Monday, January 11, 2010

Ludo Update

Well, little Ludo is feeling pretty bad. Since right around Christmas he has been in and out of the litter box 20+ times a day (5-6 is normal/average). We noticed because our apartment turned into a sandbox. There was that much litter being tracked around. Saturday I called his Milwaukee vet and they recommended I take him to the Animal Emergency Center.

We got to the AEC late Saturday morning and were there for over 3 hours. Ludo had x-rays taken and they found a large bladder stone, in addition to discovering that his urine is bloody. Needless to say, he is has a lot of pain right now. He has some pain medication and also an antibiotic to help prevent bacteria growth. He also is on a wet food diet that is specially formulated to keep his urine neutral which will help prevent the stone from getting any larger. Amelia found ways to entertain herself while we were there "all day":



In order to make sure he is "ok", he has to be isolated from his brothers. We need to know that he is going to the bathroom and that he is not obstructed. If he becomes obstructed he could pass within as little as 12 hours. That's a scary thought! We have him in the spare bedroom. The door doesn't close all the way (this house is 105 years old - no joke, so the doors and frames are pretty warped) so we have it rigged to stay shut with a shoelace and 5 gallon water jug that holds coins. He has frequent visitors at his door:


We went in for a follow-up with his Milwaukee vet this morning. Amelia kept trying to get into Ludo's carrier with him:


Whenever they would come take him for tests or something she would freak out and scream and cry. She would watch them leave and once the door closed she would look at me and start wailing. It was pretty cute :)

Long story short, Ludo is going in for surgery on Wednesday morning. Poor guy. It will provide him immediate relief and they can analyze the stone to see which type it is - there are several, I guess. From there, we can work at long-term management of the problem. Until then, he is confined to his "isolation booth":

1 comment:

the misses of the blisses said...

haha! I love the picture of Amelia going into the kennel! Josiah loves to try to do that too... I think it looks like a cool fort to them. :)