Home again.
Dec. 18th, 2007 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bzarcherEdit: Oops. I forgot to mention that we got told to go to the pet ER over at Capital Vet Hospital, hence the references to a "regular vet."
Well, that was nervewracking.
It really doesn't make you feel good when the vet says "Well, could be adult onset FLV, could be kidney failure, could be a blood clot...or he might just be ill."
$300 later, we still don't know what it is, but we do know what it isn't.
It isn't FLV or another leukemia - he is somewhat anemic (that's why she thinks he had balance trouble), but all that came back negative. (FLV seemed very unlikely - he came back clean when tested as a kitten, but we were told that it can appear in adult cats if it was "lurking in the marrow"...)
His kidneys are fine.
His bloodwork pretty much came back OK. Nothing that looked like anything she could point to.
What it came down to was "Well, I can run more tests and figure this out, but it'll take two days and $1200, or we can try antibiotics and go from there." (And, um, honestly, coming up with $1200 on the spot is kinda tricky unless you make a lot more a year than I do.)
So he's home with kitty medicine, which I've given him his doses of tonight, and we'll see. I'm going to see about a "regular vet" and see what we can do about an appointment to see what they can suggest.
Sitting in a waiting area for an hour after being told "If this test comes back positive, there is nothing you can do" is probably one of the worst experiences of my life. We talked to a vet about his appetite problems and weight loss over the phone, and got told it was probably just a frontline reaction. If it had turned out to be FLV or something else fatal, I'd have probably torn myself apart for not going to see a vet anyhow back then.
But, he's home, he ate chicken and a pill without any problems, and for tonight I have my kitty back. I feel really, really physically drained.
Well, that was nervewracking.
It really doesn't make you feel good when the vet says "Well, could be adult onset FLV, could be kidney failure, could be a blood clot...or he might just be ill."
$300 later, we still don't know what it is, but we do know what it isn't.
It isn't FLV or another leukemia - he is somewhat anemic (that's why she thinks he had balance trouble), but all that came back negative. (FLV seemed very unlikely - he came back clean when tested as a kitten, but we were told that it can appear in adult cats if it was "lurking in the marrow"...)
His kidneys are fine.
His bloodwork pretty much came back OK. Nothing that looked like anything she could point to.
What it came down to was "Well, I can run more tests and figure this out, but it'll take two days and $1200, or we can try antibiotics and go from there." (And, um, honestly, coming up with $1200 on the spot is kinda tricky unless you make a lot more a year than I do.)
So he's home with kitty medicine, which I've given him his doses of tonight, and we'll see. I'm going to see about a "regular vet" and see what we can do about an appointment to see what they can suggest.
Sitting in a waiting area for an hour after being told "If this test comes back positive, there is nothing you can do" is probably one of the worst experiences of my life. We talked to a vet about his appetite problems and weight loss over the phone, and got told it was probably just a frontline reaction. If it had turned out to be FLV or something else fatal, I'd have probably torn myself apart for not going to see a vet anyhow back then.
But, he's home, he ate chicken and a pill without any problems, and for tonight I have my kitty back. I feel really, really physically drained.
