• There seems to be an uptick in Political comments in recent months. Those of us who are long time members of the site know that Political and Religious content has been banned for years. Nothing has changed. Please leave all political and religious comments out of the forums.

    If you recently joined the forums you were not presented with this restriction in the terms of service. This was due to a conversion error when we went from vBulletin to Xenforo. We have updated our terms of service to reflect these corrections.

    Please note any post refering to a politician will be considered political even if it is intended to be humor. Our experience is these topics have a way of dividing the forums and causing deep resentment among members. It is a poison to the community. We appreciate compliance with the rules.

    The Staff of SOH

  • Server side Maintenance is done. We still have an update to the forum software to run but that one will have to wait for a better time.

My Siamese cat, "Twist", in vet hospital.

Navy Chief

Navy Chief

Senior Member
Just over a week ago, I noticed my little "Twist" was acting differently. Normally quite active and vocal, he was spending more time sleeping than usual, and not running around. Took him to the vet for blood work. Results are that his kidneys are 90% damaged, and he was almost in full renal failure. He has been with the vet since Wednesday morning, and only just this morning - finally responding to IV fluid therapy. A definite positive change from the vets report last evening. I was preparing myself for the worst today.

Twist has improved, and (at least for now) doing much better. The plans are to bring him home tomorrow, around noon. I don't know how many days or months I will have him, but I will make every day count.

He has been such a blessing to me. NC
attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    97.2 KB · Views: 0
i'm out here in cyber space, and i'm rootin for your furry friend. it's amazing how much we can depend on them as part of our lives, isn't it?
 
and Twist is a good lookin little guy ..i wish him..and you..my best...both of you will be in my thoughts and prayers NC...dave
 
Our pets are with us for such a relatively short period of our lives, but (speaking for myself) all of them have meant so much to me. Years ago, back around 1999-2000 timeframe, I had another Siamese cat named "Armand". He was a Blue Point, about 1 1/2 years old when I adopted him from a breeder. Armand had been a show cat, having spent almost all of his life to that point in a cage. It was several days before he warmed up to me, but became quite a loving companion. Armand seemed to have sniffles (respiratory) continually. It was a respiratory infection that eventually brought his defenses down to such low levels that I had to let him go at age 7; not very old for a cat, let alone a Siamese.

It was over two years before I reached the point where I could handle getting another Siamese. I sought out a different breeder, after the problems with Armand, and found one in Tuscaloosa, Al, a few hours drive from where I lived in TN at the time. Twist was 5 weeks old when I brought him home, and was the cutest little kitten I'd ever seen. All legs, and so vocal! So animated, loving, and playful! That was in 2001. Since then I have been through a divorce, moved twice, and remarried. Throughout it all, Twist has been such a comfort and friend. My little buddy. NC
attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    74.1 KB · Views: 1
Last edited:
even folks that have had cats might be pleasantly surprised at how intelligent, devoted, and social a good siamese cat can be. i had honda for 13.5 years. he was so named because i found this little siamese kitten sitting on top of my motorcycle back tire, hidden by the fender. all i could determine was the littlest, tiniest meow. took me several minutes to discover this little skinny kitten who weighed about 8 ozs.

only the folks who saw it would believe how honda would growl at strangers thru the window or how he could open doors to get in the closet.

he was a wonderful wonderful companion.

chief, here are my best wishes to your best cat.

salut
 
NC,
I lost my little buddy ,Camy, a 7 year old Yorkie 7 months ago...
I hope your Twist recovers.....
Rick
 
My cat Amelia had renal problems when she was about 15 and had to have IV and other treatments. She made a full recovery but relapsed in her 19th year, had further treatments but I had to let go about 4 months later. Best hopes and wishes for Twist and you.
I lost my beautiful 2 1/2 year old gray tiger tabby cat Chennault in February to a pack of hunting dogs that had either escaped their pen or had been let out for a joy ride through my neighborhood. Having a very difficult time, but the pain comes from the ones we have loved. I'll give her blanket a pet for Twist.
jbtate
 
Twist is back home, and acting/feeling much better. His diet will be different from our other cats, and I will probably have to sequester him to feed him. Also have to give him 120cc of a special fluid, subcutaneously. That will begin tomorrow. I am so relieved to get him home, and the chance to keep him alive and happy for a while at least. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. NC
attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    74.5 KB · Views: 0
on monday the same thing happened to my old dog Haney, 15 years old.
After 24 hours she picked up and is feeling much better and chasing the cats around the house, lol, the med's (antibiotic's) worked and the new KD Science (prescription) diet she just loves and will be on it till the end. Her kidneys were at 75%.
I hope Twist has the same results.
 
There's always hope for a good recovery.

