today's Ronan update

As I suspected would be the case, the vet wanted to keep Ronan for rehydration and IV nutrition.  I wasn't quite prepared to hear that he would probably need to stay in the CCU for 3-4 days (oh well, it's only money.  this is why I never go on vacations).  The vet's assessment was that the bacterial overgrowth was cleared up (Ronan thoughtfully provided a stool sample during the visit), but that the prednisone was probably no longer having any effect.  So essentially, his IBD has been untreated for maybe a couple of weeks now, hence the crash and the readiness with which he developed ulcers in response to the stress of nasty medications.  She wants to get him first hydrated and then set up IV nutrients and then once he seems stable start the switch over to Imuran while keeping him under observation.  The original plan was to taper off the pred while starting the Imuran, but if it wasn't having any effect there's no real need to taper it.  All of this makes perfect sense to me, so I agreed with the course of treatment.  He's having bloodwork done this afternoon to rule out any other factors.  I did raise the concern that IBD has been linked to lymphoma and that Ronan's rapid decline made me worry about that.  The vet agreed that there was a link and that lymphoma was one of the factors they would check the bloodwork for, although blood results aren't definitive as a diagnosis for that.  If it does come down to lymphoma, I will have to seriously think about whether it's fair to keep him going since his intestines are so painfully inflamed.

So--not exactly good news, but he's getting the care he needs.  I'll visit him tomorrow night and hopefully Saturday (Saturday will be tough) and maybe we can bring him home on Sunday.  Seti's already looking for him, he checked out the carrier when we got home and looked confused.

(no subject)

It feels wierd not to be scheduling my evening around Ronan's medications :-/

Got a call from the vet tech--the blood results came back after the vet left for the day, so the vet will call me to discuss it tomorrow.  The tech can't tell me anything, which is what is appropriate but still a little frustrating.  The tech did say she'd just visited Ronan and he was already looking more hydrated and had made a little nest for himself in the towels they gave him.  She said they'd make sure he was warm all night.  Poor little noodle.