Only Me or I Know What Everyone Is Going To Say

Moo needed to go to his bloodwork follow-up vet appointment this morning so I packed him up and took him out to the car to get my umbrella as I was going to walk him over, yes, I live that close to my vet.

When I got out my door, I noticed my garage door had stopped halfway up. I figured it was nothing too major (gdoor has had issues in the past) and brought Moo into the garage with me, threw away the cat scoop bags/recycled the cat food cans, and decided to pull the manual door cord so that I could open/shut the garage door and figure out what was wrong with it when I had time, like after Moo's appt.

I pulled the cord and......  SHEBAAAAANG!!!

I had absolutely no time to catch the garage door, it just slammed shut so fast with the biggest bang.

I went over to the door, which was now on manual, thinking "wow, that was exciting but no prob, I'll just open the door and be on my way" and apologizing to Moo for the scary-ass door.

I pulled, nothing happened, I pulled again, nothing, I then started doing the "pull-the-car-off-my-trapped-love-one" move, nothing, tried the Hulk, nothing, frenzied yanking and pulling, nothing, nada, zilch except for three little bitty inches.

Yep, I was trapped in my frickin' garage! At a quarter of 8 in the morning with a heart diseased cat who needed to get to his appt, I needed to go to work, and no one knew I was there.

I started pacing, swearing, and panicking. 

Yeah I know. Why didn't I just go out the other door? Coz there's only one way into my garage and it was currently only opening 3 frickin' inches.

Yeah I know. Why didn't I just get on my cell phone and call someone like my parents, neighbor, best friend, repair man? Coz I don't have a cell phone.

Blasphemy in today's tech age, I know!

So the whole time I'm pacing and panicking, I'm also periodically pulling on the damn door trying to figure out what to do as breaking the framed-in unopenable window is totally the last resort.

Oh, and apologizing profusely to poor Moo who was the absolute last cat to be in this position! I was praying real hard this didn't kill him.

I finally decided the damn door wasn't going anywhere, my garage is set way back away from the street so no one can see it unless they were right at the end of my driveway which wasn't happening and by the time an early morning runner ran by I'd have missed them and they'd probably be wearing earbuds anyway, my left-hand neighbors are elderly and hard of hearing, so I crossed my fingers hoping my right-hand neighbor was home and had her back sliding glass door open, and started screaming my neighbor's name at the top of my lungs at the 3in opening. Then I thought if she did hear me, she wouldn't know where it was coming from so I stood up, screamed her name repeatedly and banged on the gdoor windows. Don't ask me how long I was going to keep that up because I honestly DO NOT know.

I finally, it must have been about 5-6min, I saw her poke her head out the sliding glass door so I banged even harder and yelled "it's Sam and I'm trapped in my garage!!" She came over, still in her nighty, and was amazed. So calm too, she said she thought it was kids so she checked out her front door and didn't see anyone and because she kept hearing the screaming she kept trying to figure out where it was coming from. She said she and her b'friend also heard the gdoor crash-bang but didn't know where it came from so didn't think anything of it until she heard the screaming. She enlisted the assistance of her b'friend who asked me to turn a light on and look at the mechanics of the door while she called the vet for me and the PDQ Door guys.

I found one of the main springs had cracked but the door was still in it's track and there was nothing blocking the tracks so I could not find a reason why the door would only open 3 f'in inches. My neighbor came back and said the vet told me to come in whenever I was free (hah) and the PDQ guys weren't yet open but given the circumstances, they were sending a tech RIGHT over but it would be about 20 min.

My neighbor's b'friend is an architect and he'd gone off but came back with some wood and branches, fashioned a lever while discussing Archimedes, and with me and the neighbor pulling on the door and him manning the lever, we all managed to get the door unstuck from whatever it was, and I and Moo were free!

I rushed Moo to the vet, Dr. H pronounced him no worse for the wear, they took blood, and the PDQ guy was there when I got back talking to my neighbor.

