Dr. Slade was here the other day to get a urine sample from Clara so she could rerun some tests. Clara was confined with a litter box for 15 hours and held it in all that time! I confess, I'm jealous. Dr. Slade tried to stick her (i.e., insert a small syringe into her bladder to pull out some urine), but Clara was too tense and would jerk just at the touch of the syringe tip on her skin. If she jerked while the syringe was in her bladder, her bladder might tear, so the risk's definitely not worth it. We'll have to try the old-fangled method again another time.
Dr. Slade also took blood and urine from Charlotte iot run some tests to try and figure out what her problem is. She left a message with the following test results.
Some good and some bad. First, the bad:
- she's got a 'rip-roaring' infection somewhere in that sweet little bod of hers; her white cell count is 24,000; normal = approx. 4,000 - 16,000;
- her kidney functions are marginal, so she does have some level of kidney failure; BUN and phosphorous are elevated; urine specific gravity is low; a little protein in the urine (Dr. Slade was able to stick Charlotte for a urine sample; Charlotte is so easygoing, she just lay there and didn't flinch at all during the stick.)
- this does not help ID the thing Dr. Slade's feeling in her abdominal area
- nor does it explain - IIUC - why she's eating so much
Now, the good:
- she's feline leukemia/feline aids (FIV) negative; I believe some tests for contagious feline diseases are better than others; I'll have to talk w/Dr. Slade about this; I think the test for FIP is one of the unreliable tests; sounds like she wasn't tested for it
- no blood in her urine
- uh...that's it for the good news
Recommendations/questions:
- Dr. Slade will drop off antibiotics for the infection.
- repeat blood work in about a month and see how she's doing
- consider x-ray or ultrasound iot determine what is that thing in her abdomen; possibly it's attached to a kidney
Poor Charlotte did seem a little punk yesterday and today. She looks like what I feel like when I'm coming down with something. I wonder if what I'm just noticing is due to a recent infection or if it's due to some ongoing problem that's just showing up now in her punkitude.
In other, Charlotte-related news: I put up one of the 'Found Cat' flyers at work. A patron mentioned that she remembered seeing a 'Lost Cat' flyer describing a similar cat. It was up around June/July and it was posted at the library then, although I don't remember seeing it. Anyway, it's gone now, but she'll try and see if she or her friend (who also read it) can remember anything helpful about it. So, this is an extremely slim lead wrt Charlotte's person. I'd hate to find her person only to tell them that her cat's got a tumor and is dying.... But if I lost my sweet little Archibald when he was sick with cancer, I don't know if I could ever forgive myself for losing him and not taking care of him and being there when he died.
Personally, I cannot imagine avoiding being present during any of my cats' deaths. I know some people don't want to be there when their pet is euthanized and, honestly, I don't quite get that. I'm not saying it's wrong to feel that way; I'm just saying I don't understand it. (There are quite a few things I just don't 'get'; I keep meaning to write a post about them.) These cats - even little Charlotte so far - have been so great and given me so much pleasure, being present when they're euthanized, i.e., when I've given the doctor permission to, yes, kill them, is the very least I can do for them. Yes, it's the humane thing to do. Sure, they may be totally unaware of my presence. Slimmie died naturally and I don't think he was aware of my presence at the end; he reacted to ministrations during his last hours, but I don't know how much he was processing correctly, if he was able to process info at all. Stashy was aware until the split second he went into fatal cardiac arrest. I think Archie was aware that he was on my lap until he lapsed into unconsciousness due to the pre-euthanasia sedative. So, yeah, maybe they don't know I'm there. Maybe they don't care that I'm there. But just in case they can know and do care....
Well, I'm gonna end there bc I'm all PMSy and I'm about to start bawling about my dearly departed cats.
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