Another brief update

Yet again nothing very exciting. The agency put out a region update lately (they do this weekly). For our region, it seems that the person in the region that is in charge of referrals was on vacation and, after just coming back, has decided to stay on vacation a little longer. No referrals while they are away, so more waiting for us. still not a big deal as we were expecting to wait anyway. In a way, maybe it is good, as we know we weren't getting a referral as nobody was.

On a different subject, I wanted to get out an update on George. At his original appointments, the vet confirmed that blood test results showed an increase in waste products in the blood. These waste products are normally filtered out by the kidneys and removed from the system. If the kidneys don't function well, the waste products are not removed from the blood, hence the numbers from the blood test being higher. This is why we were giving him fluids, as his kidneys won't heal back to normal, so we need to do things to help limit these waste products.

Giving him fluids was the first step. It basically means using an IV to inject a water solution into the area beneath his skin. It sounds worse than it is, as you get some extra skin on his back and it doesn't necessarily bother them much. This helps to dilute the fluids in his system, meaning a lower level of toxins and helping his kidneys flush them out.

Wednesday I took George in for a follow-up blood test. The results show that the numbers have gotten lower, but still not to a normal level. He also lost a little weight, but this is probably due at least in part to us changing his food. Normal cat food has some things in it that we need to limit, so he gets special food. We tried dry food first (as he already ate dry food), but maybe he doesn't like it so much. I brought home a can of a different brand of similar 'diet' food and he seemed to like it better. Hopefully he will eat it and gain some weight.

We are also starting him with some pills that contain bacteria to help break down these toxins, allowing them to go out through his GI tract. This can help lower the numbers and won't hurt him. We are also trying to give him some Pepcid AC as cats with renal failure can have stomach issues.

George is doing ok with it, I just wish he could understand everything and that we need to be able to do these things for him. Please think good thoughts as we try and help George's medical situation get better. I promise to get pictures this weekend of him and our mystery cat, Lily. She is a mystery as people rarely (if ever) see her. I will try to do it tonight after soccer, but I can't promise anything.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to get that out. Let me know about any questions or anything.