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First, Charles and Marion's dog. Â Then Reba's puppy. Â Today I spent 6 hours at the Animal Emergency Hospital and ended up having to leave my cat with them!
Now it's my turn to vent. Â
Xander had been just fine. Â No appetite changes, no mood changes, no weight loss, nothing was different. Â He is a tough cat. Â In fact, just last week I heard a dog barking in the yard. Â It went on and on until I finally went out to see what was going on. Â Xander was outside and about 8 feet away was a huge yellow lab. Â Xander looked at me, then he puffed up and charged the dog! Â I had to grab him and take him into the house before this huge dog would even attempt to leave the yard. Â He's a badass...
At about 1pm today Xander came through the cat door making horrible, painful yowling sounds. Â He was salivating heavily. Â I went to him to see what was going on and he wouldn't move and then just pooped in the floor. Â My first thought was that he'd been hit by a car and that something was going on internally. Â I grabbed my purse, a blanket and Xander and got in the car. Â At the vet, they took x-rays assuming that he had dislocated his hip because he wouldn't walk. Â Nothing was wrong. Â When the vet looked at his gums and noticed how pale they were, he started yowling again and started going unconscious. Â At that point the doc said we needed to get to a specialist. Â She called the Emergency Animal Hospital on I-10 and told them we were heading over. Â
Once we got there, they started doing labwork. Â Everyone was confused because he acted like he'd been involved in a trauma, except there was NO TRAUMA! Â Finally the doctor called me in and told me that his spleen is about 4 times the normal size for a cat, and rock hard. Â (I had overheard her telling another doctor that she'd never felt a spleen this size in a cat ever before). Â They tested him for Leukemia - negative. Â Then for FIV - negative. Â Well, I'm getting tired of typing and you all are probably tired of reading so to make a long story short, he has Feline Infectious Anemia. Â His red blood count was in the life-threateningly low level. Â So bad that they did a Cross and Type and had a bag of blood in the fridge in case he needed a blood transfusion tonight. Â They had tested his PCV (Packed Cell Volume), normally 25% to 45% in cats. Â It was 14%. Â They think it was caused from Hemobartonella (a parasite transmitted by fleas). Â Basically, the parasites attach to the blood cells and the body starts to kill them off as damaged blood cells. Â They started him on IV antibiotics and fluids at 7pm. Â I called at 11pm for an update and the doctor said that they had just tested his PCV again and it's up to 17%!! Â
I have been a basketcase all day. Â And after talking to the doctor this evening, guygeek suggested I share the experience so far with you guys. Â So there it is...and Reba, I too would do anything for my babies. Â The 24 hour cost estimate for treating Xander was between $920 and $1723. Â We've spent $1600 so far. Â I can only imagine what it cost for Spirit for the 3 days he was at the hospital.
So if everyone could cross their fingers for Xander for the next few days, I sure would appreciate it.
Oh, and by the way...he loves the fish!
Now it's my turn to vent. Â
Xander had been just fine. Â No appetite changes, no mood changes, no weight loss, nothing was different. Â He is a tough cat. Â In fact, just last week I heard a dog barking in the yard. Â It went on and on until I finally went out to see what was going on. Â Xander was outside and about 8 feet away was a huge yellow lab. Â Xander looked at me, then he puffed up and charged the dog! Â I had to grab him and take him into the house before this huge dog would even attempt to leave the yard. Â He's a badass...
At about 1pm today Xander came through the cat door making horrible, painful yowling sounds. Â He was salivating heavily. Â I went to him to see what was going on and he wouldn't move and then just pooped in the floor. Â My first thought was that he'd been hit by a car and that something was going on internally. Â I grabbed my purse, a blanket and Xander and got in the car. Â At the vet, they took x-rays assuming that he had dislocated his hip because he wouldn't walk. Â Nothing was wrong. Â When the vet looked at his gums and noticed how pale they were, he started yowling again and started going unconscious. Â At that point the doc said we needed to get to a specialist. Â She called the Emergency Animal Hospital on I-10 and told them we were heading over. Â
Once we got there, they started doing labwork. Â Everyone was confused because he acted like he'd been involved in a trauma, except there was NO TRAUMA! Â Finally the doctor called me in and told me that his spleen is about 4 times the normal size for a cat, and rock hard. Â (I had overheard her telling another doctor that she'd never felt a spleen this size in a cat ever before). Â They tested him for Leukemia - negative. Â Then for FIV - negative. Â Well, I'm getting tired of typing and you all are probably tired of reading so to make a long story short, he has Feline Infectious Anemia. Â His red blood count was in the life-threateningly low level. Â So bad that they did a Cross and Type and had a bag of blood in the fridge in case he needed a blood transfusion tonight. Â They had tested his PCV (Packed Cell Volume), normally 25% to 45% in cats. Â It was 14%. Â They think it was caused from Hemobartonella (a parasite transmitted by fleas). Â Basically, the parasites attach to the blood cells and the body starts to kill them off as damaged blood cells. Â They started him on IV antibiotics and fluids at 7pm. Â I called at 11pm for an update and the doctor said that they had just tested his PCV again and it's up to 17%!! Â
I have been a basketcase all day. Â And after talking to the doctor this evening, guygeek suggested I share the experience so far with you guys. Â So there it is...and Reba, I too would do anything for my babies. Â The 24 hour cost estimate for treating Xander was between $920 and $1723. Â We've spent $1600 so far. Â I can only imagine what it cost for Spirit for the 3 days he was at the hospital.
So if everyone could cross their fingers for Xander for the next few days, I sure would appreciate it.
Oh, and by the way...he loves the fish!
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