RIP MICHA

On Tuesday, May 22 at 8:00 am, my dear boy Micha passed away after a courageous and vigorous battle with Chronic Renal Failure. He seemed to be doing well up to that morning. After trying to "capture" him for a feeding, he struggled to get away and was panting. Unusual for him. I decided that we needed to get to the vet so I went to wash my face and dress. I was about half dressed when I decided to check on him. When I went into his room I found him curled up in the little house at the base of the cat tree. He was already gone. I am comforted to know that he didn't suffer much, if at all, and went very quickly.

Micha was one of my early rescues along with his two sisters. He would have been 12 years old in August. I guess he never got adopted because he was very shy. I'm glad he got to stay with us. He was a very sweet, if willful, boy and he will be greatly missed.



VETERINARY UPDATES

Well, this has been a busy week, vet-wise. We had three vet visits this week for three different cats. On Wednesday Buddy had his regular eye check-up with Dr. Hermann. The pressure in his eyes is pretty stable, though higher than normal in the left one still. Buddy is so good during the exam and Dr. Hermann is just the best! He answers all my questions like I have a few brain cells and explains things well. We go back in four months.

Wednesday afternoon I finally got Max in for his checkup and fructosamine with Dr. Hseih. Was she surprised when Max showed up at 15 lbs! His exam went well and his fructosamine showed his glucose was being maintained well. He's down to 5 units of insulin twice a day. I was so amazed that I was able to catch him Wednesday morning. I didn't even call for an appointment until I had him secured in the bathroom. For a big guy he can sure move fast! Since he's doing so well he doesn't have to go back for 6 months!!!

Thursday Micha had his recheck. They did bloodwork and an exam. I really like Dr. Werner - she handles Micha well and doesn't take any of his guff  personally. His kidney values were actually down a bit more, which is good. However, he is now experiencing some anemia - a result of the decrease in kidney function. If it continues to increase, he may need some bone marrow injections. He goes back next week. Micha does look much better and his appetite appears a bit better. He has gained 3 ounces since last week. He's tolerating his fluids well and I've caught him nibbling at the dry food. As long as I can get at least 1200 cc's of the special canned food in him each day, I don't really care if he eats the dry, too. He's staying hydrated and that's important. I know his days are numbered, so I want to make him as comfortable as possible. He still has lots of strength and his usual vim and vinegar. When that changes I'll know it's time to let him go. In the mean time we will both enjoy our time together.

So it goes. These guys and their housemates do take a lot of my time, but I don't know what I'd do without them.

FURTHER MICHA UPDATE

It's been a busy, busy week and I apologize for taking so long to update Micha's condition. He spent the New Year's weekend at the emergency clinic for continued IV fluids. Since they were open Monday, he stayed there rather than going to the vet and then back to the clinic. Tuesday morning I moved him back to the vet. His numbers were down, but continued above normal.

The best news was that Tuesday evening he got to come home instead of going to the Emergency Clinic again. He was so happy to be home and I was happy to have him here. He knew he was home as soon as we drove into the garage. I set up a cage in his room as I didn't want him wandering about with his IV catherter still in. He wasn't happy about the cage, but settled in.

Wednesday morning we went back to the vet for more IV fluids and more bloodwork. The vet was disappointed that his numbers didn't stay, but went up just a tad. However, the best news of the week was then Wednesday night he came home for good, hopefully. They felt that this was as low as his numbers were going to go and it didn't make sense to keep him in the hospital for more fluids.

I can tell he feels better as he's not cranky and even talks to me a bit. I move him in and out of the cage depending on the time of day. He's supposed to be only eating some canned food especially for kidney failure patients and he gets a supplement twice a day and, supposedly, an appetite enhancer once a day. We are also doing subcutaneous fluids - 150 ml daily. He's not too keen on the canned food yet and I've caught him nibbling at the dry food. I'm not going to be too awfully strict as he does need to eat, though the dry food isn't the best for him. He's been a doll in taking his subQ fluids. He does not like the syringe feeding. He does nibble a bit at the canned food, too.

Another bit of good news is that he doesn't have to go back for a check until the 11th or 12th!

We are working out a schedule and it's almost time for his fluids so I will sign off for now. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and good wishes for Micha's recovery. As the vet said, there is no "cure" for kidney failure, but we can work on maintaining a good level of living while we can.

MICHA UPDATE

Micha is back at the Emergency Clinic, probably for the weekend. He had a good day at the vet and they were able to get urine for urinalysis and culture to see if anything was going on there. He still hadn't eaten any food. Since the vet would be closed for the entire weekend, he had to go back to the Emergency Clinic.

When I picked him up at the vet, he seemed much more alert though still cranky. I remembered that most of the other indoor cats loved the Purina Cat Chow that I feed the outside cats - they think it's candy! So I put some in a baggie to see if Micha would eat it. Dr. Inman mentioned a possible medication that requires being taken with food.

While we waited at the Emergency Clinic for him to be admitted, I dropped some of the Cat Chow in his carrier and - surprise, surprise - he ate it!! It's not the best thing for a diabetic cat to be eating, even if he is in remission right now. But he needs to eat so . . .

The Emergency Clinic is an interesting place. When we walked in, there was no one else there. The minute we got seated there were three dog brought in, two of which needed immediate attention. So we waited about an hour for admission. But we had people to talk to and I was interacting with Micha. There were two dogs who lived together and were devoted to each other that got in a fight over a knuckle bone. One just had some damage to the face and ears, but the other was in worse shape. I don't know how that worked out. The lady who brought them in was so distraught so we talked about dogs and cats and I hope she felt a bit better when I left.

I will go visit Micha later today with the hope that his bloodwork shows drastic improvement. I also appreciate all the prayers and good thoughts that folks are sending our way. It really helps both of us. I'll post an update later on today when we have the lab results.