Vibes for Lucy please

[booktigger]

Yeah, I said if I'd realised how hard it was going to be I'd have had second thoughts, but the vet said how well she is doing. I got her playing a bit with Da Bird last night, but gave up after 30 mins as all she wanted to do was go up the stairs!

[meriad]

Gosh the next week will feel like the longest week ever; but not much longer now. Glad all went well though and that the vet thinks she's doing alright.

Wondering if you give her some cooked or raw chicken or other meat to eat whether that would build up bulk a bit?

fusses from me as well and good luck for the next few days to you

[booktigger]

I’m still going to restrict her next week, I’ll give her the front room, but not the upstairs rooms – if I let her in the bedroom, she’ll keep going under the bed (just seeing me is enough to make her want to do that some days – the downside of the amount of vet visits she has!). We are back at the vet in a month.

[meriad]

makes sense keeping her out the bedroom and I'm sure she'll be happy with whatever more space she can have. But when she has access to the whole house, is there anyway you could restrict access to under the bed so she can't get under?

[Antonio]

Hopefully Lucy will trust you more in the very near future. It's so bad when they think that we're always after something bad for them.

[booktigger]

makes sense keeping her out the bedroom and I'm sure she'll be happy with whatever more space she can have. But when she has access to the whole house, is there anyway you could restrict access to under the bed so she can't get under?

The only way to do it is block it with blankets etc, which isnt ideal long term. Really should have put more thought into the bed when I bought it!

[booktigger]

She was exhausting last night - I was washing up, turned round to find her on the cabinet - could have sworn she was smiling at me! Then when she was in the front room, she was obsessed with the stairs! She keeps getting to a certain point and stopping but then gets a bit aggressive when you stop her. But then she did this and made me laugh - you can't quite see the expression on her face

1494016748817.jpeg (79.85 KiB) Viewed 10813 times

[Janey]

Haha bless her! I can just see the expression on her face

[bobbys girl]

Yes you can see it well enough!

[Mayday21]

Yep you can see the expression. Me thinks she's teasing you. She's a character!! Fusses to the lovely girl. She's so lucky to have you & I think she knows it!! Vivian

[Antonio]

Too cute!

[meriad]

She's a cutie - and she knows it

[booktigger]

Yep you can see the expression. Me thinks she's teasing you. She's a character!! Fusses to the lovely girl. She's so lucky to have you & I think she knows it!! Vivian

She certainly is - she keeps going about 3 stairs up, stopping to make sure I've noticed her, and then looking at me as if to say 'come and catch me'!!'. I hope she does know how lucky she is.

[booktigger]

Well, Lucy gets more freedom tonight, am dreading it, especially as she now can't tolerate Metacam. Am going to try letting her have front room/landing tonight, then back in the kitchen when I go to work. If she fusses too much, she'll have to stay in the kitchen overnight

[Antonio]

Hi Booktigger, did Lucy behave last night? Did she accept her new degree of liberty?

[booktigger]

She did - heard her crying at the bedroom door twice but she accepted it. Got up in the middle of the night and found her on the sofa, she was on the windowsill when I got up. She seems to be walking fine, but didn't want to go back in the kitchen this morning!

[Janey]

Yep you can see the expression. Me thinks she's teasing you. She's a character!! Fusses to the lovely girl. She's so lucky to have you & I think she knows it!! Vivian

She certainly is - she keeps going about 3 stairs up, stopping to make sure I've noticed her, and then looking at me as if to say 'come and catch me'!!'. I hope she does know how lucky she is.

How cute and glad to hear that she’s walking ok.

[booktigger]

I've missed this sight! She is preferring to sit on my knee than play!

1494531463547.jpeg (83.38 KiB) Viewed 10756 times

[booktigger]

Lucy was really good last night – I had a bath, and she just stayed on the sofa, she is barely going upstairs, so I think I’ll be brave and leave her loose this week – downside is that I’m not sure she’s doing enough for her muscle loss. It did dawn on me that at some point, I have to get the litter tray back upstairs and her used to that – one upside of the operation is that she isn’t overshooting the tray anymore – I’m going to put the lid back on it this week, see if that stops the amount of litter she is scattering. I watched her last night climb in from the side, which is really random – it’s lower at the front so easier to get into from there!!

[Antonio]

The recovery might seem slow but is going forward and that is good!
Lucy is lovely

[booktigger]

Yes, it's at least going in the right direction!! Got her some nice gourmet crystal soup, she threw up! She still has an upset tum, but I'm reluctant to get her the paste from the vet to help, it's hard enough with kittens, I'd hate to see how much I'd have to syringe into her!! I'm thinking of giving up with wet food and just giving her dry, which I don't want to do because of her kidneys, but suspect she has lost more weight.

