If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
|
#12
|
|||
|
|||
|
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Arthur Shapiro wrote:
Just talked to the surgeon. Lester has violently resisted most attempts to make him eat, meaning it's been about 6 days now. They've stuck a tube through his nose and are feeding some sort of high-caloric liquid. The assertion is that the tube is little more than a thread and consequently isn't a big deal to the cat. But starvation certainly is. She is hopeful that this forced nutrition will jumpstart his interest in food. The big question is whether too much of the liver and/or bile duct system has been removed, and the tests that determine that will be back late today or tommorow. Apparently one can't visually ascertain things until things have gone totally off the scale. She remains hopeful that this won't turn out to be an issue, but if so, there's nothing that can be done but to put the cat down. He still is taking as much affection as anyone is willing to give him. I have a 7pm appointment to see him for the first time. They're normally open 24x7, but will close Thursday and Friday due to the holiday. So I have to take him somewhere Wednesday night, and with luck that will be home, not to the regional 24 hour urgent care center. Art Continuing purrs for Lester, hoping he'll soon recover. -- Adrian A House Is Not A Home, Without A Cat. |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
So glad to hear the news about Lester is optimistic. Continuing purrs
that he starts eating soonest and is well on his way to recovery. Kudos to your vet, too, who seems to be super. Lester is in good hands. Hope he'll be home for the holidays. Jeanne |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
|
#16
|
|||
|
|||
If this cat comes home with me tommorow, I'll be astonished. Maybe to an
urgent care center, but I can't see him coming home right now. I hope he makes it. So do we all. Dan |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:12:58 GMT, (Arthur
Shapiro) wrote: In article , (LOL) wrote: I have noticed that no one else in this thread has mentioned anything about your having to find another place for him over the holiday - is that the usual thing? It's not here where I live Well, this isn't apparently a typical "open when the normal vets are closed" emergency center - it's a large surgical and diagnostic place, so I guess I'm just mildly surprised, not shocked. I went to see him last night, and was quickly brought back to reality. I don't think he's doing as well as I expected. He was in a cage in a surprisingly large room, which may have also been the operating center. There were numerous techs on duty in this room. Underneath his cage was a large, constantly howling dog. Lester's cage was flagged with a big, orange CRITICAL sign. He had a nice sheepskin rug with a heating pad. No litter box, which surprised me. He was clearly woozy, and they told me that was fhe sedatives and pain killers. I'm not sure he knew who I was, although he accepted the affection and nibbled a little of the catnip I brought. The feeding tube appeared to be stitched to his head in three places, and there were IV lines going into his foreleg. I was really sobered by just how sick, weak, and old he looked. I was going to post a picture, but nobody here needs to see a cat that looks that bad. If this cat comes home with me tommorow, I'll be astonished. Maybe to an urgent care center, but I can't see him coming home right now. I hope he makes it. Art Aw Bummer ;-( Of course you have to remember that whenever you see someone you love in a hospital ICU, and this sounds like the TED equivalent, they're going to look horrible - whether they get around on two legs or four. Your description of your feelings when you saw Lester pretty much sums up mine when I saw my Dad after his prostate surgery three or four years ago. It seemed to me that he was at death's door, loopey on meds and convinced there were roaches crawling around on the ceiling. But, he went home the next morning, and don't worry, he recovered completely and is doing fine now. Anyway, don't stress too much about how Lester looked. Once he's off the meds and eating again, he may surprise you. At least that's my prayer. The gang is still purring away here, for your cats and their hoomins to get over this terrible rut you're in. -- Steve Touchstone, faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky [remove Junk for email] http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html |
#19
|
|||
|
|||
On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:12:58 GMT, (Arthur
Shapiro) wrote: In article , (LOL) wrote: I have noticed that no one else in this thread has mentioned anything about your having to find another place for him over the holiday - is that the usual thing? It's not here where I live Well, this isn't apparently a typical "open when the normal vets are closed" emergency center - it's a large surgical and diagnostic place, so I guess I'm just mildly surprised, not shocked. I went to see him last night, and was quickly brought back to reality. I don't think he's doing as well as I expected. He was in a cage in a surprisingly large room, which may have also been the operating center. There were numerous techs on duty in this room. Underneath his cage was a large, constantly howling dog. Lester's cage was flagged with a big, orange CRITICAL sign. He had a nice sheepskin rug with a heating pad. No litter box, which surprised me. He was clearly woozy, and they told me that was fhe sedatives and pain killers. I'm not sure he knew who I was, although he accepted the affection and nibbled a little of the catnip I brought. The feeding tube appeared to be stitched to his head in three places, and there were IV lines going into his foreleg. I was really sobered by just how sick, weak, and old he looked. I was going to post a picture, but nobody here needs to see a cat that looks that bad. If this cat comes home with me tommorow, I'll be astonished. Maybe to an urgent care center, but I can't see him coming home right now. I hope he makes it. Art Art Art Temporary usercode - to be deleted when spam starts. Use MyBrainHurts at this ISP to reach me More and more purrs for Lester. I hope he does not feel the pain. The "howling dog" worried me. Was he causing Lester distress? Also was he suffering? Have you had time to give to Phunny? Best wishes for all. MLB |
#20
|
|||
|
|||
In article , m. L. Briggs wrote:
-- The "howling dog" worried me. Was he causing Lester distress? Also -- was he suffering? Have you had time to give to Phunny Well, the howling dog (whose cage was labeled "muzzle tumor" seemed rather out of it - he made no effort to make contact with me, standing by necessity directly in front of his floor-level cage. His bedding seemed to have lots of blood stains, whose source wasn't obvious, and he had several IV lines. I can't say that Lester was obviously bothered, in that he (Lester) didn't jump or flinch or react during the howls. There appeared to be a lot more dogs than cats in this large room. Lester used to live with my pit bull in his early years here, although Neptune (the dog) died 11 years ago. There was never an issue with dogs, so I'd say it is more a nuisance noise than a source of terror. At the risk of overburdening the newsgroup with Lester, I called this morning for an update, and reached one of the techs, not my surgeon. She thought Lester was acting a little more sprightly, and appearing a little healthier, than yesterday. They had given him a litter box, finally, and he used it. He's still not eating, but they're using the nose tube. No test results yet. To my surprise, she said that if he comes home tommorow evening, the tube will stay, and it won't be a big deal for me to use it. I have another 7 pm appointment to see him. I still haven't purchased any special food for Phunny, but have given him lots of attention. I decided to sleep on the couch last night, as sometimes the change of location and the different feel of the cushions gives me a better night's sleep, and I was crowded by Milo, Calico, and Watermelon (who kept trying to push me off the edge). Phunny cuddled with my wife all night. Again, he has no idea that he's sick (or potentially sick), so this isn't an urgent situation. When I picked him up this morning, I was concious that he was somewhat less muscular and more flabby than in the past, which goes along with the vet's observation that heavy muscle tissue is what tends to gradually disappear when cats (and ourselves) age. Art |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Lester: Update | Arthur Shapiro | Cat anecdotes | 12 | November 24th 03 10:47 AM |
Happier news - Rocky update (long) | Lois Reay | Cat anecdotes | 7 | September 28th 03 01:25 AM |
Pirate Cat Voyage Update #5 | Tanada | Cat anecdotes | 15 | September 19th 03 03:30 AM |
Natasha Update | Jeanne Hedge | Cat anecdotes | 14 | August 22nd 03 06:30 PM |
Update on Andy (my cat who had a dental done) | rrb_041303 | Cat anecdotes | 4 | August 16th 03 07:10 AM |