Monday, August 23, 2010

Pet Update

Penny has "faved" another one of my current knitting projects. This is Jennifer's Afghan, a pattern from a book I read recently entitled "Dropped Dead Stitch." (I bet you non-knitter's didn't even know that there was such a thing as knitting-themed murder/mystery fiction, did you?) Anyway, I stopped mid-row on this afghan, so it ended up being a nice little tube and Penny was able to tunnel inside for her afternoon nap!

Here's my sweet Sophie terrorizing a streaked gopher we caught in the live trap the other day.
I was so happy to see her getting so excited about this little gopher because a week ago Sophie almost died! She had injured her paw in a leap off the bed a few weeks ago and was unable to walk on it. A visit from her vet determined there were no broken bones and I chose to pursue the less expensive Ascriptin therapy (vs. a pricey NSAID prescription which also required a liver & kidney blood test prior to starting the medication). I received all the standard warnings about aspirin's affects on the stomach lining and was told to watch Sophie's stools especially for anything that might indicate internal bleeding due to aspirin irritation.

After a week of trying to restrict her activity, Sophie's limp was almost gone, so I discontinued the Ascriptin therapy. Then after another week, she jumped off the bed and re-injured the paw, so I started her Ascriptin again (half a pill in the morning and the other half in the evening). Last Monday, she was much more lethargic than usual and napped on the couch for almost the entire afternoon. I didn't really think anything of it until suppertime rolled around and she was only mildly interested in her treats and then left the table without even begging for plates to lick (extremely unusual for her!) I asked Mr. Johnson if he had noticed any change while on "poop patrol" earlier in the day and he said he hadn't. Then shortly after supper he had her out and she conveniently pooped for us and Mr. Johnson reported that her poop was black! Uh-Oh! I knew that wasn't a good sign and lifted one of Sophie's lips to find that her gums were an extremely unhealthy shade of light pink (almost white). That's when I knew something was really wrong. We loaded her into the car and whisked her off to our local Affiliated Emergency Veterinary Service hospital. A battery of tests (including blood, x-ray and ultrasound -- to rule out tumors) were done and it was determined that Sophie was severely anemic, due to a GI bleed triggered by the Ascriptin I'd been giving her for the previous week. Poor Baby! She had to spend the night and part of the next day at the hospital. I brought her home Tuesday afternoon with a couple weeks' worth of special intestinal diet food and she's been receiving lots of TLC while she recovers from this GI bleed and associated anemia.

Sophie's almost back to her old self now and that's why I'm so happy to see her getting so excited about a streaked gopher in a trap again -- because a week ago, this photo wouldn't have been possible!
(and in case you're wondering, this gopher escaped unharmed because once the trap's tipped over, they just have to run onto that door and it opens right up--guaranteeing a speedy escape!)


12 comments:

KGMom said...

As soon as I saw your blog title, I thought--UH OH. I am too tender to pet tales, (and tails) right now.
Ascriptin has a binder around it, like Maalox, but I guess that didn't help.
Glad Sophie is perking up.
Love the little stripped gopher.

Pet Guilt said...

oh, scary! we've had a dog bleed to death internally due to a ruptured spleen that we didn't know about (thought he had just slipped while getting up on a hardwood floor), and almost lost Payton during a routine anesthetic for x-rays and teeth cleaning! scary scary stuff! So glad she's doing well!

Mama Pea said...

Adorable picture you caught of Penny. Who knew she would have been able to so perfectly position herself in that piece of knitting!

Glad to hear Sophie has recovered. What we don't go through with our furry little friends. Does this call for lifting her up and down from the bed???

RuthieJ said...

Oh Donna, the whole time we were at the emergency hospital, I couldn't help but think of what you had just gone through with Tipper and I was pretty scared. I'm glad Sophie's perking up too.

Thanks Danielle. The vet was worried about the spleen too and that's specifically what she was looking at with the ultrasound. I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious this time.

Thanks Mama Pea.
And yes, that's right.....up & down, all 55 pounds of her and she doesn't like it one bit!

Anonymous said...

How can Penney be cold in this heat and humidity, and she has a fur coat? It is a cute picture.

Sophie is ready to chase that little bugger, just let it out, but don't run so fast Sophie you might just hurt your paw again.

MOM

Gaelyn said...

Sure glad to see Sophie looking interested and on the mend.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Poor Sophie! I'm glad she's recovering so well after her close call.

Judy DeBoer said...

Cats are keen! More, More, MORE cat pics!!!!!!!!!!

Taos Sunflower said...

Love your cat! Glad to hear Sophie is better. What a scare.

Heather said...

Glad to hear Sophie is getting back to herself. What a fright she must have given you. And Penny in that afghan "tunnel" is just too funny. I love how her tail is sticking out of it! Hugs to you!

Jayne said...

Oh, how scary Ruthie... so glad she's OK and on the mend.

troutbirder said...

Glad to read Sophie recovered in the end. And I'm glad to learn about the emergency pet hospital in Roch! Thanks Ruthie