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Binky was another terrific cat. She was a "tuxedo" cat, black with
white markings on her chest. "Feisty" is the word to describe her!
She could tolerate alot from the other cats, but if they crossed a
line, with her, WATCH OUT! She'd let 'em have it. But she was truly
lovable to us both.
Binky developed kidney problems, and for several years was having chronic kidney failure. What that meant was that her kidneys were not operating at full capacity, and her blood tests showed high levels of BUN (blood urea nitrogen) and creatinine (both body waste products that are eliminated by the kidneys). To help the kidneys do their job better, it helps to "dilute" the blood by adding fluid to the body. So for the last few months, when the levels were getting progressively higher, we started injected Lactated Ringers Solution under her skin (a.k.a. "subcutaneous fluids") 120 ml two times a day. This lowered her BUN and creatinine considerably, and seemed to make her generally feel better. At some point from one of the many blood tests she had done, we found out that Binky had hyperthyroidism, which means that the thyroid gland in her neck was overactive. We put her on Tapezole, 1/2 a tablet once a day. That was it. She stayed at that dose for the rest of her life, and didn't cause her any more problems. Binky also had inflammatory bowel disease for several years. Binky needed to eat in small amounts; she would eat just a little bit every few hours. If she didn't eat anything for 3 or 4 hours, she would throw up. To compound the problem, she wouldn't just walk the few feet over to the nearest food bowl, she would wait for us to bring the plate to her, and hold it while she ate. We quickly learned we'd rather hold the plate for her every two hours (even in the middle of the night) rather than to have her throw up. She was initially put on Prednisolone (3/4 of a 5 mg tablet 2 times a day) to control the problem, but it didn't really cure it. We also gave her Pepcid to try and control it. These helped a little, but what really helped her was the small meals. We also found that while she was "getting fluids" the vomiting almost stopped. We believe that the vomiting may have been due more to the kidney problems than the inflammatory bowel disease. In May of 1995 we found out that she had nasal lymphoma in the right side of her nasal passage. The tumor had completely blocked that side. We took her to the Animal Medical Center in New York City. They treated it with radiation treatments, and with three treatments, the tumor was gone! They had suggested we also treat her with chemotherapy, but due to her age, inflammatory bowel disease, and kidney problems, we declined the chemo. After the radiation, her nasal lymphoma went into complete remission. The chemotherapy treatments would have been much more extensive, and would have put alot more stress on her. The trips to the A.M.C. were over an hour each way; but she took the car rides great! On January 7, 1997, we found out after doing a chest x-ray, that she apparently developed another tumor in her chest. She had been having trouble breathing, and had become very anemic. They told us there was nothing more we could do to help her, or to make her more comfortable. We knew we had to help her one last time by letting her go. At that point we decided we had to do what was best for her, and we put her to sleep. Binky was the perfect cat. She was our "Little Girl". |
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