Though I've been neglecting this blog since moving to GA, the past couple of weeks have not been due to work stress.

Loki, my orange kitty who I affectionately call Pooky, has been diagnosed with Juvenille Renal Failure and has CRF, chronic renal failure.



On Saturday, 12/23, I noticed he wasn't quite himself. He wasn't trying to hypnotize me with eyes, as in the picture above.

The previous week, my friend Mariposa was in town visiting with me and her other GA area high school friend Talon I had more company over than usual and both Pooky and Pumpkin were loving the extra attention. After the company bruhaha died down, he had seemed a bit sulky and a bit more needy. Come last Saturday, I tried to get him to play. He didn't want to, which is not like him at all. He also smelled horribly bad. His breath about knocked me out. So, I figured that I would err on the side of being too cautious and had Unfriendly accompany me to the ER vet.

Two hours after he was admitted and his bloodwork came back, I got a call back from the vet on duty. Pooky was in renal failure, but she couldn't tell if it was acute or chronic. He hadn't gotten into anti freeze and I don't own real houseplants. She wanted to take an x-ray of his kidneys to see if they were swollen (which points to acute) or shrunken (which points to chronic.

The x-ray showed stones in each kidney and that his left kidney was much larger than his right kidney. They recommended that he stay over at the clinic until Tuesday and put him on IV therapy and re checked his bloodwork every 24 hours.

The smell that knocked me over was due to the toxins in his system. His blood urea nitrogen levels were 140. 33 is high normal. UF and I visited Pooky every day over Christmas weekend and even brought him one of his presents. He wasn't lethargic during visits and always looked at us as if to say, "why the hell can't I come home yet???" See.

The vet that owns the emergency clinic is an internist and actually did his Master's project on kidney related matters. He was back in on 12/26 and called me to let me know that he wanted Pooky on IV therapy for a couple of more days since only some of the bad numbers had gone down. The ER doctor that saw him on Saturday - Monday was different than the one who had initially treated him. She basically gave me a death sentence for him on Monday. Merry Christmas? Hardly. But the internist wanted to treat him and told me that many cats with CRF could live for many months up to years with treatment.

He had an ultrasound done to see if any of the stones were blocking his urine flow. They weren't. From the color and shape of the kidneys and his history, the internist thinks that he's actually been in renal failure from very young. Cats are apparently very good at adapting to this. People normally don't realize there's a problem until their cats crash, and by then, much of the kidneys' ability to function has greatly deteriorated.

Pooky is home now. He is on subcutaneous fluid treatment. I inject 100 mLs of fluid into him daily, which he takes very well. He isn't really interested in eating, so UF and I have been feeding him via syringe about every four hours during the day. He gets a teaspoon of Maalox 3xs a day to bring his phosphorus numbers down to normal and also gets 1/4 of Pepcid AC tablet every day to control his acid reflux. The reflux is actually pretty common in CRF cats. He goes back in on Thursday to re-check his numbers.

I've been dealing with the fact that my little orange guy has a terminal disease and all I can do is keep him as healthy as possible by keeping him hydrated and medicating him. Yahoo actually has a group for folks with CRF cats and two other groups for dealing with phosphorus related medicine and how to assist feed your cat. Reading other people's stories and how their cats have come back from far worse crashes has been helpful in my keeping my sanity. However, I do still break down in tears from time to time with Christmas being the worst of it.

I had felt guilty for not realizing that Pooky's crazy love of water pointed to him being sick. Since he had been that way since kitten hood, I didn't think anything was wrong. I thought it was one of those weird personality things. Other than catching it earlier and managing it earlier, there's not much I could have done.

Unfriendly has been wonderful through this so far. We've both been tired and are sick of the smell of canned cat food and antacid, but we haven't been fighting or at odds.

I'm hoping for as long as I can have with Pooky. He doesn't seem to be ready to give up just yet, so I won't.

Labels: Kitty Kids, Pooky, Tales of Trauma

Labels: Christmas, Comedy

1. I've come to realize that my family...
still drives me crazy even though they’re miles away! I love ‘em though.

2. I am listening to...
Outkast’s ‘Funkin’ Around’

3. I talk...
less than I listen

4. I love...
Unfriendly, my friends, my kitties and warm winters

5. My best friend...
was over this past Saturday! It’s so cool to live three hours away from her.

6. My first kiss was...
wet and uneventful :(

7. I lost my virginity...
on Christmas eve eve (12/23)

8. I hate it when people...
drive like idiots
9. Love is...
amazing

10. Marriage is...
not for me!

11. Somewhere, someone is thinking...
where the hell are my keys?

12. I'll always...
have fond memories of college

13. I have a secret crush on...
…then it wouldn’t be a secret! No secret crushes at the moment.

14. The last time I cried was because...
work stressed me out

15. My cell phone...
has a Gir cell phone charm..isn't he cute? He's such a little hedonist.








16. When I wake up in the morning...
I hit the snooze button several times and then roll out of bed to feed the kitties.

17. Before I go to sleep at night...
I put earplugs in. Walls are way thin.

18. Right now I am thinking about...
Starting my UGA application

19. Babies are...
beautiful…a great responsibility…not something I see in my immediate future.

20. I get on myspace....
Once a week

21. Today I...
Ordered Mellow Mushroom calzones for dinner

22. Tonight I will...
Knit…read a little and tell myself that I will remember my dreams when I wake up


23. Tomorrow I will...
…too early to tell what tomorrow will bring

24. I really want...
a new job and uncut Tom Jerry dvds (all the existing T&J dvds have been tampered with in some way )

25. The person who most likely to repost this is...
you! Ha!

Labels: About Glitzy, Memes

Unfriendly and I were laughing so hard at this we were crying ...

Labels: Comedy, Video

.. you receive a summons for Jury Duty and you're actually happy that you got picked to go.

Monday will be my first time doing this in GA. I think I got a total of 5 summons for Jury Duty when I lived in Miami, but I only honored two summons. I got out of the other 3 because I was a full time student in NC at the time. I also got summoned in Ann Arbor, MI. That was the easiest day ever...I was out by noon.

Labels: Alpharetta, Work GA, Work Sucketh