We haven't been posting much about our lil' bundles of joy. Mostly they have been healthy, though more recently we've had some health issues.
Pixel cycles between kidney failure and semi-normal and is currently somewhere in between. He needs to eat more, but his appetite isn't there when he feels bad. After a week or so of pushing subcutaneous fluids, he eats better, but needs more. He may be "vacationing" with us in the Midwest this Summer so we can pay more attention to him!
Scruffy, who "vacationed" with us last summer, has always been a medical disaster... He is FIV+, has glaucoma - blind as a result, hypertension and likely more, but after scaring us last summer, has been doing extremely well except for his right eye. After taking glaucoma meds every day, his eyeball fluid pressure was not being controlled well, and the eye swelled to the point that he couldn't completely close his eyelid himself. Even with giving him ointment several times a day, his cornea developed ulceration and vascularization.
So, reluctantly, after the recommendation by the opthamologist, we considered surgery. The polite word is enucleation - removal of the eyeball... He has been blind for years, and without surgery the glaucoma meds would need to be continued with likely side effects that might affect his general health, in addition to the pain he was likely suffering. Keeping his non-seeing eye was mostly for our benefit, not his. So today he went in for his hour-long surgery, and came through it just fine. Well, let me qualify fine - I can see the cone-thingy as being a problem for a blind cat. While he normally gets around fine without his vision, the cone extension has been a problem the last few hours. While it keeps him from clawing at his stitches, using the litterbox, eating, walking through the obstacle course of the house and jumping to his spot on the sofa is much more difficult. He has mostly been resting comfortably this evening, and the angry look he shows here I think is from being wakened for his portrait. After his recovery in a week or so he should be doing better, less pain, fewer drugs. Meanwhile we'll continue to monitor his left eye for issues. Melinda has already picked out his Halloween costume - pirate w/eye patch, of course, with a paper mache parrot riding piggyback!
We haven't been posting much about our lil' bundles of joy. Mostly they have been healthy, though more recently we've had some health issues. Pixel cycles between kidney failure and semi-normal and is currently somewhere in between. He needs to eat more, but his appetite isn't there when he feels bad. After a week or so of pushing subcutaneous fluids, he eats better, but needs more. He may be "vacationing" with us in the Midwest this Summer so we can pay more attention to him! 
Scruffy, who "vacationed" with us last summer, has always been a medical disaster... He is FIV+, has glaucoma - blind as a result, hypertension and likely more, but after scaring us last summer, has been doing extremely well except for his right eye. After taking glaucoma meds every day, his eyeball fluid pressure was not being controlled well, and the eye swelled to the point that he couldn't completely close his eyelid himself. Even with giving him ointment several times a day, his cornea developed ulceration and vascularization. 
So, reluctantly, after the recommendation by the opthamologist, we considered surgery. The polite word is enucleation - removal of the eyeball... He has been blind for years, and without surgery the glaucoma meds would need to be continued with likely side effects that might affect his general health, in addition to the pain he was likely suffering. Keeping his non-seeing eye was mostly for our benefit, not his. So today he went in for his hour-long surgery, and came through it just fine. Well, let me qualify fine - I can see the cone-thingy as being a problem for a blind cat. While he normally gets around fine without his vision, the cone extension has been a problem the last few hours. While it keeps him from clawing at his stitches, using the litterbox, eating, walking through the obstacle course of the house and jumping to his spot on the sofa is much more difficult. He has mostly been resting comfortably this evening, and the angry look he shows here I think is from being wakened for his portrait. After his recovery in a week or so he should be doing better, less pain, fewer drugs. Meanwhile we'll continue to monitor his left eye for issues. Melinda has already picked out his Halloween costume - pirate w/eye patch, of course, with a paper mache parrot riding piggyback!
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1 comment:
totally gross!
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