April sucked donkey balls, and I’m glad the month is over! I spent more time at the vet this month than I think I ever have . . . as well as a hell of a lot of money! Where to begin?

Well first up our eldest cat has been wasting away as of recently. At first I thought he was just old, he’s 15 or 16. It’s not unusual for older cats to lose weight. Then however I began to worry something more was wrong, as he had an insatiable appetite. He just sat and meowed for food all day long, and nothing seemed to fill him up. So I took him in, worrying it was cancer. His two brothers (litter-mates) died of it, so I was preparing for the worst. This was the last of the original three cats John had when we met. I knew he would not take it well if something was wrong. It was actually hyperthyroidism, and his levels were extremely toxic. He’s been on medicine for 2-3 weeks and is doing much better now. He still has to have another check-up in a few months to make sure everything is going okay and the meds are still working.

Then there is the dogs . . . . Nikko somehow got exposed to Lymes disease over the past 5-7 weeks, so the vet thinks from his blood work. What the hell! We have not found any ticks on him! I traditionally never frontline the dogs from December-February, but I guess that one warm day we had in February got him! Though frontline doesn’t completely prevent exposure to lymes disease either, so who knows when he got it. It has to be some time in the past year. Ironically I had also JUST got the lymes vacine for them both. Grrrrr! The vet said it will at least prevent further exposure from any other bites. He’s been on antibiotics and is fine. However I have to keep an eye on him for “lameness” which is the usual symptom dogs show. Of course as I type this, the news is running a report that our mild winter is going to mean a horrible summer for ticks. Don’t we already have to deal with those cicadas?

Finally Princess just about gave me a heart attack, which with my blood pressure issues is actually a real possibility. Her urine levels were off at a recent check-up, and then they realized they were off last year too. She had a +2 protein in her urine last year, it rose to +3 this year. Last year she had a bladder infection though, so they attributed it to that. This was the first I heard of this protein issue mind you! Now they needed more tests because it could be a sign of kidney disease, or it could be nothing as the vet said this can happen in older dogs. After the tests I finally heard the news that her levels are higher than normal, but not at the point where we probably need to worry. The vet is going to consult with a second doctor (I hope that isn’t another bill!) and will get back to me, but he thinks we’ll just have to add this test in yearly from here on out to watch it so it doesn’t rise to levels that could start causing kidney damage and then failure. I would rather pay and have this checked every 6 months to be honest if it can pose the risk google claims . . . cause you know when we google symptoms that minor neck pain always leads to an MS diagnosis. Needless to say I’m giving her supplements for old age doggies and probably putting her back on her old “limited ingredients diet” as it makes kidneys work less (among other things). She was on it for skin allergies and I moved her to a new food that she loves and didn’t bother her skin, and also had the added benefit of reducing doggy farts.

So like I said . . . . good bye April!