too - he has strength enough to growl :-)

So I am staying optimistic. I think, if only I can get him to eat
enough, the tear will start healing...

Nadia, Kotyo and Sweety
--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

Matthew wrote:

I got the pack purring the best the can and sending prayers from our family
to yours


Thanks again Matthew.

Nadia, Kotyo and Sweety
--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

Joy wrote:
Megapurrs are on the way!


Thank you Joy. Every little purr helps, and megapurrs help a lot :-)

Nadia, Kotyo and Sweety
--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

Bastette wrote:

Poor guy! I'm sorry to hear that he's not improving. But now his lack
of interest in food makes more sense - he probably doesn't want to do
anything if breathing itself is a struggle.

If you still have any spare purrs, we would all appreciate them.

With my two, purrs are an ever-renewable resource - they never run out.
Continued purrs for the monster!

Thanks Joyce.

My Sweety has a very loud purr, but she is an unhappy little girl these
days because she keeps getting locked into the living room or the
kitchen, or whatever room her big brother is not currently in. I can't
have Kotyo stressed out, and when they see each other they both start
hissing :-( I'm sure she would purr for him if she wasn't so upset.
She's a good little girl.

Nadia, Kotyo and Sweety
--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

MLB wrote:

We shall certainly purr and pray that your kitty will heal. Also that
he is not suffering pain. MLB

Thanks. I don't think he is in pain. He was listless when we got home
tonight, but that was the anesthesia. It has worn off now, and he is
looking alert and bright eyed. And *very* grumpy :-) He has a bandage on
his paw where they had the IV in, and he keeps trying to pull it off. He
basically seems his normal self, except for the not eating - usually he
is a food monster, inhaling everything in sight, finishing up Sweety's
food when she doesn't feel like eating the whole thing, begging for food
whenever he gets a whiff of cooking smells from the kitchen...

Nadia, Kotyo and Sweety
--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

"Adrian" wrote in message
...
"Nadia N." wrote:
We went to see the vet this afternoon, and he was alarmed at how much air
was accumulated under Kotyo's skin. He said that this indicated that the
hole was not closed. So even though he was not getting air into his
thorax because he has a tube in there to let the air escape, he has
actually not improved at all.

The vet sent us for an endoscopy, so that they can find out exactly where
the tear is and what can be done to fix it. So off we went to a different
clinic, and they did the endoscopy. The findings are not good. He has a 1
cm vertical tear in his trachea, in a very bad place - not high on the
neck or inside the thoracic cavity, but right on the edge of the
thoracic cavity. The specialist said that it is a bad location - very
difficult to reach. He also said that all the air collected under his
skin was putting pressure on the torn edges of the trachea, and they were
blowing back inside the trachea itself, obstructing the airway. He showed
me the video from the camera they put down Kotyo's trachea. There was
something like a balloon at the location of the tear, which was almost
completely plugging the airway. He said that Kotyo must be a very strong
cat to have managed to live like this for 3 days.

They don't want to operate for now, because of the difficult location of
the tear. So they put in tubes to drain the air from under his skin - one
on each side of his chest. They also opened up a wound in his chest,
right across from where the tear is, so that air can escape from there
too. Basically they want to reduce the air pressure on the torn edges,
hoping that they will seal and start healing. We are supposed to massage
the back of his neck and his front legs every 15-30 minutes, in order to
push the newly entered air towards the tubes where it can escape.

We will wait until Monday or Tuesday to see if this will help and allow
the trachea to seal itself shut again. If it doesn't work, though, they
would have to operate, even though the chances are not good :-(

My poor little monster looks awful with all these tubes and stuff in him
:-( Sweety took one look at him when he got home, then she hissed and ran
away. And he is still not eating, but the surgeon said not to force him
because we should not stress him out. I am hoping that once the
anesthesia wears off a bit, he might get hungry, now that he doesn't have
a big cushion of air pressing on his throat...

If you still have any spare purrs, we would all appreciate them.

Nadia, Kotyo and Sweety

Poor baby. :-( ramping up the purrs for him to get better.
--
Adrian

The same from Persia (and by extension, me). She's been extra-purry today
so maybe she knew they were needed.

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

The same from Persia (and by extension, me). She's been extra-purry
today so maybe she knew they were needed.

Jill

Thanks Jill and Persia.

The purrs are having an effect I think. About an hour ago I managed to
get Kotyo to eat some more tuna. Not as much as I'd like, but he ate
more than he's eaten in the last day and a half.

Nadia, Kotyo and Sweety
--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety