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The continuing Grendel Saga
Feb. 4th, 2004 10:28 pmTonight I brought Grendel back to the vet. Dr. Troye was working, which is good because she's our preferred vet. Dr. Casey, while a helluva good guy, and Dr. Troye's betrothed, isn't half the diagnostician she is. That's not to say we have a diagnosis. The radiologist's report came back: Some highlights:
The radiologist was "amazed" (his word not mine) by the excellent condition of Grendel's organs given that he is 11 years old. I take pride in this because I have always ensured that he gets only the scantest amount of things like fish in his diet, and have always considered the ash-content of any food I feed. No stones were observed.
He noted that the stomach lining seemed irritated and expressed mild concern about an odd distribution of gas. However, he felt this could be attributed to aerophagia (swallowing air.) Given the way he's been vomiting, this does not surprise me. He noted that there was no evidence of tumors, and generally did not appear to be in need of surgery (Yaay!).
I also wanted another X-Ray snapped tonight so I could get Dr. Troye's interpretation, although I was able to interpret it sufficiently myself:
1) Barium made it all the way through. Some remains in the ascending colon, but a path out was found.
2) With two cats in the house, it is difficult to determine which cat produced the poop in the box, so I did not know if Grendel had pooped. The X-Ray from this evening showed the posterior colon to be clear of fecal matter where it had been present in the previous day's X-Rays, i.e. HE POOPED! (Yaay!)
So we're at a bit of a loss as to why he's puking. I asked for a urine test. Some bacteria were present. Dr. Troye didn't seem overly concerned about this, but since Maeve and Willie have been passing something around, and Maeve often visits with Grendel and Cuchulainn, I asked for some antibiotics.
So, the treatment plan:
We have some syringes preloaded with Reglan (anti-emetic) and Zantac (Antacid) for subcutaneous delivery. Hopefully these will soothe his stomach enough that he can hold stuff down. I will not offer food this evening. It seems to be working -- he puked a bit when we got home, but has now gone nearly two hours without an episode. The goal is to get him settled enough that he can start his oral antibiotic tomorrow, otherwise he goes back for a poke in the butt.
Grendel is now resting comfortably on the sofa, and since I have to be up early tomorrow to give him two shots, I think I will follow his example and turn in now.
Edit: He had another episode as I saved this, but they are less frequent
The radiologist was "amazed" (his word not mine) by the excellent condition of Grendel's organs given that he is 11 years old. I take pride in this because I have always ensured that he gets only the scantest amount of things like fish in his diet, and have always considered the ash-content of any food I feed. No stones were observed.
He noted that the stomach lining seemed irritated and expressed mild concern about an odd distribution of gas. However, he felt this could be attributed to aerophagia (swallowing air.) Given the way he's been vomiting, this does not surprise me. He noted that there was no evidence of tumors, and generally did not appear to be in need of surgery (Yaay!).
I also wanted another X-Ray snapped tonight so I could get Dr. Troye's interpretation, although I was able to interpret it sufficiently myself:
1) Barium made it all the way through. Some remains in the ascending colon, but a path out was found.
2) With two cats in the house, it is difficult to determine which cat produced the poop in the box, so I did not know if Grendel had pooped. The X-Ray from this evening showed the posterior colon to be clear of fecal matter where it had been present in the previous day's X-Rays, i.e. HE POOPED! (Yaay!)
So we're at a bit of a loss as to why he's puking. I asked for a urine test. Some bacteria were present. Dr. Troye didn't seem overly concerned about this, but since Maeve and Willie have been passing something around, and Maeve often visits with Grendel and Cuchulainn, I asked for some antibiotics.
So, the treatment plan:
We have some syringes preloaded with Reglan (anti-emetic) and Zantac (Antacid) for subcutaneous delivery. Hopefully these will soothe his stomach enough that he can hold stuff down. I will not offer food this evening. It seems to be working -- he puked a bit when we got home, but has now gone nearly two hours without an episode. The goal is to get him settled enough that he can start his oral antibiotic tomorrow, otherwise he goes back for a poke in the butt.
Grendel is now resting comfortably on the sofa, and since I have to be up early tomorrow to give him two shots, I think I will follow his example and turn in now.
Edit: He had another episode as I saved this, but they are less frequent