After bundling Moo into the house, I came back out and my neighbor had just finished commenting that the PDQ guys must get calls like this every so often. PDQ Guy said "nope, this was the first human trapped in a garage for them!" Nice.

Only me. 

And PDQ guy was a hottie. Again nice and only me!

Gdoor is fixed, new springs/cables/etc and now works like a charm $200+ and a HI-larious story later.

Cattrio

Moomin Status 2.0

The new med seems to be doing it's job, it's an arterial/vein dilator. I'm going to be cautiously optimistic.

He managed to "crack" the '30s today for his resting respiratory rate - between 32-36. Ideally we want him between 20-30, but I'll take this for now. The new med was increased by 1/4 of a pill this evening - he had three days of 1/4 twice a day and now we have 5-7 days of half a pill twice a day and then some bloodwork to check the kidneys.

The ultrasound shows the back of his heart muscle has thickened so he has heart disease and of course the possibility for all it's attendant risks and side effects. Which we've been experiencing with a vengeance.

Right now, he's still intermittently "clumsy" with his back legs so Dr. H thinks there might be mini clots  cutting off bloodflow to them and this needs to be monitored. I'm thinking it has to go back to when I had to take him to the ER Clinic when he was walking/moving funny, maybe that clot has moved or broke up a little. I'm supposed to see if the clumsiness gets worse or more frequent. But it is the breathing that's key as the more stressed/faster the breathing, the more likely he will "throw a clot".

He's also eating with gusto again - up to a whole small can for bfast and one for dinner. Dr. H mentioned a lot of calories are spent pumping the heart and breathing so it's important to eat. I'm just thrilled he's doing so.

The other two cats are less then thrilled he's back to chomping hindparts. Yes, he's feeling that much better. Doodle is busily being pounced on and bitten every time he's awake.

He's still a very sick kitto, but it's nice to see him not struggling and again wanting to ride my shoulders so he can headbutt me.

Book Sale Signs Happy Story

So I roped Dad into helping me put out the annual library book sale signs - meaning I borrowed him and his pickup truck. He drove and I did all the sweaty manual labor of unloading/putting signs up. It worked great: I had the signs all organized in order in my driveway, when Dad arrived we loaded them up, and then off we went to make a big loop around town to put them out. 

We were down to our last four signs on the homeward stretch, when we were approached by a couple walking their baby (after they spoke to a guy on a motorcycle) who asked us if we'd seen a little dog running loose. Mind you, we were smack in the middle of town (between the industrial-like part and the village-y part) on a hugely busy road. We said we had not and drove off. 

We were right at one of our intersections where we needed to put up another sign and this dude with a German Shepherd on a leash with earbuds was running towards us. Trotting along next to him was a little dog not on a leash. We managed to get the guy's attention as I hopped out of the truck. 

The guy said "is he yours? He just came out of nowhere and started following us". I said he wasn't but there was a couple looking for him. 

While saying this, I got down low and put my hand out making reassuring kissing/good boy noises while the traffic piled up behind my dad. The little dog was of two minds about approaching me but he finally took the bait and I gently snagged him and got him in my arms. He wasn't happy so he wiggled around but I kept talking to him in a reassuring tone telling him we were going to take him to his family. 

We thanked the German Shepherd dude who continued on his manly way, I mean run.

I hopped in the truck, put the dog next to me and held onto his collar and Dad pulled a U-ie.

On our way back to the couple, we passed motorcycle guy and I waved to him while pointing to the dog next to me. Mguy had a big grin on his face and followed us.

As we got the couple in our sights, I started waving out the window and Dad blinked his lights.  We could see the hope just radiating off their faces. We pulled over and the dog KNEW his family!

The couple were so relieved and couldn't thank us enough. When they got him in their arms they immediately hooked his leash back on him and kissed him. The baby was oblivious (as it should be:). I told them he was running with a man and German Shepherd and they asked in astonishment "he was still following them?" So little doggie must of gotten away around the time the couple passed running dog/dude and it sounded like it was rather a distance for a small dogger.

