Another Pink World

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March 13, 2006

just what he needed, perhaps.

the boys came to visit this weekend, which meant that moses spent saturday afternoon through sunday evening in the back bedroom. we did let the dog and cat have a little quality time together when the dog first arrived, but it looked as if it was going to be a mexican standoff with no end, with moses in the characteristic hunch of a threatened feline, sideways posture, ears slighly down, tail and back bristling, and a low, moaning sound emanating.

the dog, of course, probably just wants to play, but the cat is having none of it.

now, neither of us likes having moses segragated from the rest of the pack all weekend, but oddly, moses seemed very happy. he had an open window, a very soft, sleeping bag covered sofa, ample food and water, and visits from his people periodically. every time i'd visit, he seemed deeply content.

one of the possible side effects of the hyperthyroid medication is skin irritation, and moses was having a real problem with that about a week ago. his ears, which became very irritated while we were using the transdermal medication, wouldn't clear up, and it seemed as if every time i looked at his face, a new scabby sore had appeared. i called the vet and he told me to bump the medication down by half.

i could tell a difference almost immediately-- the next morning, moses woke me up at our usual time rather than me having to wake him up. he talked to me while i prepared his breakfast. and the sores stopped appearing.

his ears just wouldn't clear up, though. they were red and irritated all week. by saturday, i was starting to worry.

sunday morning, they were all clear. it was as if spending eighteen hours alone in a quiet place was just what he needed.

it's hard to say if the sores are healing, but i know they're not getting worse. he's lost some fur on his face, too. poor guy. i feel guardedly hopeful, however, that the lower dose will allow these side effects to subside, and he'll be able to tolerate the medication over the long term.

i've become irritated with my vet, however. he should have told me to bump the dosage down a week ago when we did a blood test to see how effective the medication was, not wait until i called freaking out about sores appearing all over the cat's face to mention that rather salient fact. and i feel as if he keeps pushing the radiation treatment, while failing to give me real facts about the safety of that treatment. you can't just say, "It's very safe," over and over again and expect me to magically start believing you if you repeat it enough times.

so if the medication continues to have intolerable side effects, i'll schedule consultations with some of the vets who come highly recommended in this area, and the boy, who is quite handy with google, has offered to do some online research.

:|:

aside from the moses follies, we had a lovely weekend. on sunday we went to raleigh and visited the nc museum of natural sciences, which i'd not been to since i was a child, had a sandwich outside in cameron village, then visited the farmer's market which didn't seem to have much to offer yet.

next weekend, if all goes well, i'll be taking delivery on a new (to me) car.

Posted by lisa at March 13, 2006 08:05 AM

Comments

I've been very happy with St. Francis as you know. Dr. Lindeke is a "friend of the family country doctor" type, and Dr. Broussard is more up on the latest medical knowledge. For instance she was involved in clinical trials on canine senility, that's why she knew to give Thirteen selegiline. Even the Graedons (the People's Pharmacy people) were surprised to learn that my dog was on selegiline.

I've never taken a cat to them, so I can't speak to their knowledge of cat medicine, but I do know that they both work with cats and both own cats.

Posted by: Sarah on March 13, 2006 06:15 PM

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