As many of you might recall, I have two pooties, Tango and Cash. They have been life savers for me during my times of illness and a lot has been written about them. Tango specifically has been able to detect my seizures before I have had them and warn me.
Unfortunately Tango himself is now very ill and I am not very sure what will become of him. Back in June he came to me with a severe limp in his right rear leg and after x-rays and a severe work up they dismissed it as not being due to anything but a hyperextenstion of his leg. They gave him a pain killer shot and a shot for inflammation and after a few hours sent him home from the vet ER.
Last night the same thing happened, so I took him to the vet first thing this morning. Turns out he has pulmonary edema, and a blood clot. The clot this time is in his front paw and not in his rear paw. The vet said that edema is one of the most painful things a cat can deal with and he was amazed how well Tango was dealing with it.
The vet laid out three options for me, one was to put Tango down immediately, due to his pain, the second was to send him to a cat cardiologist who would give him a cardiogram, break up the clot that way, and watch him with specialists, this would run into the thousands of dollars. The third option which is what I opted for, is to keep him at the vet, have him on pain killers and IV drugs, to hopefully break up the clot and see how he is doing in 24 hours.
As of last check his breathing was back to normal and he seemed to be doing better, he was doped up but responding when they did their tests well, and his temp was near normal. The main problem is that even if they bust this clot he will be likely for clots for the rest of his life and there is no guarantee how long he will live after this episode. The vet said he's seen some live a few years and others a few months, it depends.
The last thing I want my cat to be is in pain, Cash, his brother, has been sleeping next to me the whole time I've been home, as if he senses something without his brother being here.
So if you can find it in your heart, please pray for Tango, one of the two most special cats in the world to me, who have saved my life more times than I can count, one of the most special beings out there.