I Smell Like Cat Food
Jun. 4th, 2013 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarotgalThanks for all of your well wishes, those of you who commented or sent me messages or emails. *hugs* I'm relieved to be on the other side of the scare now and can report that Maxwell's biopsy came back negative for cancer! He got to come home with me Saturday, but he still wouldn't eat. So I spent two days and nights living in 3 hour intervals, force-feeding him special food to keep him alive long enough for us to get his tests back. Each feeding took anwhere from 40 to 60 minutes. It was like having a newborn baby, except many babies willingly want to be fed. This was me forcing liquified food into him every 3 hours with a syringe. And of course he learned how to spit it back out again at me. I went through four loads of towels and I still smell like cat food, LOL. I spent all weekend in the living room, on the floor with him. He didn't want to come out from under the couch, so I would sleep next to the couch and stick my hand under and he would scoot over to me and rest his head on my hand and I'd tell him I loved him and wanted him to eat and we'd stay like that until the next feeding or until the next daily vet visit when he had to go in for fluids.
I seriously don't know how parents do this. So much effort just to keep them alive and I pretty much lost my mind by day two, unable to sleep more than 2 hours at a time and then having to wake up and feed all over again. I did manage to see the outdoors when I took him to the vet each day for fluids. And I had to drop my car off at mechanic to get new tires. Luckily, Mom lent me her minivan to drive so that I could drive home Monday and take care of Max.
But Monday morning, I woke up and he ate a little on his own. And I CRIED with happiness... silently, so it wouldn't spook him. It was the sign that he didn't want to die and was starting to feel well enough to stand up. He kept food down, too. I went to work 2 hours early and then drove home every three hours for another feeding. But I didn't have to force feed him at all! He didn't eat every time I gave him food, but he did eat almost a normal daily amount. And he pooped for the first time in a week. He lost a little weight when he went to the vet for fluids, but not too much. I decided it was worth keeping him happy and getting used to eating on his own to not force feed him at all on Monday. On Tuesday, he still hadn't gained weight, but he hadn't lost any either.
His pathology results came back today, finally: hepatitis, pancreatitis, and inflamatory bowel disease--the triad! I'm going to have to give him pills twice a day, liquid medicine once a day, and shots once a week. And once he starts eating regularly, he's going to have to go on a special diet because of protiens and other things that I seriously didn't understand. Have I mentioned that I've been awake from 6am to 2am? I literally had to write out a schedule for every hour/half hour so I knew where I was supposed to be (vet, work, home, feeding, etc.).
But the good news is, that he's soon to be out of the woods, assuming all goes well with the treatment (we may have to adjust doeses and such). His weight is still dangerously low and he's so affectionate right now and clingy beyond belief. But that's okay. I begged so long for him to pull through and spent so long feeding him from a syringe day and night that I'm just glad he made it and is feeling better and I don't have to put him to sleep.
Max shows off his surgery stitches and his pretty spotted belly. He's still really out of it at this point. It took a few days for him to start lying down and moving out of the one room (I've only seen him go upstairs 3 times in a week and only downstairs once). But this is one of two times he stretched out and relaxed for a few minutes.
Maxwell eats on his own for the first time in over a week! Now he MUST EAT MORE!
Mr. Maxwell steals the pillows I've been using when I sleep on the living room floor and gets comfy. He's just starting to come out from under the couch and sleep on top of the couch or on the floor by his food!
I seriously don't know how parents do this. So much effort just to keep them alive and I pretty much lost my mind by day two, unable to sleep more than 2 hours at a time and then having to wake up and feed all over again. I did manage to see the outdoors when I took him to the vet each day for fluids. And I had to drop my car off at mechanic to get new tires. Luckily, Mom lent me her minivan to drive so that I could drive home Monday and take care of Max.
But Monday morning, I woke up and he ate a little on his own. And I CRIED with happiness... silently, so it wouldn't spook him. It was the sign that he didn't want to die and was starting to feel well enough to stand up. He kept food down, too. I went to work 2 hours early and then drove home every three hours for another feeding. But I didn't have to force feed him at all! He didn't eat every time I gave him food, but he did eat almost a normal daily amount. And he pooped for the first time in a week. He lost a little weight when he went to the vet for fluids, but not too much. I decided it was worth keeping him happy and getting used to eating on his own to not force feed him at all on Monday. On Tuesday, he still hadn't gained weight, but he hadn't lost any either.
His pathology results came back today, finally: hepatitis, pancreatitis, and inflamatory bowel disease--the triad! I'm going to have to give him pills twice a day, liquid medicine once a day, and shots once a week. And once he starts eating regularly, he's going to have to go on a special diet because of protiens and other things that I seriously didn't understand. Have I mentioned that I've been awake from 6am to 2am? I literally had to write out a schedule for every hour/half hour so I knew where I was supposed to be (vet, work, home, feeding, etc.).
But the good news is, that he's soon to be out of the woods, assuming all goes well with the treatment (we may have to adjust doeses and such). His weight is still dangerously low and he's so affectionate right now and clingy beyond belief. But that's okay. I begged so long for him to pull through and spent so long feeding him from a syringe day and night that I'm just glad he made it and is feeling better and I don't have to put him to sleep.
Max shows off his surgery stitches and his pretty spotted belly. He's still really out of it at this point. It took a few days for him to start lying down and moving out of the one room (I've only seen him go upstairs 3 times in a week and only downstairs once). But this is one of two times he stretched out and relaxed for a few minutes.
Maxwell eats on his own for the first time in over a week! Now he MUST EAT MORE!
Mr. Maxwell steals the pillows I've been using when I sleep on the living room floor and gets comfy. He's just starting to come out from under the couch and sleep on top of the couch or on the floor by his food!
no subject
Date: 2013-06-05 04:27 am (UTC)I'm SO glad Max is doing ok now. Poor baby.
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Date: 2013-06-05 07:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-05 12:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-06 07:06 am (UTC)