Aug 14, 2007

The Continuing Saga of Boo...

Boo is back in the hospital. This time it was really bad. I came home early from work due to a headache. As soon as I walked in the door, I called for her, thinking I would see her at her usual spot - right by her water bowl. She wasn't there. As I walked into the kitchen, I saw her laying on a blanket...motionless. When I got closer to her I could see her twitching and her body was rigid. I immediately started crying and called my husband - no answer. I called my in-laws and my father-in-law offered to come by our house. I called the vet who told me to find some Karo syrup and place some on Boo's gums - she was probably in a diabetic shock.

Patrick finally came home and for one agonizing hour we held her and watched her breathe and then stop...breathe and then stop. We had about 30 minutes before the emergency animal hospital opened, so we were helpless. She coughed and at one point her jaw opened and wouldn't close. All I could do was hold her and tell her I loved her.

Finally we were able to scoop her up into a blanket and take her to the hospital. Her blood sugar had crashed - it was 24 (the doctors consider 100 to be low, so she was very, very critical). Her body temperature was 94 degrees (with 101 being normal for cats). So it was back in the incubator and another IV of glucose. Apparently, her new insulin routine was not working. They are going to lower it and see how she does. She's a tiny kitty, so she probably doesn't need as much as they told us to give her.

This afternoon was just awful. I thought she was dying. I was home alone and didn't know how to help her - I just kept hugging her and saying, "Nellie, don't die. Please don't die."

When we saw her at the hospital she did look much more alert than when she was on our kitchen floor. I hope they can stabilize her and figure out how much insulin will get her back to normal. I also hope that this was our last emergency trip to the hospital...

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