Yes, I've been up all night doing cat care...those first days are a real bitch.

Friday night through early Saturday morning, I took matters into my own hands and gave Jax more Lasix; one pill per day was really obviously not going to do the job.  (I gave him 1.75 more at the six-hour mark, just as Bastian gets.)  By morning, he already didn't look bloated in the middle, and was breathing much more quietly.  Unfortunately, he also has no appetite and is nauseous, which are both expected for uncontrolled heart trouble; he'll feel better once that's handled, but until then I'm stuck forcing food on him (or trying to figure a way to make him want to eat it).

We went to a new vet for abdominal tap (which is just $8) on Saturday, but he turned out to not need it.  The new vet was absolutely excellent, low-priced, plus he already knows our cardiologist from having other patients also under her care.  He had it arranged so Jax could have a good panel of bloodwork to be sure nothing else was causing problems, and results will be emailed to me on Monday.  The doctor said that sometimes something in flame retardants and similar environmental factors can all cause trouble (like hyperthyroidism) that leads to early-onset organ failure.

My brain is fried, so I'll go to bed now.  Just wanted to let people know the basics of what is going on.

Tags: appetite problems, cardiac, chf, diagnosistics, jax, sick cats, vet "heritage"
Current Mood: exhausted

I started writing last night, but was so tired that the results were just dull and near-unreadable.

We got to take Whoosey home on Friday night, with various caveats because she wasn't recovering properly. But the amazing good news was that just like the fluid tested back in December, the official large biopsy tests came back benign -- and while the tumor will grow, it could take years to really cause problems! :-)

She came home primarily because she was too stressed to eat, just like Bastian always does there... At first, she seemed to not remember how to eat -- she sniffed the food and even licked her lips, but then stopped. I "taught" her by putting a little juice from the canned food on her lips, then letting her lick it off my fingers, then having some of the actual food there for her to lick off, etc. She just started eating kibble and drinking freely, which was a huge "woohoo!!!" because if she hadn't by Tuesday, they were going to install a feeding tube.

So, until Saturday evening, things went quite well... That was when some slightly fast breathing I had noticed at the hospital suddenly got a lot worse, and she became very passive. I recognized it more definitively as being the kind of thing Bastian does when his lungs are filling with fluid.

We rushed her back up to the hospital, where an x-ray told us that she had pleural effusion. They tapped 90ml (!) out and sent the fluid off to the labs to find out what it's coming from. There wasn't anything that night vet (not a favorite) could come up with to change, so we were just sent back here with the usual "return if she gets worse."

Since getting back, she has finally been breathing almost like a normal cat, purring, eating/drinking on her own... Generally showing us the results we've been hoping for. :-) The official recheck with Dr. A is on Tuesday, let's hope that we don't have to return to ACC before then. (We were very lucky that ACC held off on charging us the final chunk of payment until Tuesday, so we can get the various grants/aid in order and find more.)

Tags: acc, benign tumor, diagnosistics, good news, whoosey iiii
Current Mood: surprised
Current Music: New Hitchhiker's Guide Radio (via "Awayteam" channel on Shoutcast)