Sick Kitty

Hello Everyone,

If many of you are wondering why e-mails have gone unanswered and my presence commenting and visiting blogs has been so small in this last week, it is because we have been helping our very sick kitty, Rolo.

For those of you who don't know Rolo, he is my sweet kitty who is not only large, but has a large and gentle personality. Rolo is 11 years old and has been with us since he was 7 weeks old.

It all began this week, when I noticed little droplets of blood throughout the house. We needed to find which kitty was bleeding (we have 3). Quickly, we found out that it was sweet Rolo. He was bleeding from his tummy. Interestingly enough, we couldn't find a cut or a visible puncture of any kind.

We quickly called the vet and they were closed. It was after hours, so we needed to take him to the emergency vet. Not far, but because he was bleeding and it didn't seem to be stopping we needed to go.

So my daughter and I went. After examining him and shaving his entire belly, they noticed his belly was extremely red and inflamed. They determined that it must be an allergic reaction to something he either came into contact with or ate. Although this was perplexing to us. He is an indoor cat and nothing in his environment had changed.

Needless to say, he was given an antibiotic shot and we were asked to give him Prednisone to bring the inflammation down. Now with quite a radical haircut and still some oozing from his belly, we took him home.

Much later that evening, we noticed his front legs beginning to fill with fluid. This was around 1:00 am. So first thing in the morning, I call the ER Vet and gave them the update. The tech checked with the vet and this was definitely not normal.

So off went my hubs and son with Rolo. At this point, it was a different vet. He found that Rolo's heart rate was extremely elevated and his blood pressure was very high. Because of this, he ruled out an allergic reaction and gave him some heart meds for blood pressure and to regulate his heart rate.

This seemed to do the trick. The inflammation is coming down slowly, but the vet said that we will need to take him to our normal vet today for a complete heart work up to make sure that is really the cause of his problems.

In the meantime, he isn't his normal self. He is hiding in the basement, comfortably on the couch. We have set him up with his food and water. His litter pan is already there. The good thing is he still has an appetite!

Normally, I don't post about things like this, but I know that many of you out there who have pets know that they become part of your family. You love them and they love you back. I also don't often ask things like this either, but if you wouldn't mind sending good thoughts or prayers (if you are the praying kind) for our Rolo to get well.

We all love him so much!

Thank you!

Until Next Time...

Sick Kitty