Holly is in the hospital

On 1/12/2013 10:02 AM, MaryL wrote:

Thanks. And that's a good question...Duffy has been lonely. He spent
the first two days just curled up on the foot of my bed, sleeping or at
least lying there with his eyes closed. He would go to the litter box
and also would eat a little, then go back to the foot of my bed.
Likewise, I could pick him up and carry him into the living to sit in
the chair where he usually hops onto my lap. He would purr and rub his
little head against my face, but that would last only a couple of
minutes. Then he would hop down and head for my bedroom. Fortunately,
he came out of that "deep funk." He is now eating normally, and jumped
up onto my lap and relaxed there for about 20 minutes today. He
followed me to the computer room and is sitting beside me now. I can
see that he's still lonely, and I still haven't seen him play with any
of his toys, but it's getting better. The thing that *really* got his
attention was when I got out the Liv-a-Littles. He *loves* those and
came running for them, as usual. I hope Holly will be coming home
today. That would be the best therapy, for both Duffy and me.

Purrs for Holly, and for Duffy to not be lonely. I sure hope Holly
comes home today where she will be in familiar surroundings.

On Sat, 12 Jan 2013 09:02:23 -0600, MaryL wrote:

"jmcquown" wrote in message ...

On 1/12/2013 7:07 AM, MaryL wrote:
Holly has been in the vet clinic for the past five days.


Many purrs for Holly to get better ASAP. I know you must be worried
sick. How is Duffy taking her absence?

Jill

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks. And that's a good question...Duffy has been lonely. He spent the
first two days just curled up on the foot of my bed, sleeping or at least
lying there with his eyes closed. He would go to the litter box and also
would eat a little, then go back to the foot of my bed. Likewise, I could
pick him up and carry him into the living to sit in the chair where he
usually hops onto my lap. He would purr and rub his little head against my
face, but that would last only a couple of minutes. Then he would hop down
and head for my bedroom. Fortunately, he came out of that "deep funk." He
is now eating normally, and jumped up onto my lap and relaxed there for
about 20 minutes today. He followed me to the computer room and is sitting
beside me now. I can see that he's still lonely, and I still haven't seen
him play with any of his toys, but it's getting better. The thing that
*really* got his attention was when I got out the Liv-a-Littles. He *loves*
those and came running for them, as usual. I hope Holly will be coming home
today. That would be the best therapy, for both Duffy and me.

MaryL



When whe comes home, remember to do "scent transfer" so Duffy won't think she is a "truder cat".
Best wishes. MLB

"MaryL" wrote in message
...
Holly has been in the vet clinic for the past five days. She had a
fantastic report from her blood test just three months ago-the vet said it
was "almost unheard-of" for a cat of her age to have such good values.
However, that was the result of the CBC. I had taken her in for an
evaluation because she was not eating right, was drinking a lot of water
and was losing weight. I was concerned about possible hyperthyroidism,
but I also knew that many cats lose weight as they get older. The test
(T4) for hyperthyroidism had to be sent to Texas A&M. Sure enough, the
results concerned my vet when they came back, and he asked me to bring her
in for a second test in January.

That was in October. She has continued to lose weight since then, and her
beautiful fur has started to look "scruffy" and much thinner. She has not
been eating well but has been drinking a lot of water. Then, just a
couple of weeks ago, I noticed that she would make strange motions with
her mouth after eating (and sometimes after drinking), and she would paw
and "scrub" at her mouth after eating. She also started to jump up on the
counter every time I turned on the water and would turn her head sideways
to get water from the faucet.

I took her in for follow-up tests and described this change of behavior.
Ironically, the hyperthyroidism test is now normal, but her CBC shows
kidney values that are far out of normal range. When TED examined her
mouth, he found a tooth that he thought was rotten, and he commented that
she had become too "boney." He felt that she should have several days of
fluids, so she has been in the clinic getting fluids and trying to get
some of the values back into better range so she could withstand
anaesthesia (gas) to examine and possibly pull that tooth. Her latest
test was considerably better, so we had the tooth surgery Thursday
afternoon.

The result was that TED had to pull *three* teeth. Moreover, her heart
stopped several times during the procedure-it would stop, then start, then
stop again, then start, etc., so they had to get through the procedure as
fast as possible. She was on a heart monitor for the next day, but there
have been no further problems. I feel so bad about this. I know now that
little Holly has probably been in a lot of pain for some time, and I did
not realize it. Cats are well-known to hide pain as long as possible, and
I did not pick up on any tooth or mouth problems. The vet also did not
see any problems when he examined her mouth in October. She had been
acting normally in all other ways.

I have visited her for about an hour each day. She is completely calm
when I am with her, but she "hisses" at anyone else who comes into the
room. She probably blames them for the way she is tethered to the IV and
all the other "indignities" she has been suffering. She was scheduled to
come home today, but I noticed that same mouth movement and pawing at the
mouth after she ate a couple of bites yesterday. I hope that is only due
to the surgery and not an indication of still more problems. I will learn
more today.

