Not-so-good News

[fatrockstar]

Grady's feedings and dressing changes became calmer, and he would linger in front of windows if put in front of them. This is good. He's alert at least.

I dropped him off at the vet on Sunday morning for follow-up bloodwork. I ran some errands, came back to fetch him, then we went through another feeding. Very uneventful. I became distracted by computer issues for a while and then headed to the grocery store for lunch fixin's. In the checkout line I got the call back from Dr. Sanders.

Grady's bloodwork shows his liver's condition has deteriorated. He has yet to regain any weight, and if he doesn't start to eat on his own in a week they will need to do a biopsy to make a proper diagnosis. Great. She asked if I was using the appetite stimulant and I told her no, because to me it looked like he was improving, and I assumed that was because he was getting enough to eat! When she asked me that I felt so incredibly stupid. How could I not use it anyway and be better safe than sorry? Oh, I remember now... it was because the first time I gave it to him it was by mouth, and it did little for his appetite. The bottom line is that he's not improving, his only hope is to eat, and it could take a couple of months for him to respond.

I gave him the appetite stimulant in his evening meal, and it seems to have worked. Kibble is disappearing from his bowl.

When Ethan arrived home from his Hawaiian vacation, Grady had already been removed from his shower and was not very happy about it. He was, however, happy to see Ethan. That was odd. He perked right up, wandering through the kitchen and dining room, sleeping in the La-Z-Boy, giving 'kisses,' and answering me when I asked him if he was ready for bedtime. He even slept on the bed with me, something he hadn't done in a couple of weeks.

Of course, at 4 a.m. his dry heaves woke me up like a shot, and I had to move quickly to get him to barf on the floor and not the comforter. Nothing came out, though. I took him to his water bowl and he just drank and drank and drank... I went back to sleep and found him under the bed this morning. After feeding he wanted to sit in the open window, so I let him.

I am hoping that he will continue to eat kibble while I'm at work, because if he doesn't I will need to have someone feed him by tube in the middle of the day. I'm not going to ask Ethan. His allergies won't let him hold on to Grady long enough for the feeding to finish.

Keep your fingers crossed and send prayers. We're not out of the woods yet -- we're hardly even halfway in.