...Sick....Again....

If it isn't one thing it's another.....
Well, Walter was back at the clinic on saturday, sunday, monday and today. Ugh...isn't it enough? Vomiting one week, asthma the next and now this.
He started to become picky again with his food last week, started hiding and was obviously painful in his little abdomen. Took x-rays again, normal. And we started treating him for pancreatitis. He was more painful on sunday so we upped his pain meds by giving him something called buprenorphine (a drug that they use with methadone treatment :o) which really seemed to help. By sunday night, his abdomen was big and hard as a rock...I panicked thinking his belly was full of fluid and he had something called FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) which comes with a wonderful 100% mortality rate. I woke up at 2am monday morning with flashbacks of my last cat Blitz. I couldn't bear losing my best friend in such a way.
I rushed him in again monday morning. Bloodwork normal, thank God, x-rays normal....thank God again. We continued to treat him monday and he had an ultrasound today.
Results were good, abdomen normal (not all cats with pancreatitis show inflammation in their pancreas, but he sure was painful when the put the probe on). Though, they did find a spot in his little heart where one of the ventricles is slightly enlarged....hopefully nothing, but something to watch for.
Tonight he's feeling much better, still dopey from the pain medication, but eating and playing with his toys, still hiding a bit though.

Unfortunately, this probably isn't the last of this pancreatitis saga. Cats with IBD and inflammation in their intestinal tract tend to have bouts of pancreatitis as well....but hopefully he'll be good for a while.

Though, as you have read through my previous posts, I can't stress enough about the importance of pet insurance. I, myself, don't have alot of extra cash for medical treatment for my animals, and we all know how expensive it can get. Fortunately, I have wonderful bosses that give me a great discount at work, and I generally pay cost for treatments and medication. Just for example, in the last month, I have spent about $700 on diagnostics, treatments and medicine for Walter. Which when you think about it, at cost, that's alot! Thankfully, with insurance, I only end up paying about $140, while only spending $25 a month on his premium.
I think that's a pretty good deal, don't you?

Anyways, I need some cuddle time with the little guy, he's not very happy with me for forcing him to come to work with me these past couple of days!
Hopefully he'll be back at his regular antics soon! Keep your fingers crossed and thanks to everyone with your support (both for Walter and me pulling out my own hair).!