I promised myself I wasn't going to get attached..

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flutterbee

Guest
About a week after my beloved cat, Cassie, passed away, a friend of mine found a mommy cat with her 3 kittens that were about 6 weeks old. At the age of 8 weeks, we took one of the kittens - the runt - and named her Abbey. I told difficult child that this was her cat; that I didn't have the emotionally capacity right now to get attached to another cat. That lasted all of a day and a half. She's been with us for 3 weeks now.

Abbey, black, short haired Abbey, stole my heart with her spunk, fiestiness, inquisitiveness, and affection. I was very worried how she would do with Puddles, our difficult child cat, who always bullies the other cats. He's such a brat. Well, 2 pound Abbey didn't take any cr@p from 15+ pound Puddles and they became best friends. Where you find one, you find the other. Puddles grooms Abbey, they play together, eat together and sleep together. Puddles will be trying to sleep and Abbey will be climbing all over him and attacking and Puddles is just non-plussed about it. Puddles is a different cat with Abbey.

I had to rush Abbey to the emergency vet yesterday because she was vomitting, not eating or drinking and was unable to urinate. On the way there she passed a blood clot, and passed another in the clinic along with bloody urine. Tests showed a urinary tract infection, possibly a kidney infection and the ultrasound showed what appeared to be abnormal kidney's.

Today we went to our regular vet. The bloodwork indicates congenital kidney disease. The numbers are off the chart, at a toxic level, and what the vet says he normally sees in an 18 year old cat. He administered some fluids under the skin and we are going to repeat that daily until Thursday. On Thursday, he will re-do the bloodwork and we'll see. But it doesn't look good for baby Abbey. :crying:

2007 has just sucked. Sigh....
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
<span style='font-size: 11pt'>Ouch, I can just imagine how much it hurts your heart. I hope Abby can get through this and feel better. :crying: </span>
 

Steely

Active Member
Oh sweetie............I am so, so sorry. I was in the same boat 2 years ago when we adopted a kitty "A". He was only 4 weeks old, covered in fleas, and had 3 different kinds of worms, but I took him in. My goal was for him to be difficult children...........but instead he captured MY heart. OMG............I loved that cat like a baby.

We only had him 3 years until an aberrant Dobie came into my yard and killed him. It was one of the sadder days in my life.......and I have had a lot! I still cry over "A"..........something about him...........I certainly never knew I had it in me to love an animal that much.

I will be thinking of you - I know you have had a horrid year - and this is just unfair. I will be praying that baby Abbey pulls through, and that somehow, she is able to overcome her kidney issues.
 

muttmeister

Well-Known Member
So sorry - here's hoping there will be a miraculous recovery. Our pets are so much a part of our lives - it is really painful to see them having problems.
Good luck.
 
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flutterbee

Guest
The fluids the vet gave Abbey yesterday to "super-hydrate" her, plus she's had 4 doses of antibiotics now, have given Abbey back her spunk. She was attacking my feet in bed last night. I've never been so happy to have my toes chewed on. :smile:

The vet did say there is a remote possibility that the severe kidney infection is the cause of the enzymes being so high. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that's what it is and after a few more days of antibiotics and fluids, the numbers will look better.

Of course, then there's the question of why a 3 month old kitten would have such a severe kidney infection...something the vet said he's never seen in a kitten so young. But, one thing at a time...
 
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flutterbee

Guest
Took Abbey to the vet this evening for more fluids. He got the ultrasound report from the emergency vet clinic. Her pelvis is dilated, which means her kidneys are large which indicates they are not working properly. He said that the kidney infection will make existing kidney disease worse, but that with the report from the emergency vet, her age and the amount of water intake, and the severity of the kidney infection he thinks the kidney infection is secondary to kidney disease as opposed to the kidney infection causing the kidney's to look diseased.

Hydrating her is going to make her feel better. He said that it's almost like doing dialysis because it does dilute the toxins in her system. We're going to do fluids again on Thursday instead of tomorrow, as he wants to see how long she goes before feeling lousy again; how fast she goes through the fluids and how well she is able to stay hydrated. He gave her a lot of fluids yesterday evening and she was drinking a lot of water already today. He said he could do more bloodwork, but he really wouldn't need to because she will tell us how she's feeling.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he's wrong, but I don't think he is. :sad:
 
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