Erik is home...

[cellio]

...and the vet at the clinic has no explanation for what happened.

They put him on IV fluids and hit him with injected antibiotics (which I understand to be more potent), and he started eating. This morning they said he had eaten "a little"; this afternoon it was "quite a bit" (though they didn't quantify any of this and I didn't think to ask). To my surprise, the vet did not propose exploratory surgery (and attack on the gallstone while in the neighborhood); rather, she suggested sending him home and following up with my regular vet in a week. My vet, in turn, has a surgeon she'll want to have consult. And I'll want to know an awful lot more than I currently know about the probable and possible effects of the surgery on him, short- and long-term. The last one was pretty rough on him but was overwhelmingly successful; I can't assume another surgery would be like that.

I know that in people they can use some sonic doo-hickey to break up kidney stones sometimes, but my vet is unaware of such things for cats at all or for gallstones.

I have a copy of the results from yesterday's blood test and the technicians' log of everything they did to him while he was there. When I got home I called my vet and read her parts of it, and she's confused too. They are supposed to fax her a copy (and if they don't I can). I have an appointment with her for next Monday.

Everyone I spoke with at AVETS described Erik as "very affectionate". Good boy. :-)

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes yesterday and today.

Comments

[alfiechat.livejournal.com]

who is your normal vet? We use the Cat Clinic right around the corner and they have been so helpful.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear he's doing better!

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

That is good news. I'm glad he's home.

Heh -- all Duke's notes had items like "cat grumpy," or "cat extremely fractious and difficult to work with." He's such a lover at home, but he pretty much hates being taken out of here (as most cats do!).

[grouchyoldcoot.livejournal.com]

I think the reason you can't use acoustic lithotripsy on gallstones is that they aren't hard enough.

[cellio]

Dr Schessler at VCA. She's been great for my cats for several years. (If she ever leaves VCA, I'm following her.)

[cellio]

I think if I ever had to take Baldur there, they'd have to invent some new vocabulary. Though "extremely fractious and difficult to work with" might be about right, now that you mention it. :-)

[dragonazure.livejournal.com]

Minerva got FRACTIOUS written in big permanent marker on her vet file...and all because she nailed the vet, ealdthryth and at least two assistants one time.

Glad to hear Erik is doing better!

Best Wishes

[rob-of-unspace.livejournal.com]

For your cat and for you.

Cuddles, our 14 year/old lovebird, is doing poorly. We're hoping she's rallying, but avian medicine is decades behind feline and canine medicine. Not to mention that 40g isn't much to work with...

Re: Best Wishes

[cellio]

I hope Cuddles is better soon. Getting the right treatment for a creature that small does seem challenging! I think about the minor fluctuations (despite best efforts) when I give Erik liquid meds, and then I think of that variation as a proportion of Cuddles' weight instead of Erik's, and... ow.

[cellio]

Baldur got a big pink "CAUTION" on his record early on, which I thought was an over-reaction at the time. (There were problems when he woke up from being neutered; I'm not convinced he didn't have a reaction to the anesthesia.) After a few years of problem-free visits they removed it, but now, in his later years, he's definitely grumpy at the vet's. I haven't seen the label return, though; I think they just know. (Small practice.)

[multislackerkim.livejournal.com]

Good to hear that Erik's home and feeling better!