Kachina

[maisfeeka]

It's been a stressful twenty-four hours. I came home last night to my one-month-from-seventeen years old cat happily leaping up onto furniture and half an hour later she just... went blind and started walking into things. So, I googled sudden blindness in cats and decided the best thing to do was to take her to the emergency animal hospital. We were there for ages and they found her blood pressure was up around 250 (the vet said he'd like to see it no higher than 150, yikes) and that was the cause for the blindness. It's probably caused by an underlying problem like kidney, thyroid, or heart problems. The kidney and heart seem fairly okay, testing for thyroid tomorrow.

I couldn't get her to my vet today for the necessary blood pressure check (they put her on meds and need to see how it's working and be able to tweak it) because they could only get me in at 11:20. I teach in a small non-profit school for kids with serious behavioral issues - 3 classrooms with 3 teachers, 2 aides, a principal, a counselor, and our behavioral supervisor. We're shorter staffed than usual because we're down in numbers and today my aide and the behavioral supervisor were going to be out and everyone else was straight out. There was no way I could leave for several hours in the middle of the day (and just the transport getting her and going to the vet's and then reversing would be an hour or so), so...

I ended up going back to the e.r. for the check and while she was only down to 230, her pupils were somewhat responsive to light which they were not at all yesterday. There is the slimmest of chances that she could regain some sight, so at least that's hopeful.

She's managing well, can find her water dish, the litter box, make the big jump up onto the bed to sleep and/or snuggle (though she looks a bit like a deranged kangaroo with the crazy leap she makes). She's not walking around and around brailling the rooms constantly and she's not running into the walls quite as much. The only big issue was that she hadn't eaten since sometime before 7:30 last night and she's now a teeny tiny cat (only about 5 pounds - down from the 13 before she got sick last spring), so that was a big worry.

But a short time ago she wandered into the living room licking her lips and I got up and dashed into the bedroom to discover that she'd begun to eat. She's had even a bit more since then, so while she's still a bit behind calorie-wise I feel much better. I'll definitely sleep better tonight.

Comments

[celli]

*hugs*

[b-radwick.livejournal.com]

Poor Kachina and poor you! I'm sorry she's having such a rough time of things. I hope she gets well soon and I'm glad you're more relieved now.

[suzvoy.livejournal.com]

*clings*

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

Oh no! How difficult for you.

It seems to be a very bad season for cats, so I'm very very glad that she's starting to eat again, and that her sight seems to be coming back!

[maisfeeka.livejournal.com]

*hugs back*

[maisfeeka.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I finally took my bed off it's frame around 4:30 this morning because she was yowling to get up and I think she'd jumped and missed a time or two. I'd pick her up and she'd snuggle for a bit, then get down for water or food or whatever, come back and yowl again. With it off the frame it's still comfy, but she can get up easily.

[maisfeeka.livejournal.com]

*clings back*

[maisfeeka.livejournal.com]

I think she may be able to see a tiny bit of light and shadow, but the vet didn't seem very hopeful that it would come back. Still, she's adapting very very well so... *hugs*