Big Paws Only Dog Forums
BPO Off Topic Forum => Anything Non-Dog Related => : Scootergirl June 24, 2007, 01:03:40 AM
-
So, most of you know I am in the middle of getting a divorce. My soon-to-be-ex is living in my house (and I'm still paying the mortgage) and he's supposed to be taking care of the cats and dogs.
I went over to check on them the other day and I found my cat Ozone in the neighbor's driveway looking like this:
(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e166/jjfritsche/100_0293.jpg)
(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e166/jjfritsche/100_0290.jpg)
(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e166/jjfritsche/100_0295.jpg)
(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e166/jjfritsche/100_0294.jpg)
He was covered in fleas from nose to tail and looked like a walking skeleton. He had hair missing on his head and tail. Needless to say, I scooped him up and brought him back to the apartment (landlord be damned!).
He ate well Friday and Saturday. I supplemented some canned food with Nutrical. His poop, while small, looked really good, but last night he peed on his pillow and threw up a little. He is also not moving much today so we are on our way to the vet in a few minutes.
Keep Ozone in your thoughts. I'll let you know what happens when we get back.
-
awww, poor guy. we're thinkin about him. nothing but good happy thoughts...
Keep us posted
-
Aww poor guy... I hope he will be ok
-
Oh poor Ozone - I have my fingers, toes and Harleys paws crossed that everything goes well and he is just dehydrated and hungry :(
We will be keeping you and Ozone in our thoughts!
Please let us know what is going on
Randy & Harley
-
That is absolutely criminal!!! I don't know you, obviously, or the circumstances of your divorce, i.e. how smoothly it's going or if it's really ugly, but THAT kind of animal neglect is inexcusable and should be punished. Is there anything you can do, like file a complaint with animal control? I guess that would risk them confiscating your puppies, though. It's so heartbreaking!!!! I can't believe that. Do you think he intentionally neglected Ozone, or could there be some kind of weak excuse that MIGHT begin to explain it?
-
Awwww, poor little guy! :( Sending tons of get well vibes his way.
-
Oh no, poor Ozone... :-\ I sure hope he is ok, poor little guy! I'm sending positive vibes and prayers his way (and yours'), I hope he turns out to be just fine ;)
-
Poor Ozone! He looks like my first cat Ruger. I don't want to scare you but I would have the vet do a kidney panel on Ozone. Even though you saw him pee on his pillow. Ruger had a kidney injury when he was a younger cat and we managed it until he was around 10yo. Then his kidneys slowly shut down and he looked like Ozone. We were able to manage it with a prescription kidney food. Good thoughts for Ozone and for you.
-
Just got back from the vet. She couldn't get blood from him at all except from his jugular and she barely got enough there.
Here's the good news:
Feline Leuk/Aids test is negative.
Bloodwork shows his organs are all probably OK.
The bad news:
His red blood cell count is at 10% when it should be 35-40% At 15% they need a blood transfusion at or below 10% it's considered critical/life threatening.
He is very anemic from all the fleas that were on him.
He has some kind of a mass in his intestines. It may just be stool that hasn't passed yet or may be something else.
His kidneys look fine.
His glucose level was low, probably from dehydration and anemia. His liver enzymes were high, possibly from the anemia as well.
So, here's what she's gonna do. He is being prepped as we speak for a blood transfusion. She wanted to do xrays on his intestines, too, but I told her to hold off until after the blood transfusion and see if he started pooping again, then check and see if she can still feel that mass. If so, go ahead and do the xrays. As it is, the ER visit, blood transfusion, blood tests, fecal test, etc. is going to cost me around $600. OUCH!!!
I hesitate to call animal control to report this, because I'm afraid they will confiscate the rest of the animals and I don't have anywhere to put them until the sale on the new house goes through.
The vet should call me later tonight after the blood transfusion. Thanks for all the good thoughts. I'll let you know what happens.
-
How long has it been since you saw him last? My cat, Thomas, lost weight over a weekend, literally. Sometimes when it's something serious, it can happen fast. It turned out that he has cancer, and unfortunately was given a very grim outlook and put on steriods for the pain and to increase his appetite. Well, it turns out he's supercat, and he's outlived the dr's expectations by 6 months already. In fact, I took him in for a follow-up ultrasound in March, and his two of his three tumors had shrunk and the third one had completely disappeared.
