Hit the penguin, bat the penguin, bash the penguin,
do whatever you want with the penguin.
Saturday, 24 January 2004
You can see where the hair was shaved off
for all the procedures she had to go through.
Charlie is much, much better,
but still unable to eat her Hills pellets without a struggle.
Friday, 23 January 2004
Thursday, 22 January 2004
So, why is that OTHER cat getting all the attention?
Wednesday, 21 January 2004
Charlie and her mother’s father ...
FURTHER UPDATE:
MONDAY
At 8:30am on Monday morning we went back to the emergency vet and spoke to the kitty specialist. She suggested that we have the tracheal wash done to establish whether it is kitty asthma that we are dealing with. This meant that after all Charlie had already been through, she needed to be subjected to an anaesthetic. The specialist felt that Charlie was strong enough for the procedure and we told her that it was okay to go ahead.
She also told us that the seizure was caused by a clash of medication that was given to Charlie by our normal vet and something the emergency vet gave her.
I think the specialist fell in love with Charlie. When she took us through to see Charlie in the morning, she ended up cooing and kissing Charlie!! Charlie’s parents felt a bit left out ...
At about 2pm the specialist phoned to say that the procedure was done and that it confirms that Charlie has kitty asthma. She also confirmed that there is tar in Charlie’s lungs. She also found a secondary lung infection.
Hmm ... can you see that big lifestyle changes are on their way?
We were told that we could go and fetch Charlie at 5pm, which we did. The pills we walked away with weighed more than Charlie ....
As you can imagine, all of Monday night Charlie was lethargic. Not much reaction from her at all. My brother and sister-in-law (Charlie’s mother’s parents) came around to check on Charlie’s progress. But, there was not much to see other than a tired, sleeping cat.
We weren’t too worried about the fact that she seemed wobbly on her legs and was struggling to drink water, seeing as she had had an anaesthetic in the afternoon. We simply assumed that that must’ve been the reason why. We were concerned, though and helped her as much as possible.
My brother and sister-in-law kindly offered to come and kitty-sit on Tuesday (yesterday) as we had taken leave on Monday and needed to be back at the office on Tuesday. (My brother is currently on leave).
TUESDAY:
On Tuesday morning I was really worried about Charlie. She had not eaten anything at all, had not used the litter box and seemed very weak. She sat over the water bowl, with her chest in the water. It looked as if she had forgotten how to drink water. (Seizure and brain damage were going through my mind.)
I was very grateful that my brother and his wife were able to come and sit with her, even if just to make sure that she doesn’t drown herself in the water bowl! Charlie was taken good care of during the day. (Thanks Johann and Angie!)
By lunchtime yesterday she had still not managed to eat anything and I went to get a syringe and baby food. I went home at lunch time and managed to get quite a bit of food into Charlie with the syringe. She seemed hungry, but unable to eat without help. There was also no purring! That also troubled me.
This morning she tried to eat her Hills pellets, but seemed to have a problem picking them up into her mouth to chew. But, she was starting to do little “Charlie things”, like sharpening her nails on a certain spot on the carpet, hopping into the basin for a drink of water and lying in the sun at the bedroom window.
I came home at lunch time to syringe-feed her again. She also managed to eat quite a bit of the baby food from a spoon I held in front of her mouth.
WEDNESDAY:
This evening she is much better.
She is eating baby food on her own now, but is still struggling to pick up pellets. (She does manage the occasional one or two.) She still seems rather weak, but a lot better than yesterday. She is now reacting to sounds and movements around her. And she is purring!
This afternoon she came to meet me at the door when I got home from work!
She is still sleeping a lot - in fact, she is sleeping on my lap as I am blogging this ...
For now I have a little kitty that needs lots of love and attention.
More tomorrow.
Sunday, 18 January 2004
(UPDATES BELOW.)
Charlie is very sick. We have had an evening of trips to the emergency vet. They cannot figure out what the problem is.
At 2am she was breathing very badly and we rushed her to the emergency vet. When we got there, they took blood tests that did not show any signs of trouble. They gave her a bronchodilator to help with the breathing and then let us take her home. We got home at 3:30am.
I stayed awake to keep an eye on her breathing.
At 5am she was worse than at 2am and we took her back to the emergency vet and they kept her there. While we were there they took x-rays that showed some sort of congestion, but not enough for her to be breathing as badly as she is. They put her in an oxygen cage and we had to leave her there. We got home just after 6am.