My little dog Sammy had bladder stones about 5 years ago, and nearly died. 23 of them in his tiny Yorkie-Poo bladder. Had an operation to remove the stones, which came back a couple of times, but flushed out. He is now stone-free for 3 years on a strict diet of roast beef and broccoli! I slice it up and microwave it with added water twice a day. The vet says he's one of the healthiest 10 year-olds she's seen... and she can't fathom the diet either, but broccoli has a low level of oxalates, which are the type of stones he can't pass. ( Small dog = small urinary tract). And all dogs need roast beef. :biggrin-new:

I hope your kitty regains his health!

Dick
 
Update: I gave Twist, as instructed by the vet, 120cc of the solution prescribed (mostly saline ). Have to use two 60cc syringes with large bore needles. I pinch the skin on his neck, lift it, and inject under skin. Once I got him situated on our kitchen counter, the process went smoothly and quick. He held still, thankfully.

He is eating good, but for now it's as if he's never been in our house. He remains in a back room, and is not venturing out. I feel bad, as am sure he was traumatized, having been in a cage at the vet for 3 days.

I check on him a lot during the day, and am hoping he eventually adjusts. NC
 
Chief,

Just a thought/suggestion. We had the IDENTICAL situation with our cat Mugsy a few years ago. He was having NONE of the hydration with a needle. In desperation, we bought a ceramic water fountain made for cats...he began to drink water like a maniac. If Twist has the slightest interest in running water, it might help augment the hydration you're doing. It kept Mugsy going two years more...

Kent
 
ColoKent said:
Chief,

Just a thought/suggestion. We had the IDENTICAL situation with our cat Mugsy a few years ago. He was having NONE of the hydration with a needle. In desperation, we bought a ceramic water fountain made for cats...he began to drink water like a maniac. If Twist has the slightest interest in running water, it might help augment the hydration you're doing. It kept Mugsy going two years more...

Kent
Click to expand...

Thanks Kent.

Twist is drinking. The saline solution has some other ingredient in it as well. I am supposed to do the injection thing for five days, and then take him back for blood work check. NC
 
Navy Chief said:
Update: I gave Twist, as instructed by the vet, 120cc of the solution prescribed (mostly saline ). Have to use two 60cc syringes with large bore needles. I pinch the skin on his neck, lift it, and inject under skin. Once I got him situated on our kitchen counter, the process went smoothly and quick. He held still, thankfully.

He is eating good, but for now it's as if he's never been in our house. He remains in a back room, and is not venturing out. I feel bad, as am sure he was traumatized, having been in a cage at the vet for 3 days.

I check on him a lot during the day, and am hoping he eventually adjusts. NC
Click to expand...

Navy Chief,

We had three wonderful cats in our lives. I miss them all each day. Cats are such an neat Zen presence in your life.

I think the sad truth is domestic cats outlive their genetically determined kidneys. Do not fear though. Twist could have many more years left.

Get a corpsman or vet tech to make you comfortable with handling needles and subQ hydration. My wife is an Rn and she added many years to life of our cat, Scarlett Katy O'hara. Make a field expedient IV pole and get a liter bag of Ringer's solution and a bunch of clean needles. You and Twist will get comfortable with procedure. Learn how to pinch their skin to ascertain hydration level. Learn how the skin responds in both cases.

Hope this is of some use to you.

Obie
 
Thanks Obie.

I have given Twist fluids via syringe 3 days now (once, each morning). I am comfortable with administering the injections, but the poor thing does cry out when the needle goes in. It is not a small needle! The vet wants me to give him fluids this way vs drip, as that takes too long. Although I truly do NOT like causing Twist pain, the process takes less than two minutes.

He seems to be doing better. When we initially brought him home, he hid in a back room, virtually all day. Last evening, however, he ventured out into the rest of our house. Late last night he was curled up with me on our couch. I was so happy to see him feeling better. It gives me hope.

Twist goes back to the vet later this week for blood work. The series of intense hydration is only for 5 days in a row. Am hoping that won't have to continue, but he IS on a special diet, and that is helping. Pete
 
Good kitty. You're doing well as a caregiver, Chief. That's one very lucky cat ! Best of luck to him and you !

:applause:
 
im happy to see he is improving some..i think of you and twist several times during the day...i hate to see our animal buddies in any sort of discomfort..
 
Twist is still acting scared. I want to beleive his behavior is related, mostly, to the injections I was giving him (this morning was the last, I hope). He used to come running when I call him, but not now. He cowers in a back room, rarely emerging. It saddens me that he is, at least for now, so nervous and scared. When I take him back to the vet tomorrow morning, I hope the vet can offer some advice. I am so happy to have Twist back home, and doing so much better, health wise. But I just want him to be more comfortable in his surroundings. NC
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top