If you come to this blog regularly you may have noticed that it's been a while since I last posted. You may recall that my cat Aslan, who I wrote about and posted photos of here, had been having some health issues recently. Figuring out what's been going on with him has taken all of my energy over the last few weeks, and I've honestly been too drained and distracted to write.
For those who are interested, it turns out that his kidneys are failing, or, in vet-speak, has Chronic Renal Failure (CRF). The journey of how we got here is too exhausting for me to retell at the moment. Suffice it to say I've spent A LOT of money, cried A LOT of tears, and am just starting to come to terms with the fact that Aslan is now, officially, a special needs cat.
Up until recently, a bowl of yummy food, a clean box, and a few toys were all it took to keep him happy. This came out to about $450 a year.
Now he's on special kidney food, pills for high blood pressure, fish oil supplements and craziest of all - fluids which I have to give him by needle under his skin every night. All this plus the extra vet visits and tests, and the extra litter (we're going through it twice as fast), is going to put me out about $2800 annually.
It's completely worth it of course - he is essentially my child, and I will do anything I can to ensure his quality of life is as good as it can be. I'll just have to make some adjustments to my spending habits. I'm actually not a huge spender in general, but I will just need to be extra frugal whenever possible. Friends have come and gone in my life, but Aslan has been my constant companion for the last six and a half years. The least I can do in return is take the best possible care of him.
I hope to get some new posts up soon. I have lots of fun, interesting, silly, and heartwarming stuff to share with you. But first I need to get settled into my new routine with Azzie-Pants. He was a total champ when I gave him his fluids last night - it was my first time doing it without a vet tech assisting and I was so nervous. But he barely flinched and I can already tell that it's making a difference. Thank goodness.
In the meantime, if you care to send good thoughts our way, we'll gladly take them! And for anyone curious about what happens when you give a cat fluids, see below:
For those who are interested, it turns out that his kidneys are failing, or, in vet-speak, has Chronic Renal Failure (CRF). The journey of how we got here is too exhausting for me to retell at the moment. Suffice it to say I've spent A LOT of money, cried A LOT of tears, and am just starting to come to terms with the fact that Aslan is now, officially, a special needs cat.
Up until recently, a bowl of yummy food, a clean box, and a few toys were all it took to keep him happy. This came out to about $450 a year.
Now he's on special kidney food, pills for high blood pressure, fish oil supplements and craziest of all - fluids which I have to give him by needle under his skin every night. All this plus the extra vet visits and tests, and the extra litter (we're going through it twice as fast), is going to put me out about $2800 annually.
It's completely worth it of course - he is essentially my child, and I will do anything I can to ensure his quality of life is as good as it can be. I'll just have to make some adjustments to my spending habits. I'm actually not a huge spender in general, but I will just need to be extra frugal whenever possible. Friends have come and gone in my life, but Aslan has been my constant companion for the last six and a half years. The least I can do in return is take the best possible care of him.
I hope to get some new posts up soon. I have lots of fun, interesting, silly, and heartwarming stuff to share with you. But first I need to get settled into my new routine with Azzie-Pants. He was a total champ when I gave him his fluids last night - it was my first time doing it without a vet tech assisting and I was so nervous. But he barely flinched and I can already tell that it's making a difference. Thank goodness.
In the meantime, if you care to send good thoughts our way, we'll gladly take them! And for anyone curious about what happens when you give a cat fluids, see below:
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| image source: octopodadventures.com |
:-)
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