Diana and Merlin (GA)
Member
I haven't been here in a while, but I think I just need to get this out.
Merlin went OTJ back at the end of August, following a hypo spell. About two weeks ago, he had some digestive upset, threw up, didn't eat for a day, and then dropped two pounds. I took him to the vet. She thought he had fluid in his abdominal area and so referred him to an internist with the concern that it might be cancer.
The internist did an ultrasound on Friday and didn't see any evidence of cancer, but he did see that Merlin's intestines were intussuscepted (telescoping intestines) and he went into surgery on Monday. Because of a couple high values when they tested his BG, he was put back on Lantus. (He was 290 at his regular vets on Thursday, 396 at the internist Friday. He got no insulin over the weekend because his values normalized.)
He received one shot Monday morning and one shot Tuesday morning at the surgeon's. On Monday they opened him up to do the surgery, only to find his intestines had righted themselves and they were fine. He biopsied Merlin's liver, the thick places on his intestine, and his enlarged kidneys.
On Tuesday, he had another hypo episode where he dropped down to 24, but they gave him a bolus of glucose and he perked back up. They let me know that I could pick him up and so I did. On our way home, he started behaving strangely and then had a seizure in the car. I was five minutes from the local emergency vet and so I took him there. His BG was low again, they kept him overnight last night, and he received several more boluses of glucose and remained on an IV of dextrose. She called me around 3 am to let me know that his incision was leaking fluid. She tested it, found more fluid inside his abdomen, tested that as well and found that he was septic.
After the emergency vet spoke to the emergency vet where he'd had his surgery, we decided to move him back to the clinic. So I took him in. They called in their surgeon early to get Merlin looked at. When he was opened up, they saw that he had telescoped again, only this time his bowel was dying, he was septic, he had peritonitis, and all the usual natural reserves that a cat has to heal from surgery, he didn't have. He'd lost too much body fat.
He recommended that I put Merlin to sleep, so I returned to the clinic, they stitched him up, and I stayed with him.
I keep trying to tell myself that at least he's not getting poked anymore, that he's no longer in pain, but I really just miss my little guy so much it hurts.
And I guess I just need somewhere to say it all.
Merlin went OTJ back at the end of August, following a hypo spell. About two weeks ago, he had some digestive upset, threw up, didn't eat for a day, and then dropped two pounds. I took him to the vet. She thought he had fluid in his abdominal area and so referred him to an internist with the concern that it might be cancer.
The internist did an ultrasound on Friday and didn't see any evidence of cancer, but he did see that Merlin's intestines were intussuscepted (telescoping intestines) and he went into surgery on Monday. Because of a couple high values when they tested his BG, he was put back on Lantus. (He was 290 at his regular vets on Thursday, 396 at the internist Friday. He got no insulin over the weekend because his values normalized.)
He received one shot Monday morning and one shot Tuesday morning at the surgeon's. On Monday they opened him up to do the surgery, only to find his intestines had righted themselves and they were fine. He biopsied Merlin's liver, the thick places on his intestine, and his enlarged kidneys.
On Tuesday, he had another hypo episode where he dropped down to 24, but they gave him a bolus of glucose and he perked back up. They let me know that I could pick him up and so I did. On our way home, he started behaving strangely and then had a seizure in the car. I was five minutes from the local emergency vet and so I took him there. His BG was low again, they kept him overnight last night, and he received several more boluses of glucose and remained on an IV of dextrose. She called me around 3 am to let me know that his incision was leaking fluid. She tested it, found more fluid inside his abdomen, tested that as well and found that he was septic.
After the emergency vet spoke to the emergency vet where he'd had his surgery, we decided to move him back to the clinic. So I took him in. They called in their surgeon early to get Merlin looked at. When he was opened up, they saw that he had telescoped again, only this time his bowel was dying, he was septic, he had peritonitis, and all the usual natural reserves that a cat has to heal from surgery, he didn't have. He'd lost too much body fat.
He recommended that I put Merlin to sleep, so I returned to the clinic, they stitched him up, and I stayed with him.
I keep trying to tell myself that at least he's not getting poked anymore, that he's no longer in pain, but I really just miss my little guy so much it hurts.
And I guess I just need somewhere to say it all.
We did right by our little guys.