Conference misery::feline

    Sarah....
    
    My bet is it is the toxic levels that is doing this to her.   As
    far as giving fluids...I find my cat was not stressed out by
    this and it did make my cat feel alot better.  I also was very
    hestitant to give fluids because I hate needles...but I found
    that after my first few tries it was really easy.
    
    When my kitty was having his problems two years ago...we found
    we had to give him fluids daily for about one month time frame
    and then his toxic level went down and we stopped for over
    two years.  During that timeframe...kitty lived happy and
    healthy even though he did have kidney problems.
    
    As far as cost....I do get a discount rate from my vet and was
    charged $5.00 a bag and about 05 cents per needle.   I believe we
    went through one bag per week.
    
    Kitties can live many years with kidney problems and just because
    you need to give her fluids now...does not mean she will need
    fluids for the rest of her life.  Hopefully the fluids will
    reduce the toxic level...and kitty can go back to a normal life.
    
    Sandy 

    Well,   I got Shadow's results today.   Shadow had an episode of
    retinal bleeding and is blind which caused the unsteadiness on her feet
    and caused her to look so wobbly when she walked.  The retina has not
    detatched. Dr. Mulcahy suspected it yesterday, but the results of some
    tests confirmed her suspicions.  There is some light sensitivity, but
    the pupils do not respond well at all.  She said that they tested
    her through a maze and that she hugged the wall, but she is better
    today when walking down the hall than she was yesterday.  She said that
    this is not a life or death decision making problem.  She should do
    fine with how everythin is set up at home as long as we don't change
    things around too much.  She even said that we should keep her
    litterbox downstairs where it normally is because that is what she is
    used to, going through the pet door to go downstairs.   We will have to
    move her food down off the refrigerator.
    
    Her blood work showed her liver enzymes were lower than previous tests,
    but that her kidney enzymes were still elevated.   The vet wants to
    start her on a low dosage of hypertensive medication, (vaso-tech, this
    is a medication that is used for people)  maybe to prevent other
    episodes of retinal bleeding?  She is going to start her on the pills
    and keep her a couple more days to check for side effects.  She did
    say that with being on vaso-tech and having the high kidney enzyme
    levels that it might be necessary to bring Shadow in for fluids, once a
    week.   I will see if they can show me how to do this at home to avoid
    the stress of taking Shadow back and forth.
    
    This really floored me.   I was expecting the absolute worse with
    kidney failure or something like that.   I never ever suspected that
    Shadow was blind.   Dr. Mulcahy said that it comes on really suddenly,
    which was why she was fine Sunday morning, but Sunday afternoon she was
    totally off balance.   We have a pretty rambunctious dog, who loves to
    chase Shadow around. This was almost like a game for them, Shadow would
    jump on the chair and Julie would run around and Shadow would slap at
    and meow when Julie ran by.   We probably will need to curb this
    tendency some how.   
    
    If anyone else has had this type of experience, I would sure appreciate
    some inputs.
    
    Thanks,
    Sarah

    Who is owned by Beth the blind kitty?  I can't remember, except
    the wonderful stories about how well Beth managed.
    

    Mary Tamir......I do stay in touch with Mary on occasion and
    the last time I spoke to her she said Beth is doing GREAT!!!
    
    Mary even bought a new house and Beth handled the move
    with ease.
    
    Sandy

    My father's cat has been blind for a couple of years now and is
    getting by with little difficulty.  She's a little skittish when
    someone new comes up to pet her but otherwise she gets around 
    the house quite well and is generally happy and healthy.  
    
    I am sorry to hear that this has happened to your kitty but do 
    take comfort in the fact that cats seem to adjust to new challenges
    very well.  I wish the best for you and yours as you go through
    the adjustment.
    
    Jan
    

    My in-laws cat was blind most of her life.  Princess got along just
    great.  She would visit my house whe they went on trips she adjusted
    just fine after about two hours. The only thing we had to do was show
    her the litter box and let her climb out and find her way upstairs. 
    She also adusted fine with my brood. She lived a good sixteen years.
    
    Dennis
    

    Thanks for all the replies.   It really helps.   I went to see her last
    night and she seemed to do pretty good, except for being mad at me. 
    She does seem to be able to shadows.  I took some lamb baby food/rice
    mix with me and the technician at the clinic gave me a plate to put
    some on.   I put Shadow down and she ignored it.  But when the
    technician took her back, she said that Shadow went right to her bowl
    and started eating.   So she isn't a happy camper about being there.
    She walked around the room that we were in.  She was very careful, but
    didn't seem to be as unsteady on her feet like she was on Sunday, so
    she does seem to be getting used to this already.   She walked up to
    the chair, placed her feet on the seat and jumped right up with no
    problems, so I do feel that she will do OK now.   I am really happy
    that this wasn't as serious (kidney/liver failure) as I thought it
    might be and that I'm not looking at at life & death situation here.
    
    Thanks a lot.
    
    Sarah

	What good news Sarah!!!

	Laura

    Yea, kittys are such marvelous, resourceful creatures, aren't they. 
    Blind one day and already coping the next.  Too bad, more humans aren't
    like kittys.  Congratulations on the good news
    (not-life-threatening)...
    
    Sandi and her Notorious 7
    
    

    I was so excited, I got to bring her home last night.   I had to make a
    few adjustments, for a few days so that I can keep her quite.   I had
    to bring her litterbox upstairs, temporarily so that she wouldn't have
    to run up and down the stairs.  She got home and walked around like she
    hadn't been to the vets for 3 days.   She was still a little miffed
    with me though because I left her there to begin with.  She jumped on
    top of the refrigerator before I could stop her.  She didn't seem to
    have any problem with that at all.    She is doing very well.   I do
    have to have her on vaso-tech, 1/4 of a 10 mg tablet every evening, and
    for the next 4 weeks, she will need to be given fluids.   I'm very very
    happy that it wasn't something really serious.  She seems to have
    adjusted already, although I'm still a little nervous for her.
    
    Thanks for the support.
    
    Sarah

    
    
    	Where's Mary Tamir to tell her stories about Beth!
    
    	Beth is a beautiful kitty that had to have both of her
    	eyes removed.  You won't believe the stuff she can accomplish
    	until you see her do it in person........ she's an unbelievable
    	kitty.
    
    	I hope your baby does well........
    
    	JJ
    

    Unfortunatly, Mary is no longer at DEC. She has been gone about 3 years
    now. She has been back as a contractor a couple of times.
    
    Deb

    There are Beth notes in FELINE though --
    
        search beth /notes=1.*-9999.*
    

    re.12, I hope Beth is doing well, eh? Knows anyone anything about Mary?
    
    Nat

    I am so glad to know that your furball will adjust and be alright.
    
    Liz

    
    
    	Deb...yeah, I knew that.  =)   It was kind of a rhetorical
    	question.......... =)
    
    	JJ