September 21

Tube 2, Day 110

Day 510 Since Feeding Tube Insertion

This is my final blog post. Later today Jenny & James are taking me to see Dr. Burns and I won’t be coming home. It’s OK. I feel miserable and it’s hard to get comfortable in any position. My kidneys are shutting down…they’ve been through a lot.

A couple of weeks ago I had a kidney stone stuck in my right ureter (between my kidney & my bladder), and that was bad news – my kidney was blowing up like a balloon. After two nights at MedVet I seemed to have passed it, and I came home on a Thursday only to have to go back in the wee small hours of Sunday morning. I hurt all over and I couldn’t go pee. I stayed at MedVet for two more nights. I came home with 5 different medications, including a powerful pain medication that kept me pretty out of it. I haven’t been myself since then. I just want to lie around and sleep.

Last week I went back for a check-up and came home with 2 more medications – plus I’ve been getting food through my tube and (arrgghh) sub-q fluids again. James & Jenny were hoping that I’d turn another corner and return to (relatively) good health one more time, but I’ve had enough.

Jenny & James are feeling very sad today, and Jenny says they probably will for a while. They’re glad I came to live with them and we got to spend 7 years together (I’m glad, too). I know that thanks to them I got to spend a lot more time enjoying life than I thought I would when we first found out I was in chronic renal failure.

I’m thankful to Dr. Burns for helping figure out what was wrong with me and all the folks at Red Maples Veterinary Clinic for taking care of me whenever Jenny & James had to go out of town. I’m thankful to Dr. Forman for being my kidney doctor and the staff at MedVet for nursing me when I was very sick. I know they did all they could to help me get well.

Thanks for keeping tabs on me by reading my blog. If you feel the urge to do something when you hear of my passing, I hope you’ll make a donation to a humane society or other animal charity to help pets in need, like I once was.

Day 2, Tube #2

This morning I felt much better when Jenny & James gave me my antibiotics through my plug before Jenny left for work. I cried a little bit at first, but I didn't snarl or twist around.

When Jenny came home, she wanted to take some pictures of my plug so she could help me post them on this blog. I made a fuss when James lifted up my tank top and even tried to bite him! I think my stoma might be more sore now than it was this morning.

Before long James thought they might as well give me my antibiotics and get it over with. I growled and tried to slash at Jenny with my claws (unfortunately it looks like someone at MedVet trimmed them when I was under the anesthesia yesterday) but it hurt less than it did yesterday and I think Jenny was trying to be quick.

Just to make Jenny & James feel like they spent a bundle of money on a new feeding tube for nothing, I've been eating lots of kibble today and even drinking more water than usual. Pppthththbbbttt!

Day 1, Tube #2

June 4

Today Jenny dropped me off at MedVet on her way to work. They put me under, then a Dr. Hostutler endoscopically removed the inside-the-stomach bit of my old tube, made a small incision to widen my stoma, and inserted a new, low-profile PEG tube! It looks like the plug where you blow up a beach ball, so it only sticks out maybe a centimeter or so. Unfortunately, the incision made my stomach pull away from my abdominal wall a little, so they had to put in a couple of stitches, but I no longer have a 10-inch long tube coming out of my side that needs to be wrapped around, held in place by a tank top, and clipped to the tank top with a binder clip.

James picked me up in the afternoon. Luckily I did not have to wear an e-collar. They showed him how to put an extension tube into my plug, and I didn't like that. I'm still quite sore! I was also still a little woozy from the anesthesia.

When Jenny came home I was pigging out on kibble, even though they told James not to let me eat a lot. What could I do? I was hungry! Earlier in the day James took away my kibble and I actually ate some of Bucky's kibble. I never noticed how delicious it is before. I even ate a little of it after James brought my own kibble back out. Then James took up Bucky's kibble and neither of us could eat it. Sigh.

