Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Chumley update and such

Today has been a looooong day but now I am home listening to some music, while sipping a nice chilled glass of some much needed wine. I probably come across as a major alcoholic on here but I can't worry about what other people think. As I told my (NEW) therapist today, booze is cheaper and MUCH more accessible than $200/hour office visits that suck up another hour each way in traffic. We'll be working through that over the next month I'm sure.

So, Chumley is back home and seems to be doing well. I brought him in today at noon but it wasn't until after 1:00 that he was seen. Frustrating. I also was able to bring in 2 urine samples (turkey basted from home) and they tested those before they decided to run any other tests. Good thing because they came back abnormal so my Vet did not want to sedate Chumley based on the results of the urine test. He was afraid he could go into renal failure. So instead they actually had to use a gas chamber to get him to sleep. That sort of freaked me out but I guess it's the safest way because he will not lose kidney function from being knocked out by gas.

They ran a complete blood panel and also examined his organs, extracted fresh urine from his bladder and checked his teeth while he was knocked out. I will have the results of all of these tests tomorrow. I told him about the Diabetes Insipidus diagnosis and he seemed to think that was soooo rare and was probably not the case. I didn't want him to dismiss it because based on the symptoms it totally sounds like something Chumley could have so I persisted on this and he said he would not rule anything out just yet, at least until we get the blood work back. So we'll see.

As for me, due to Chumley stress or the fact that we have may have to be out of our house in less than 3 weeks, I'm now fighting off my 3rd bladder infection in less than 2 months. And 2 months prior to this I had ZERO bladder infections my ENTIRE life. I wish I could say this was due to crazy ass ripping sex acts but it's not and I have no idea why the hell I keep getting these. And yes, I know the proper way to wipe.

Oh and HWHL, I about peed myself (not from the infection) when you mentioned your cat Mortimer. I LOVE that name, and that is actually one of Chumley's nicknames. We call him Morty for short. I literally spit out my wine when I read that comment.

Here are some pics of Chumley's day out...

Car ride to the vet's office:



At vet's office waiting almost an hour:



Thanks to all of who you kept our little guy in your thoughts and prayers. I will say that tonight Chumley has been soooo sweet and is ---

Ok as I was just finishing this post, Tom has been repairing a screen door fiasco and we thought Chumley got out and we both went completely BAT SHIT trying to find him. Literally my heart stopped. Chumley is fine, he was laying down upstairs but HOLY CRAP that gave both Tom and I quite a scare. We love this little beast soooooo much. Why? Well that's up for debate. I guess you can't always make logical sense of why someone just has a way of capturing your heart. It defies all boundaries, all areas of control...it just happens.

I love you Chumley and I'm sorry I called you names earlier. You are my special little guy and I can't imagine a world without your little hissing face in it.

7 comments:

Gberger said...

Your day sounds like it was quite a humdinger. So sorry about the bladder infections; that is no fun at all.
I'm glad that you have a nice glass of wine in your hand, and that Chumley's test results will be back soon.
Praying that you will get a good night's sleep and feel fresh as a daisy in the a.m. God bless all of you!

Little Miss Diva said...

Aww...Poor Chumley and poor Laura! I hope you both feel better soon.

I totally understand the love you have for Chumley. Even when Simba does something to make me so mad...I can't help but think of how I can't imagine life without him. I love him to death!!!

Moi said...

I love the Chum!

Poor Chum and poor Chum's mom, too.

:(

Suzanne said...

I can't wait for the results.
as for you....I don't know what is going on. I have not heard of bladder infections from stress. But, I am not an M.D either.
I hope you are feeling better soon.

In Small Spectacles said...

Sorry about how stressful your life has become! Selling a house and moving is no fun-I'd rather give birth. We moved tons our first 5 years of marriage and I detested every second. I have told John I am NOT moving ever again and he will have to bury me in the backyard. So you have my sympathies and prayers.

Most of my family lives in Seattle (they are lifelong residents). While you don't know me from Adam, if you wanted me to pass along their info. so they could give you the lay of the land, just comment me back (your address won't show, I won't publish it) and I'll e-mail it to you.

Bruce Springsteen said it best:

"Someday girl I don't know when we're gonna get to that place we're we really want to go and we'll walk in the sun. But 'til then tramps like us baby we were born to run."

Here's hoping Seattle will be that place for you and Tom.

Anonymous said...

Blogging is much cheaper than therapy too! I just have those "months" out of the year when I need to go. Like January and July or August. Maybe I have summer and winter SAD?

I was wondering what Chum's specific gravity was? Yes, DI is rare and there are other things to rule out first. I wondered with his mood swings whether his thyroid levels were normal. Very glad they used gas anesthesia instead as it is much easier on older animals. Wonder how much one costs for in-home use?

Check into Bach's Rescue Remedy. It's herbal. You can put some drops on your fingers and then rub them on the inside and outside of his ears. It's supposed to calm their nerves. I use it. I think the Feliway spray and plugin helps too.

Sorry such a long comment. I have all kinds of animal advice but none for you except drink lots of cranberry juice. You all are in my thoughts!

Christina said...

Glad to hear they vet was able to do the necessary exams on the Chumsters. And it's a good thing they were able to sedate him. My question is how on earth did you manage to wrangle him into his travel pouch! He looks so cute and cozy in there.