Sudden changes for the worse
Dec. 2nd, 2018 05:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flexagonNala is dying. We took her to the vet and she weighed in at a horrifying 4.9 pounds, which was a huge change from six weeks before. And we got bloodwork done -- all her kidney numbers, which had been holding pretty steady for years, had tripled from the measurements six weeks earlier. The creatinine number, in particular, is more than twice where the internet says kidneys fail.
We are doing several things for her: an anti-emetic shot, an appetite stimulant pill, and subcutaneous fluids every night instead of twice a week now. Feeding her anything she'll eat. She also got a just-in-case antibiotic shot. As far as I can tell, this is all to make her comfortable -- the vet said that getting her kidney numbers back to normal is not a goal now, and she's exhibiting a lot of the signs of end-stage kidney disease: anemia, bad breath, high levels of creatinine and urea in the blood. Her internal temperature was also less than 100 at the vet's.
She doesn't seem to be in pain, but she walks unsteadily and has started to drool. She wants to be on one of us, or in front of the fireplace, at all times. She doesn't complain much anymore on the way to the vet (where we carry her very gently in a backpack, so she doesn't slide around in the carrier) or when we put fluids into her. She is eating more, in response to all the treatments, and she seeks us out and interacts with us, which is a quality-of-life metric the vet seems to hold in high esteem.
Of course I have to fly to California tomorrow for work, which made me mad when I found out and makes me madder now. I'm flying back Tuesday night though, which is quick, and the beast is under strict instructions to not die while I'm gone.
So I assume it's a rough couple of weeks, or something, coming up. But see also: promeowses. I'm not going to hold her back, when things don't seem good anymore.
We are doing several things for her: an anti-emetic shot, an appetite stimulant pill, and subcutaneous fluids every night instead of twice a week now. Feeding her anything she'll eat. She also got a just-in-case antibiotic shot. As far as I can tell, this is all to make her comfortable -- the vet said that getting her kidney numbers back to normal is not a goal now, and she's exhibiting a lot of the signs of end-stage kidney disease: anemia, bad breath, high levels of creatinine and urea in the blood. Her internal temperature was also less than 100 at the vet's.
She doesn't seem to be in pain, but she walks unsteadily and has started to drool. She wants to be on one of us, or in front of the fireplace, at all times. She doesn't complain much anymore on the way to the vet (where we carry her very gently in a backpack, so she doesn't slide around in the carrier) or when we put fluids into her. She is eating more, in response to all the treatments, and she seeks us out and interacts with us, which is a quality-of-life metric the vet seems to hold in high esteem.
Of course I have to fly to California tomorrow for work, which made me mad when I found out and makes me madder now. I'm flying back Tuesday night though, which is quick, and the beast is under strict instructions to not die while I'm gone.
So I assume it's a rough couple of weeks, or something, coming up. But see also: promeowses. I'm not going to hold her back, when things don't seem good anymore.
