Thanks, everycat!

Message from Kate: Me again. Thanks so much, everycat, for your good thoughts and prayers for my dear Pabsy's health. And thanks so much to dear Huffle for spreading the word about Pablo's latest health scare. It means a lot to know that there's a whole world of kitties and woofies and their families thinking of us all the way down here.

It's Sunday evening here. Early this afternoon, the v-e-t called us and said that Pabs was doing well, his blockage has been cleared and his urine output is good. But he still has a catheter in and his appetite has been poor. The v-e-t wants him to eat wet food (the special diet kind that dissolves urinary crystals), and I know that it's best, but he just won't eat it. We've tried him on it; the best that we could do was get him to eat the special urinary diet biscuits. Anyway, the v-e-t gave him some valium today to stimulate his appetite; let's hope that works.

All things being well, we'll be able to bring Pabs home some time tomorrow. We'll keep everyone posted. Thanks again for being so caring; it really does mean a lot.

Cheers,
--Kate

Here we go again...

Message from Kate:
*sigh*

It's 7.56pm on Saturday evening, and we've just taken Pablo to the emergency vet again for another urethra blockage. He should be ok, I was just hoping that this problem had been resolved. Please send good thoughts and prayers Pabsy's way. He was so sad and uncomfortable when he left home.

Cheers,
--Kate

I'm ok

Hey everycat,

My good friend (and Awesome Footy Finals Fever Competition winner) Huffle Mawson stopped by the other day and asked me how I was going. Thanks Huffle.

You know what? I'm doing ok. I'm still taking the anti-inflammatory meds for my bladder, but I'm tapering off those now. I'm still taking things pretty easy, and I have a checkup with Dr Gareth on Friday, but I'm eating and drinking well... and my *ahem* number ones seem to be coming out ok.

But you know what else? Baby Alex couldn't handle the fact that I was getting all the attention, so he arranged for one of his little sticky baby friends to give him bronchiolitis. He's on the mend too, but he's had a nasty cough and wheeze. Kate said that she needs a holiday.

I can't think why.

Cheers,
--Pabs

A Pablo health update

Hey everycat.

So I've been home for a week now.

And although I'm getting better, I'm still not feeling the best.

I've really been off my food; both the new urinary diet and my old crunchies.

Kate took me back to the V-E-T today. Dr Gareth is awesome. He's the one who unblocked my... um, man parts... in the middle of the night a week or so ago. He looked after me so well. Today, he gave me some more meds to make sure that my bladder continues to improve. He weighed me... I've lost 700g in a week, which is too much too fast.

So they're just gonna keep an eye on me and see how I go over the weekend. I guess I'll just take it easy.

Hope you have a good weekend, wherever you are.

Cheers,
--Pabs

Pablo is home!

Message from Kate: After a day of good #1 output, Pablo was allowed to come home this afternoon... a day sooner than the v-e-t thought! I've tried to maintain Pabsy's dignity in these photos of him resting by the heater (not too much of a view of his shaved bits). Check out his purple smiley face bandage on his front leg. Very un-Pabs.

He has to be closely monitored for a few days to make sure he doesn't have another blockage, he's now on a special urinary diet and we have to help him lose a kilo, encourage him to drink more water and exercise more. This is going to be tough... it's hard to make Pablo do anything he doesn't want to do. But we'll try!

It's great to have him home. Thanks, everycat, for your good wishes and support!

Cheers,
--Kate :)

Pablo is sick!

Pabsy in happier times (that's his leopard tail toy in the foreground)

Message from Kate: Hi blogging buddies. Our dear friend Pablo is in hospital today, recovering from emergency surgery for a life-threatening urethral blockage.

Just before bedtime last night (10pm-ish) I noticed him taking a long time to do his business in his litter tray, then leaving before he'd done anything. Then he wandered around the house, meowing and hissing, before flopping on his side in an armchair. He was meowing and growling low, obviously in pain. So while I stayed at home with baby Alex, Nick rushed him to the emergency vet, and they assessed him and decided to perform surgery there and then (at midnight!) to unblock his urethra. The vet said that we did the right thing to bring him, that the blockage could have been fatal if left untreated. Pabs came through the surgery well, it seems like it was a protein blockage.

Today, they did an ultrasound on his bladder, because he wasn't producing as much urine as they would have liked. Thankfully, it was all clear, so they're now just keeping him under observation for the next few days. We miss him around the house... every little noise, every movement I see from the corner of my eye, I think they're all him. Please join with me in praying for his speedy recovery. I know we haven't been able to blog or visit blogs much since baby Alex's arrival, but we still feel like we're part of the CB family... and we could use your support!

With thanks,
--Kate
(PS The Collingwood Magpies won last weekend's AFL Grand Final rematch by 50-something points! Which, I believe, makes Huffle Mawson the winner of Pablo's AWESOME Footy Finals Competition. But I'll let Pabs announce that when he's back on deck.)