"Pat" wrote in message
...
I am back from Springfield. Abelard is in the hospital there, as I
expected he would be. He had another (shorter) seizure en route, and
then again right after we arrived at the clinic. They checked his
blood and urine and some other tests. The diagnosis is acute renal
failure from dehydration.

The meds given by the local vet likely contributed to this serious
development. Also, the incompetent #%^&$ apparently didn't notice the
severity of the dehydration today, nor the subnormal temp, didn't
suggest blood work, didn't see a need to give even sub-q fluids if not
IV.

Well he's getting IV fluids now, and is on a heated bed with a cover.
TED at clinic in Springfield says seizures were brought on by low CA +
high PHOS in the blood, and that the fluids being given will address
this. He might have told me how it got that way but if so I don't
recall details. What did stick in my mind is that Abelard may or may
not be able to bounce back after a few days of IV fluids and
supportive care.

They are giving a different antibiotic, it's called Unasyn. Baytril
was wrong, wrong, wrong!! In any event the dental infection seems to
be the least of our concerns, for the moment. How can he bounce back
enough to have dental surgery if he won't eat because his mouth
hurts??

On top of this, the Springfield TED says he will need to be
transferred to a local clinic Monday morning for continuing IV fluids,
because this clinic is only open 6 PM to 8 AM on weekdays (and all
weekend). We must pick Abelard up by 7:30 Monday morning and pay the
balance on the bill at that time. I asked if they would accept
payments over the phone and the answer was yes, but only up to the
remaining balance after the deposit that I had to leave ($250) on a
credit card.

The estimated total due on Monday morning will be close to $500, half
of which was charged to my card tonight. But, since this is an
emergency clinic which mainly serves travelers, they won't maintain a
balance on account. Also, even if people wanted to help with more than
will still be owed Monday, they can't refund the charge on the credit
card for some reason I don't even understand well enough to explain.

I am awfully mad at the local vet. I've half a mind to go to his house
in the morning and wring his neck. Thanks to him, Abelard might not
make it, but at least now he's receiving good care and will be kept
comfortable.

The EVC will be calling here at 7 AM and again at 7 PM both today and
Sunday with updates. They will do another blood test after 24 hours to
see how the kidneys are working.

As for me, I am about half-dead from lack of sleep and worry.




I hope Abelard will be stabilised on his drip and continues to recover.
If he has CRF, when he comes home he might need to drink rehydration fluid
like KFC had to. You can buy it in sachets from your vet for loadsa money
or you can ask me for the recipe which is identical which kept her going for
a long time.
It's very palatable, KFC drank it like a fish.

There is no secret to rehydration fluid which cats with kidney problems need
to drink once they are up and going and I will freely share that with you if
you want.
I will not do that unless I know your vet has agreed he's fit to go home
because I know you, with all that "natural medicine is best" Which is fine
for minor things which will resolve on their own but this is not.