Debra & CB (GA) & Gang
Member
For those that remember us, TK and Radar are now 3 years old. It's hard to believe that they've made it this far, I just hope that they both have many years left to grace upon us.
TK has, unfortunately, been diagnosed with severe hip arthritis. He came to me one weekend evening shaking and upset. I called my vet and we met at the clinic. She decided to xray his hips and spine, and I have to say that I've never seen such horrible hips in a cat. No joint space at all, and both hips have irregular surafaces. We immediately started him on adequan shots, and thankfully, they have reduced his pain. We don't know if he has bad hips due to genetics, or due to long term steroid use. TK has been taking steroids twice daily for almost 2 years now, because without them he just rips himself to shreds. Plus he's on long term anti-yeast meds......all because my vet back then failed to diagnose a yeast infection in his ears. It went systemic, and since his immune system is so bad, he cannot fight the yeast infection off. The meds make it manageable, and allow him as normal a life as possible without having to wear an e-collar, but doesn't totally rid him of it. So far he went through having 1 adequan shot a week for 6 weeks. It's been almost 3 months now, and so far so good. He has good days and bad days, mostly it's wild weather changes that seem to cause him some discomfort, but we know that the adequan seems to work, and will keep an eye on him to tell us when he needs more shots.
Radar......I almost lost him about 2 months ago! One Sunday evening he came running out of our bedroom, stopped right in front of me, and peed.....on our floor! I called my vet and met her at the clinic. Radar had tons of bacteria in his urine......urinary tract infection. Since he's already blind my vet prescribed baytril, and we came back home. But, overnight he didn't move from my chair, and when my vet called the next morning to ask about him, she suggested that I might want to bring him back in. I did, and he was hospitalized. By Tuesday he had turned septic, his liver was enlarged, elevated liver enzymes, lung congestion, rapid shallow breathing, no appetite, and fluid in his abdomen. Despite running all sorts of tests on blood and fluid drawn from his abdomen, nothing was ever found to have caused all this. And, just as quickly, he started to recover. He came home that Friday with his IV cath still in place, and I took him back in the following Monday to have a recheck, they removed his cath at that time. Radar weighs just 4.6 pounds, and most likely has the same weak immune system as his brother, so all we can guess is that he had hidden his illness from us to the point where he just couldn't hide it any more.......and it darn near cost him his life. So, I really try to keep a close eye on him and his normal routines.
These two boys are so special, in so many ways, yet they're also been so much of a challenge..........I just hope that they have a good happy life, for how ever long I have them.
Debra & CB (GA) & gang
TK has, unfortunately, been diagnosed with severe hip arthritis. He came to me one weekend evening shaking and upset. I called my vet and we met at the clinic. She decided to xray his hips and spine, and I have to say that I've never seen such horrible hips in a cat. No joint space at all, and both hips have irregular surafaces. We immediately started him on adequan shots, and thankfully, they have reduced his pain. We don't know if he has bad hips due to genetics, or due to long term steroid use. TK has been taking steroids twice daily for almost 2 years now, because without them he just rips himself to shreds. Plus he's on long term anti-yeast meds......all because my vet back then failed to diagnose a yeast infection in his ears. It went systemic, and since his immune system is so bad, he cannot fight the yeast infection off. The meds make it manageable, and allow him as normal a life as possible without having to wear an e-collar, but doesn't totally rid him of it. So far he went through having 1 adequan shot a week for 6 weeks. It's been almost 3 months now, and so far so good. He has good days and bad days, mostly it's wild weather changes that seem to cause him some discomfort, but we know that the adequan seems to work, and will keep an eye on him to tell us when he needs more shots.
Radar......I almost lost him about 2 months ago! One Sunday evening he came running out of our bedroom, stopped right in front of me, and peed.....on our floor! I called my vet and met her at the clinic. Radar had tons of bacteria in his urine......urinary tract infection. Since he's already blind my vet prescribed baytril, and we came back home. But, overnight he didn't move from my chair, and when my vet called the next morning to ask about him, she suggested that I might want to bring him back in. I did, and he was hospitalized. By Tuesday he had turned septic, his liver was enlarged, elevated liver enzymes, lung congestion, rapid shallow breathing, no appetite, and fluid in his abdomen. Despite running all sorts of tests on blood and fluid drawn from his abdomen, nothing was ever found to have caused all this. And, just as quickly, he started to recover. He came home that Friday with his IV cath still in place, and I took him back in the following Monday to have a recheck, they removed his cath at that time. Radar weighs just 4.6 pounds, and most likely has the same weak immune system as his brother, so all we can guess is that he had hidden his illness from us to the point where he just couldn't hide it any more.......and it darn near cost him his life. So, I really try to keep a close eye on him and his normal routines.
These two boys are so special, in so many ways, yet they're also been so much of a challenge..........I just hope that they have a good happy life, for how ever long I have them.
Debra & CB (GA) & gang
