A HEAVY PROBLEM

Orphée has been on a diet since his last doctor visit when he weighed in at 16.7 lbs.  He's lost about a pound but it's not enough. We need to weigh him again to determine how he's doing.

Can you believe the amount of weight he's put on in almost a year?

One fat cat!

PICTURES OF ORPHEE

No post just some pictures of Orphée.

Waiting for a meal.

Lounging in the sun.

THE DRAMA THAT IS ANNIE PART 2

Wednesday morning the entire family was up bright and early. Orphée was the first in the kitchen looking for his breakfast. I fed him to get him out from underfoot then prepared two much-needed cups of coffee to jump-start the systems of our two human family members.

Sleepyhead Annie decided to get up a full 30 minutes after all the activity started. She wandered into the kitchen slowly stretching her legs and torso. Next came the wagging of the tail and her ever sunny expression of anticipation of all good things Annie: her morning romp on the back porch, breakfast, her walk outside. What was unexpected was the blob of peanut butter in a plate (with two pills secreted inside) a definite plus in Annie's opinion and the eye drop in her problem eye (definitely not appreciated).

The day became fun again when Annie realized she was going for a car ride for the second day in a row! Annie loves the car. She spends her time looking for pigeons, babies and other dogs. Her car routine: bark at the pigeons, whine at the babies, bark and whine at other dogs.

We met with the Ophthalmologist discussing all that happened including the previous exam and medications. He explained he needed to redo the tests to make sure there wasn't any change in the pressure in her eyes along with a more in-depth exam. The exam was about the same as a human eye exam. Annie surprised me at how still she sat while the doctor put drops in her eyes then shined a light in them. She became restless when he used a little litmus-like strip with medicine and repeated the test to measure eye pressure but I really couldn't blame her - I barely hold still for that test myself.

Annie has Uveitis, a cataract and lens subluxation of her right eye. Uveitis is inflammation which may be caused by the cataract or the lens subluxation. A systemic cause of the inflammation has not been ruled out but is in the doctor's opinion highly unlikely. As I feared a systemic cause could be metastatic cancer. The eye-drops given the night before were stopped and eye-drops containing a steroid were prescribed. We are to continue with the pain medication. Next Thursday we have a follow-up visit with the Ophthalmologist to determine if the inflammation is under control at which point we will discuss a medical or surgical course of action.

So now I worry about how this will play out. Annie is still Annie, her usual sweet self looking to go out or for more attention, to get cuddles, hugs and pets but giving us a bit of a hard time over the eye-drops.

I'm here! Attention must be paid.

You can see the cataract in Annie's right eye.

All tired out after her busy day.

THE DRAMA THAT IS ANNIE

Anyone who reads this post regularly knows I haven't posted for the last two days. Why? Annie had another medical emergency.

Tuesday at suppertime we noticed Annie blinking. Closer examination revealed her eye to be red and tearing with her inner eyelid closed. She was experiencing discomfort. My first thought was that Orphée hit her with his paw getting her in the eye. Maybe Annie managed to get a foreign object such as a hair in her eye or she might have hit her eye while scratching herself. We wasted no time. I called Veterinary Emergency Referral Group to alert them to the problem and that we were on our way. 

Annie is well known there and well liked because of her sweet disposition and Annie loves everyone at VERG. The doctor on call examined her. No cuts or scrapes that ruled out the cat and her scratching. The pressure in both eyes tested normal ruling out Glaucoma. The doctor saw a dark spot in her eye and suggested Annie be examined by an Ophthalmologist. We were given pain medication, eye drops and an appointment for the next day with the specialist along with instructions to put an Elizabethan Collar on Annie as soon as we arrived home.

Artie and I returned home upset and depressed. Lurking in the back of my mind was the thought of a recurrence of the cancer metastasizing to the eyes. Another fear is that whatever is wrong will result in the loss of her eye.

All I know is my sweet, precious girl has been through so much medically enduring it all in stride. It breaks my heart. Annie however weathers it all and still manages to be Annie.

Annie & her Elizabethan Collar. I've lost count of the number of times she's worn it.

Asleep after getting her meds.