Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Guinness is spending the day in the hospital





We took Guinness to the University Veterinary Hospital this morning. First he was examined by a lovely, young student; she read the letter and notes that our vet had faxed over, asked us a lot of questions, and then gave Guinness a thorough exam. While going through the lifestyle questions, she said that he lives better than she does. LOL.

Another student later joined her and also examined Guinness. Last night I had taken a video of Guinness having an episode, which they were very grateful for. It’s one thing to explain the episode, but much more helpful when they can actually see it. The other student also asked questions about our boy and we were very pleased with the amount of affection they showed him.

The male student asked the female student if Guinness was bothering her allergies, he wasn’t. She then explained that she had a cat allergy. I laughed and said that veterinary medicine was an interesting career choice given her allergy to cats. It reminded me of a patient I once had. While doing her pre-op evaluation she mentioned that she had an allergy to mice, certainly an interesting and rare allergy to have. I told her that we all hoped that there wouldn’t be any mice in the OR, then asked her how she knew she was allergic to mice; I was curious. She told me that she was a research scientist and worked with mice. Fascinating. Oh, and before I continue, the patient was not exposed to mice during the procedure. We were all thankful ;)

Back to Guinness…..
After spending the better part of the morning with us, the two students left to confer with the head vet. While they were out of the room, Guinness began crying, walking around as if he were searching for something, All of the sudden he urinated on the floor. My poor baby had held his bladder for hours and must have been looking for a litter box. My heart broke for him all over again. He’s been through so much and then for our very private boy to have to urinate in “public”, ugh. I cleaned the floor and by that time the students had returned with the vet.

We were also very impressed with her. She spent a lot of time examining Guinness, explaining the various tests that she wanted to do, and answering questions. Today they are going to concentrate on blood work. Fortunately I had decided that Guinness should be fasting, so I took the food away late last night, otherwise he would have had to spend the night at the hospital. They were happy that he was fasting and said that not many people think to do that. Anyway, he will have the first round of tests this afternoon. They are going to start by looking for metabolic disorders and infectious diseases that Guinness’ mother could have exposed him to. Depending on the results, he will have an MRI next Friday. That is what I had been pushing for, but the MRI machine only comes to the university once a month, strange. The vet said that in addition to the MRI, they might also do a spinal tap.

Amazingly I held it together throughout the appointment. It wasn’t until the male student took Guinness’ collar off and handed it to me that I got a little teary-eyed. I was telling Guinness that he would be okay, that we loved him, and would pick him up later today. I don’t know if they were giving me strange looks, nor do I care, but my husband decided to tell them that it had taken years for us to get pregnant and that the cats were our first babies. That news was met with a lot of “ahh, congratulations” and smiles, so I guess they understood how precious Guinness is to us. As soon as the door of the carrier was opened, Guinness made his way inside, hoping to go home I’m sure. I put his blankets back inside with him (yes I slept with them last night so they would smell like me) and told him that I would see him tonight.

Unfortunately I have an appointment late this afternoon, so my husband will be picking Guinness up alone. I was very impressed with the staff and doctors we met at the university and continue to hope that they can diagnose AND treat my baby.

Continued thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

our brave patient

11 comments:

  1. I'm thinking about your little guy. It's so hard because they don't understand what's going on and there's no way to explain it to them. I'm glad you feel comfortable with the vets.

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  2. Poor Guinness. Hopefully you will have the answers soon. He's lucky to have you two as parents.

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  3. My parents had to bring our dog there once and also commended the kindness and professionalism of the UCD veterinary team.

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  4. That was such a good idea to sleep with a blanket so he would have your smell with him. :) I hope everything works out for your handsome kitty-kat. He so reminds me of my cat, and my heart is breaking just reading this post.

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  5. Poor little Guiness! It sounds like he is in very good hands though and I hope they can figure out how to help the guy.

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  6. Poor Guinness...but he's in the best place. Lots of positive thoughts. Fran

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  7. Your boy is beautiful and so brave. I know how scary that is when your animals are sick. I'll be thinking og you guys. Take care!

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  8. It sounds like your baby Guinness is getting really good and thoughtful care from the university vets. I am so sorry you are all going through this. I am really attached to my dogs and we also have a black cat ( who adopted us) who is currently lounging on the bed with me. I really hope that they find out what is going on and are able to treat him. It sounds like you are all being very brave:) Sending prayers and happy thoughts. How is your other cat dealing with this? HUGS:)

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  9. Bless his heart, I hope that he wasn't too upset by his day at the hospital and that you get some results soon.

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  10. Aww, poor baby. I hate seeing cats sick or in pain. I'll be thinking of him...and you!

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  11. Poor little guy, but so brave. I actually teared up reading this. We love our cats so much too and I totally felt your concern and pain. Praying they find out what is going on and he's back to his great little self soon.

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