Buckle Up — this is gonna be a rollercoaster-type report about the last few days: UPS and DOWNS and hairpin curves ahead!
I’m both exhausted and exhilarated
On Monday, June 29th, Deb’s cat Mao (with kidney disease issues) took a decided turn for the worst, so Deb called a mobile veterinarian to come over and have a look.
The veterinarian, DRA. Cristina, evaluated her, looked over her previous charts and history with kidney problems, and said that this might be Mao’s last hurrah, but that she would give Deb everything she needed to monitor and medicate her at home for three days to see if she could recover.
Deb had never done any kind of veterinary-type procedures, but I have lots of experience in that area. So, I volunteered to be her helpmate. The help involved going upstairs every hour and pushing Ringer’s Lactate (or some kind of rehydrating solution) through a vein port in her front leg, plus giving her a sub-cutaneous shot of antinausea medicine every six hours, and force-feeding her nearly every time we tended to her for any other reason.
When I found out that the vet is the same one Jon Graham Mitchell and another two people had recommended to me, I asked her what it would cost to have Charli’s teeth cleaned. She told me 50,000 colones (about $110), which included the anesthetization drug and the antibiotic shot that would follow the procedure. So, I made an appointment for the same day she was scheduled to look in on Mao again, two days later.
Charli, July 2nd, prior to dentistry…
Dishrag Mao
When we began the treatments, Mao was so lethargic that she was almost comatose, so giving her the treatments was easy because she couldn’t resist; she simply didn’t have the strength.
But by about the fifth hour, we thought we were seeing some improvement. She held her head higher and struggled (minimally) to keep from eating and drinking the nutrition we were trying to give her by mouth. Her eyes looked a little more with it, too. So, we were encouraged!
But by the end of the evening, Mao wasn’t doing any better than that, and she seemed to be kind of stuck there in a holding pattern. I took that as a bad sign. Usually a successful upward trajectory keeps escalating when a pet is being fortified in the way Mao was.
An HOUR Went By FAST When I Was “On Duty”
By the end of that first day, I had ascended Deb’s magnificent staircase (about 20 steps) at least 12 times, so I was getting my steps in, most of them “uphill”! But I was tired, and poor Deb was exhausted more with worry than with our duties. Although neither of us said it, we weren’t seeing what we wanted to be seeing to feel much better that our efforts were gonna be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat this time. It was pretty discouraging.
But Mao was trying — probably for Deb!
… so we were fully committed to the three-day protocol.
Then Mao threw up all of the nutrition we had managed to get into her and she peed copiously at one point, so the IV hydration was going out almost as fast as it went in.
On July 1 at 6:05 I Wrote:
Waiting for Deb to text me to go on up and start Mao’s treatments. Mao is lying by Deb’s back door with her head up, so I think she’s feeling better, as she had enough energy to come down the stairs to the back patio, so that’s a good sign…
I’m such a “Mother Hen” when it comes to stuff like this. I woulda been up there at 5 a.m. had Deb been awake to text me to come up!
I “Explained” to Charli with great love
…enthusiasm, and exactly detail about tomorrow’s “at home” dental appointment. She ate it up, purring and rubbing against me as if heartily endorsing the plan and for the extraordinary care she will be receiving.
If she really understood, she wouldn’t have reacted positively but I do know she will feel soooo much better afterward and that she’ll be sleeping and unaware during the procedure, so only the introduction to the vet and the sleepy juice poke will be unsettling to her. And DRA Cristina is wonderful with cats so she’ll know what to do to keep her as calm and low-key as possible. And of course I can help set the tone, too. It’ll be fine!
Sirkka Messaged Me
…to say I’m the OPPOSITE of BORING in response to a comment I made in this blog a few days back. That felt good!
At noon I wrote:
Deb has a call in to Dra. Cristina. She’s reported that Mao isn’t responding much better, so I expect that the vet will be coming by today to check on her or to suggest that the treatments may not be helping and the best thing for Mao would be to put her down to prevent additional decline and distress to her system.
It has always been a matter of “wait and see” as to whether Mao would respond or not. She may not be able to pull it off, and if she can’t, having to make the decision to euthanize her would devastate Deb. My HOPE is that Mao will bow out before that decision has to be made for her.
It’s gonna be a long haul to get 36 more doses of hydration into her if Dra Cristina thinks Mao has a chance to recover, but we’re in it to win it if eventual success is a possibility, no matter how daunting the task!
Dra. Cristina got back to me to confirm
…Charli’s dental appointment, so I sent her a few photos of Charli. She said Charli is adorable and she’s in love.
I let her know that Charli’s smallest teeth are really cruddy with coated tartar so she won’t be unduly surprised. Eating ONLY soft food since we got to CR has coated her cutting/chewing teeth horribly, but I can’t find a dry cat food here that she will eat.
But maybe that’s because the tartar has caused her gums to become super sore and eating hard food hurts. If that’s the case, the dentistry should “cure” the tartar problem by making dry cat food comfortable and palatable to her again. That would be terrific!
This Afternoon Dra Cristina called Deb
….and left a heartfelt but sad message for her suggesting to her what I’ve been dreading might happen: that if she isn’t responding to the treatments noticeably enough by now that it’s likely her kidneys cannot recover and she will be in pain and fading away.
