Robin's Saga

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

It all started in February when I noticed little blood spots by the litterbox. Turns out it wasn't a UTI, but calcium oxilate crystals. we've had many vet appointments, x-rays, consultations, etc. In general she shows NO signs of discomfort or pain. She is her normal little squeaky self, and she has even started coming out of her shell more and more and being interested in what's outside, playing more, not taking any guff from CJ, etc. So she's going along fine and all of a sudden one day she's exhibiting signs of a UTI. Antibiotics don't work so I take her to a different vet. This vet gives us a different antibiotic but takes a urine sample to get a culture and she takes more x-rays. This is all in So. California.

We get Robin to the vet I like in Chicago - the one that did so much for us with Tubby & Peanut - and I give him all her records and copies of the x-rays. She has the crystals in her ureters and he says he can do the surgery to remove them, but he is worried about her follow-up care since we will only be in the Chicago area for another week. He refers us to the Iowa State University Veterinarian School in Ames, IA because we will be near Des Moines for most of the summer. She has an appointment there on May 19th.

There are only a few vets that can do this type of surgery because the ureters are so tiny. It's extensive surgery. The surgery may cause scarring which could block the ureter. It's dangerous and there are no guarantees, but going to the University is our best shot. If we do nothing her ureters are likely to become blocked which will then cause her kidneys to shut down.

She is really doing well right now although I can tell she has lost some weight. She is still feisty and interested and sweet and comes for her nummies and yells at CJ and demands her tummy-time and kills her mousies, but needless to say I am worried about what is to come.

We really have no way of knowing how old she is, but we estimate she is about 12. We've only had her for 3 years now. She is on special food that she likes (thank goodness). She's been a real trooper through all the vet visits so all I can do is hope and pray she survives the surgery as well.

It's only been 3 years, but she's our sweet little girl and we're devastated that she has to go through all this. I guess some cats are more prone to this than others, and evidently she's a worst case scenerio. The one vet even said "She's an interesting case, I've never seen stones in the ureters before. I'd like to know what happens because she should be written up in a medical journal." Yes, my widdle Wobin written up in a medical journal.

Anyway, just wanted to update you all on what's happening. We're in WI for a week then we head back to IA for her appointment and we'll be there until the end of September.