Tuesday, March 24, 2009

An Emergency Visit to the Vet

Scruffy hadn't been himself for 24 hours so yesterday afternoon around 4 we called his Charlotte the cats Vet and she said to bring him right in. He had not been interested in food or water that much and sleeping most of the day in the sun and barely moving. I realized when he tried to walk that he couldn't. His back legs kept collapsing beneath him. Poor little big guy.


Due to the fact that Scruffy is such a big cat diabetes and kidney problems is something we needed to watch out for. We have been each year with blood work and he has been doing good.

The blood panel results yesterday were not at all good. Very serious in fact. The two things Charlotte was most distressed about were the BUN which a normal range is 10-30 and Scruffy's was at 145. Also the CRE which the norm is 0.3-2.1. Scruffy's was 5.6. They consider 6.0 to be complete renal failure. Scruffy was given fluids intravenously in his back and it is something for the next few weeks we need to do 2 times a week. David has agreed he will do it and Thursday will do it at the Vet for his first time to be sure he is doing it correctly. From then on we will do it ourselves at home. Charlotte said that in some cases there is great improvement from these fluid treatments. We are praying this is the case for Scruffy. David and I both were fighting tears when told of his test results. Charlotte was very upset herself. For a feral cat before we took him in, he is the sweetest most loving big galute you ever will meet. He is so grateful for having a home, being loved and other cats to play with and be a family.

I made him a little bed under the high boy in the master bedroom which is where he has been going to be alone since not feeling well. As you can see Poopie is checking it out right after I put the towel down under it. Scruffy is laying outside of it with David who is giving him lots of love. Scruffy went under there once Poopie got out and he slept there all night. Around 5 AM he managed to walk to the food and water bowls and ate a tiny little bit. We bought special food for him that is good for renal problems. He went to the bathroom constantly for a while this morning, going much less than he usually does, but going none the less. We see this as positive.

Meiling and Poopie watch out for Scruffy. They stay near him napping most of the day and last night they both slept in bed with me to be near him. Little Riley is so upset he is scared. Every time he gets near Scruffy he hisses at him and growls. He will stand from a far distance and just stare at Scruffy sleeping. He doesn't know how to handle his sadness that Scruffy is so sick. Please keep our little one in your thoughts, good vibes and prayers. We are trying our best to keep a positive attitude about his condition, but we are worried we might lose our Scruffy.

5 comments:

AmericanKnitter said...

Have you any idea how old he is?
I sure hope he comes around..

Poor thing.

Unknown said...

Our hearts are with you and Scruffy. We know about taking care of kitties who are so very close in family love. You are doing a good job in caring for him, as are his kitty mates; critters are so intuitive. Fingers crossed that all turns out well. Love, Vaden

Jen said...

Scruffy is in our thoughts and prayers! We are sending nothing but good thoughts to the Sruffalupagus!!!!

Erin said...

Prayers are coming from us too. Poor Scruffy and you guys too. I know how much you love those kitties.

Sarah said...

I am hoping for the best!