Tag Archives: cats

diagnosis & treatment

06 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, health & happiness

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When I got home from the hospital on Friday I received a call from Yolanda the vet telling me about Azar’s blood test results. The good news is that so far there isn’t any serious renal dysfunction happening, but the bad news is that it’s now clearly just going to be a matter of time. Well, Sunny lived a good couple of years after he was first diagnosed with kidney problems, so let’s hope Azar has at least that much time left.

The treatment is also the same as it was for Sunny, which is basically a change of diet to a special type of cat food, as well as a daily supplement. With Sunny this supplement was no problem as I just crushed the pill into a bit of wet food and he gobbled it down with relish every morning. With Azar it will have to be, ahem, inserted into his mouth. Fun, fun, fun. Also, Azar will need a daily dose of the liquid laxative to help keep him regular. And, of course, he is given drinks several times a day from his own special glass so that he stays hydrated.

I don’t know if I was in denial about Sunny or if I was just so overwhelmed with being on, and getting over, the chemo, but I didn’t realise how seriously his health had declined until it was too late. And while I know there is no cure for kidney dysfunction in cats, I still think I could have – and should have! – made Sunny’s last few months more comfortable. With Azar no detail is going unnoticed (am even logging stuff in a journal) and he is getting constant attention and being properly spoiled. The good thing is that he is still playful and happy and shiny. And I will do my best to keep him that way for as long as possible.

the best bed…

02 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in cats, health & happiness, home, hope, hospitals

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THIS is all I could think about while I was at the hospital. Being home again in my bed with my boys. So you can imagine my joy when I found out this morning that I could go home.

I was sure in an out in record time – from operating table to home again in less than three days! I think in part because there was a serious bed shortage and also because my doctor knows that I’m a veteran, this being my fourth major abdominal surgery there. So he could rest assured that I knew what to do and how to take care of myself. But I was also surprised at how quickly I bounced back, being up and about in less than a day after the operation. So perhaps I’ll be able to do that Gourmet Tapas Tour on September 10th after all!

But don’t worry. I plan on taking it very easy. When I got home this afternoon the first thing I did (after snibbling the cats) was take a long hot shower and wash the hospital off me. Then I had a bit of lunch and then I had a lovely three-hour siesta with the boys. This is a photo of my rather rumpled bed after getting up. And oh man! I just felt like the luckiest person in the world to be back here. Sure I’ve still got a lot of pain and it’ll be awhile before I’m back to normal, but I’m still determined – perhaps more than ever – to stick to all the changes I’d been deciding on just before this happened.

Well, time for a light snack and a DVD before hitting the hay again. And thanks again for being with me through all this – it really meant the world to me.

on holiday, at home, while working…

29 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by in cats, holidays, home, work

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Since Jessica left last Thursday I’ve been here on my own at casa az and… I am just loving it! It’s like being on holiday but at home. While working.

I get up in the morning and open all the balcony doors, feed the cats, water the plants (look how lush my balcony spider plants are!), make some coffee in my little one-person bodum french press, fire up the computer and just enjoy myself and my apartment and my life.

You see, this is the first time I’ve been alone here since moving in and I think I really needed this week to be able to really bond with my new home and feel like it’s really My Home. I’m not alone all the time as Nog pops over a fair bit and I’m busy with clients, tapas tours and out running errands. It’s just a nice change to have a lot of extra time to myself and get into a whole new routine that feels like how I would live if I could afford to live on my own again. I’m sure I’d get lonely at times, but this hasn’t been an issue just for a week, and I’ve been getting into some good habits that I want to continue with. Nog moves back in on Wednesday and will then – I hope – get into his own work routine starting September.

Well, time for a short siesta and then I have to go out this evening and drop in on a couple of clients. Did I mention that I’m happy?

pretty good for his age

22 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, health & happiness

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Azar finally got to see the vet today, and it turned out better that I was there so I’m glad he didn’t have to go while I was in Málaga. Of course it’s always so traumatic taking cats to the vet’s and so I woke up at 5am and started fretting. Idiot. And Azar, being the clever thing that he is, knew as soon as he wasn’t given any breakfast that Something Was Up and immediately hid under the bed. Anyhow, Nog came over to help around 9 o’clock and somehow I got Azar into the carrier, and off we went.

From the second he was put inside the carrier Azar started screaming his head off and, once out of the apartment, it got so bad that everyone we passed in the street, whole groups of people, stopped to see what was making such a racket. We were lucky to find a taxi driver to used to have cats and didn’t mind, and he also got us to Yolanda’s in record time.

This photo was taken on the way there, with me stroking Azar under the chin in an effort to try and get him to shut the fuck up… awww.

Anyhow, once at the vet’s he was good as gold, let Yolanda poke and prod him pretty much everywhere, and didn’t even put up too much fuss about getting blood drawn. Won’t get the test results back for a couple of days, but the general impression is that Azar is doing pretty well for his age. I thought his last check-up had been about a year ago but I’d completely forgotten about his visit last January when he also had a blood test done. Well, at least we’ll see if much has changed in the last eight months.

Azar was a lot calmer on the way home and, once there, had a nice late breakfast, a big drink of water and got straight back “on the job” doing typical cat stuff, as you can see (if it had been dark laundry then it would have been a job for Loki).

So he’s going to need extra care, and help with his digestion/elimination problems. But otherwise he seems to be doing just fine.