Let’s start with Grace.  She has an appointment at the vet’s to get her shots.  It’s her third appointment so far.  We’ll see if I actually get her to the vet today.

She’s a twitchy, squirmy cat.  Usually I try to get her corralled first when taking her and other cats to the vet.  If Grace sees even one cat being picked up and walked toward a crate you won’t find her for the rest of the day.

Grace was tipped off to the first appointment.  My niece was visiting and I was trying to take advantage of her presence to take all three cats to the vet at once.  The person who was nearest Grace tried to hold her in place before I was ready to put her in the carrier.  She squirmed and twisted until she was free and that was the end of that appointment.  At least for Grace.  The other two cats went with only minor fuss.

I almost had her in the carrier for the second appointment but, man can she squirm.  She doesn’t make a sound.  She just squirms and twists and moves in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible even for a cat until she’s free.

So today is attempt number three.  I might have someone here to help me, but I think two people will just make it easier for her to get away.  My aunt suggested putting a towel over Grace.  I’m going to try that one.

I left the carrier right where it was since the last attempt.  I have a towel.  Now I just need a squirmy cat.

Wish me luck.

Update:

Well, hell.  I’ve had to reschedule the appointment again.  The next attempt will be on August 8th to give Grace plenty of time to calm down and forget about today.

Maybe next time I’ll ask the vet for a sedative to feed her before I take her.  I might have to sedate all the cats but it would be worth it if I could get just one to the vet.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last.  Saturday night she at maybe a 1/4 of the canned dog food I gave her.  Sunday she didn’t eat a thing.  She was also very unsteady on her back legs and kept stumbling into walls and falling down.

Artie was a trooper but it was apparent that it was time to let her go.  I didn’t want to take her to the animal hospital, though, because I wanted her to be with people who knew and loved her.

I took her to the vet’s this morning for the last time.  A friend who knew Artie well came with me.  Artie was surrounded by people who loved her and she went very peacefully.

It’s hard, but I know she is in a much happier place.

R.I.P. Artie You were always a good girl

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Friday I took her back to the vet.  They kept her for the weekend.  While she was there they put her on an IV and worked to flush out her system.  According to the vet, the bloodwork from this morning showed that her protein, phosphorus, and whatnot levels had improved.

I’m going to take her back a week from Saturday to get her blood checked again.

She is spoiled rotten whenever she goes to the vet’s.  They love her there.  I’ve had many of the staff tell me that Artie is their favorite dog.  As one of the tech’s said today, Artie has never meet a stranger.  She feels like everyone is her friend.

I’m hoping she continues to do well.  They may all love her at the vet’s but it isn’t cheap having to keep taking her there.

I called the vet this morning and brought her in on my way to work.  While I was there they drew some blood.  Some of it they were going to spin down on site and the rest was sent off.  The vet who saw her thought she might look a bit jaundice but the blood they spun and her urine sample didn’t show signs of a liver problem.

Artie stayed at the vet for the day.  They checked her over and gave her some food and monitored her to see if she’d throw up.  She didn’t.    When I picked her up I was given a prescription for an anti-emetic to give her twice a day.

This morning when the vet tech told me that Artie was down 2 more pounds in just 3 1/2 days I started to cry.  I know she’s sick and not doing well but she doesn’t act like a sick, aging dog.  She was jumped up and down when she realized she was going for a ride in the car.  At the vet’s she jumped up to see the people behind the counter and rolled over to let people rub her belly.  Even the vet said that Artie wasn’t acting the way you would expect a dog in her condition to act.

It makes it hard for me to decide what to do because she doesn’t seem to be suffering.

I was a wreck at work today.  Hell, I still am.  And I’ll be honest, this is not a decision that I think I can make until after the results of the blood tests are back.  If Artie would act like a sick dog it would be easier to figure out what to do.  I’m happy, though, that she doesn’t seem to be suffereng.

Either title works for this one.

My dog Artie is getting up there in age.  She’s nearly 13 and it shows on her body.  She’s still acts like a two year old puppy but her body just can’t keep up with her.

In late July or early August, Artie started having renal problems.  Since then she’s gone from a 60 pound dog that was at a good weight to a 44 pound dog with her hip bones and ribs sticking out.  She’s on a special diet because her body doesn’t process protein like it should.  She still eats like she always has.

Of course, her usual eating habit isn’t doing her a world of good right now.  Artie has always been a sometimes eater.  By that I mean sometimes she eats all her food, sometimes she eats only a few bites and sometimes she doesn’t eat at all.  It seems to depend on her mood.  Before her renal problems this eating style wasn’t causing her any problems.  Now, it’s not helping her at all.

Last Wednesday she started throwing up.  Long after she’d eaten she’d throw up some or all of whatever she managed to eat the night before.  When I took her to the vet they gave her a new medication and recommended that I give her a half tablet of Zantac 75 twice a day.

Saturday she didn’t throw up.  Sunday she threw up a bit.  Yesterday she didn’t throw up.  Today. . . well, today she really lost it.

I had stopped by the vet’s to get some canned dog food that goes with the special diet she is on.  My hope was that she would eat more with the canned food mixed in with the dry.  She did, too.  Then about 3 hours after she ate she threw everything up again.

Gross!

Since I have yet to figure out how to get her to clean up after herself, I had to clean it up.  As I was cleaning up the large mass of partially digested food I ended up throwing up myself.

Yep, evertime she vomits I end up vomiting as well.  Fun.

Hell, hair balls make me nausious.

I was supposed to call the vet’s on Monday to let them know how Artie was doing.  Now I’ll be calling them first thing in the morning.

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