Sorry I hab not updated ma webby page in awhiles now. I been a lil distracted.

Az many of ma furrend already knows I hab been dealin wif chronic constipation fur many years now. It has been manageable by addin pumpkin to ma foods and then addin Vetasyl to ma foods too (dat iz a fiber supplement). Den ma doctor added Lactulose (a kitty stool softener dat pulls water back into da poop to halp u go). When dat wuzn’t werkin much any more da doctor doubled da dosage. Eventually I had to start goin in for enemas and hab da poops tooked out of me. I hated goin to da V-E-T and habbin dem poke me in da butt!

Den I lost a lot of weight (bout 4 pounds) in a few weeks. So back to da vet we wented & herz wuz beary concerned dat I did lose weight so fast. Herz did not fink da weight loss had anyfin to do wif ma constipation. Herz wanted to make sure I did not hab cancer so off to get an ultrasound of ma guts.

So we headed up to da specialist vet up in Allentown, PA (bout a 2 hour drive from home — really only bout an hour but wif traffic it doubles). Dat wuz April 24th. Dey did ma ultrasound wot sed to dem dat I had an inflamed lymph nodes and  enlarged intestines. Dat and I wuz full of poop. So much so dat dey could not really sees what goin on. So dey wanted to do a colonoscopy da next day.

That meant more enemas to clean ma insides so dey could see. That and an overnite stay (YUCK).

So da next day dey did da enemas and did an endoscopy and colonoscopy to take biopsies and seed wot wuz goin on inside me. Guess wot? I wuz still full of poop so dey could not really see clearly. So we waited until da biopsy comed back and wuz told no GI Lymphoma (PHEW). Dey wanted me to go on a steroid (prednisolone — came in a liquid but da hospital gibbed me cherry flavor) for da inflammation, an antibiotic (amoxicillin) just in case and cisapride (had to hab dis made at a special compound pharmacy) to halp make my bowels motile (u knows to makes me goes). So humanz started me on dem drugs ASAP.

I wuz on da pills for a few days when I started foamin at da mouth (slobbering) and panting heavily cause of da antibiotic. Humanz contacted ma doctors and we stopped takin dat ASAP. Da docs seemed to fink dat da amoxicillin wuz gettin stuck in ma throat and den da liquid cisapride would go in and not go down either makin everyfin worser.

Ma humanz were told dat I shouldn’t be expected to go potties for a few days. Well I never go for a few days anyways so dey figgered a few more days n den worry. Well I still had not made poops by dat Wednesday (procedure wuz on Friday). So off to ma regular vet fur ma regular enema. Herz told da humanz dat herz did not get many poops out of me and dat dey should be considerin surgery to fix ma poopy problems sooner rather den later. While I wuz der da humanz gotted me da steroids in pill form to make it easier to gib to me. Human2 wented back to da compoundin pharmacy and had da cisapride made into pills instead of liquid (I wuz spittin liquid meds every where). Dem 3 days worth of pills costed same as 2 weeks worth! Holy moly!

So dey scheduled da consultation for dat next Friday to meet da sturgeon. Herz wuz beary nice and beary knowledgeable so ma humanz felt beary confident dat herz would fix me up. And finally we were gibbed a diagnosis. It is megacolon. It wuz at dis consultation where ma humanz first got to seed da x-rays of ma insides and could see just how full of poops I wuz. So right den n der dey scheduled da surgeries, a subtotal colectomy, for da next Thursday (5/22).

So ma humanz packed me up and took me into da hospital to hab ma surgery on Fursday. Den went off to werks cause I wuz expected to be stayin in da hospital for at least 2 days. About an hour affer H2 gots to werks da sturgeon called and told H2 dat I had fluid around ma lungs (Chylothorax). Dey had to remove da fluids (200 ml wuz removed) and decided not to do ma surgery. Cause dey needed to find da cause of dis Chylothorax. Herz asked iffen ma humanz could come back in and talk to her about dis new development and future game plan. So H2 left werks & head to meet H1 at da house afore drivin back up to da hospital to me and da doctor.

Chylothorax can be caused by heart disease or even cancer or tumors, so ma sturgeon suggested dat I hab an echocardiogram and a CT scan. Da hospital i wuz at could not do dem os dey were scheduled at a vet in Malvern, PA (bout an hour from home in da utter direction).  Da EKG wuz scheduled fur da next day (Friday) and da CT scan fur Saturday. H2 took me in fur da EKG and met da cardiologist.

Da good news, I did not hab heart disease, but I did still hab fluid round ma lungs dat would need to be removed before dey could do da CT scan da next dey. So it wuz suggested dat I stay da nite so both procedures could be done. Human2 called to check on me da nite and doctors would call her after da CT scan wuz done on Caturday.

Da good news, no tumors or cancer, but I had a pneumothorax durin da test. Dat is air in ma chest cavity and dis wuz caused by da removal of da fluids and when ma lungs were inflated for da CT scan.

Ma humanz came to pick me up and took me home. Since I had valium to halp wif da anesthesia I wuz wound up, all lovey and BEARY BEARY HUNGRY! I did chill out enough to go to bed late dat nite and H2 kept wakin up to check on me. Herz sed I wuz sleepin wif ma tongue wuz stickin out ma mouth. We always herd dis wuz a sign of a cat not bein able to breathe. (But da ER doc said dat not tru….wot ER dr u do ask?)

Sunday rolls around. I am lookin and actin a lil better until late afternoon when I am layin on da dinin room table (yeah well you try n keep a kitteh of a table) when I started shakin n shiverin all ovah. H2 called da vet dat did ma tests yesterday and dey had to get back to herz. So herz called up to da emergency vet in same hospital az ma sturgeon and dey sed mite be pain so come in. So off we went to da ER. On da way der da utter doctor called and sed dat most likely it wuz da anesthesia and to monitor me carefully if I got worse den take me in. Well I wuz half way der so better safe den sorry.

Da ER doctor checked me out good and did more x-rays to make sure I did not hab more fluids or a new pneumothorax. I did not hab a fever dey told us dat right away. I wuz breathin ok and da x-rays showed small amount of fluid n no air. PHEW!

I am home now restin comfortably.

Wot da future hold? We not sure. We gonna try and manage da chylothorax wif Rutin, low fat diet (I on Science Diet w/d) & more drainin of fluids if needed (pwayers dat dis resolves itself n day we do not has to keep doin do on a regular basis), if dis doz not werk den der iz surgery fur dis too but it only 60-70% effective and of course da subtotal colectomy still needs to be done at sum point too. So next step iz to talk wif ma sturgeon agin dis week & see where we go frum here.