It's always something

[cjsmith]

I'm done with the bio test! I should be working on that chem lab report, right? And Spanish homework for class this afternoon, too, of course. There's only an hour and a half before class, and I should also get lunch.

Well, except Little Girl needs to go the vet. Again. For inappropriate urination. Again. So she's locked in the bathroom until we can figure out what's wrong and fix it. Again. Kidney trouble in a cat is a slow descent into hell.

I'm worried about her this time. The symptoms aren't the same as the usual UTI. She's... just sort of gradually leaking. I hate to say it, but I'm hoping for a UTI! That would mean there's something to be done. If there's not, I have no idea what to do. I don't want to live like that. It's nasty enough inside this house without an incontinent cat. But I love Little Girl. She's easily my favorite of the three; she's the most affectionate by far and she's sweet as can be.

Comments

Re: kidney disease

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

4. Dr Ariza is a vet who does housecalls (and I thought she was a bit on the pricey side, even for the fees rather than the travel etc). Anyway, she did recommend (and leave me with) some supplements -- I think 2 kinds? -- that she hoped would help. I recall that at least one of them was some kinda thing that is distributed only through vets?? (I also noted that she charges $400 for euthanasia done at home -- which I think is VERY expensive -- I've had this done before, just once -- I don't remember the price, but this sounded way high to me.)
Oh! I just found the receipt/bill from Dr Ariza -- with lots more info. Um, except I'm not sure if I can read it all....
"Feline Renal Sup"(illegible -- presumably "supplement". Huh, that is the only one I'm seeing here -- but I really think there were 2 things like this.
Weruva canned diet (cat food she recommended -- very wet among other things).
Recommended pepcid (which is a human OTC thing) -- maybe for the low appetite -- sorry I don't recall whether this was directly for kidney disease -- I think it is more for low appetite (due to kidney disease, but one step removed.)
A couple other Rx drugs and subq fluids -- and b vitamin in the subq fluids.. Also got valium, but I don't recall all the details of this.

Dr Ariza 408-569-9070. I think she works only via housecalls ?I think?

Okay, I think I'm about to OD on sad here. The info on his microchip is in this file too :( [of little use since he died in June 2008]

I guess that's it. Except I'm skipping all the info on intuitive info given to me (by people using intuitive means) -- which is mostly homeopathic remedies. I'm not sure how much this is "general kidney" stuff vs. particular to this specific kitty and his condition. I'm pretty clear you don't want "intuitive" type resources, so I've filtered for that.

best to you and Little Girl!

whoops! One more thing: whether out of "your own" interest or because you are a vet student and vet tech -- I'd be happy to loan you a few books about things like homeopathy for cats/dogs, home remedies for cats/dogs.

There's also a vet acupunture doc who makes housecalls in our area. I think she also does some other stuff besides acupuncture -- This was not appropriate for my/our situation last year, but I think this may be the same vet that I had come to the house and treat a cat several years ago (I'm not positive).
I do recommend looking at the website, um, I guess because I generally like to have more options (and thus recommend a wide look at things, since it a value of mine)
http://www.thewesterndragon.com/

I seem to feel compelled to offer some levity here -- too much thinking about sickness and not eating and needles and other icky things -- so here's something fun (their book is on the bookshelf next to the cat homeopathy etc) (the book is WAY FUN)
http://www.thecatshouse.com/
Uh oh -- looks like the website is not "all there" and is being worked on :(
Well, the home page does give some idea....artists with catramps!

Re: kidney disease

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow!! Thanks for this huge amount of info!

Eagle Peak Herbs sounds like a good place for me to start.

Not sure how much I can slip into her food; she's not pleased by her kidney-specific diet, so she's forever trying to avoid that and eat anything else she can find or steal in the house (like my other cat's diabetes diet). But I'm no bad hand at medicating her directly if I have to, as long as the supplements are meant to be taken that way.

I'm on the fence about intuitive resources. I've had two of them be very wrong about me, so far, and zero helpful -- but then, that's just as good a score as Western medicine has. It's not like I've made up my mind that they're not useful. I think if I go that route for Little Girl, though, I'll get somebody's reading on her specifically.

I also know a vet acupuncture doc who comes to SVC sometimes to do treatments. That's cool -- it's almost certainly not the same one. Nifty to see that there are multiple vet acupuncturists in the area.