November 20, 2013

Oliver has been quite ill. The latest major event was around the start of October when he went on a trip to caregiver's family and fell very ill with suspected acute pancreatitis and nearly did not make it.
He stayed several days at the vet locally, then when well enough to travel, he was transported to Summit vet in Tacoma, WA.
After many tests, ultrasounds and Xrays, it was found that along with being an acromegalic cat off insulin and with megacolon, he is now a Stage 3 kidney disease.
Oliver is getting several medications now, including 125ml fluids daily, phosphorus binder in all low phosphorus foods, and weekly shots of Aranesp for his anemia.

Oliver has been having issues like constipation, so he went to the local vet today who did give an enema and mentioned that he was very dehydrated, and preparations should be made soon as he may be approaching time to leave.

Tomorrow is his appointment at Summit to recheck his blood values, and we will see what the specialists have to say.

Oliver is my only reason for living, so letting him go will kill me.

Some pictures of Ollie this past week.

What a difference a year makes!

I honestly don't know where to start, so much has happened. When Oliver arrived, he seemed so sad and did not purr. While he weighed 15lbs, he was skin and bones, you could feel all the bones in his spine and his head looked like it belonged on a cat twice that weight!
With lots of extra kindness and gentle treatment, Oliver has really come around, nice and relaxed, doing his version of purring, and he has doubled his weight.

It wasn't easy when he arrived. I did not ever expect to have another cat with acromegaly, nevermind positive for IAA as well! Shadoe was a low dose acro and so, I recognized the signs in Oliver quickly. Just looking at him, people drew back because of his size. I had taken him in to have my vet check him and everyone in the office adored him but drew back from his size and appearance. When I told the vet I wanted to have Oliver tested for acro/IAA, they agreed that the results were pretty much a foregone conclusion and that sending the blood for testing was merely a formality. Naturally, the results came back positive for both acromegaly and IAA.

Fast forward to the present.

Oliver is quite relaxed and makes himself at home. That's where he is now: home.

Not the best of days

I don't know if I will ever get how to handle this acro business. I am no good at this trying to guess what needs to be done, and when I try, I am always wrong.
I don't know what I am doing and don't know why I am even trying.