Willie is in the Hospital

Willie is our oldest cat. He came to visit us 17 years ago. Willie has been suffering from diabetes and I have to give him insulin. He crashed over the weekend and nearly died. He had zero blood sugar and was in dire circumstances. Erica gave him some honey and he woke up be he was a very sick kitten, so we took him to the vet.

His kidneys had shut down. The vet thought that since he was not awake enough to eat that he would die.
Erica would not give up on him so we have been force feeding him food by squirting a puree into his mouth when we visit the vet. He was swallowing but as of yesterday he was still near death, even though his numbers had improved somewhat.

This morning his blood sugar was way up and he was standing up and yelling about the accommodations. His blood work is much improved. The force feeding was working.

It looks like he had a kidney infection and stopped eating. I did not realize this, so the normal dose of insulin crashed him, shutting down his kidneys.

He is an old cat and the diabetes can deteriorate his organs. He is still not well, but he is no longer in danger of dying right now. I hope we can get him to the point where his kidneys are working better and he eats on his own so we can bring him home.

Since this incident is costing us $3,000 to $5,000, Willie may soon be our most expensive cat. It seems silly to waste the money on a sick cat who would only have a few years more even if he was healthy, but if you’ve owned a cat, you know why I did it. I don’t spend money on travel, new cars, fine clothes or luxuries. My money goes to books (cheap), Harmonicas (cheap), and bees (not cheap, but they turn a profit). Allow me to spend money so that a good friend will feel a little better as his life winds down.

3 Comments

  1. Justine wrote:

    I’m glad he’s feeling better. Post updates as you have them.

    Monday, May 7, 2012 at 1:47 pm | Permalink
  2. Jim Shannon wrote:

    Poor Willie, lets hope he’s ok. He’s a member of the family.

    Friday, May 11, 2012 at 2:29 am | Permalink
  3. Keith wrote:

    He’s home and doing about as well as can be expected. His is old and sick, but not in any danger at the moment.

    Thanks,

    Keith

    Friday, May 11, 2012 at 8:59 am | Permalink