Motorcycle guy was talking to the couple when we pulled around and we all exchanged big smiles, nods of appreciation/thanks, and waves. I told them to take care of him and off we went.

I needed a happy ending story.

Moomin Status

Had a set back last Saturday. Took him to the follow-up ultrasound which is 40min away. Not a happy camper on the way there, panted the entire time. Then tense and stressed during the wait and being sounded, feistier than the first one, and absolutely miserable but not panting on the way back. Resting respiratory rate was 60 breaths per minute and it's supposed to be for cats between 20-30 per minute. So very worried and called the emergency clinic who recommended an additional dosage of Lasix. Gave it and seemed more comfortable but still breathing fast Sunday.

Moo in his fashion forward Ugg boots.

Have been battling the resting respiratory rate all week. Dr. H said it's a dance right now and getting the breathing under control is key as is eating/drinking (which is happening thank goodness). Heart and lungs are working so hard right now that stress and heat/humidity is NOT good. Trying to keep the house cool, calm, and collected. 

New med started tonight, should dilate the arteries/veins and needs close monitoring as could have serious side effects. Was given Dr. H's home phone to call incase anything untoward should occur while new med gets into system. 

Been documenting everything - med times, amount of food, when see drinking/peeing/pooping, and when see something that looks off or is an improvement.

This is very hard.

Super Trooper Moomer and Cat In The Box

Here's Moo and his super hero bracelets.

As you can tell, he's completely "thrilled" with them. I know he's thrilled to be home tho!

And here he is with his buddy Doodle in a box during one of his "outings" into the dining room.

Moomin is Home

It's been a Rollercoaster of Emotional Hell since last Friday night.

Friday night: I finished mowing the lawn and came in to feed the kittos. Both Hobbes and Moomin didn't eat much, like they've done the past couple days. I've noticed they tend to "go off food a bit" when the weather changes to warmer temps so I didn't think anything of it other than to keep my eye on it.

But after my mower shower, I thought I saw Moomin breathing and acting funny, short staccato breaths and going off by himself which is totally not like his usual Mr. GregariousPants temperament. Finally around 9pm I took him to the emergency animal clinic after calling them. We only have two and both of them are 40-45 min away so I chose the one I felt I could get to with less travel-trouble. We showed up, they felt him up, said physically nothing they could feel/see so would need to do blood tests/X-rays and it could be a number of things including allergies stuffing up his nose. So I picked low level treatment to see what would happen - an appetite stimulant. 

Saturday morning he seemed better: dropped his usual toy at the bedroom door sometime in the night, ate about 1/3 of his breakfast, up and about, and while not 100% he seemed better. So I went grocery shopping. I came back and he wasn't better anymore. I called the emergency animal clinic, they said bring him in, I did, he got bloodwork and X-rays. The vet on duty said Moomin had "angry airways", very inflamed, which was making it hard for him to breathe, blood work normal, innards/organs except for lungs looked normal, so I went home with bronchio-dilator and steroid meds.

Sunday no real change, still not eating, I called the emergency clinic, they said could take up to 5 days for meds to take effect, and to watch for distressed breathing. Which in my mind was frickin' scary as 40 minutes in the car with a cat with distressed breathing is NOT cool (major understatement).

Monday no real change, still not eating, still having trouble breathing, I spent the night in the room he was in, cried a lot, I don't think either of us slept. 

