Of course that picture is not from my living room...but we have had some damp excitement around here none the less. It all started on Wednesday.
As I was walking across the carpet I stepped on a wet spot. I got down and smelled it and discovered it was clear and odorless...at first I blamed Liam for having spilled water there. A couple hours later there was another wet spot a few inches away from the first...Then I blamed Fiona (seen here in a picture taken a few years ago during one of her many daily cleaning rituals) but she had never in her 15 years gone outside the litter box! As the evening wore on that spot got bigger and bigger! Thursday it was really soggy...while talking to my mom I asked if she could think of any reason that Fiona would be urinating on the carpet and it being clear and odorless. My mom immediately told of one of their cats and a dog whose urine was that way when their kidneys failed. I called the vet and made a Saturday morning appointment. I figured that she was in no pain at this point so I could wait for a day when I could take her in without help from Liam:) Anyway...it also gave me an extra day to love her. I assumed I would be having her put to sleep. And I was loaded with guilt. I have not been a very good cat mommy for the past 2 or so years. Liam drains me and I allow myself to become very self absorbed and neglectful of all that is not totally necessary. Fiona was given food and fresh water every day but little else. I loved on her on Friday and asked God to give me a second chance to let her have a wonderful loving life in her last years. I held her and prayed over her Saturday morning before going to the vet.
They did a urinalysis first off and came back with the results...her kidneys were fine...perfect numbers! Glucose levels were also perfect. On examination the vet did discover that her pulse was way higher than even a nervous cat should be. So they took her back to sedate her (Fiona is very...shall we say...particular about how she is touched...and just looking at her teeth the vet got a good swat!) and draw blood for a full work-up. I took Fiona home to wait for the call on Monday. The vet called a couple hours later. While Craig was under the house trying to find a leak to explain why the carpet was now so soggy that water was squishing up between our toes when we walked. There was no way Fiona, whose drinking habits had not changed at all, could be doing that much urinating! Oh...and I found out that they have a couple options for treating cats that are not using the litter box like they should...one is a collar that lets off happy pheromones...I want one of those!!!!!! So....the vet calls with the news. She is perfect other than her thyroid....the numbers were through the roof. She has hyperthyroidism. Then I was back to thinking that maybe, somehow she was doing all the urinating....Craig found no leak. Later Saturday night after I had gone through and sucked up all the excess water we were again squishing as we walked through there...Fiona was not completely our of sedation and had been upstairs all day....Craig decided enough was enough and before I knew what was happening he had torn up a corner of the carpet to reveal a soggy wet sub-floor! A huge area from the dining room along the wall into the entry way of the dining area and into the hallway was totally saturated! And here is where Craig's brilliance comes in. He did some thinking and checking and deducting and realized that the only water source in that area was the line going into the fridge. Sure enough....there was a large puddle behind the fridge and the linoleum was bubbled up along the cabinet! He shut off that water source, and we set our big fan 'Earl' yes, we have a fan named Earl to drying the area overnight. Now mind you...about 1/3 of the carpet is torn up to expose all this water! And the pad is ruined. This morning Earl had done his job and there was no puddle behind the fridge. Tomorrow I call our homeowners insurance and see what can be done. We really need the carpet replaced anyway so hopefully that can be done.
But just imagine...if this leak would not have happened I might not have discovered that Fiona was so sick until it was too late and would not have been blessed with the opportunity to give her peaceful and content last years!
So...there you have it...crazy days at the Bradbury's! Oh...and my options for Fiona...a diet change. But I will not feed her a Hill's Science Diet product...a pill one to two times a day...if you knew Fiona you would know that not only would we be physically scarred for life trying to give that to her...but her personality would be damaged. And lastly, a 1000 dollar surgery where she is kept in a clinic for three days while given radioactive iodine to destroy damaged tissue or whatever on the thyroid. I had to come to grips...in this economy and with a 15 year old cat you just don't go spending $1000. For obvious reasons the pills will not work...plus they required several follow up visits at $100 a shot to regulate the medication. So we are going with diet and supplements. She is off of chlorinated water. I found out that damages both human and animal thyroids. Her food is changed also...only ultra high protein/low carb canned. And I hope to interest her in raw meat. And she will be getting 500 mg of Carnitine each day. My vet will not be happy I don't think...I know she will try to push Science Diet. She may even refuse to work with me as we have gone around before about the health of my animals and my more natural approach. But I believe that God has given me that second chance I prayed for and he will honor my choice that does not put us in debt. I am expecting a miracle!
