As per Zoey's Mum's suggestion, here's the new thread! Haha. The old thread is here.
A (not so) brief summary of the past few weeks:
I took Mackerel to MBF Vet on the 29th of January and was told that she had FeLV or FIV+. They took a blood test and told me I'd have the results on Monday. On Monday I couldn't speak to a vet, despite calling six or seven times to get the test results. Finally I hassled the receptionist into telling me that she had Acute Renal Failure- she told me a vet would call me soon. No vet called. I spoke to the emergency vet on the other side of town who told me to get Mackers to a vet in the morning and to get lots of fluid into her overnight. I stayed up all night giving her water by syringe, and when I got her to Hanly Vet the next morning where a friend of mine worked she wasn't dehydrated and they said that they would keep her in the vet hospital on IV fluids and see how she went.
Mackerel was in the vet hospital from the 1st of Feb until the 14th. She was taken off the IV after a few days because she'd started retaining water, and was very very bloated and uncomfortable whenever I went to see her. On the 12th I was told that the adema was much better and that she'd be coming home within the week. On the 14th the vet called and said that her anaemia had gotten very bad very quickly (down from 24 on the Friday to 8 on the Monday) and that I should bring her home to spend some time with her. I was told that she'd suffer fitting and maybe slip into a coma or die of heart failure, and that the kindest thing would be to PTS over the next few days. Apparently there was debate amongst the vets about whether they should send her home at all- some of them thought it would be cruel to prolong things. When I got her home she was obviously very weak and struggling to move or breath, she wasn't eating or drinking at all. I made an appointment with a vet to come to my house on the 15th to PTS.
On the morning of the 15th she started eating! I cancelled the appointment and we decided to wait and see how she went. When she was still with us on the Friday I took her back to the vet. We did a blood test, and her anemia was really improved- up to 17.4. She'd also picked up a cough, but over the next few days with antibiotics that was treated and she's mostly breathing easy now.
At the moment she has a very healthy appetite and seems to be putting on weight. I'm feeding kitten food and some extra raw meat as well as tuna and a little bit of milk for treats. She's drinking quite a lot and weeing, and I've noticed over the past few days that she might be retaining water around her belly, though, and there's something strange just below the skin on her belly that feels like a very hard almost... sharp little lump. I have no idea what it is, but I'm going to see if my friend K (the vet nurse) can come over and take a look.
She's on medication for appetite stimulant and a pill to help her kidney function improve, as well as an antibiotic and a paste that's a supplement for extra calories and vitamins and minerals.
And all we can do now is wait to see whether her anemia improves any more, and whether her kidney function gets to a level where she can function well on her own.
We still don't know what caused this whole thing in the first place.
And here's a gratuitous Mack shot:
A (not so) brief summary of the past few weeks:
I took Mackerel to MBF Vet on the 29th of January and was told that she had FeLV or FIV+. They took a blood test and told me I'd have the results on Monday. On Monday I couldn't speak to a vet, despite calling six or seven times to get the test results. Finally I hassled the receptionist into telling me that she had Acute Renal Failure- she told me a vet would call me soon. No vet called. I spoke to the emergency vet on the other side of town who told me to get Mackers to a vet in the morning and to get lots of fluid into her overnight. I stayed up all night giving her water by syringe, and when I got her to Hanly Vet the next morning where a friend of mine worked she wasn't dehydrated and they said that they would keep her in the vet hospital on IV fluids and see how she went.
Mackerel was in the vet hospital from the 1st of Feb until the 14th. She was taken off the IV after a few days because she'd started retaining water, and was very very bloated and uncomfortable whenever I went to see her. On the 12th I was told that the adema was much better and that she'd be coming home within the week. On the 14th the vet called and said that her anaemia had gotten very bad very quickly (down from 24 on the Friday to 8 on the Monday) and that I should bring her home to spend some time with her. I was told that she'd suffer fitting and maybe slip into a coma or die of heart failure, and that the kindest thing would be to PTS over the next few days. Apparently there was debate amongst the vets about whether they should send her home at all- some of them thought it would be cruel to prolong things. When I got her home she was obviously very weak and struggling to move or breath, she wasn't eating or drinking at all. I made an appointment with a vet to come to my house on the 15th to PTS.
On the morning of the 15th she started eating! I cancelled the appointment and we decided to wait and see how she went. When she was still with us on the Friday I took her back to the vet. We did a blood test, and her anemia was really improved- up to 17.4. She'd also picked up a cough, but over the next few days with antibiotics that was treated and she's mostly breathing easy now.
At the moment she has a very healthy appetite and seems to be putting on weight. I'm feeding kitten food and some extra raw meat as well as tuna and a little bit of milk for treats. She's drinking quite a lot and weeing, and I've noticed over the past few days that she might be retaining water around her belly, though, and there's something strange just below the skin on her belly that feels like a very hard almost... sharp little lump. I have no idea what it is, but I'm going to see if my friend K (the vet nurse) can come over and take a look.
She's on medication for appetite stimulant and a pill to help her kidney function improve, as well as an antibiotic and a paste that's a supplement for extra calories and vitamins and minerals.
And all we can do now is wait to see whether her anemia improves any more, and whether her kidney function gets to a level where she can function well on her own.
We still don't know what caused this whole thing in the first place.
And here's a gratuitous Mack shot:
Love the shot of Mack at the end. Her eyes look so alive! So glad to hear mostly positive updates. That first vet sounds like a nightmare! I hope the lump is not serious! Please keep us updated. I hope she's 100% very soon. 
Do you think I should get it checked out sooner than my Friday appointment? Apart from that she seems fine, and like I said it doesn't seem to be causing her any discomfort or anything.
I can't afford an ongoing treatment that intensive and I can't harass my friends and family to take three hours out of their days twice a week to drive us there and back.
