Friday, February 01, 2008, 06:10
Good News & Bad News
I took Duke back to the vet Thursday afternoon for more blood tests to determine if his kidney function has improved at all.
The good news is that Duke's kidney levels are down somewhat over last week.
The bad news is that the anemia is much worse. It is so bad, that initially, my veterinarian was ready to make an appointment for us at a vet clinic in the next city over for Duke to get a blood transfusion. Then he remembered that they had a vial of Procrit in the refrigerator left over from another cat suffering from anemia.
Procrit, if you've heard the advertisements on television, is intended to help people who are suffering from anemia after chemotherapy. As I understand it, Procrit (that's the brand name) is actually the substance that the kidneys make which tells the bone marrow to make more red blood cells. In other words, Procrit bypasses the kidneys. Or maybe a better way to say it is that Procrit is a shortcut.
Procrit also is very expensive. There was enough left in the vial at the vet clinic for three doses for Duke. Procrit is administered subcutaneously three times a week. It must be given for at least a month to see if it is going to help. If the kidneys do not start telling the bone marrow to make more red blood cells eventually, then it must be given regularly as a maintenance drug.
The vet called around to see where would be the best place to obtain more of it. In the past, clients have had to purchase it directly from the hospital pharmacy. He also called the local pharmacy to see if they could get Procrit.
More good news and bad news
The local pharmacy *can* get Procrit, but they can only get it in certain amounts: $600 to $800 or $1,000 to $1,200. (gulp)
A vial of Procrit is a tiny, tiny bottle containing about 1cc of the stuff. At the hospital pharmacy, I can get one or two vials at a time at a cost of $60 to $80 per vial. I would need two vials for a month's supply.
After calling to make sure I could get more Procrit, the vet administered the first dose and then sent the vial home with me with a bunch of tiny syringes with tiny needles. He will call the hospital pharmacy for me next week and then I can go and get more for Duke.
The other bit of bad news is that Duke is developing pneumonia on one side, most likely from lying around and not moving around a lot. The vet recommended that I get him up every hour or two, carry him to the other side of the house and set him down so he has to walk back to his rocking chair or the heat vent in the bathroom, just to get him up and moving around. I came home with a bottle of Amoxicillan for Duke, as well, to help keep the pneumonia from getting worse.
Sick and tired
The trip to the vet clinic really wore Duke out. He was quite weak by the time we arrived home. He immediately went to his rocking chair to curl up for a nap. After a while, Randy got him up and carried him to the office. Duke used the litter box. Then he plopped down on the floor, too weak to go any farther. Eventually he was able to make his way to the bathroom to curl up by the heat vent.
Later on, I got him up and carried him out to the kitchen. By then he was so weak he was staggering and leaning against the cupboard door to keep himself upright.
At that point, I decided I ought to try to get some Nutracal into Duke. Nutracal comes in a tube, and it is intended for dogs and cats who are sick and are not eating or are not eating enough. It contains corn syrup, molasses, soybean oil and vitamins and minerals.
The smell makes me gag. To me, the smell of Nutracal is the smell of death. In my experience, when a cat gets so sick I've got to give Nutracal, the cat has usually been to the point where it will not recover. But maybe that won't be the case for Duke. At least maybe not right now.
I also came home with a bottle of Pet-Tinnic for Duke. It is an iron and mineral supplement intended to help for anemia as well. When Tiger Paw Thompson, Duke's brother, was anemic from kidney disease, it took the Pet-Tinnic about six weeks to kick in and help. At that time, I don't believe Procrit was available for veterinary use.
Later yet Thursday evening, I got out the kitty brush to see if Duke would be remotely interested in being brushed. By that time he had hopped up in the rocking chair again. Much to my surprise, he actually sat up, turned around and seemed to enjoy being brushed. When I moved back from the chair, he hopped down out of the chair and then sat looking up at the couch. He looked at the couch, at me, at the couch, at me.
I knew what that meant. It meant that Duke wanted me to sit on the couch so he could sit on my lap to be brushed.
I sat on the couch, and much to my additional surprise, Duke jumped up in my lap. Perhaps the Nutracal I had given him earlier had helped him to feel a little stronger. He hasn't been eating much for the past few days.
For now, I will continue with subcutaneous fluids, Pet-Tinnic, Amoxicillan, and a shot of Procrit on Saturday or Sunday and again on Tuesday -- and Nutracal as needed.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Wednesday, January 30, 2008, 18:41
Closed
I am beginning to sound like a broken record, I think. It is still brutally cold. The thermometer finally stopped dropping at 21 degrees below zero Fahrenheit Tuesday night. But the wind continued out of the north/northwest, so the windchill was more like 40 or 50 below.
Wednesday at noon, the temperature was still 10 degrees below zero. And the wind was still blowing. With the windchill, the temperature felt more like 20 or 30 degrees below zero, even with the sun shining.
All of the schools in the area are closed today. I'm sure the youngsters are thrilled to get a "snow day." We only got maybe three inches of snow on Tuesday, but between the cold weather and the snow blowing and drifting, the school district administrators must have thought it was in the best interests of everyone to close school for the day.
Actually, the kids probably are not all that thrilled. It's one thing when the temperature is 20 degrees and there is a foot of new snow on the ground and the buses can't get through because the roads haven't been plowed yet. When the weather is like that, you can go outside and play and use your toboggans and dig snow forts and whatnot.
When the windchill is 20 to 30 degrees below zero, the kids are probably not going outside to play today. I know I'm going to stay inside as much as I can. Charlie and Pixie, too. I put Charlie in after I had finished with horse chores and had taken him for a little walk up the road. Pixie was outside this morning, too, while I was feeding the horses and shoveling my paths and cleaning up frozen chunks of horse manure. When I was done, she could hardly wait to get inside again. Charlie did not argue, either, about going back into his kennel.
Now all I have to do is get my feet warmed up again. They are like little blocks of ice, even though I had my wool socks on and heavy winter boots.
LeAnn R. Ralph