Nimbus Update with Background

Thanks everyone for the purrs for the runt. He is doing better today, and thankfully out of danger. He went up over 200 yesterday or the day before (can't remember) briefly and TSB uh... FREAKED. She usually only up's his insulin by a half-unit, but she nearly went for the full unit. He's still 2 units above normal, but if he continues downward, she can cut that back. Tomorrow TSB's going to get his insulin script refilled, so soon that won't be an issue either.
TSB just noticed the bath pics she took of the boy back when he was still deathly sick - before his diagnosis. Since we have so many new followers here, I feel it's necessary to bring everyone up to speed on how much Nimbus has been through - in 4 short years (TSB swore it was 3, but looking at the paperwork, it was 3/6/06 that this all started).
Remember that big ol' pet food recall back in the spring of 2006? Well a few months before that broke, Nimbus got very, VERY sick. He couldn't pee, wouldn't eat, and got to the point he was trying to hide to die. Mr. Cat was off at work so I had to go all day seeing my boy deteriorate, not knowing what's wrong. Midday he pulled up a MONSTER hairball (OMC that thing had to be half a foot long), and TSB was hoping that's all that was wrong, but by the time Mr. Cat got home, it was obvious that wasn't it. We finally found the ONE vet hospital in the area that's ACTUALLY a hospital (many call themselves hospitals but AREN'T around here) and rushed him off (30 mi drive thereabouts) - AT 10PM! Well, it WAS bad. He was completely blocked - a crystal got blocked right at the tip of his weewee. He was going into failure, and 10 minutes after admission, they came out with more bad news - hypertrophic cardiomyapthy (I know I prolly spelled it wrong, sorry). TSB nearly collapsed, but Mr. Cat kept her together, even though he was broken inside too. They came home without my boy, and those 3 days were the longest ever. But Mr. Cat brought him home on his way home from hunting that Thursday, with a LOT lighter wallet. But he was out of danger. I was VERY angry at him, and I've been hissing and growling at him since!

This pic was taken shortly after he came back from that hospitalization. You can definitely see it on the one arm, but both of his front arms had been shaved for tubes and stuff going in. We were fortunate - he survived, the odds stacked against him. He went back 6 months later for a cardiologist checkup and another year's medicine. After that year was up, we just couldn't afford another $400-600 to get him back there. So he went without his medicine for a long time - until he got sick again...
Fast forward to fall a year and a half ago. He was just miserable, sneeze/coughing all the time, to the point he quit breathing on us once. But before that, he made a couple trips to a "vet" that thought it was "seasonal allergies" and "even if it is an upper respiratory infection, antibiotics won't work." By December, that wasn't working. TSB tried everything, and nothing worked.

TSB gave him a bath before his vet visit so he would look a little better - a powder one would've sufficed - IF he wasn't struggling to breathe. You can see just how sick he was - look how tiny he looks!!!
Now the first "vet" listened to his heart and didn't hear his murmur, but we weren't convinced, considering...
TSB was told by a neighbor of a good vet on the other side of town that seemed to really care, so off he went. The ladyvet saw what TSB was seeing (poor vet, TSB just dumped on her, every last bit, she prolly rattled on for forever MOL) and immediately prescribed antibiotics. But TSB's dumping proved to be life-saving. Ladyvet asked to do a round of bloodwork, and TSB agreed because Nimbus had never had one done before, seeing as he'd been inside from the day he was born. TSB's deepest fears were allayed, she was so worried it was cancer. But the dreaded D word was just as terrifying. How could the cat have diabetes? The vet explained a festering infection can bring it on in a cat predisposed to it (in other words, fat@sses MOL)... So in other words, Nimbus probably would've been fine had the first vet not been so stoopid. Well, enough of that. TSB went to war. She gave up her sleeping in for the boy, any semblance of a social life for a long time, everything, just for the runt. And it paid off, a good long time later. He started gaining the weight back (a side effect to the Purina DM food - but a welcome one). One day TSB needed to consult with the vet on the phone but ladyvet was off, but another vet was there that had just gotten back from a conference on feline diabetes - PERFECT! TSB scheduled an appointment and then started the new course of treatment - a couple months after diagnosis. The results were almost immediate. TSB was estatic, though the infections were very persistent. Another vet (TSB was trying to save money but ended up spending more) did introduce her to another class of antibiotics for the boy and that ended up being the nail in the coffin for that infection for a good while. TSB hadn't been so happy in a very long time.

Now you see how much better he is. Yes, he's a wee TOO big, but better a wee too big than as skinny as he was when he was so sick. Even his paws are fatter MOL.
And that's the story of the warrior cat I call my son. As mean as I am to him, I still love the guy. He came out alright, if I must say so myself.

Jadzia