On the other hand, he once lost weight fairly quickly b/c he'd eaten a large part of a plastic bag (he likes to eat plastic bags, certain shower curtains, etc, so we have to keep that stuff away from him). The vet ran all kinds of tests and kept him overnight to run more tests, b/c nothing seemed out of place. The next morning when they got to work, he had a hairball of plastic in his pen. They called and said they'd found the problem. ::) In fact, when the dr called about the "mass" he found with cancer (you could feel the biggest tumor), I asked if he was sure it wasn't plastic. This was a different vet than the one who dealt with the plastic, so I'm sure he was puzzled by that question!
My family had a cat that showed up at our house when I was 17. She was a little dim. My dad insisted that their cats be mostly outdoor animals (inside to eat and, of course, whenever he wasn't around... lol), and she wandered off one day. She came back a couple of weeks later, I believe, very skinny and looking awful. It was very strange.
So you never know. Hopefully the mass is just something he hasn't passed yet. Did they recommend cat laxative, like the stuff you use to get them to pass hairballs instead of throwing them up?
Hang in there, Ozone.
-
poor ozone, im glad that you found him when you did. it's so terrible that you're are having to go through this. i hope you are able to move in to your new house soon.
-
When I checked on the pets about a week 1/2 ago, I noticed Ozone was very thin. I made a point to go feed him myself for a few days after that, but got busy and didn't want to go when Johann would be there.
I am fairly confident that most of his weight loss and lethargy has to do with the anemia from the fleas. I'm hoping this mass she felt in his intestines is nothing more than stool.
It's funny that Macybean mentions plastic because Ozone LOVES to lick plastic bags. I don't know what it is about them. But he had been out on the enclosed porch and there wasn't much around there he could have gotten into.
I sent Johann a text message about how sick he is. He said Ozone had gotten out of the porch and he hadn't seen him in awhile. He couldn't have been gone for more than a few days, though because I saw him a few days ago in the porch. I told him how much the vet bill was going to be and that's when he stopped responding to my text messages.
Figures.
-
Thanks Jenn - and everyone! You don't know how much better it makes me feel to hear that others have gone through similar situations and come out OK. I trust my vet implicitly. She is very thorough and dedicated.
However, I hope he doesn't need more than one transfusion. I can barely afford the one, but whatever it takes, I'll find a way.
Anyone need a dining room set? Computer desk? 2000 Kia Sportage?
-
Poor Ozone...Sendin g you and him my thoughts.
-
Poor Ozone..sending healing thoughts his way :-*
-
i hope ozone shows improovement today! if you see him give him a kiss for me!
-
Update: I checked on Ozone this morning. He looked a little more perky, but and they said he had started eating last night.
I checked on him again this afternoon. His red blood cell count is up to 14% - 4% better, but still not good. He's still eating - not much, but eating - he hasn't pooped yet and that mystery mass is still in his intestines.
The best news is that the vet tech told me he's starting to show his normal personality, which means he's been growling at the vet techs and starting to be feisty again. He's actually notorious at the vet as being one of the most difficult cats they have. I'm so proud.
They are keeping him another night to see if his blood cell count goes up again or if they will have to give him another blood transfusion.
Pray for Poop!!
-
I will surely pray for poop!!! ;) I'm glad to hear that Ozone's condition is improving, especially the personality part (that's got to be a good sign)! ;D YAY Ozone!!! :) Keep fighting buddy, we're rooting for ya!!! :-* :-* :-*
-
YAY FOR POOP!!!!
Ozone pooped last night and this morning, has continued eating, his RBC is up to 21% and he is HOOOOOMMMMEEEE!!!
He definitely has more energy. Of course, he's not running around the house yet, but he did manage a running jump onto the recliner. He's still super skinny, but hopefully not for long.
And the best news - the vet bill was $200 less than expected!! Woo Hoo! Doc said that bulge in his intestines is smaller, too so it's probably just impacted poop that will pass eventually.
So, overall, this wouldn't have happened at all if he had been taken care of properly - fed, deflead, kept inside, etc.
Oh, and I think Johann lost his job again. He happened to call my divorce lawyer (not knowing he was my divorce lawyer) to ask if he could help him get his driver's license reinstated. And he sent me a text message today asking when the employement ads come out in the paper, but wouldn't tell me why. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened.
I have GOT to get those animals back NOW!!!!