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May. 12th, 2005 01:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
javacatThe 17-year old sibling cats have had thorough check ups in the last few days. We know the male is in early stages of kidney failure, and when his sister began peeing 6, 7 times a day, I thought she did, too. It turned out to be a UTI, and her blood panel is perfectly normal, so normal it was remarkable to the vet & staff. Yay for that. Her brother's blood pressure is ~150, the high end of normal, I'm told, which is good. It was 180-190 before we started him on blood pressure medication. I'll get his blood and urine work back next week. It's his weight loss that is scaring me. He's down to 9 lbs. something, down from 11 and few ozs. At his most robust, he'd push 13 lbs. in winter and slim down to 12 in summer. I'm going to try Pepsid to see if it helps his appetite. The vet proposed another round of antibiotics for his still-snotty one nostril, but I nixed it. He's had multiple rounds of assorted antibiotics, exploratory probes, multiple Xrays, ultrasound, and a CT scan trying to find out the why of the nostril thing - and there's nothing abnormal except the kidney function. The nostril thing just Is, I think. I'm going to put both of them on glucosamine. I think it'll help Ben, who I'm convinced has had some life-long back pain from his cracked vertabrae at a young age, and it can't hurt and may make Shoo feel better.
As usual, Ben was his sweet and accomodating self. He didn't have to be shaved for the blood draw and he was very agreeable to getting his tail shaved for the blood pressure cuff. I enjoy how readily he purrs but it can make it hard for the vet to get a good listen to his heart and lungs.
The black cat ran and made himself as small as possible when he saw the carrier, which cracked me up. He can be such a bully, but bring out the carrier or let a stranger come into the house - look out! He becomes a smaller cat, slinking as low to the ground as he can get, putting on an air of invisibility. "Me? You're looking at me? No no, you are mistaken, mademoiselle. There are no black cats here. Bye!" ::streak:: It's such a contrast to his usual swagger, and he does swagger. It's very endearing, actually. His swagger and his run. He runs everywhere. I think he was 2 years old before he walked anywhere.
So this meant I came to work late. It really is fun being in my hometown during the work week. First thing this AM, I hiked up the open space trail nearest to me to the top of the ridge and back. You can see all the local major mountains from the ridge and the Bay, of course. Very pretty. Someone scattered bachelor's buttons seeds along the trail at some point. The trail has lupine and bachelors buttons blooming amid the now-dried grasses 3/4 of its length. It's marvelous.
As usual, Ben was his sweet and accomodating self. He didn't have to be shaved for the blood draw and he was very agreeable to getting his tail shaved for the blood pressure cuff. I enjoy how readily he purrs but it can make it hard for the vet to get a good listen to his heart and lungs.
The black cat ran and made himself as small as possible when he saw the carrier, which cracked me up. He can be such a bully, but bring out the carrier or let a stranger come into the house - look out! He becomes a smaller cat, slinking as low to the ground as he can get, putting on an air of invisibility. "Me? You're looking at me? No no, you are mistaken, mademoiselle. There are no black cats here. Bye!" ::streak:: It's such a contrast to his usual swagger, and he does swagger. It's very endearing, actually. His swagger and his run. He runs everywhere. I think he was 2 years old before he walked anywhere.
So this meant I came to work late. It really is fun being in my hometown during the work week. First thing this AM, I hiked up the open space trail nearest to me to the top of the ridge and back. You can see all the local major mountains from the ridge and the Bay, of course. Very pretty. Someone scattered bachelor's buttons seeds along the trail at some point. The trail has lupine and bachelors buttons blooming amid the now-dried grasses 3/4 of its length. It's marvelous.