At 8:30am we went back, hoping they'd tell us that she is a bit better and that we could take her to our normal vet for further treatment. Unfortunately there had been no change in her breathing, even with the help of the oxygen.
The emergency vet phoned our vet and had quite a long discussion with him (our vet also took x-rays and did blood tests yesterday morning). They both seem flummoxed with regard to what the problem could be. (Vet's words: "We don't know what we are dealing with.") We had to leave her at the emergency vet again.
They are now going to give her steroids and a stronger bronchodilator this morning, as well as keep her in the oxygen cage. Hopefully we will be able to bring her to our usual vet this evening - if all goes well. But the emergency vet says that things don't look good, the oxygen is not helping. We're hoping the steroids and any other treatment they might try will work. We got home just after 10am.
In the meantime, we believe she is in the best possible care, those people at the emergency vet seem very jacked-up and have access to all sorts of specialist vets they can call on, if necessary.
We have not yet slept, and neither has Charlie. She looks exhausted from all the laboured breathing.
We are hoping ... she is one of our babies and needs to get better and come home soon.
UPDATES:
NOON:
At lunchtime the vet phoned to ask about Charlie’s history. She had a massive seizure! She is now on Valium, Morphine, bronchodilators, steroids and still in the oxygen cage.
They will be taking more blood for more tests. The results are expected at 6pm.
Apparently she is breathing a bit better now and is peaceful.
Of course, I still cannot sleep.
8PM:
We went to see Charlie. If that is what Valium does, keep it WELL away from me. Charlie is confused, hungry and thirsty. But, she is better and drinking heaps of water.
Her breathing is still slightly laboured, but nowhere near as bad as it was this morning. The vet is very happy with the way she looks at the moment. They have stopped adding the oxygen to her cage.
It is always scary to see your babies in a condition worse than what you are used to. My first reaction was, how can the vet be happy with this condition? I needed to be reminded of all that Charlie had been through before understanding his reaction to her “improvement”.
We will be taking her to a vet specialist in the morning. The purpose is to confirm whether she has feline asthma or not.
Expensive? Yes, yes, yes. BIG OUCH!
But, do you know what? She is my child. Anything less would not be enough.
If she IS diagnosed with feline asthma, we will at least know what lies ahead for us.
Least of all because we are both smokers. We are both doing Google searches for Zyban!
The bad part, at the moment, is that there is still no clear diagnosis of the situation. We are hoping that this will be cleared up in the morning.
We were not allowed to bring her home yet, the drugs are still affecting her too much. We are hoping that tomorrow will be the day.
We want her home already ......
Saturday, 17 January 2004
IT’S A DUCK!
Wednesday, 14 January 2004
Are you having problems with “square theft” on your blog?
This setting seems to make it possible to get to URLs with underscores. As soon as the tick under “Proxy server” is removed, I can’t get to them.
Is there something about this that I am supposed to *understand*?
Thanks for all the responses to the previous post. Now, please excuse me while I quickly go and visit all those underscored URLs I have been neglecting!
Tuesday, 6 January 2004
STUPID QUESTION:
Why can’t I get to websites with underscores in the URLs?
Sunday, 4 January 2004
SWELTERING:
Excessively hot and humid or marked by sweating and faintness
Cape Town: min and max temps today.
Saturday, 3 January 2004
When using the Vicks plant, make sure you administer it correctly.
Friday, 2 January 2004
“Today I woke up in a place that said to me, be free.
I woke up in a place that said be what you want to be.
I woke up to a dream and I realise that I am stronger than I was yesterday.
I woke up in a place where it is the size of your heart that counts, not your fists, because yesterday I was digging for gold and today I am wearing it.
Yesterday I was burning with frustration, today I am growing big business.
I woke up and realised that I don’t need a gun to make you listen.
And even if I have nothing, this place can give me everything.
All I need do is believe.
Today I woke up in a place whose cheering can be heard on the other side of the world, a place where my brother is my brother, no matter what.
Today I woke up in a place that flows with courage, that laughs, that cried, that says it’s okay.
Today I woke up in a place that sings with hope to the rest of the world, and I smiled because South Africans are creating a new dawn every day.”
Today, I woke up in South Africa.
(The television advertisement where this came from can be downloaded here.)
Thursday, 1 January 2004
Happy 2004 to all readers -
specifically to the people on my blogroll:
This year I will be tidying up all the untidy cupboards in this blog .....
