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First, Charles and Marion's dog. Then Reba's puppy. 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.
Xander had been just fine. No appetite changes, no mood changes, no weight loss, nothing was different. He is a tough cat. In fact, just last week I heard a dog barking in the yard. It went on and on until I finally went out to see what was going on. Xander was outside and about 8 feet away was a huge yellow lab. Xander looked at me, then he puffed up and charged the dog! I had to grab him and take him into the house before this huge dog would even attempt to leave the yard. He's a badass...
At about 1pm today Xander came through the cat door making horrible, painful yowling sounds. He was salivating heavily. I went to him to see what was going on and he wouldn't move and then just pooped in the floor. My first thought was that he'd been hit by a car and that something was going on internally. I grabbed my purse, a blanket and Xander and got in the car. At the vet, they took x-rays assuming that he had dislocated his hip because he wouldn't walk. Nothing was wrong. When the vet looked at his gums and noticed how pale they were, he started yowling again and started going unconscious. At that point the doc said we needed to get to a specialist. She called the Emergency Animal Hospital on I-10 and told them we were heading over.
Once we got there, they started doing labwork. Everyone was confused because he acted like he'd been involved in a trauma, except there was NO TRAUMA! 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. (I had overheard her telling another doctor that she'd never felt a spleen this size in a cat ever before). They tested him for Leukemia - negative. Then for FIV - negative. 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. His red blood count was in the life-threateningly low level. 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. They had tested his PCV (Packed Cell Volume), normally 25% to 45% in cats. It was 14%. They think it was caused from Hemobartonella (a parasite transmitted by fleas). Basically, the parasites attach to the blood cells and the body starts to kill them off as damaged blood cells. They started him on IV antibiotics and fluids at 7pm. 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%!!
I have been a basketcase all day. And after talking to the doctor this evening, guygeek suggested I share the experience so far with you guys. So there it is...and Reba, I too would do anything for my babies. The 24 hour cost estimate for treating Xander was between $920 and $1723. We've spent $1600 so far. 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.
Xander had been just fine. No appetite changes, no mood changes, no weight loss, nothing was different. He is a tough cat. In fact, just last week I heard a dog barking in the yard. It went on and on until I finally went out to see what was going on. Xander was outside and about 8 feet away was a huge yellow lab. Xander looked at me, then he puffed up and charged the dog! I had to grab him and take him into the house before this huge dog would even attempt to leave the yard. He's a badass...
At about 1pm today Xander came through the cat door making horrible, painful yowling sounds. He was salivating heavily. I went to him to see what was going on and he wouldn't move and then just pooped in the floor. My first thought was that he'd been hit by a car and that something was going on internally. I grabbed my purse, a blanket and Xander and got in the car. At the vet, they took x-rays assuming that he had dislocated his hip because he wouldn't walk. Nothing was wrong. When the vet looked at his gums and noticed how pale they were, he started yowling again and started going unconscious. At that point the doc said we needed to get to a specialist. She called the Emergency Animal Hospital on I-10 and told them we were heading over.
Once we got there, they started doing labwork. Everyone was confused because he acted like he'd been involved in a trauma, except there was NO TRAUMA! 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. (I had overheard her telling another doctor that she'd never felt a spleen this size in a cat ever before). They tested him for Leukemia - negative. Then for FIV - negative. 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. His red blood count was in the life-threateningly low level. 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. They had tested his PCV (Packed Cell Volume), normally 25% to 45% in cats. It was 14%. They think it was caused from Hemobartonella (a parasite transmitted by fleas). Basically, the parasites attach to the blood cells and the body starts to kill them off as damaged blood cells. They started him on IV antibiotics and fluids at 7pm. 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%!!
I have been a basketcase all day. And after talking to the doctor this evening, guygeek suggested I share the experience so far with you guys. So there it is...and Reba, I too would do anything for my babies. The 24 hour cost estimate for treating Xander was between $920 and $1723. We've spent $1600 so far. 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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