Dear online pet angels,
Thank you deep from my heart for taking your time and energy to help and support our ever-dear pussycat. That you have given of yourselves generously and kindly to a cat and person strange to you is just a wonder of being truly human. Thank you, dear folk. Your kindness is such a gift.
Our ginger-cat is dear, wonderful, amazing and greatly brave, strong and intelligent. If you knew him you'd know that he's especially deserving of great love, admiration, involvement, enjoyment, and efforts for his health and welfare. He'd be deserving even if another cat ,yet he's always been a bit wild, like the dear wild mustang horse in my life for almost 30 years (passed away in 2002), there is a wonderful brilliant shine that comes with animal outdoor experience, bravery, and heart.
We've been lucky to know this wonderful gingery guy, nothing less than lucky. Sometimes in life, good luck happens (hard to remember sometimes, or a lot of times, hold that thought if you need it). And our good luck was learning to be with and enjoy this special cat-being. Our first cat together and we'll forever remember him grandly and always wish he was with us.
As I type, under a blue and gray and whitish-in-the-west evening sky, surrounded by pines and cedars, in the mountains that ring the Los Angeles basin (the so-called "saints", all named starting with "San") our ever-dear and sweet puss lies next to me on his sleeping pad at my desk. He's beautiful. He grabs at the heart. Well, at my heart.
And I am crying as I write. I don't want to disturb you, and I know you don't have the sadness and loss that I'm feeling for this particular puss, but likely you've had deep sadness and loss, with beloved pet-family as well, and perhaps sharing these words helps in some small way.
Today dear cat was diagnosed with kidney failure. Most important, it means he will leave us too soon. Too too soon. Too soon for deeply connected hearts.
The veterinarian, who is a kind and good man, believes that putterpie has lymphoma after-all. Today he did some blood work, which doesn't tell us if he has lymphoma, and a needle aspirate on a rear lymph, which should tell us. Will know the needle aspirate results tomorrow.
By way of perhaps helping someone in the future, with specific medical info, our cat's comprehensive and chemistry diagnostics of today (sometimes called a comp panel and a chem panel) shows that he has a creatinine level of 6.5 mg/dl and a BUN (amonia) of 101+ mg/dl. Phosphorous is also too high at 11.6 mg/dl. Calcium is into the high range (at 13.4+ mg/dl).
Kitty is clearly in the woods... and the prognosis isn't good. He probably has little life left with only about 10% of his kidneys working.
I don't know why if he has lymphoma his white blood count would be a tad lower than range, his is 5.34, 10.9/L (normal range is 5.5 - 19.5). I would have thought it would be high.
14+kitties, and others who may have been experiencing anemia with their cats, this information about gingercat may hit you hard. I'm sorry. I think it's a good idea to share and want to return to someone some of the goodness that you've given me. Even if it's a hard kind of goodness. Try to remember that there could be better news for you and your puss. I so hope so.
If puss has lymphoma then vet says there's no reason to put him on diuresis (small town, veterinary dialysis not available). No reason, to paraphrase vet, because if the lymphoma has hit the kidneys as hard as they've been hit then there's no recovery from that. But if cat doesn't have lymphoma then diuresis appears to be our next step. Perhaps it would give him a little more life (plus subcutaneous "sub-q" hydration at home afterwards - catterclaws is not going to like that at all, nor will his family).
Coincidentally, I have a friend who has been successfully treating her kidney-failing cat for a year or so now, with sub-q and such. I'll be contacting her to learn more if our dear gingerbeastie doesn't have lymphoma. And maybe even if he does. I guess I'm not sure if there is any benefit to kitkat in treating with sub-q if he has lymphoma and such bad kidney condition.
Have cried lots today and tonight, tears for dear wee beastie who came into our lives and our hearts and our desires. We didn't want a cat at the time, our lives had become and still are greatly pressured and stressed, and cat didn't really want people either, but we gradually became part of each other's life and love until the intensity was such that we loved and adored him, he loved us and a secure home, and Sir Pinkerton Paws was sleeping in our bed with us (even though my mate initially said no cat beyond the kitchen - silly, snaggletooth knew it and eradicated that boundary and most boundaries effectively and completely, and my mate grew to love and adore this wily, fun, delightful, loving, smart, sensitive kittykat).
So we prepare to lose him. Ahh, more tears of love. They come so hotly and stream from my eyes. And clog my nose. As my mate said, we will hold onto hope for gingery's survival in spite of the apparent truth, for that is the deepness of love. And that kind of love makes an important difference... and sometimes brings extra life.
Thank you kind folk again. May you and your human and critter families be safe and happy together. May you all be well as long as possible. The shortness of life for all creatures takes the breath away, may you keep closeness and find depth and goodness with those you love dearly.
