Selife Sunday 9/10/23 and an Update

Lola had extremely high calcium levels that took some time to address. Luckily, the vet we were using at the time was very good, and she got them down to normal. Lola also had an eye injury during this period that took several vet visits to resolve. 

Shortly after Lola was settled, Lexy started having issues that started with weight loss. She was barely 8 pounds (which is thin for her), and she didn’t look good at all. I found a new vet (which is another long story) and we started making a treatment plan for Lexy. Her white blood cell count was through the roof, so an ultrasound was ordered. The ultrasound showed significant inflammation in the intestinal tract, as well as something with her liver and spleen. And of course, we already knew her kidneys were compromised. I opted not to do an endoscopy, so the vet prescribed prednisolone. Repeat bloodwork showed her WBC count lowered some, but she was now anemic, so we started a multivitamin. We had to repeat bloodwork again which showed little improvement. So we continue with the prednisolone, and multivitamin, and have added a kidney supplement as well. The good news is she’s up to 9 pounds and has a good appetite! And she’s fighting me with meds so her spunk has definitely returned! We have to go for more bloodwork in a month. 

Lola has been having significant issues. I can’t remember exactly when they started, but I would say about three months ago she started meowing at night. That slowly escalated to howling and it now occurs every night – sometimes all night. I’ve gone several nights in a row with only a few hours of sleep. The main problem with the howling is that I live in a building and I don’t want my neighbors to complain. (I’ve even caught her on the camera howling during the day.) To summarize what we’ve done so far: full bloodwork, special thyroid testing, repeat bloodwork – all normal. Her weight currently is 6.4 pounds, but she should be at least 7.5. We started a natural calming supplement, which helped somewhat but did not stop the howling at night. So we moved on to Gabapentin. Gabapentin worked wonderfully for a couple of weeks and I actually got to sleep through the night. However, the past few nights she is up again howling. The next step is to take her back in for a re-check and have her weighed, and the vet will take her blood pressure to see if she is hypertensive. The vet also mentioned the possibility of the onset of dementia, but we’re ruling everything else out before she officially diagnoses that.

I’m trying diligently to find an acupuncturist in our new county, but it has been very difficult. We were turned down by one because Lola is on medication and they felt it wouldn’t work, which I disagree with. I’m still working hard to find someone because the last time Lola had acupuncture it literally saved her life. 

So if you’ve stayed to this point in the post, thank you. And I know the girls are anxious to share their selfies with you. 

Lola enjoying the view from the window.

Lexy getting back in the posing game for photo shoots.

We’ll continue to keep our friends posted, and as soon as both girls are settled we’ll be back to blogging more regularly. I miss writing, and seeing what our friends are up to. Until then, please know everyone is in our thoughts.