So, if Cristina doesn’t see noticeable improvement when she visits tomorrow she will very likely recommend euthanasia.
Deb, of course, is devastated, and I cried right along with her. It is so hard to have to put a beloved pet to sleep, even when it’s to prevent pain and suffering, as would be the case here.
I’m hoping for an overnight miracle. Deb said no more treatments tonight, so I gave Mao her last antinausea shot before heading back downstairs.
IT SUCKS! IT TOTALLY SUCKS!!!
I feel so bad for Deb. She told me she was never gonna have a pet after she lost the last one decades ago, but then this little black and white kitten (almost a carbon copy of Charli, in fact!) entered her property and adopted her eight years ago, and she was a goner, fell instantly in love and gave her the best of everything possible to ensure a happy, long life for her.
I’m really bummed. Tomorrow is going to be a GOOD day for Charli and possibly the last day for Mao. Talk about conflicting emotions: I’ve got ’em!
And seeing Charli out and about will remind Deb of her loss. I’m sure it’s gonna be a rough transition for Deb. Maybe I can “share” Charli with Deb so she can relax knowing that she will never have to be the one making final decisions for Charli.
I dunno. There is no way to replace a beloved pet. And she says she doesn’t want another pet because the end half kills her.
I only know that I will always have a cat. I can’t imagine being happy without one. I’ve had a cat since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Pets have always been the happiest parts of my life!
Gotta go to sleep now, or at least TRY to. I’m exhausted, especially given Mao’s likely fate. It’s so, so sad!
TODAY July 2nd
Deb texted me at 6:30 morning telling me that Mao died “moments ago” right next to her bed in her usual spot. I texted back immediately my heartfelt, teary condolences and told her I’ll come up if/whenever she wants. She received the message but didn’t ask me to come up, so she wants to go it alone for now. The poor dear. My heart aches for her!
Then Jon Texted With an Urgent Request
Their dog-sitter canceled this morning — they’re scheduled for a flight to France tomorrow afternoon and will be gone two weeks — and he wanted to know if I could stay at their place every night starting tomorrow night. ACK!
I can’t! Charli’s dental surgery is today and she will need monitoring and antibiotics for several days. I have to be here for that.
So, he’s scrambling for another solution. He just texted to say he has two possible dog-sitters, which relieves me enormously! Having to cancel the France trip would be horrible.
I’m sad that I can’t be the “Savior Bacon” to my dear friends, but the timing just couldn’t be any worse.
The vet will be here in about three hours
She will get Deb and Mao squared away first before she does Charli.
Charli keeps looking at me like, “Hey! You TOTALLY FORGOT to FEED ME! MEOW! Where’d you put my dish?!”
I’m commiserating with her but not complying with her directive because her tummy needs to be empty for the procedure.
Tomorrow IF Charli is back up to par
…I need to take a bus to Grecia and get colones and some groceries. There is very little in the fridge or freezer right now so I’ve made a list so I can get there and back to Charli super fast.
I texted Dra. Cristina to let her know Mao died and that Deb wants to know about cremation options for her, and to please see Deb first before she sees Charli and me.
I’m Looking Forward to Having this Rollercoaster Ride In the Rearview Mirror
…so I can focus on other matters. I have two stories from Sonia to review and edit as soon as my plate clears. I’ll probably get to those this weekend sometime.
Post-Dentistry Update
Dra Cristina and her assistant got to my apartment at about 12:30 to do Charli’s teeth. I let them set up before I hauled Charli out from behind the couch because I knew she’d freak as soon as I did that.
We got her on the counter and Dra. Cristina put her arm in a tourniquet so she could administer the sleepy drug but — for the first time in 22 years!!! — miracle Charli managed to take the tourniquet off her arm and threatened to bite, so we put her into a straitjacket of sorts so the vet wouldn’t get wounded while putting her to sleep for the procedure.
As soon as Charli went down, the straitjacket came off and the procedure began. I took video and images of the event and will post them below. I also sent them to the vet so she can use them in her professional life as evidence of gum disease, tartar buildup and cleaning procedures.
https://www.facebook.com/674337914/videos/pcb.10165439719722915/1713217793161766
https://www.facebook.com/674337914/videos/pcb.10165439719722915/4547949055436078
https://www.facebook.com/674337914/videos/pcb.10165439719722915/1747396879947441
https://www.facebook.com/674337914/videos/pcb.10165439719722915/1524032509217538
DRA Cristina said Charli should recover within an hour but to keep her crated but awake until she was steady and sturdy enough to trust on the floor without supervision. I did that.
Below are videos of her recovery period post-carrier, taken about three minutes apart.
You can see she got less “rocky” every few minutes…
https://www.facebook.com/674337914/videos/pcb.10165439865722915/1400384742111778
https://www.facebook.com/674337914/videos/pcb.10165439865722915/2087143055553355
https://www.facebook.com/674337914/videos/pcb.10165439865722915/1006079525501224
And she ate for what seemed like a half hour, including a lot of dry kibble food! HALLELUJAH! I can buy dry food again and save a bundle and her teeth!
The other thing that happened over the past several days/weeks were confidential, but they were equally roller-coaster-y! (Here’s looking at YOU and YOUR relieved, happy family, HM! SOOOO happy for your legal outcome!)