I've had better monrings....

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This started as a post in the Pit’s March minirants thread but grew in the telling:

Ah, Peanut, my least favorite of my five cats, you homely, grouchy, glum, always-underfoot, hissing, “I Will Kill You” sweetheart to the vets…

There you are this morning for your annual checkup, including blood draws to check your thyroid levels (on compounded methimaloze for hyperthyroidism), internal organ values (on compounded prednisolone for intestinal lymphoma), eye exam (permanently dilated pupils which make you nearly blind), blood pressure (likely from tail rather than foreleg, for tech safety), maybe offer a stool sample (on Miralax for megacolon, which produces gigantic dog-sized turds of stunning stinkitude, not or insufficiently buried) – oh, and claw-clipping. Which will require (a) three persons to do safely, or (b) sedation. Which means you went there first thing this morning without breakfast. Which means you were in even more of a foul mood about the whole thing than usual.

But at least, my bad-tempered Peanut (at whose name vets quail and vet techs shudder) you have some measure of revenge: At 11:38 last night I got an email from a good client looking for a proofreading job that – OMG! – had been requested for that afternoon. Since my weekend had been consumed with dental issues (why is dental pain so goddamned PAINFUL?!?) it had slipped my mind. So, with profuse apologies emailed off, I set to work on the 253-page transcript of a defense contractor’s testimony in a payment dispute, and finished the last of it around 2:00 a.m. Then set the alarm for 8:00 so I could get Peanut to the vet by 8:30.

And awoke to my cat Schooner’s cold wet nose poking my face (“Breakfast time! Breakfast time! I LOVE you! Lovelovelove”) to discover I’d set the time but not the BUZZ button and it was 8:15! Flinging Schooner off, I swung groggily out of bed, scrambled into my clothes, lurched downstairs, scooped a befuddled Peanut into the carrier I’d left out the evening before, left the other four scattering from the Dread Carrier of Vet Visit Doom while simultaneously demanding breakfast, bundled myself and my angry burden into the car, and arrived only a few minutes late.

I left my growling hissing pet with the resigned staff; slogged home; fed the four their breakfast; cleaned their litter, then the breakfast dishes; turned on the computer; downloaded email; and found this message from the disappointed client:

I’d like to say the hell with it and go back to bed, but alas, duty calls, in a shrill unpleasant voice…

2

Sigh… I’ve also had better mornings, wherein I was able to actually spell “mornings”…

3

Someone’s got a case of the “Mondays”…

Not nearly as bad, but our printer server has been down all morning, and just now, someone thought to tell IT. I was the first one in - I coulda done it, but I assumed (yeah, I know) that the IT folks would have some sort of indicator that the server wasn’t serving. I’ll take that over a pissed-off cat any day!

4

Oh, I am sorry. The life of cat guardians can sometimes be tough. My 2 keep me on my toes. But they are so beautiful and smart ( I am required to point out their beauty and brains daily). And I love them. Keep your chin up. I feel you.

5

When you have some spare time (which would seem to be next Thursday), could you clue me in on animal blood pressure? First I’ve heard of it. Of course, anyone else is free to jump in and take some burden off ETFreddy. TIA.

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Moonrings

7

Update on Peanut: He’s home, wandering about, mildly disgruntled that I haven’t fed him yet, but since he had to be sedated for the claw clipping I was advised not to feed him till suppertime, around 7:00, and then only a small portion. They put him in a quiet place for a while after I brought him in, I was told, and he calmed down somewhat from his initial fury, enough that they could do some of the work on him without sedation.

The blood test results won’t be in till tomorrow or Wednesday, but preliminary results are this: His blood pressure is up, and I’m to start him on yet another medication (amlodipine besylate, a calcium channel blocker) as soon as my local pharmacy can compound it, then bring him in again in two weeks for retesting and possible adjustment of the dose.

He’s also lost a pound since his last visit; he’s not gaunt (yet) at around 13 pounds, but it may indicate his intestinal lymphoma is progressing. So we will keep him going while he’s comfortable and enjoying life, knowing that long term we will have to do the last right thing for him – whatever “long” means.

8

My dogs (except the new one, who was indoors with me) ganged up on dog Frank, and tore the shit out of him yesterday. He’s been in the ER since it happened, and he might lose a leg because of blood lose to the main vein. No idea what set them off. Just stabilizing him at the ER is $1000.

