As blogged, on Tuesday I took Oliver to the vet for his cat-flu and for his arthritis Vetacortyl injection. He didn’t seem too bad then, but on Thursday he was staggering, by Thursday night he kept collapsing. He spent Friday at the vet where they put him on a drip and did blood tests. (He now has shaved and bruised patches on his throat and forearms.)

The results are he was in hyperglycemic shock (i.e. he has diabetes) and his kidneys are much worse. His glucose levels were extremely high, and his creatine levels at 400something were almost double what they were when he had his last test in March.

He is now home and has to have insulin shots morning and evening with regular meal times. He is still staggering and has spent most of his time sleeping. The hope is as his glucose levels come down his kidneys will improve. I have to take him in to the vet again tomorrow morning and we’ll hear how he is doing then.

Side notes:

I had a look at a house for sale. Seemed nice, but I was distracted because of Oliver. If Oliver dies it brings up apartment and travel questions again.

My beer finally stopped bubbling, so I’ve bottled it now.

Oliver has had a flemy chest and snotty nose the last few days. His arthritis also isn’t good and he was due for another shot of Vetacortyl to keep him going. He’s gone off his food and if you know Oliver you know that’s serious. He’s still drinking heaps though. He’s lost about 0.5kg. He got scratched on the nose a couple of weeks back and the vet says that’s when he will have caught the cold off another cat.

The vet plied me with drugs. In addition to the Vetacorty there’s Fortekor for his kidneys, Vibravet (antibotics) for his cold, Bisolvon which should clear his nose, and more k/d biscuits. He also suggested putting Oliver under a blanket in his cage with steaming Vix cold vapours. If Oliver continues to loose weight there’s another steroid he’d like him on to turn protein into muscle mass. Ollie has lost quit a bit of muscle from his legs with the arthritis.

Have to go back next week to see how Oliver is going.

Dear readers

It’s a shock, but it seems I have readers. “Give us more posts about Oliver, like the one from last Saturday” they demand. Well OK I’ll do another post on my cat sometime this week. I owe my niece some photos of him as well. “and fix the tabs for IE7 too” they cry. OK I’ll have a look at that too.

Strange noises

I didn’t sleep that well last night, but tonight it is cooler and am hoping to get more restful zzzs. It wasn’t just a problem with the heat, but having the windows open makes every little sound seem like it is coming from within the flat. I was sure I heard someone moving around about 12, and then at 3am there was someone softly calling “Amy, Amy” and the sound of someone stumbling around. But in both cases, there was no one in my flat or in my yard, so I went back to sleep. So, if you’re breaking into a place, just call out “Amy, Amy, I’ve lost my keys” and everyone will figure there’s nothing sinister about your activities.

Happy Birthday Roger

I’m just back from Roger’s Birthday BBQ. Ate a very nice meal cooked on Rogers huge brand new BBQ and watched his kittens catch an devour a couple of baby birds. Mostly it was just Ginger, the other kitten Patch wasn’t quite so blood thirsty. “Dinner and a show”. Caught up with the others from New Years and swapped blister stories.

Yes OK, more about Oliver soon.