Tonight James & Jenny had to give me some antibiotics through my plug. The area around it is still swollen, oozy, and tender. I did NOT want them messing around with my plug! I tried to tell them this by growling, then snarling, and eventually biting, flailing about, and twisting around, but they still pressed that syringe into my tube. It hurt a lot. Jenny never saw me so upset! I guess it probably also hurt a lot when I got my first tube (it's hard to remember), but I was so sick I didn't have much fight in me at the time. But I do now!

I think Jenny & James felt pretty bad afterward (and rightly so). They may call about getting me some pain medication tomorrow. I got some after my first tube was inserted, but MedVet didn't send me home with any today (sadists!).

Day 400

June 3

Today my feeding tube came out. I'd like to take the credit, but I think it got caught on something when I was jumping down from a box. When James opened the bedroom door to let me out, I was tank-topless. Upon further investigation, he discovered that I was also feeding-tubeless. He retrieved my tube, packed me into my carrier, and swept me off to MedVet. He called Jenny on her cell phone (she was driving home from work) and she turned around and met us there.

The emergency vet we saw was named Dr. Lasher. She didn't think I was actually having an emergency, but she put in a phone call to another vet to consult. It wasn't Dr. Forman, because he was away at some internal medicine conference. Anyway, Dr. Lasher thought it would be a lot cheaper and maybe better medically to wait until tomorrow to replace my tube (when a vet more experienced with the procedure could do it). They clipped and cleaned my stoma, and sent me home without a feeding tube! I am still wearing a tank top, though, to keep my stoma clean. I feel so free!

Day 366

April 30, 2009

Wow. I got my feeding tube one year ago today.

I still have it. In fact, I'm not sure I remember ever not having it. But that's OK.

I'm used to wearing a stupid tank top all the time. I'm used to Jenny & James feeding me, giving me medicine, and giving me water through my tube, although I hardly get any food through it any more. I like to eat my kibble on my own, whenever I feel like it. And while I don't drink as much as I should, Jenny & James can give me enough water through my tube so that I don't have to get fluids through a needle any more.

I visit Dr. Forman for a check-up about every other month. My weight and kidney values are stable, so I mostly just get blood drawn and a little cleaning up around my stoma when I'm there.

I feel pretty much back to normal. I like to be petted every time James sits on the loveseat. I scratch my scratching post, watch the birds through the doorwall, sit in the window and look at the neighborhood, and make a fuss whenever Mr. Cat is allowed anywhere near me. I can jump up and down from perches without any trouble, and occasionally I even like to jump up on top of the entertainment center and knock things off (I think it's funny when Jenny hollers).

So it's been a long year, and I wasn't always sure I'd make it. But here I am, and life is good, and Jenny & James plan on keeping me around for as long as possible.

Day 154

Wednesday, October 1

Boy, I haven't written anything for a while now! I've been feeling pretty good, although when James took me to MedVet a few weeks ago my numbers were a little higher than they have been. The lady told James to try to get me to drink more water...well, I don't know if I'm drinking ANY water! I have been eating my kibble, though. I'm down to one feeding of 35 mL's every evening, although most days I get water through my tube in the morning, as well.

I get my sub-q fluids about every other day, although as time goes on I am getting less and less tolerant of them. I think my skin is also developing scar tissue, because James seems to be having a harder time finding a good place to stick the needle. OUCH!

Tomorrow Jenny & James are going to Michigan for Jenny's sister Beth's wedding, so I'll be staying with Dr. Burns at Red Maples. I bet they do a better job of giving me my fluids than James!

Day 123

Sunday, August 31

Well, I'm down to two feedings a day, and I'm eating a little kibble, although not enough to maintain my weight on my own. I'm still hovering at 6 lbs., though, so I haven't lost much weight. I don't seem to be the slightest bit interested in drinking anything, though, and Jenny & James are still giving me IV fluids most days. The sub-q fluids are less of a pain than the tube feeding, though, so even if they have to continue the fluids Jenny says that's OK with them.

James is taking me back to Med Vet to see Dr. Forman on Thursday. He'll take blood and run a bunch of tests and look at my numbers to see how I'm doing - wish me luck!