My aunt and her husband just adopted a mutt! Waiting for a picture without their faces on it, but he is a very good boy, a big ol’ shepherd mix who’s about to find his bliss on a farm.
He is absolutely amazing for such a small boy. He is a very welcomed graduation present and has already been offered a company badge as Director of Belly Rubs.
Ben is not great right now. We had a phone appointment with the vet on NYE to discuss the Prozac and we ended up telling her stuff that made her think he was in pain. He probably has arthritis in his hind quarters. He’s been having trouble jumping up onto stuff like the bed and he was starting to hiss when we would pick him up from our laps. She prescribed Gabapentin to give twice daily and he’s going to start acupuncture Tuesday. The Gabapentin makes me nervous because it’s contraindicated for cats with kidney disease. I’m not even sure how much it’s helping. He’s not hissing but he’s still having trouble jumping up. It also makes him woozy so that might be why he’s having trouble. We got pet stairs for the bed and he’s still getting used to them. He’s not eating all his food. I have so much anxiety with this cat. I want him to be ok and not in pain. I’m really hoping the acupuncture helps so we can take him off the Gabapentin. I wish we could’ve started the acupuncture sooner but they were booked out until this week. I hate seeing him like this. He’s just a lump. It’s sad. The vet said with treatment he’ll get back to playing and running around. I can’t wait for that.
So Ben had his first acupuncture appointment and he seemed to do fine with it. I do think that, along with the gabapentin, is helping him. He’s more mobile and is eating more (still not all his food though). HOWEVER now he’s constipated. I swear to Jeff Goldblum there is always something else. He hasn’t pooped since Monday morning so he has to go in for an enema tomorrow. We’ve been giving miralax and extra fluids but still nothing. I really hope he poops tonight.
Well, it’s been a fucking weekend. The enema didn’t get him to poop everything out. They gave 2 enemas actually. When we got him home, he was having trouble with his hind quarters. Like, he could walk but his butt was really low to the ground and he was tucking it under. Figured it was the meds but 4am Saturday, I woke up (Ryan was at work) and Ben wanted off the bed. I put him on the ground and he was still walking like that AND he hadn’t pooped yet. I took him to the emergency hospital. They did X-rays and confirmed the arthritis. The doctor thinks the enema went in at a bad angle and exacerbated the arthritis so he went home with some strong pain medicine. His walking got better over the weekend but, as of yesterday evening, he still hadn’t pooped. The doc had said if he didn’t poop or started straining then to bring him back in so we did. He spent the night there and is still there right now. They have an Internist who is doing an ultrasound. It’s suspected he has megacolon which I’d never heard of. I guess the colon stops communicating with the intestines or something so he can’t push the poop out. I’m waiting to hear back from the Internist. His regular vet called to check in and was explaining that megacolon is manageable with diet and acupuncture. The last resort is surgery.
Thank you Lh. We just heard from the Internist and it’s megacolon. They’re going to give some medicine to help the colon contract or be stronger and send some home with us. He was very reassuring and said there are still options if Ben doesn’t poop and that he won’t die from not pooping (he did not say this condescendingly) . It made me feel better. We can get him at 4:30.
He pooped! We got him home and put him in his litter box but he kept jumping out. Ryan stayed in the room and closed the door and put him in the box like 7 times. The 7th time was the charm. He’s resting on his heating pad now.
I haven’t updated because I just don’t have the energy but Ben was in the hospital last weekend. He was going to stay until Monday and get transferred to the surgery dept for a consult but he wasn’t eating at the hospital so we took him home Sunday. He’s doing ok at home so far but will most likely need surgery to remove his colon. We have a consult scheduled next Friday unless he has to go in to the hospital sooner. He pooped on his own on Wednesday so that was good. The surgery cures megacolon but since he hasn’t been eating well, I’m afraid he isn’t strong enough for surgery. We’re trying to fatten him up between now and next week (he’s taking an appetite stimulant).
Last update- we made the decision to say goodbye to Ben. He never got his appetite back even with both appetite stimulants. He made it very clear to us that he was ready even though we certainly weren’t. We made the decision Saturday afternoon but we wanted his vet to come to us and do it so we waited until they opened today. Unfortunately they couldn’t so we called one of the in-home euthanasia places and got an appointment for today. It was very peaceful and I’m so glad we decided to have someone come to us. Ben was on his heating pad when the lady got here and he was already blissed out. There was no fear or anxiety at all. We’ll get his ashes back in a couple of weeks. We’re completely heartbroken. We got ink paw prints and are both going to get tattoos. Ben will be added to my rainbow bridge tattoo.
Thank you. He was my baby. As hard as it was to say goodbye, I know it’s what he wanted which helps it hurt a little less.