The local colleges have something they call "continuing education" or "adult education," something like that. What most of them lack is a class called "Pet ownership" which could provide more continuing education than any computer awareness course or some pottery class could think about.I took the boy to the vet today. He has had a kidney ailment that they call Renal Failure for a few years that has progressed slowly, mostly thanks to my low-protein high-omega 3 diet that he has been on. But, as with most diseases, the body succumbs. Now it seems his has as well.
The progression of his kidney ailment has contributed to anemia. The anemia has contributed to his lack of appetite and the ensuing weight loss. He's down to 6.5 pounds now, which is mostly skin and bones.
By the way, that photo is one of my favorites (including the one yesterday) and hangs over my desk at work. I have no idea what he is staring at, but it seemed interesting at the time, I'm sure.
So, I wondered why he would be disoriented (seemingly dizzy) and wind up peeing on the rug instead of the litter pan (bad). The vet said that cats, as they age, have issues like that. The kidney disease is something akin to being drunk, and his odd behavior can be chalked up to a combination of age and failing health.
Fortunately for him, he is in no pain, but I do need to get him to start eating again. One side-effect of anemia is loss of appetite, and cats generally forget to eat. Strange, but true. The other is the disorientation thing, which makes him pee on the floor. Continuing education.
He'll be spending Monday night and possibly Tuesday night in hospital, where they'll fill him with intravenous fluids and try to get his kidneys functioning again so he starts building red blood cells and gets back to eating and to acting less like a piece of furniture and more like my little boy.
Afterward, it will fall on me to deliver the IV fluids and more or less nurse maid him for the rest of his life.
Such is my lot in life.
And his.
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