Alladin’s lab work on Monday AM indicated liver failure. We brought him home last night with a sub-cutaneous fluid bag and some pills (antibiotic and something for liver health). He spent all night and this morning glued to my side– he is a cuddly cat, but normally he takes you on his terms. Last night, he was definitely eager to be next to us at all times.
Today, we drove an hour (each way) to get him an ultrasound, because the ultrasound vet travels to various vet practices in the area, and wouldn’t be back up here until July. The results were that Alladin has an enlarged gall bladder and liver– consistent with one of three liver diseases. I cannot pronounce them, so I’ll summarize:
1) Liver is sick, but with meds and fluids and food, Alladin has an 80% chance of full recovery and a normal life.
2) Liver is sick, but with meds and fluids and food, Alladin has about an 80% change to recover, but be on management medications for the rest of his otherwise normal life.
3) Liver is sick with lymphoma. Even with chemotherapy, Alladin’s chances of mere survival (not to even discuss quality of life) are poor to grave. We would make him comfortable until the end, but would not put him through chemo treatments.
Everyone, please root for #1.
After the 1st ultrasound, they did a guided biopsy to diagnose if it’s 1, 2, or 3. We will get the results Friday. Meanwhile, we will treat him as if he has #1, because treatment for that can take several weeks and might as well start him ASAP. Treatment requires IVs, so he is back at the animal hospital tonight through Friday, when we hope to have the biopsy results back, at which time we’ll start looking at our real options.
Again. Root for #1, please.
John and I were there for all 3 ultrasounds and the biopsy, and held Alladin through the whole thing. He is such a fighter, I really hope he has something he can beat. We brought him back up to Warrensburg to the animal hospital, and I returned an hour later with his meds from home so they could give them to him on schedule. While dropping off the meds, I talked to the doctor and visited Alladin. He was awake and wanted to go home. I mentioned to the vet nurse that he likes to chew on strings, and told her to watch out for the IV line, because my bet is that he will go after it during the night. It’s just a hunch, but given how he was behaving, and how well I know my cat… well, he’ll probably have an elizabeth collar on tomorrow when we go visit him.
That’s the news, folks. I’m trying to be strong for my baby-cat and make the right decisions for him.