This has been very long, but I wanted to provide a good update.
Incidentally, Holly is now 17 years old (will be 18 on June 1). Her vet
says she is at an age where "all her classmates are gone," and her health
has been exceptional until the last few months.
Holly has a very good vet, and he is a very caring person. He is very
busy, but he has spent more than an hour talking to me on a couple of
occasions during the past five days. When I thanked him for all the extra
time, he said he knows Holly is family, and it's important to educate the
owner as well as care for the patient.

M.L.

Oh, Mary. When they get so old kidneys can be problematic but don't make
any hasty decisions
about her future just yet. KFC had kidney difficulties as she got into her
late teens but with diet adjustments and making sure she was hydrated I kept
her going for a few more years.
There is online help for cats with renal failure, have a look before you
make up your mind.
Lots of luck
Tweed

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...


"MaryL" wrote in message
...
Holly has been in the vet clinic for the past five days. She had a
fantastic report from her blood test just three months ago-the vet said it
was "almost unheard-of" for a cat of her age to have such good values.
However, that was the result of the CBC. I had taken her in for an
evaluation because she was not eating right, was drinking a lot of water
and was losing weight. I was concerned about possible hyperthyroidism,
but I also knew that many cats lose weight as they get older. The test
(T4) for hyperthyroidism had to be sent to Texas A&M. Sure enough, the
results concerned my vet when they came back, and he asked me to bring her
in for a second test in January.

That was in October. She has continued to lose weight since then, and her
beautiful fur has started to look "scruffy" and much thinner. She has not
been eating well but has been drinking a lot of water. Then, just a
couple of weeks ago, I noticed that she would make strange motions with
her mouth after eating (and sometimes after drinking), and she would paw
and "scrub" at her mouth after eating. She also started to jump up on the
counter every time I turned on the water and would turn her head sideways
to get water from the faucet.

I took her in for follow-up tests and described this change of behavior.
Ironically, the hyperthyroidism test is now normal, but her CBC shows
kidney values that are far out of normal range. When TED examined her
mouth, he found a tooth that he thought was rotten, and he commented that
she had become too "boney." He felt that she should have several days of
fluids, so she has been in the clinic getting fluids and trying to get
some of the values back into better range so she could withstand
anaesthesia (gas) to examine and possibly pull that tooth. Her latest
test was considerably better, so we had the tooth surgery Thursday
afternoon.

The result was that TED had to pull *three* teeth. Moreover, her heart
stopped several times during the procedure-it would stop, then start, then
stop again, then start, etc., so they had to get through the procedure as
fast as possible. She was on a heart monitor for the next day, but there
have been no further problems. I feel so bad about this. I know now that
little Holly has probably been in a lot of pain for some time, and I did
not realize it. Cats are well-known to hide pain as long as possible, and
I did not pick up on any tooth or mouth problems. The vet also did not
see any problems when he examined her mouth in October. She had been
acting normally in all other ways.

I have visited her for about an hour each day. She is completely calm
when I am with her, but she "hisses" at anyone else who comes into the
room. She probably blames them for the way she is tethered to the IV and
all the other "indignities" she has been suffering. She was scheduled to
come home today, but I noticed that same mouth movement and pawing at the
mouth after she ate a couple of bites yesterday. I hope that is only due
to the surgery and not an indication of still more problems. I will learn
more today.

This has been very long, but I wanted to provide a good update.
Incidentally, Holly is now 17 years old (will be 18 on June 1). Her vet
says she is at an age where "all her classmates are gone," and her health
has been exceptional until the last few months.
Holly has a very good vet, and he is a very caring person. He is very
busy, but he has spent more than an hour talking to me on a couple of
occasions during the past five days. When I thanked him for all the extra
time, he said he knows Holly is family, and it's important to educate the
owner as well as care for the patient.

M.L.

Oh, Mary. When they get so old kidneys can be problematic but don't make
any hasty decisions
about her future just yet. KFC had kidney difficulties as she got into her
late teens but with diet adjustments and making sure she was hydrated I kept
her going for a few more years.
There is online help for cats with renal failure, have a look before you
make up your mind.
Lots of luck
Tweed

~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks, Tweed. I definitely am not making any end-of-life decisions. Like
you, I have had two other cats that have gone through renal failure (and one
with CRF and liver disease). Both of them lived good lives for several
years after diagnosis.

MaryL

"MaryL" wrote in message
...


"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...


"MaryL" wrote in message
...
Holly has been in the vet clinic for the past five days. She had a
fantastic report from her blood test just three months ago-the vet said
it was "almost unheard-of" for a cat of her age to have such good values.
However, that was the result of the CBC. I had taken her in for an
evaluation because she was not eating right, was drinking a lot of water
and was losing weight. I was concerned about possible hyperthyroidism,
but I also knew that many cats lose weight as they get older.

I know you know but sometimes, just in case I have learnt something more, I
teach a grandmother to suck eggs.
To see if it works.