Prayers for Angus Please

BlackSheep · Jun 29, 2014

PixelRabbit, I'm more of a lurker on here than a poster, so you may not remember me. But my family is local to you. I don't know if this will help you but I do know that the Grey Bruce Pet Hospital in Owen Sound does home visits for people with pets who can't bring them in themselves, maybe google them? I hope that Angus pulls through OK.

ETA Oh and we've had two cats with similar health problems- if Angus is throwing up but still eating, check with your vet about giving him Pepcid AC, it helps them with the nausea when their system is out of whack like that until they can get stabilized.

PixelRabbit · Jun 30, 2014

Thanks so much all, it was a long night and day, we are at home with Angus now, he is resting and fingers crossed recovering but he is far from out of the woods yet.

Serena, of course I remember you! Thank you for the suggestion, we had the vet come to our house to visit our dogs in the past through Owen Sound but we weren't given it as an option I'm figuring because it is Sunday on a long weekend.

We got Angus in first thing this morning and he is a very sick kitty, after blood tests it was determined he has Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia, basically his immune system is attacking his red blood cells, all of his numbers are very bad. He is on steroids to suppress his immune system so it stops killing his red blood cells and antibiotics for a Babesia infection that could be the cause (most commonly spread by ticks). It will be a long recovery for him and we are hoping he responds to the treatment, we go back to the vet on Friday to check his progress.

So thankful that he is home and able to fight this fight from here instead of in a cage at the vets.

pjaye · Jun 30, 2014

So glad Angus is home. Continued thoughts and prayers to both of you.

terri · Jun 30, 2014

So thankful that he is home and able to fight this fight from here instead of in a cage at the vets.

Absolutely! He doesn't have to keep his guard up at home. He can relax and rest and let the meds do their work. So glad he's hanging in there!! :heart:

keyseddie · Jun 30, 2014

Felix says get well soon. :wink:

JacaRanda · Jun 30, 2014

Good vibes, thoughts and prayers for Angus from the JacaRandas.

manaheim · Jun 30, 2014

Glad he's home. Good luck.

limr · Jun 30, 2014

Sending lots and lots of good thoughts to Angus, from me and my furry girls! So glad he's at least home, getting all the good love to help him heal :heart:

otherprof · Jun 30, 2014

My thoughts and prayers are with you, and for good news about Angus.

CAP · Jun 30, 2014

You have my prayers.

Dagwood56 · Jul 1, 2014

Been thinking about you and Angus, so glad he's home, its always better to be with the people you love when you're sick. Will continue to pray for his recovery. :hug::

PixelRabbit · Jul 2, 2014

Thank you so much all :hugs::

Angus is a trooper, even when we were at the vets she was shocked how alert and active he was considering his blood levels, given his levels euthanasia was given to us as a very realistic option, he is eating lots and resting even more, he gets up often to stretch say hello have a bite to eat then back to sleep. I wasn't looking forward to trying to get the pills into him but we picked up these Pill Pockets, soft treats that have a hole for the pill, Angus doesn't really like cat treats in general but this stuff is kitty crack! He takes it eagerly, crunches the pills and down the hatch, phew!
This morning he gave me a bit of a scare, he wasn't in any of his goto spots, I searched around only to find him hanging out with Bear and Paws watching the feeder, excellent! He had a bite to eat with them then went for a nap.
We are still touch and go but Angus is tough but appreciated everyone's good vibes, every little thing helps !

Braineack · Jul 2, 2014

Eating is a good sign. Hopefully he continues to recover.

I've been lucky so far with my cats, but my oldest is pushing 14 and I she her acting a bit more senior. Old and grumpy mostly right now.

PixelRabbit · Jul 5, 2014

Thanks so much B, he is definitely eating to beat this, I'm free feeding watered down wet food along with their kibble and he has gained significantly, he was down 1/3 of his body weight at his lowest.

Update:

Angus went to the vet yesterday and they are thrilled with his progress, they didn't expect how well he is doing! He is still a sick kitty, his numbers are going up nicely, faster than they expected, he was at 9% (really really bad) when we first were in, he is up to 20% now, normal is 30%, he has also gained back the good part of a pound, he was down almost 4 of his 12lb weight. Our last hurdle is he has a fast galloping heartbeat, an extra beat every time, we are hoping that goes away as he heals and also means we have to try to keep him calm which is proving a challenge after the visit, unfortunately they had 8 male shelter cats in to get fixed for adoption, Angus must have picked up the smell so Paws now is challenging him and we have to keep them separated *sigh, kids!*

pgriz · Jul 5, 2014

Judi, good to hear Angus is getting better. My daughter's cat had to be put down a few days ago, and I wasn't going to bring it up. Bladder infection, kidney damage, and then the rest of the organs going. Not pretty. Last Christmas, one of our cats disappeared (not unusual when there are a lot of visitors and many kids in the house), and reappeared several days later in a very weak and sorry state. By the time we got her to the vet, there really was no option but to put her to sleep. A lot of tears flowed that night, as she was with us for eight years. We've had other pets who got very sick, but we noticed that they were not behaving normally and got them to the vet in time, allowing them to be stabilized and then recover. One male cat got urinary tract blockage at around 8 years of age, and after the operation ("he" became more like "she"), lived with us another 10 years. A similar situation with a brother-in-law's dog. So catching the change in behaviour is really the key to getting them the help in time.