[Antonio]

In CKD cats, unless their kidneys are in desperate conditions, the renal diet can be set aside for a while when they need to get some weight and go back to a normal eating habit.
Just give her anything she likes, then, as soon as she looks and feels better, slowly switch back to her usual diet.

[booktigger]

Well, the vet wanted her back on the renal biscuits rather quickly. Problem is she just doesn't want to eat her normal wet food, vet couldn't explain it

[Janey]

She is lovely, and it does sound like she’s doing well. I hope you can manage the food issue though it’s better she eat something and not be miserable I suppose? How old is she Desley?

[booktigger]

She looks lovely Jane - not quite the same in the flesh - my neighbour fed them for me last night as I went out for tea, and got hissed at for leaving her!! Well, she eventually eats her wet food, she's never been overly keen on it, which is why we only buy the 50g pouches. I've been brave and left her in the front room this morning, although my bedroom is still off bounds. She is barely coming upstairs though. She's officially 9, as long as we were told the truth when she was handed into rescue.

[booktigger]

Not sure if Lucy is walking worse with more access, but equally the vet said she could have a functional limp for life, so hard to know how much is that – little butter last night was standing on her back legs bashing my keys against the door, which is her way of demanding to go out!! She’s still barely going upstairs, might try moving the tray next week to force her to.

[booktigger]

Lucy had a check up today, 7 weeks after her op. She wasn't the most amenable during the visit, but from what the vet could see of her walking, she was pleased. She doesn't think she has gained enough muscle mass back, but the only way she is is by doing normal things, so she is now allowed out, which was quite scary. She has another month of being restricted from the bedroom though, then she thinks her muscles will cope with going under the bed. Still unsure if she will need acupuncture. She has put weight on, which is surprising, she looks thinner

[booktigger]

Was concerned that Lucy has been sick more recently, so she had bloods done on Wed, vet rang yesterday to say that they have shown an issue, but not the one I expected! Her calcium levels are high, and her liver values are out. Best case scenario is that there is a human error, but given the liver values, and the fact she is drinking more and being sick more makes that unlikely. There are numerous things that can cause high calcium, but with her history, the most likely reason is osteomyletitis, which is basically a bone infection. They are sending what is left to an external lab to test for ionised calcium, but she wants to act like it is that as untreated high calcium can cause issues, so I had to take her to the main branch so she can have fluids, and they are going to try and get a urine sample to test for specific gravity. Other main reason is hyper-parathyroid, which is rare, but this is my cat!! The reason for the fluids is that high calcium can leave deposits around the body, normally the kidneys. They are hoping to get the results tomorrow, but there are numerous reasons for high calcium, none really good. If the vet is right, she'll need strong antibiotics or she could lose the leg. Spoke to the vet this morning, unsurprisingly Lucy wouldn’t allow them to put her on fluids, so the vet did sub-cut instead. She is incredibly grumpy this morning, so they are going to sedate her this morning to put her on fluids, which has the advantage they can x-ray her leg, which will show if it is osteomyelitis or not. She has also spoken to the ortho vet for his thoughts, and he agrees it is the most likely scenario, and possibly the best of the reasons for high calcium levels. She has given me a tip for getting antirobe into her if that is the outcome. The night staff have put a ‘tiger’ note on her cage to warn the day staff!! If she is right, worst case scenario is she could lose her leg. Feel so gutted, we were just getting back to normal after surgery, and now this setback.

[alanc]

Very sorry to hear that news when things seemed to be going well. Hope its not as bad as feared.

[booktigger]

The vet rang this afternoon, they re-did the bloods, and her calcium is down to 3.2 (was 3.5 yesterday) so pretty much rules out human error. She still has to stay overnight on a drip though, then they will re-do bloods to decide if it has come down enough to be sent home - vet was hopeful, as it came down with sub-cut. She is off tomorrow, but lives close, so has said she could pop in to take bloods if needs be. X-ray shows the operation site has healed well, there is a slight irregularity near the top of her leg, so they are treating it as osteomyelitis - I wished them luck tableting her. Specific gravity is fine, so pretty much rules out kidney disease as being the cause, she has sent off a sample for a urine culture to check for infection. The ionised calcium results aren't back yet, and they have sent off a parathyroid test, which could take a week to come back. She has had a pelvic and chest x-ray, so unless there is something in her front legs or head, cancer is unlikely. unfortunately, a lot of cases are idiopathic.