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Ziggy got a saline bath today with epson salts.
it took forever to dry him off, and he loved every second of it and purred constantly!
He is walking better every day, and seems to have more energy than previous days. Overall, he seems to be improving, except for his leg... he drags his limb around as he does not have control over most of it, and the end of it is looking dead- it has a slight odor and pads are now black and hard. His return visit/follow up appt at the vet is tomorrow.
Ziggy's 7 to 10 day follow up return visit to the vet was today. Unfortunately, the news is not good. His circulation has not returned to his leg and it is essentially dead. There are 2 options: euthanasia or surgery (amputation of limb) - we seriously consider the surgery, but after talking with the surgeon, we change our minds... apparently, his heart condition is in very late/end stages, his heartbeat is extremely erratical.. his prognosis for surviving surgery without any major complications are not good- only about 20:80. There may be many complications that may arise: to heart, or to kidneys, and he will be hospitalized for 2 or 3 days if he survives... It is possible he may survive the surgery but linger on uncomfortably for a few days before dying. If he is one of the few that make it home ok, he will most likely be passing away within a few months because his long-term prognosis is fairly short even with the amputation.. We decide not to put him through the stress of surgery with these kind of odds, and at this late stage in his life. He has lived a good life and we want his last days to also be as pleasant as possible.
We ask how long he may have now, without the surgery, and although unknown, their best guess is days, maybe a week.. they only gave us a 5 day refill on the pain medication. We take him home, and when he starts to feel sick from his leg (probable that infection will spread from there to rest of his body and he will feel flu-like symptoms: lethargy, etc) then we plan to have him euthanized, with a home visit if possible, before he starts feeling too badly. Apparently, he also had a fever there when they took his temperature. I am hoping that it is not from the infection starting already, but maybe because it was a long, hot ride in the van, because the air conditioner is broken. It was 83 out, and even hotter inside the van. I used some ice packs to try and cool his carrier, but I don't think they helped a whole lot. He seemed quite stressed (his respiration) in the van ride today, especially going back home, but once we were home, he was fine again! His ears also felt cool this evening, and not hot anymore, and so I believe his temperature is down. This is the first time this happened since he has been home, and I am not sure if it was because of the heat, or the stress of the visit for him, or the infection starting.. since he seems cool again since returning home, I am thinking (and hoping) it was only because of the heat and the trip.
He had a very good evening at home, outside in the yard, and inside. It is hard to believe how short his prognosis is because he has been improving every day at home since his return from the hospital!
This picture was taken at the hospital today when we thought we might be leaving him there for surgery, before we talked with the surgeon. I was wondering whether it might be the last time I got to see him alive or not, because I knew there would be some risk involved.. None of the options were good ones, and I think it is very sad they couldn't do more for him when this first happened and before the tissue in his leg died. We were there within 90 minutes after he got the clot... this is a modern veterinary and emergency hospital in a big city! Let's pray that someday in the future they will have better technologies available to help kitties with blood clots!
Zig had a very good day today! He looks like he is feeling good! We went for our daily outside venture...
The flies are attracted to the odor on his paw, and they sometimes land there and I shoo them away. I got a kick out of this picture- look closely- he practically fell over when a fly landed on him and he had been resting comfortably before that - he doesn't like them either!
He also had a burst of energy and ran fast (hopping on 3 legs) to climb up his log in his play area outside! This is the first time he has done this since he came home from his long hospital stay. I was there too to make sure he didn't fall off of course! It sits about a foot off the ground! It was great to see him so energetic and happy again.
When we were outside, he even washed for a minute, which I haven't seen him do much of since before the clot happened. I wrapped a hanky around his paw to see if it would keep the flies away, and it did.
Today is the 4th of July, and we both jumped when we heard a boom from a firecracker... (I comforted him of course and he relaxed again)
Back inside he found a new comfy spot to rest for a while before I took him upstairs:
This evening, he also attempted to jump onto the bed! I helped him up because I was afraid he might fall. I couldn't believe he is trying to jump on the bed! This is the first time this happened too. It is good to see that he is still improving, and getting better instead of worse, in spite of the fact of yesterdays bad news! Maybe he will have a little longer than expected after all, I will hope so! He seems so very happy to be here!
Upstairs he is starting to hunt out new places to rest and explore more of the changes I made (and cleaning I did) for when he returned from hospital. Up until now, he has been content in just a few spots but now he is going around more in these 2 rooms and even pawed at the door to attic room, trying to get out there for a bit! (we let him of course!)
Today seems like it was his best day yet (since the day the clot happened) and I hope he will get lots more good days yet before its his time to go! Thank you for your prayers for my very special kitty!