You know...I seriously thought I would be much better about blogging. I know that some of my problem is the fear of running into trouble and not having David down the hall to rescue me. Although he has been setting up things and repairing things from 'down under' thanks to modern technology:)
I will try better!!!!
They did a urinalysis first off and came back with the results...her kidneys were fine...perfect numbers! Glucose levels were also perfect. On examination the vet did discover that her pulse was way higher than even a nervous cat should be. So they took her back to sedate her (Fiona is very...shall we say...particular about how she is touched...and just looking at her teeth the vet got a good swat!) and draw blood for a full work-up. I took Fiona home to wait for the call on Monday. The vet called a couple hours later. While Craig was under the house trying to find a leak to explain why the carpet was now so soggy that water was squishing up between our toes when we walked. There was no way Fiona, whose drinking habits had not changed at all, could be doing that much urinating! Oh...and I found out that they have a couple options for treating cats that are not using the litter box like they should...one is a collar that lets off happy pheromones...I want one of those!!!!!! So....the vet calls with the news. She is perfect other than her thyroid....the numbers were through the roof. She has hyperthyroidism. Then I was back to thinking that maybe, somehow she was doing all the urinating....Craig found no leak. Later Saturday night after I had gone through and sucked up all the excess water we were again squishing as we walked through there...Fiona was not completely our of sedation and had been upstairs all day....Craig decided enough was enough and before I knew what was happening he had torn up a corner of the carpet to reveal a soggy wet sub-floor! A huge area from the dining room along the wall into the entry way of the dining area and into the hallway was totally saturated! And here is where Craig's brilliance comes in. He did some thinking and checking and deducting and realized that the only water source in that area was the line going into the fridge. Sure enough....there was a large puddle behind the fridge and the linoleum was bubbled up along the cabinet! He shut off that water source, and we set our big fan 'Earl' yes, we have a fan named Earl to drying the area overnight. Now mind you...about 1/3 of the carpet is torn up to expose all this water! And the pad is ruined. This morning Earl had done his job and there was no puddle behind the fridge. Tomorrow I call our homeowners insurance and see what can be done. We really need the carpet replaced anyway so hopefully that can be done.
But just imagine...if this leak would not have happened I might not have discovered that Fiona was so sick until it was too late and would not have been blessed with the opportunity to give her peaceful and content last years!
So...there you have it...crazy days at the Bradbury's! Oh...and my options for Fiona...a diet change. But I will not feed her a Hill's Science Diet product...a pill one to two times a day...if you knew Fiona you would know that not only would we be physically scarred for life trying to give that to her...but her personality would be damaged. And lastly, a 1000 dollar surgery where she is kept in a clinic for three days while given radioactive iodine to destroy damaged tissue or whatever on the thyroid. I had to come to grips...in this economy and with a 15 year old cat you just don't go spending $1000. For obvious reasons the pills will not work...plus they required several follow up visits at $100 a shot to regulate the medication. So we are going with diet and supplements. She is off of chlorinated water. I found out that damages both human and animal thyroids. Her food is changed also...only ultra high protein/low carb canned. And I hope to interest her in raw meat. And she will be getting 500 mg of Carnitine each day. My vet will not be happy I don't think...I know she will try to push Science Diet. She may even refuse to work with me as we have gone around before about the health of my animals and my more natural approach. But I believe that God has given me that second chance I prayed for and he will honor my choice that does not put us in debt. I am expecting a miracle!
You know...I seriously thought I would be much better about blogging. I know that some of my problem is the fear of running into trouble and not having David down the hall to rescue me. Although he has been setting up things and repairing things from 'down under' thanks to modern technology:)
I will try better!!!!