Ultra Sound and Xray for Bujang

Bujang had ultra sound as well as xrays yesterday. I was and am glad that his organs are all fine except of course for his kidneys. He has stage 2 CRF for about 3 years already. Both his kidney walls had thickened but the critical functions are healthy. I was concerned that the 250 ml of LR may have affected either his lungs or heart but these organs are both healthy. I told the vet that he would cough whenever he hisses (usually at Rez) and that was why I wanted both tests. The vet suggested that it could be allergens in the air as he would have to have a sharp intake of breath when hissing. As to his weight loss, the vet could only offer the explanation that as both of his kidneys are not 100% well, his body needed to use a lot more energy to compensate. I have yet to figure this one out or read more on it but possibly there would be more to this story. I have instructed the vet to only give him 150 ml of SubQ fluids per SubQ day. So that would give him 300 ml of LR per week, not 250 ml per session. I read that the fluids is to rehydrate, not to flush out toxins. I do not want his kidneys to work harder than they should. 

He is no longer vomitting daily so I am not giving him anymore of the TCM for that. Instead Dr Oh had given us TCM for his pancreas as he said that vomitting could also be a symptom of pancreatic issues. His AMYL is high for both his tests this year. I will have to see if he would even eat this in the first place. 

The vet also suggested that he should have quarterly ultra sound checks. That sounds like a workable idea although they would have to sedate him for each session. THAT is not ideal.

Saturday Easy

Bujang prefers eating the long grass at the open space than the one in the pot. It is always a joy to see him so happy munching grass. 

  

Bujang hanging out with my niece's daughter taking their wefie. 

    

Popps wasn't so sure that it was a good idea. 

On a more anxious note , we managed to give Bujang his SubQ only twice. After that he decided he was not going to stay in the carrier at all and was certainly not going to stay around for the needle. We are waiting for a contraption that we saw on Tanya's CRF site - the EZ SubQ belt. Once it's here we will see if we can give him the SubQ at all. Instead these week we gave him some steamed mackerel with the fish fluids as well. There was not much fluid , certainly not 250 ml! But we are trying to include more and more fluids with the steamed fish. The vet said if we can put fluids in his food it would also be better than nothing. 

This is the original amount of fluids from one steamed mackerel. 

However to his credit he takes the new TCM very well. We mix it with some honey and then we walk with him while giving him the meds. Of course he gets treats afterwards which makes it worthwhile. 

We will post about the mysterious package soon. The amigos decided to take matters into their own hands by trying to bite through the box!

FatBoy Update

2nd dinner immediately after SubQ, at his doorstep as it were...he looks fat becaue of SubQ fluids...

2nd dinner after Sub Q last Friday. fatBoy eating the last bits from his food bowl.

After dinner last Friday...

After his 3rd helping on Sunday 23 May

He is now much thinner and we can see how bony he is when he is on his haunches. But he is overall not skinny skin and bones but rather just thin. He takes the SubQ in his stride and is very good at dealing with the needles. The training at the vet came into play very well as he would only make a little noise when we first put him in the carrier but would sit down and relax when he feels the needle. After that it was just the matter of soothing him and waiting for the whole 250 ml to be over. Then he gets the rest of his dinner. Sometimes he would take his leave but will always be up for seconds.

Yesterday he got his first dinner and then he decided to take a walk. I fed Putih and Terror Kitty and then went to feed Minah. I was just returning from changing Minah's drinking water that I saw him walking towards me, at my own void deck and so I gave hin 2 more helpings of Fussiecat sardines and chicken. So he had 3 helpings of Sunday dinner! The last pic was of him saying thank you for the food and so long chum!

I am glad he is finding his appetite back again and attribute it to the SubQ injections. However, these few weeks, both Cousin R and I found that he when he eats his dinner, we could hear squeakings. We have never heard these noises before though. I hope these squeaks are just one of those things and nothing serious is happening with his teeth.

SubQ Success

FatBoy complaining about the 19th gauge needle...

Waterbump on cat...

I decided to stop being too sissy and do the SubQ for FatBoy myself. It takes about 20 minutes to wait for the cab and reach the clinic and then less than 5 minutes for the nurse to do the SubQ. Then I would have to wait for about 15 minutes for another cab home. All in all it would be close to a 45 to 50 minute affair.

So this evening, I "pluck[ed] up my courage" and went for it. Once he got inside the cage, he complained a little and we had to soothe him for a bit but once the needle was set, he sat and rested in the carrier until the whole thing was over. We chose quiet spot but not private enough I guess as a passer-by got very curious and peered at us very closely. I guess he was very curious as to what was happening. I could envisage other people peering at us and children too. We must ty to find a more secluded spot, which is not easy, as I have nightmares about kids poking him with needles!

It took us less than 5 minutes for the whole thing to be over. It took him much longer to finish dinner. All in all, this would mean we could do the SubQ more frequently, which was what the doctor orderedin the first place.