Running Chick

I brought Spencer to the vet yesterday afternoon.  Since he was diagnosed with renal disease about two years ago, I bring him in every six months to get blood work done and see how his kidneys are doing.

He’s been doing really well these past few months. He had a little episode in July that had nothing to do with his kidneys but otherwise, he’s been doing just great. About a week ago, he started throwing up – not uncommon for him or for his disease – once or twice per day but he was still eating & drinking & acting just fine, so I wasn’t really too concerned about it.  I also knew I had his checkup coming up, so I figured I’d mention it and maybe they’d give him an anti-nausea shot and it’d be no big deal. On Sunday, he was still eating & drinking normally, but the throwing up doubled. By Monday, he couldn’t keep anything down and was off his food. Bad signs.

When I picked up to go to the vet’s, he was obviously showing the signs that he was an unhappy kitty, he was hunched over and hiding in the darkest, quietest place in the house. Still, though, I figured that this was due to his kidneys being worse and the dehydration from all the vomiting. The blood test results came back and, good news, his kidneys were stable. His BUN was slightly elevated from July, a normal amount for his disease, and his creatinine was unchanged, a really good sign. I’ve been giving him a probiotic called Azodyl since the end of November, and the vet thinks that’s really been helping to slow his kidney disease down.

The bad news – his liver levels were through the roof. Not just slightly elevated, not high, alarmingly high. So high that they thought the tests were incorrect, so they ran them again.  Vets conferring with one another to see if the results make sense, kind of high. Vets going “Wow.” kind of high. When vets do that, you know you’re in trouble.

Just for reference, there are two enzymes in the liver that indicate it’s health, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). 

Normal feline levels of this enzyme:

Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT): 30-100 IU/L
Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST): 14-38 IU/L

Spencer’s levels:

There’s a couple of things that could be going on, pancreatitis or maybe liver cancer, but in general, his liver is failing.

The most important thing is that he keeps eating, so they gave me a topical anti-nausea medicine called Metoclopramide that I rub on his inner ear twice daily. He’s had two doses so far, and it doesn’t seem to be helping. He’s still throwing up and he’s still not eating. He is drinking, which is good, but eating is the key factor here.

If he continues to not eat there’s really only one medical option. Feeding tube. When the vet told me that, I made the decision that that wasn’t going to be an option. I will not put him through that. Maybe if he were significantly younger, but doing that at his age just seems cruel. And selfish.

So, I’m home from work for the next few days trying to nurse him back to health. We’re taking things hour by hour now and hoping that this nausea medicine will kick in and he’ll eat something.

It’s not like going through this at any other time would be better, but this is a particularly trying time for me because I’m in charge of a big project to relocate my department to another building and we’re moving next Thursday. There’s still a lot of logistics to be worked out and it’s all on me. Thankfully, I have a very understanding boss and I can easily work from home.

Also, this happening almost exactly two months after Simon is particularly crushing. I don’t even feel like I’m at peace with him being gone and now this is happening with Spencer. It’s hard, so very, very hard and I am an emotional wreck.

Right now, though, my priority is Spencer and everything else is a much distant second.

Josh is out of town this week visiting his family in Georgia and I’m baby kitty sitting this one:

This is Scout, she belongs to Josh. She’s about 6 years old, the shape of a football and the epitome of a typical aloof cat.  She doesn’t mind being in the same room with you, but don’t bother trying to share a couch with her. She’ll tolerate you petting or holding her for approximately 8 seconds before she turns into a squirming, complaining ball of fur. Precocious.

The first thing she did was eat all of Spencer’s food.

Then she traipsed around on the kitchen counters.

And when Spencer tried to make friends with her

She waved her claws at him.

Spencer: *sigh*

She does tolerate me chasing her around with the camera much better than Spencer does.

So, I guess she's got that going for her.

I got a card from the folks at the Copper Country Vet Clinic the other day and they included this poem that was a poignant reminder of the little black kitten that I found on the side of the road all those years ago.

I Loved You Best

I will go on, I'll find the strength,
life measures quality, not its length.
One long embrace before you leave,
share one last look, before I grieve.

There are others, that much is true,
but they be they, and they aren't you.
And I, fair, impartial, or so I thought,
will remember well all you've taught.

Your place I'll hold, you will be missed,
the fur I stroked, the nose I kissed.
And as you journey to your final rest,
take with you this...I loved you best.