Chaos and Spirit

I was worried enough about Chaos' visit to the neurologist, but things got more complicated when Spirit wouldn't leave me alone yesterday morning. This was different than her normal I-want-rubs attention seeking. It took me about to a minute or so to realize something was wrong and she needed to go to the vet. Fortunately the place where Chaos was going also has a 24 hour emergency animal care section so Spirit went with us.

Two four-footed-kids seeing different animals at the same time.

Chaos ended up having an MRI and a spinal tap. Each test was to rule out scary, icky things for her having seizures. The results were good. It's looking more and more like epilepsy but we have to wait for more results. She won't be showing at the Rose City Classic, but that's okay. We just want her to feel better. The medicine she's on is keeping the seizures at bay! We just have to figure out if her dosage is right over the next week or so.

Spirit is very sick. She has chronic renal failure and her blood test shows her numbers have gotten worse. She also has a bladder infection and high blood pressure. On top of that there's something weird going on with her spine. She gets to go to our vet today (and tomorrow and maybe a few days after that) for IV fluid treatment. Poor baby. I feel so bad for her. But I'm hopeful we'll get this all figured out so she feels better soon.
 
Not how I expected things to go yesterday, but oh, well...what are you going to do? It's part of what happens when you have furbabies. Especially ones who are getting older.

How was your day?

Chaos

Yesterday did not turn out as I expected. Not unusual around here, but this time our dog, Chaos, lived up to her name.

She had a seizure in the morning. According to the vet, a Grand Mal seizure.

To say it was scary doesn't really explain how helpless and terrified we felt when this was happening. Fortunately hubby was home. He was with Chaos when it started and yelled for me.

As soon as she stopped seizing, I phoned our vet and off to the animal hospital we went. Tests, x-rays—all normal. They didn't feel medication was needed at this point, but we were encouraged to make an appointment with a neurologist. She has one on Tuesday.

At the Animal Hospital

A second big seizure happened last night. This one was worse than this mornings, lasted longer and had a longer recovery period. And this time the two youngest kids were with her when it happened. They were terrified. Rose especially. Hubby wasn't home, either.

Fortunately, the same vet we'd seen earlier in the day was still at the animal hospital. A change of treatment was ordered. They were going to be putting her on two medications now. So as soon as hubby arrived home, it was back to the animal hospital to pick up a bottle of pills, then off to a 24 hr Walgreens to feel another prescription. It was almost midnight when we got home.

Life for Chaos has now changed. She can't be left alone in the house if no one can watch her. That meant sleeping in her crate last night not on our bed because the vet is worried if she has a seizure she could fall off. She was not happy about that, either. But once the medicine is in her system, she can go back to her old ways.

Many dogs have epilepsy. It can be controlled by medication. But the vet is concerned because she said most dogs show symptoms between the ages of 2 and 6. Chaos is seven-and-a-half. We'll see what the neurologist says. We'd appreciate any prayers and good thoughts for our beloved Chaos. She is such a sweetheart of a dog. We want her to feel better!

The Animal Eye Doctor

One my three cats, Spirit, has an eye ulcer. We took her to see Dr. Kirschner, an animal eye doctor in Beaverton, Oregon on Tuesday. This was our second visit to the clinic. Since then Spirit has been on daily doses of three different medicines: two types of eye drops (one four drops a day, one two drops a day) and a pill. We thought the medicine was working because Spirit started opening her left eye. She no longer looked like a pirate kitty 24/7!

A trip to the doctor is not easy on Spirit. It's a long drive to from our house, and she does not like the car. Dr. Kirschner took us into the exam room. Poor Spirit did not want to come out of her carrier. I had to get her out while Rose held onto it. Spirit was so frightened, but Dr. Kirschner coaxed her closer so she could examine her. The doctor was very patient and gentle with my freaked out kitty.

The doctor reviewed her record and we talked briefly about Spirit's most recent blood test results from her regular vet. We've repeated the test with the same extremely low platelet count results, but she's showing no symptoms. Dr. Kirschner then checked Spirit with the lights on. Again, I was very impressed with the doctors easy manner that put not only the cat, but me at ease.

Next, Dr. Kirschner checked Spirit's eyes with the lights off. You wouldn't know it was dark from the picture though. My mistake. I thought I had the flash off, but I didn't. It surprised all of us including Spirit so I decided no more pictures when the lights were off. I really need to learn how to use my camera better.

With the lights on, Dr. Kirschner put drops into Spirit's eyes that turn green. This enables her to see things better. She then put on a head device, turned off the lights and checked Spirit's eyes again using the different equipment.

Afterwards, I could see green on the inner corners of Spirit's eyes that day, but she didn't seem to mind them. Must be all the eye drops she has to have!


All done! The examination didn't take that long.

Now that wasn't so bad, was it Spirit?

And good news!

The ulcer has shrunk 50%! We will continue the drops and the pill each day and visit Dr. Kirschner again in a couple of weeks. There's also something else going on with her eyes, but we're taking care of the biggest problem first.

One final picture of the patient and her eye doctor before getting back into the dreaded cat carrier and the evil minivan for the long journey home. Though Spirit looks ready to get out of there!

I've felt the same way when I've been at the doctors!

What about you? Do you mind going to the doctor's or are you ready to get out of their before you even go into the exam room?