Normally I’d be at church on Sunday at 11:00, but I had a headache and couldn’t handle Palm Sunday Mass, now with Added Incense. I know if I’d gone to church, he would’ve been dead by the time I got home.

I went at lunch to visit him at the ER and he wagged his tail a bit. Coming out of the shock, which was the biggest concern. He’s in a lot of pain, even though they’re pumping him with pain meds. He doesn’t look like himself. They’re going to unbandage him this afternoon and do another assessment, Still no idea if he’s going to keep his leg.

StG

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Germain, sorry about Frank; I’m pulling for him. You just never know when/if/how a dynamic is going to shift.

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I’m so sorry, StG; what a horrible thing to have happen! I hope they can save the leg; but thank goodness dogs (and cats) can do just fine if they have to go tripod, unlike horses. Fingers crossed that he’ll come through it back to full health.

11

Frank had his leg amputated tonight. The vets are hopeful he’ll begin to feel better with that off.

StG

12

My sister has a 3-legged dog. He does just fine and doesn’t even seem to realize he is missing a major body part.

I picked up my cat’s ashes from the vet today (he was euthanized last Wednesday) so I know about pets and major league suckitude. Tuxedo did, however, live to be about 18 so I can’t complain about that.

13

Sorry about Tuxedo, nearwildheaven. Eighteen is a good old age.

My wife and I follow Vet Ranch channel on YouTube and the clip they posted just today is about an adorable little scruffy mutt whose right fore-leg is dead (nerve-wise) and had to be taken. I was cringing–even though I’ve seen this procedure on that channel a dozen times–until they showed the little monster post-op and healed up and if he was missing that leg, you’d never know it. Here’s the clip, if you’re so inclined (warning, the uncensored version is a little graphic, but not terribly so.). If this is dog-typical, Frank should just be chuggin’ along in a few days (fingers crossed). Good luck, StG (and Frank).

14

Give Frank extra scratches and treats ( and tell him they are from us). How is the dog crew gonna treat him when he gets home?

15

Eddy good gravy, Peanut is a lucky cat. You’ve been a devoted caregiver.

burpo you asked about blood pressure and animals. Yes, they can have problems too. My experience with it is limited to a cat who had a heart problem, and then developed high bp. Unfortunately, by the time it was diagnosed it had caused her retinas to detach and she lost her sight. Fortunately, she was an indoor cat and her life didn’t seem to change overly much. She hung out in her normal places, with her buddies or us, and life continued.

StG I hope Frank makes it. It sounds like you have a re-homing situation on your hands, unless you can keep him separated. Any idea what you’re going to do? I’m glad you were there to get to him in time.

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My condolences, nearwildheaven; making it to eighteen just gives us that many more years of memories to cherish – and miss even more. I had one make it to nineteen but she was ready to go for the last several months.

When I lost Pumpkin at age fourteen I fought hard for a long time to save him; longer than I should have given how sucky his last weeks were, as I look back on it now. I will not make the same mistake with his now fifteen-year-old brother Squash, who is thriving despite developing renal decline and because he’s now living in a large cage complex to protect him from being bullied and assaulted by Stanley and Schooner. Nor will I keep fighting to prolong Peanut’s life when the inevitable progression of his conditions robs him of pleasure in life.

Speaking of confinement for safety, StG, what are your plans for Frank when (not if; it will definitely be when I believe) he comes home, triumphantly zipping around on his good three legs? Is he an older dog, older than the ones that turned on him?

17

I love the smell of Nalplam in the Monring!

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You are just begging for some noodling! :slight_smile:
Sunny D, thanks for the 411 on animal BP. I’m having a :smack: morning; in 30 years of taking critters to vets, not once has a DVM mentioned having to take BP and now I’m wondering why not? It only makes sense–I’ve seen many grossly obese dogs over the years and wondered if they had the same BP problems as people. More (personal) research is called for; I’ll get right on it.

19

ETF - Actually, Frank’s the youngest, just coming on two. My theory is he’s trying to move from junior in the pack to senior. Add in the new rescue, a dumped bitch in heat, and you have a spark that set off a huge blaze.

Sunny Daze - I’ve written to the rescue I got Frank from and told them the situation. I may have to return him to them. Trying to juggle keeping dogs separate when they have a dog door and come in and out is almost impossible. If Frank makes it, he’ll be on crate rest for some time, which will let me assess the situation.

StG

20

I just talked to the vet. She reran his bloodwork and it doesn’t look good, She’s going to add steroids to the mix, but if that doesn’t get him back up, it’s all over.

StG