Hi to all of the fuzzies and the humans that care for them.  My thoughts
and prayers are with those who have recently lost a fuzzy or have a sick
baby at home.
 
I wanted to update everyone on Casper - thanks to those of you who emailed
me personally.
 
We went to the vet on Thursday and his PCB(? - to test for anemia) had
gone from 66 to 22.  She kept him in the hospital all day, gave him fluids
and did some other bloodwork and xrays.  The Coccidia is gone, and he did
eat some while he was there, but the xrays show that he may have a
blockage.  We figure it is a hairball - since he doesn't chew anything
else.
 
We put him on Sucralfate every 6-8 hours - to try to stop the bleeding and
coat his stomach.  He is also eating a combination of Vaseline, Petromalt
and some Ferretvite to try to get things "moving".  He desperately wants to
eat his food, but is eating very little right now.  His stool is very loose
(due to the vaseline mixture), but the blood is gone and I have seen some
small pieces of hair in his stool.  His PBC was 38 on Saturday when I took
him in for more fluids.  Yesterday he was up and pretty active all day.
 
I spoke with the vet this morning and we are going to cut back on the
Sucralfate to a couple times a day, and continue with the vaseline mixture
to see if this thing comes out.  I will be watching him closely over the
next couple days and we will then decide whether surgery is needed.  I hope
and pray that we don't have to go that route.
 
Again, thanks to everyone who wrote to me personally.  Many of you have
dealt with exactly what I am going through right now and your advice and
words of encouragement have made this easier to deal with.
 
Lisa
[Posted in FML issue 3404]