Wednesday, October 29, 2014
About 2 years ago, Cupid was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. We had taken her to the vet because she was eating like mad and losing quite a bit of weight.
The treatment plan was to put her on a special food with no iodine and that would get her thyroid under control. It seemed to work at first, but the biggest hurdle we faced was that Cupid hated the food.
It got to the point where she became desperate for any food other than her "special food". After Benny and Luna passed things got even worse because Henry would just let Cupid have his food. Benny and Luna would never allow no kitty cat to eat any pug food, but Henry was more than happy to oblige with the cat's wishes.
Not only was the cat ravished and cranky that she never got to eat yummy food, but her thyroid levels weren't really stable. There were times everything would be ok and she would start to gain some weight and then times she would drop weight fast.
The pot boiled over about a month ago, when Cupid started throwing about a few times a day and having diarrhea. We took her to the vet and they reluctantly recommended putting her on an easy to digest food that would help ease her tummy issues. However, while on this food, her thyroid would go untreated, so this was not a long term solution. More like a try this for a few days then we will switch back.
Cupid was thrilled to be on the different food. She was like a different cat. She was so much happier that we talked to the vet about alternative treatments for her hyperthyroidism. We knew our options from before, a pill that a lot of cats react negatively to (vomiting, stomach upset) and a radioactive treatment to be done at a specialists to zap her thyroid.
The zapping option seemed so scary to us when we heard about it a few years ago. Mainly because it was at a specialist we weren't familiar with and Cupid would have to stay there for about a week. We'll that option seems a little better now because the specialist that performs the treatment is SEVO and that is where Henry received his chemo treatments.
At Henry's last chemo treatment we talked to his Dr about Cupid's treatment and she gave us all the details. The pros and cons and stories about how other cats they have treated have fared.
We left feeling much better about our options and at the Dr's urging decided we would get a baseline blood test, start Cupid on the thyroid pill and then do another blood test after a month. Why all the blood tests? Well it turns out that the kidneys are the only organ that benefit from hyperthyroidism. With everything pumping so fast they actually benefit from the increased blood flow. So, some cats have kidney troubles once their thyroid is regulated and things stop pumping so fast.
Once her thyroid is zapped, there is no going back. However, you can easily take her off a pill. So Cupid is currently on the thyroid pills and in a few weeks we will check and see how her thyroid levels are doing and if her kidneys are holding strong with her thyroid being under control. From there we will decided if we keep her on the pill or if we zap her thyroid.
Long term I'm not sure how any of this is going to play out, but right now Cupid is happy. She is eating better food, she has stopped throwing up, her diarrhea is gone and she is putting on weight. For the first time in a while she is playing again! Check out this video of this happy girl in action!
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
With Henry having been so under the weather, Grammy was allowed to take a mini vacation. Henry was able to get a few quickie visits to see Grammy but Henry was too under the weather to curl his little tail. On Monday, though, Henry was starting to turn his corner to good heath and he spotted Grammy in yard doing some gardening. So, Henry popped by to show off his regained spunkiness.
We are not sure who was more happy to see who! If Grammy had a curly tail, it would have curled right up just like Henry's did! Upon making eye contact with each other, they both just melted with relief and joy. It was quite the sight!
Tuesday was Grammy's first shift with now less sick Henry. We have a hunch that they are both glad to have their routine back in order. Henry & Grammy: thick as thieves once again.
Monday, October 27, 2014
I am very happy to report that Henry had a very good day yesterday. The morning got off to a rocky start with us worrying that he might be on the verge of throwing up, but we gave him some food and that seemed to help settle his stomach.
We are under strict orders from the vet that we need to feed Henry small and frequent meals. He went a good 10 days with almost no food so we can't just turn him loose and let him eat what he wants. This had proven more difficult than I thought it would be.
