Monday, October 6, 2008

Precious Poppy

Poppy had an ultrasound today so that we can look at the stones in his kidneys to determine the next course of action.
They have to shave off his belly fur to do the ultrasound.
Poppy has no belly fur now.
It's quite weird, seeing his tummy all exposed.
This little bit of whitish, pinkish skin, sorta like a lizard's tummy.
Prognosis was not good.
All i could remember is how emotionless the vet was while he drone on and on about the ramifications of the entire thing.
I could never be a vet. Cos I could never maintain that poker, emotionless face while talking to patients. I cry too easily.
Suddenly, all those months of watching Grey's Anatomy made sense.
Doing an operation doesn't always guarantee success.
It's a 50-50 gamble.
If i let them cut, Poppy may die from the complications during or post surgery.
He may die this month if I let the vet do it.
If I don't let them cut, Poppy will eventually also die. But that may be a year or more.
My main aim is to keep him with me as long as I can.
That's the hardest part now - to operate and let him struggle to survive or not to operate and let him live happily till the day he goes.

I don't feel like going into the details in this journal.
Not today anyway.
Not for a while.

I never would have thought my cockeyed optimist, happy go lucky, bumbling court jester would have such a serious problem.
Cos he looks so unaffected, so lively still, despite a shaved belly.
I don't know what to do as I still need to see a few more vets.

What am i waiting for?
Perhaps for someone to tell me that it's possible to get rid of kidney stones without cutting up Poppy.
Or that there is some form of non-traditional cure like prayers that could magically dissolve the stones in both kidneys.
Or that it is possible to have such huge stones in kidneys but still live a normal life without complications.

I don't know how much time i have left. Who knows?
All i know is, Poppy's still well and I want to spend as much time with him as i can.

21 comments:

• azra • said...

hey MummyMeow,
sorry to hear about Poppy.
Anyway, I'll pray for Poppy's health.
I'll try to get more info on Poppy's condition ok?
So you don't have to worry about Poppy being cut.
Spend as much time with Poppy, ok?
Send my love to him.
*hugs*

KC and the Giggleman Kitties said...

You have pretty cats.
I published your request on the Cat Blogosphere. You should get lots of help.
I will also add Poppy to our Purrs and Purrayers list, so all the kitties and critters can send him purrs.
KC

Zippy, Sadie, Speedy and M'Gee said...

We don't know much about stones in da kidneys, we always thought that they just passed with the urine, not fun but better than being cut open. We'll purr and purray fur him and fur yoo, a little purrayer never hurt. We hope yoo find da answers yoo are looking for.

numin said...

Any help will be great. We're willing to do whatever we can and its really heartbreaking. We've been going around to different vets to get a clearer picture. Anyone has any experience in this pls let us know whats the best.

Karen Jo said...

I don't know much about kidney stones on cats, but I do know that there are special foods to help prevent the stones from forming. I'll look around and see if I can find the names of the foods I have heard about. I will keep Poppy in my thoughts and prayers.

Daisy said...

Daisy's mom here:
Daisy did not have kidney stones, but she had bladder stones. They thought she had a bladder infection because she kept peeing bloody urine, but the antibiotics didn't help. An x-ray confirmed bladder stones. They tried to dissolve them with 30 days on a special diet, but that did not work. Finally, she had surgery to remove a very large mass of stones. It took about a week for her to recover, but she has been fine ever since. I'm not sure about kidney stones though. Good luck to you and Poppy, I hope he can be easily treated.

Angel Junior, Orion and Sammy said...

We don't have any information, but we will be purring and purring for Poppy!

Junior and Orion

mummymeow said...

Thanks everyone. Will be seeing a few more vets this weekend. Let's see how.

Cats~Goats~Quotes said...

Sending handsome Poppy all the purrs and prayers we can.
(((Hugs)))
~ The Bunch

Laila and Angel Minchie said...

We are so sorry and will keep precious Poppy in our thoughts and purrayers. You are smart in getting more than one opinion. That is what our mom would do.

Niko and Cloud said...

Niko and Cloud's mom here..
I never had a cat with kidney stones, but Google indicates that finding out what type of stones Poppy has is the priority. It seems it is important to verify whether or not the stones are being caused by an infection and also depending on what type of stone, you may be able to slow down the growth of or even shrink the stones with a special diet or medicine.

Tiger Lily said...

If a special diet and/or meds do not take care of the stones, please do not hesitate to consider the surgery. I know there is always a chance of a bad reaction and complications but our kitties are usually more resilient than we think they will be. You will have time to prepare Poppy to be as healthy as possible before the surgery and vets are so careful these days.

Rebecca (Tiger Lily's Mom)

The Lee County Clowder said...

We don't know much about kidney stones. But Luna had a lot of problems with her bladder, and she was operated on twice to remove bladder stones. (Problem was they didn't find any stones (either time!))

Our point is that she recovered both times, and is just as cranky now as she was before either surgery.

Sending healing purrrrrrss and purrrayers to you all.

Rachel said...

Sorry to hear about Poppy's condition. Each surgery has its risk, but consider that hope that the op can make Poppy better. I am sure he will bounce back from it in no time :)

Brendan Chiang said...

Is it F.L.U.T.D? Am also a cat lover!! pls pls tell me more cos one of my cats had FLUTD but is now on long term medication. He's 7. www.brendanchiang.blogspot.com

our blog...

Just Sharlene and the Spice Cats said...

I would make the same decision. Do choose a vet carefully if you decided to send Poppy to the operation room. I wouldnt want some emotionless vet look at my beloved cat! Have you go to St Angels? What did the vet there say?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

We have no experience with kidney stones in cats either but there are many vets who blog who may have some insights for you. One who comes to mind is Dr. Ferox, who is actually nearly a vet, she graduates in 2009. She has a section where you can ask her questions. http://www.nearlydrferox.blogging4life.com/

We will purr and purr for Poppy to be healed soon.

The Lee County Clowder said...

Us again. Something occured to us that we should have thought of before.

How old is Poppy?

Older kitties can have more trouble with annie static.

Ellen Whyte said...

Any feedback from the vets at the university? Let me know please. We're purring for Poppy - and for you!

numin said...

thanks for the info. Mummymeow is in Singapore at the moment and dont hv access to her laptop and hence can't log in herself. Will be talking to a few other vets this weekend to see what else we can do.