The Upsetting News Thread

[WarpGirl]

Sorry about the kitty... Last night was hell for me, wen't to the ER got poked prodded and a lot of nasty stuff. Long story short, another bad reaction to pain killers.

[Distracted]

Oh dear. Sorry you had a rough night. You've got to watch Demerol. If you take it too long or too often it accumulates. The metabolites can be toxic and they hang around a lot longer than the pain relief does. And if you mix alcohol with it you can really do a number on yourself. It's not a clean drug.

[Elessar]

Oh dear. Sorry you had a rough night. You've got to watch Demerol. If you take it too long or too often it accumulates. The metabolites can be toxic and they hang around a lot longer than the pain relief does. And if you mix alcohol with it you can really do a number on yourself. It's not a clean drug.

I think they gave me demerol when I had a colonoscopy...

BTW, I have sad news too... my kitty is hurting

I don't know what's wrong but he was looking for his cat box and then just walked away like he didn't have to go... and then started crying, and he NEVER cries, unless you really suddenly pick him up. He's 18. But he's walking funny, like his back end is sorta more sluggish than the rest of him... and he cries a lot worse when I pick him up and then like 2 or 3 more times once I even put him down, which is VERY unusual. He doesn't like to move at all, just as little as he has to to find a new place to lay down.

I'm thinking of taking him to the vet but probably can't till Monday. Any idea what could be wrong? I poked and prodded on him in various areas when I finally got him to lay down and he never cried.

[Alelou]

That kinda sounds like a kitty emergency to me.

[Distracted]

Yep. I don't think I'd wait until Monday.

[WarpGirl]

Oh poor kitties. I am so glad my baby is just perfect. I'm tearing up for you guys, if something happened to my baby well... I'd be an even bigger mess.

[Aquarius]

John, if there's an emergency clinic in your area, take him there NOW!! He could be having bladder problems or crytallization of the urinary tract. If he's blocked, it'll be fatal without treatment.

Elvis is doing marginally better today. The ex spent an hour and a half with him at the vet this morning. (Yeah, Alelou, he's very helpful with the co-parenting. Neither of us wanted the kitties to suffer just because we've got problems.) Elvis's sugar was down a little, but he's not out of the woods yet. And he's still having trouble with the eating and drinking thing--there's possibly infection in one of the infection sites. The vet is going to call me tonight or tomorrow to discuss whether or not he needs to come in on Monday.

Looks like kitty is insulin dependent again.

[enterprikayak]

Oh dear. Sorry you had a rough night. You've got to watch Demerol. If you take it too long or too often it accumulates. The metabolites can be toxic and they hang around a lot longer than the pain relief does. And if you mix alcohol with it you can really do a number on yourself. It's not a clean drug.

I think they gave me demerol when I had a colonoscopy...

BTW, I have sad news too... my kitty is hurting

I don't know what's wrong but he was looking for his cat box and then just walked away like he didn't have to go... and then started crying, and he NEVER cries, unless you really suddenly pick him up. He's 18. But he's walking funny, like his back end is sorta more sluggish than the rest of him... and he cries a lot worse when I pick him up and then like 2 or 3 more times once I even put him down, which is VERY unusual. He doesn't like to move at all, just as little as he has to to find a new place to lay down.

I'm thinking of taking him to the vet but probably can't till Monday. Any idea what could be wrong? I poked and prodded on him in various areas when I finally got him to lay down and he never cried.

This happened to winston...crystals and he acted exactly like that.

Take him now John! It's the dif btw "fixable" and "not fixable".

And then if it is that, keep him on a "preventative" vet food forever. Happened 2 x to our one boy and we almost lost him. Instead we lost about $1500. Now he STAYS on that food.

Hope your boy's okay!!!!!

[Elessar]

Oh my. I didn't see all this panic before

Well, I followed him around and he hasn't been crying.... and I let him outside (it always seems to brighten his spirits). He walked into the kitchen and pooped on the rug (not common) but I didn't mind... I just picked it up. It was kind soft and mushy, had to wash the rug. He's laying under my mom's bed right now, but he is still crying... seems like when I touch his bottom area? I'm gonna go with the UTI thing because he's had that before... but he never cried before... ad he hasn't peed so I can't check his pee for blood...

[Distracted]

When was the last time he did pee? If he's obstructed he could go into kidney failure.

[Aquarius]

Dude, this is PRECISELY why you need to take him in, like NOW. He WON'T pee if he's blocked. He might've poo'd while straining to pee. This happened to Mr. Boo about a year after I got him. If I waited any longer than I did, I would've had a dead cat back then.

Please don't let this go. Don't wait 'til tomorrow. And don't assume it's a UTI. The not peeing thing is a big tip-off that you need to take him in before toxins build up in his blood. Do not screw around with this.

[Elessar]

When was the last time he did pee? If he's obstructed he could go into kidney failure.

He peed twice earlier today but I already buried the pee in the litter.

Dude, this is PRECISELY why you need to take him in, like NOW. He WON'T pee if he's blocked. He might've poo'd while straining to pee. This happened to Mr. Boo about a year after I got him. If I waited any longer than I did, I would've had a dead cat back then.

Please don't let this go. Don't wait 'til tomorrow. And don't assume it's a UTI. The not peeing thing is a big tip-off that you need to take him in before toxins build up in his blood. Do not screw around with this.

I live in the fuckin boonies, nobody's open! I alrady checked, every animal hospital in the area closed at noon!

[Aquarius]

Usually in the sticks vets are on call with an answering service or something, because so many people have farms with large animals, etc. Are you reasonable driving distance from a large town or a veterinary college? You can usually find emergency vet clinics there, that are open when the regular ones aren't.

[Elessar]

I found an answering service like that...... I didn't realize everybody did them or I'd a just called our regular vet..... their on call vet is supposed to call me back. I'm not sure what they can do for me over the phone.... I don't know what the short term solution is.... he was perscribed special medicinal food by our vet a long time ago but for months now he's refused to eat it so the vet said it was ok to feed him whatever he wanted, that his age is was more important just for him to be eating and be happy with what he was eating, soo.... he's just been eating like that gourmet wet food. I know it's not the healthiest for urinary tracts, but we had no other choice, it's all he's been willing to eat. So we can't exactly force feed him the stuff that's good for his UT. I don't know if he can get a shot to clean it out right now or what.

[Elessar]

Ok! Good news!

A very nice female vet called me back, even with her children and things making noise in the back .

She says it sounds like it could be either a UTI or that his anal gland is swollen. The anal gland thing wouldn't be that big a deal it just needs to be manually evacuated (ewwwwwwwwwwwww) if it's clogged up (jk I could do that, I love my kitty). Even in the worst case scenario that it ruptures, it wouldn't be life threatening, just painful, so we're going to watch him very carefully for how he acts.

If it's a UTI, which she said it could be but sounds less likely because I saw him pee twice today, it would be a little more serious because it screws up their potassium balance and they can have heart arythmias. The other good sign that it's not a UTI is that he's resting comfortably and she thinks he'd be restless and moving around and trying to get comfortable if it was that...

So basically 'keep an eye on him' and also wait for my vet to call and I'll describe the same thing for him.

Argh, I have a date at 7! I hope he doesn't call while I'm on the date!