Tag Archives: health

hey, this looks clean…

27 Wednesday Jul 2011

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

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… so let’s cover it in cat hair!

Well, it’s part of the reason I have washable covers on my sofa and comfy chair. But while I wasn’t surprised to find the boys keen to get the freshly washed covers back to “normal”, Azar took things a step further. My poor darling continues to have problems with his bowel movements in spite of keeping him well-hydrated and the occasional use of enemas. Yesterday he suddenly got very distressed trying to go in the box and ended up “leaking” all over the place, including the soft furnishings (what timing!). Another enema and half an hour later he was comfortable again and since then has been eating and drinking normally.

I’m so torn about taking Azar to the vet’s. Last time I did they ran a bunch of tests over three visits, expensive for me and very stressful for both us, only to tell me they couldn’t find anything obviously wrong with him. So do I do that again just in case there is something else that I should be doing for Azar, or do I keep on making him as comfortable and happy as possible? My next plan is to take him off the dry food altogether, at least while it’s so hot, so he gets more moisture in his system. I’ve done the “skin pinch” test and it doesn’t show him to be dehydrated, but his eyes look a bit sunken in the inside corners, which is worrying. But he’s drinking a lot, really much more than a healthy cat would, so I’m guessing his kidneys aren’t functioning very well.

On the one hand, I want to give him the best care possible, but I also have to accept that at 16 1/2 he is likely to start “running down” now and no matter how many times I take him to the vet’s, there ain’t no cure for old age. Right now he’s just had his morning dose of malt and is happily curled up next to me on his comfy footstool (within easy snibble reach) and I hate to disrupt his happy morning. On the other hand, maybe I’m living in denial and he should be getting regular check-ups? What to do…

round two…

14 Thursday Apr 2011

Posted by in health & happiness

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I thought that the Rhinomer was actually doing the job and that whatever icky sinus issues I’ve been having since last Christmas were finally about to end … and then woke up during the night (Tuesday-Wednesday) wanting to rip my face off.

So yesterday Dr Agustín prescribed this stuff to take while continuing with the Rhinomer. These include a three-day blast of antibiotics along with daily doses of cortisone spray and an effervescent tablet for controlling mucus production. Delightful.

I hope this works. I also wish I’d done this back in January as I am feeling mightily fed up with all this…

s’not funny

08 Friday Apr 2011

Posted by in health & happiness

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So, on Christmas morning I woke up with a killer sore throat, which seemed to come and go quite a lot over the next month or so. And then finally it was gone. But what lingered was this rather icky nose and sinus infection, which also got worse and better, then worse again, etc. Finally after almost four months of this I decided it was maybe time to mention it to my doctor?

In this case I decided to just ask my friend/neighbour/student/GP Agustín yesterday while we were having English class at his place. And so now I am squirting this stuff up my nose a couple of times a day and hoping it will work, otherwise the next step will apparently be some sort of steroid spray. Ick.

For those who previously suggested rinsing out my sinuses with salt water, yeah yeah, I know. But I always seemed to either forget or just couldn’t be bothered mixing it up and snorting it (which I’ve done before and really hated). Agustín told me that this Rhinomer stuff is pressurised so it is much more effective than snorting… and wow, he was right about that. This stuff shoots straight up my nasal passages to my eyeballs and then swooshes its way back down and around all the behind-my-face cavities again before finally trickling out through various orifice openings. I’m impressed! I also wish I did this about three months ago.

And I hope you weren’t eating while you read this…

pobrecito…

13 Thursday Jan 2011

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

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Here is Azar sporting a rather punkish look after his visit to the vet’s last week. It took several tries on both legs to get enough blood out of him to do the tests, mi pobrecito, and a partial analysis done at the vet’s showed that his urea was a bit high and his glucose a bit low. Then this week Yolanda called me with the lab results and everything came back normal (?!), and so she recommended I bring Azar in again for another blood test as a control.

But just look at him. I thought it was too much and too soon to put him through all that again. Meanwhile, his two main remaining “symptoms” were lack of appetite and not pooping much, and Yolanda also suggested that we do an ultrasound in case he has a “tumorcita” that’s blocking him up. Yikes!

Another option was, since his temperature was also low when taken two days in a row last week, that he might have a low-grade infection going on so perhaps a few days on antibiotics would help. And so – at least for the moment – that’s the option I’ve gone with.

I don’t know if this is a direct result of the antibiotics or just coincidence, but the day after he started on the meds he really perked up, though he still wouldn’t eat much and had to be “spoon fed” (well, I use a syringe and squirt the stuff in, but spoon fed sounds nicer than force fed, and he actually seems to almost enjoy the process). Then – oh joy, oh bliss! – he had a big healthy dump  on Tuesday without crying or complaining in the box, and another one yesterday. And this morning he actually ate some of his purée on his own. So if he continues to improve I may leave doing another blood test for a couple of months, which I think will give us a better idea of any changes in his general health. This really is like his “mystery illness” of last winter except this time the spoon feeding started sooner so he didn’t get quite so floppy. The cause of last year’s malaise was never discovered, so who knows what will happen this time. But for for the moment Azar appears to be on the mend and apparently doesn’t have any kidney problems. Happy.

poor azar…

02 Sunday Jan 2011

Posted by in cats, health & happiness, home

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Towards the end of my tapas tour yesterday (with a lovely couple from London, Alison & Michael) I got a call from Nog saying that Azar was “in distress”, going to the litter box and crying, etc. And so I got home as fast as I could and the poor thing really was looking sad. He was also throwing up, which he’s done before when straining to go in the box. He didn’t seem hungry at all but remained very thirsty. This is a photo I took a couple of weeks ago when he started only wanting to drink water from “my glass” so I got out a different glass for him and since then it’s been his own private one. But I could tell that he was drinking and peeing a lot more than usual and feared the worst – chronic kidney disease like Sunny had. I was actually planning to take him in for a full check-up (blood tests, the works) after the holidays, but now looks like I’ll be going tomorrow.

After a very fretful night with poor Azar up and down (and leaking poop everywhere – eww!) I was almost ready to take him in to the emergency vet service this morning, because I hadn’t actually seen him pee since I got home yesterday and when I called them yesterday I was told the primary problem may actually be a blocked urethra. But just now, after yet another long drink, he peed in the box no problem. Then strained again to poop and ended up throwing up all the water. So… I dunno. I think he’ll be okay waiting to see his own vet tomorrow morning. Not only does the emergency vet service cost a lot more, but it’s a vet who has never seen Azar before, doesn’t know his history, etc. Meanwhile, am going out to the pharmacy to ask about a mild suppository, like they give to babies, to see if this might alleviate the immediate problem.

My beautiful boy. Ever since his “mystery illness” last year every day with him has felt like a gift, and I have worried every time he sneezed or seemed a bit out of sorts. But perhaps this will also turn out to be just another glitch in the “old age” thing and he’ll stay with us for some time to come. Hoping with all my heart that this is so.