Tuesday I called Moo's vet, got in, Dr. H was kind but he was not impressed with Moo's heart, called in a second vet to listen who agreed, Dr. H laid it out and it was NOT GOOD. I cried all morning. Dr. H got Moomin scheduled for a heart ultrasound (has a big medical word, I don't have the energy to find it), EKG, and blood pressure but it was in Portland - 40 minutes away. Moomin does not like traveling in the car so they put him in an oxygen tank and gave him Lasix to start drawing fluid away from his heart/lungs so that I could get him there. I called my mom in tears, she arranged to take the time off work to come with me to the Ultrasound Clinic, we picked him up a little after 11am, drove up, he got examined and diagnosed with common genetic heart disease - again huge word I don't have the energy to go find and type in. The doctor said respiratory issues and heart disease have similar/parallel symptoms so only an ultrasound can determine true issue and while the steroid didn't cause the heart disease, it certainly "highlighted" it. He said that it would take about 3 days for the steroid to get out of Moo's system and then he wanted another ultrasound of Moo's heart to get a more accurate picture of what's going on as the steroid enlarged the heart. I got directions to take him back to his vet for oxygen until the end of the day and was told I'd see improvement with new med regimen/steroid leaving by Friday, and the follow-up ultrasound would determine further treatment. I took him to the vet and came home more optimistic, managed a quick nap until they called me to come get him as he was up and about/feeling better/making a mess (ripping the plastic impromptu oxygen seal). Dr. H wanted me to check his breathing rate during the night, I did three times and the last time (about 7:30pm) he was down to about 44 which was close to Dr. H's 30-40 window.

Tuesday night: I picked Moo up to give him his 10pm medication and he screamed. Then walked around the house funny: like he was walking with a wide barrel between his legs and dragging his feet and his front legs/paws were all flopping and gaumy. And his breathing was not good. So not right and scary. I called the emergency animal clinic he went to over the weekend to find out if Lasix has side effects, they said  they couldn't really tell without seeing him and they were only open nights and while they could possibly stabilize him, they couldn't keep him and didn't have the techy machinery to do anything and they would fax his info to the other Clinic in Scarborough so I called them. The Clinic told me to bring him in because what I was describing could be a number of things, all scary, stroke/he threw a clot/side effects/neurological issues... I packed him up, he screamed again, I drove the 45 minutes trying very hard not to cry because it was dark and I had my glasses on and my night vision already sucks and the lines haven't been painted.

I got there, they were very kind, whisked him off, I heard screaming, the tech came out to tell me they put a catheter in, the vet came out after a long time and said she gave him a short term pain med which he responded to by relaxing and that she was very worried as he was not stable. They put him in oxygen but couldn't do any testing because he wasn't stable enough and the walking funny was worrisome. She said she was leaning towards Moomin throwing a clot or several of them, there is nothing to do once this happens other than wait and see if they go in a bad place (like the brain) or break down in a non-bad place. She asked me a bunch of questions about his day/diagnosis and told me I had a great memory coz I did not have any records/reports on my other than my notes. She asked me to have everyone fax her their stuff  to the Clinic Wed. I said goodbye to Moo. He tried purring for me.

Wednesday: I got home at a quarter to 3am. Went to bed but didn't sleep. Called out at work. Did little mindless projects around the house waiting for an update/call in. Took a nap. Went to the Clinic at 3pm, spoke with the vet who said Moo was doing better, I got to visit with him and he was walking around, let me pick him up, he scrubbed his head on my face, and looked better. The vet said she wanted to keep him another night to keep up the stabilization and run diagnostics during the day Thursday. I agreed. They gave me 15 more minutes with Moo. He was tired by the end of the visit. I kissed him and told him to be good.

Thursday: called for a check in before I  went to a training all day, I had arranged for my co-worker's cell phone to be called incase of issues but no calls, I got to the Clinic at 5:30pm and they said he was doing much better - had eaten, was walking, was completely weaned off the oxygen, they were able to get bloodwork done, and he was ready to go home. I got his two meds - Lasix and baby aspirin, detailed directions, and instructions to monitor his breathing because if it became labored/staccato that means fluid is building up again and he needs to be seen PRONTO. 

I have to call Dr. H/Moo's vet tomorrow morning to update them.

I need to arrange for a cardiologist to see Moo for follow-up and continuing treatment. 

I also have to make the ultrasound follow-up appt.
He's got 5-6 shaved spots on him. Two of them are on his legs so he looks like he got a bad lion-cut or he has superhero bracelets on. He's sleeping hard right now, when he's awake I'll get a pic of them.

Moo's home. That's what counts. He's home.