Henry has never been much of an eater. Even as a pup. Sure he had an appetite, but he never had the type of appetite typical of a pug. And he never had the appetite that Benny had. But today, Henry had the appetite of Benny and Luna combined. He was ravenous. We fed him a small meal about every 2-3 hours and he was ready to chow each time.
It was fantastic to see him ready to eat. Not just to see him eating after getting over pancreatitis, but to also see him happily eating since Benny and Luna passed. Without them, Henry has a bit lost in the food department. He always followed their lead and just ate when they ate. Today, he was his own pug, and told us, "I'm hungry!" I hope his appetite sticks around!
Sunday, October 26, 2014
This weekend Henry caught up on some much needed rest. Overall, he has improved although we still have some concerns.
On Saturday, he wasn't up to eating much until about an hour before bed time. About the time Luna would have normally stirred for her late night chew, Henry became interested in some food. We gave him a small meal of shredded turkey and oatmeal. He seemed pretty happy with that and he luckily washed it all down with some water.
On Sunday morning, we awoke abruptly to Henry throwing up. It was a moment of, "Oh no! We are going backwards!". His throw up was mostly acid and after he threw up, he promptly wanted to eat. This was definitely different behavior than last week when he wanted nothing to do with food. We fed him a small meal in the morning and then another small meal at lunch time. We are going with the small meal approach to give his stomach time to adjust to having food in it again.
That plan seemed to be working well. Henry happily ate at each mealtime and had an appetite much more befitting of a pug on Sunday. However, on Sunday afternoon he thew up again! And just like in the morning, he wanted to eat right after throwing up.
I feel like we have taken 5 steps forward, but the throwing up yesterday has me concerned that we are on the verge of taking a few giant steps backwards.
We touched base with our vet and he told us to keep doing what we are doing and to keep Henry's water intake high and see how things play out today. I'll let you know how things go.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
For good measure, Henry spent the whole day at the vet getting fluids. The good news is that he doesn't need to go back to the vet today! Henry will have a much deserved rest day at home and then a nice relaxing weekend!
An enormous thank you for all the support and well wishes. It's a great feeling to know that we have an army of pug lovers pulling for Henry and willing him to get better.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Henry is back at the vet today for more fluids. We are hoping that he will only need to stay a half a day today. Last night, he seemed to be feeling a bit better. He ate a little bit of food, which was wonderful! He also wanted to go for a little walk. It was a beautiful night and he wanted to go smell his favorite bush that is at the end of the cul de sac. This poor bush is the go to spot for all the dogs in the neighborhood. It had been days since Henry had been by so he had a lot of catching up to do!
We are hoping that Henry is on the upswing! #HenryStrongAllDayLong
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
So, a few hours into yesterday's trip to the vet, we got Henry's blood work back. Some good news some bad news. The good news is that his sky high white blood cells are finally starting to come down. The bad news is that he has pancreatitis. This is a very painful disorder and it takes a long time to treat. Ironically, we recently recapped the story of when Baby Benny had this as a puppy. It took Benjamin 10 days in a hospital to get over it and he was not even 2 years old yet. Henry, no spring chicken at 12, will take a while longer to have it run its course.
The other news that we are still processing greatly is that our oncology vet (and our general vet) recommend that Henry not proceed with chemotherapy any longer. Not that chemo caused this problem directly. However, since Henry's system has been so compromised, he is open to all things evil right now and apparently there is evil lurking in our neighborhood laying in wait of immune suppressant pugs and waiting to expose their nastiness into the unsuspecting pups.
We are not entirely sure how we feel about all of this but will have more discussion with both vets as time passes. One thing we ARE sure of, is that in no way is Henry ready for the chemo that he was scheduled for in less than a week. So, getting Henry over THIS hurdle is now the priority.
He has been coming home from the vet extremely wiped out and we are looking forward to the #HenryStrong pug that we know and love rebounding as no other pug can do. He is one tough cookie and he will beat this.
As always, we appreciate all the kind words, prayers, juju and overall positive spirits.
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